Four thousand years ago, ships sailed into the harbour at the north end of this island carrying copper from Oman, carnelian beads from the Indus valley, and grain, cloth and silver from the cities of Mesopotamia. Bahrain, which the Sumerians called Dilmun, was the middle of the trade. The mounds around A'ali, including Royal Mound 4, are the cemetery of a society that grew rich on being in the right place.
Sumerian clay tablets give Dilmun a curious reputation. In the poem of Gilgamesh, the survivor of the flood is granted immortality and sent to live at Dilmun, a place of purity and sweet water, and another myth calls it a land without sickness or death. It is a pleasant irony that one of the most celebrated paradises of ancient literature is now a dusty island of petrol stations and shopping malls, though the freshwater springs that made it so valuable do exist, rising from the seabed and from wells in the north.
The mound is a short ride from Madinat Isa along flat, well-paved roads, and the surroundings are a typical mix of limestone gravel, scrub and low houses. Navigating is simple, but the roundabouts can catch you out: local drivers use them with great confidence and not always with indicators. Slow down, make eye contact and keep a margin. If you are riding in summer, drink water before you feel thirsty, because humidity can disguise dehydration.
Visitors who want to understand the larger picture should plan a visit to Qal'at al-Bahrain, the old fort on the north coast, built on the remains of an ancient harbour town and also a World Heritage Site. From there, the Dilmun capital controlled the sea lanes and likely sent men to be buried in the mounds you see here. The distance between the two sites is not great, and the road between them passes through suburbs and palm gardens, a gentle reminder of how green this island once was.
The services in Madinat Isa are plentiful, and fuel is cheap, so there is no need to worry about range.