Flat, pale and apparently empty, the central plain of Bahrain hides one of the oldest cemeteries on earth. Some four thousand years ago the island of Dilmun, as it was known to the Sumerians, buried its dead under thousands upon thousands of low stone mounds, and in places like Madinat Hamad and A'ali the mounds still stand in dense, grey fields. At one time there may have been several hundred thousand of them, which would have made Dilmun a famous necropolis in its day, and many have since been flattened by roads, housing and quarrying.
Madinat Hamad itself is a modern town, built in the late twentieth century as a planned suburb, and the contrast is sharp: new villas and roundabouts on one side of a road, ancient burial mounds a short walk away. Some of the mounds have been excavated, revealing stone chambers with the remains of the dead and grave goods such as pottery and beads. Others are still intact, and the best you can do is walk carefully around the edge, read the signs, and notice how many humps stretch toward the horizon. Dilmun was a trading centre between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley, and it appears in the ancient story of Gilgamesh as a place of immortality.
Riding in Bahrain is easy, if hot. The roads are paved and well marked, with fast dual carriageways, many roundabouts and drivers who do not always signal. The land is flat, so wind and sun are the main hazards, and between June and September the heat is intense, with humidity from the Gulf adding to the discomfort. The cooler season from November to March is much kinder, with clear skies and mild temperatures. At the mounds, bring water, a hat and sunglasses, and stay on tracks, since the ground is uneven and the site is fragile.
Fuel is available throughout Madinat Hamad, which is large enough for stations, supermarkets and cafés, and fuel in Bahrain is cheap by European standards. If you want to see more of the island's older layers, the Dilmun temple at Barbar and the lone Tree of Life, a mesquite that stands in the desert near Jebel Dukhan, make good additions. Respect the mounds as graves and keep bikes off them.