Although I stayed in this small island country for only two days, it was a rewarding one. I was staying in downtown Manama, which is busy place with a souq selling gold. In day 2, I went to visit the excellent National Museum of Bahrain, which had a detailed introduction of the history of the country. Knowing only the minimal before I arrived, I was surprised to find that the island had a history of over 3000 years, starting from the ancient Dilmun civilisation, through the Tylos era, to the modern times. It is quite amazing because one could find such a small place to have its identiy through such a long time, especially when empires, nearby and far away, came and go. As in the other parts of the Gulf, many people I met or
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