Mound 5 has a neighbour that is much newer and much larger: Madinat Isa, or Isa Town, one of the first planned towns in the Gulf. It was laid out in the 1960s under the ruler Sheikh Isa bin Salman, a grid of wide streets, low houses and civic buildings that was meant to give a growing population modern housing. Today it feels lived in and slightly faded, with a busy market, small mosques on every corner and a long main street filled with the sound of scooters.
The mound itself stands a few minutes from this town, in a stretch of open gravel where the planners' grid gave way to the royal cemetery. It is one of a group that belong to the early Dilmun period, built roughly four thousand years ago from limestone blocks cut on the island. Bahrain has only a few small areas of high ground, and the builders took advantage of a low rise to give the mounds a commanding position. Standing beside one, you realise how much effort went into raising a tomb that most people would never enter.
Riding here is easy and unhurried. The roads are flat, wide and well signed, with roundabouts every few hundred metres, and traffic is lively but not aggressive. Be careful at junctions where drivers may cut across with little warning, and watch for sand on the tarmac after windy days. The shamal, the north-westerly wind that blows in early summer, can bring dust that reduces visibility and stings the eyes, so keep a visor handy.
Madinat Isa has about thirty-eight thousand people, and it has everything you are likely to want. Petrol stations are never far, and the small restaurants around the market serve good shawarma, grilled fish, and a strong cardamom coffee in tiny cups. The old market, the souq, has stalls that sell spices, fabrics and gold, and a walk through it makes a worthwhile contrast with the silence of the burial ground.
If you have time, visit in the late afternoon, when the light softens and the heat drains from the stone.