Failaka Island has been called various names throughout its history. Four thousand years ago, the ancient Dilmun civilization called it Agarum, meaning the land of Inzak (their primary deity). It is said that Alexander the Great’s general Nearchus named it “Ikaros” after the island in the Aegean Sea, which takes its name from the myth of Icarus. In Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, Michael Rice writes that, “a most intriguing explanation for the adoption of the name Ikaros for the island has been offered… that the Greeks knew that in Assyrian times there was a temple on the island called e-kara; it was named thus in Aramaic sources also.” According to this Archaeology Magazine article, the contemporary name “Failaka” comes from the Greek word for “outpost.” Another possible explanation, provided by Jehan Rajab in her work Voice of the Oud, is that it is derived from “FILIKA,” which written in Greek translates as “friendly.”

The island has many interesting archaeological sites, but certainly the most iconic is the Hellenistic Temple (F5/TellSa’id). It was built during the time of the Seleucid Empire (312 – 63 BCE), which was established following the conquests of Alexander. According to UNESCO, “the Hellenistic Fortress dates back to the 3rd century BCE. The Hellenistic Fortress is semi square structure… with a tower in each corner. The fortress included two temples.” An image of the ruins of Temple A appear on the 1KD bill. In Mathilde Gelin’s article New French-Kuwaiti Research in the Hellenistic Fortress, she writes, “temple A has a typical Greek plan (pronaos-naos and two columns in antis), Greek decoration (acroteria with vegetal sculptures, ionic capitals), and a rectangular altar located several meters to the east, however, the bases of the columns are in Achemenian style.”

From works by Jehan Rejab and Geoffrey Bibby

The Ikaros Stone was uncovered within the ruins during excavations in 1960. In his 1995 paper The Inscriptions from Failaka, Joseph Naveh writes, “the Ikaros Inscription, 44 lines long… a stele on which two documents were recorded: a letter from a Seleucid official Ikadion to his subordinate Anaxarchos, and a covering letter from Anaxarchos to the inhabitants of Ikaros.” Today the Ikaros Stone can be seen on display at the Kuwait National Museum, as you can see below.

Temple A on Failaka was likely dedicated to Artemis. In her lecture series Classical Mythology, Elizabeth Vandiver states that, “the twins Apollo and Artemis are among the most important of the Olympians, they are the offspring of Zeus and a minor goddess named Leto. Many modern dictionaries will say that Apollo is the god of the sun and Artemis the goddess of the moon. They did come to have these associations eventually, but the associations were fairly late in classical culture. One of Artemis’ important shrine was at Ephesus.” In addition to the moon, Artemis is also the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. Below you can see images of the story of the Ceryneian Hind, a large female deer with antlers made of gold and hooves of bronze that Heracles had to capture as part of his labors. Failaka Island used to have wild gazelle, as evidenced by the stamp seals dating back thousands of years to the Dilmun civilization. According to Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander, during the time of Alexander the Great, Failaka “was densely wooded and rich in game and the animals of the island were bred for sacrifice to the island’s goddess.”

Jehan Rajab writes in Voice of the Oud that, “until 1961, there were a few gazelle still surviving [on Failaka]. Once walking in the middle of the island, with the wind gently whistling around, I suddenly saw a sand-coloured gazelle, both ears delicately erect gazing intently at me some yards away. We both stood transfixed staring at each other. It was a magical moment, then the creature broke the spell and flicked away melting into the scenery. I never saw even a sight of one again.”

Besides F5 and Temple A, another Greek archaeological site is F4, known as Tell-Khazneh. UNESCO writes that it is a twelve room structure constructed with mudbrick that was used as a workshop for molding Terracotta statutes as well as a house of relaxation for ship captains and sailors. The panoramic photo below is from Jehan Rajab’s book Failaka Island, F4 can be seen near the seashore to the right while F5 is in the center top.

The images below come from John Hopkins and were taken during a 1974 dig. The set of photos included one of Theresa Howard Carter standing in front of a painting, which I am told is the work of Abdullah Algassar.

These old postcards come from the website Kuwait Philatelic.

The first photo below comes from the work Kuwait Today: A Welfare State, published in 1963. The second was taken to a personal visit to the island in May of 2023.

The photos below come from this flickr account.

From The Danish Archaeology Expedition to Kuwait (1958 – 1963): A Glimpse into the Archive of Moesgard Museum.

From this flickr album: