Ancient Dilmun Furniture

The Dilmun civilization, developed on the Western shore of the Persian Gulf, ca.3000-324 BC, left little shreds of evidence of its existence, among them, seals, which reveal social and ritual scenes. Mainly, the seals, found in the two main centers of the civilization, Bahrain and the Island of Failaka, Kuwait, were designed and used by merchants who wanted to stamp their products. In many Dilmun seals, square or rectangular hatched shapes appear, which in some cases may be shrines, storage boxes, doors, shields, or animal cages made with palm tree branches. However, we must exclude palm tree wood to construct musical instruments and furniture. These items can be constructed mainly from solid wood. Regarding the Dilmun furniture, besides some storage boxes mentioned above, many seats and tables are depicted fabricated with solid wood. The variety of furniture depicted on seals includes stools, chairs, thrones, and tables only, since there are no survivors, neither reliefs, painted pottery, burial models, coins, wall paintings, or any other artifacts to expose further evidence.