Photographs I took on Failaka in January of 2023 and May of 2023

Failaka Island has been called various names throughout its history. The ancient Dilmun civilization called it Agarum, meaning the land of Inzak (their primary deity). Alexander the Great 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.”

Photographs I took on Failaka in January of 2023 and May of 2023

Tell Khazneh

Near the end of his life, Alexander the Great sent several expeditions to explore the Arabian Gulf. In his work the Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian described Failaka/Ikaros, stating the islanders had a shrine dedicated to Artemis:

“there were two islands in the sea facing the mouth of the Euphrates… the smaller of the two… was densely covered with every kind of timber. In it was also a temple of Artemis, around which the inhabitants themselves spent their lives. The island was devoted to the use of wild goats and stags, which were allowed to range at large as being dedicated to Artemis. It was unlawful to chase them unless any one wished to offer sacrifice to the goddess; and for this purpose alone it was lawful to chase them. Aristobulus says that Alexander ordered this island to be called Icarus, after the island so named in the Aegean Sea, on which, as the report goes, Icarus, son of Daedalus fell, when the wax, by which the wings had been fastened to him, melted.”

Many scholars believe that this pre-Hellenistic sanctuary was located at Tell Khazneh. We do not know what goddess it was actually dedicated to, but the Greeks connected her with Artemis-the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. Artemis had a twin brother named Apollo. 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 [they] were fairly late in classical culture.”

As you can also read in Arrian’s work, the island had wild goats and deer, which were unlawful to hunt unless you were going to sacrifice at the shrine. Failaka Island used to have wild gazelle, as evidenced by the stamp seals dating back thousands of years to the Dilmun civilization. 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.”

F5/Tell Sa’id

The most iconic archaeological site on Failaka is the Hellenistic Fortress. After the premature death of Alexander, his empire was split among his generals. A man named Seleucus became the ruler of the Seleucid Empire. Scholars report that he sent his son Antiochus to secure Failaka, on which they built a fortress. 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.”

Renderings of the temple, seen in the small museum on site

The fortress also included two temples: Temple A and B. The more famous of the two, 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 Achaemenian style.”

From works by Jehan Rejab and Geoffrey Bibby

The Ikaros Stone was uncovered within the ruins of F5 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.

F4/Al Khan “The Guest House”

Another Greek archaeological site is F4. UNESCO writes that it is a twelve room structure constructed with mudbrick that was used as a house of relaxation for ship captains and sailors. There was also one room which was a workshop for molding Terracotta statutes. 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. You can also see images from an old documentary that show Hellenistic statues that have been unearthed at Failaka.

Images of the Hellenistic Site son Failaka

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.

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

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.

Here are old postcards and stamps found on eBay or delcampe:

These old postcards come from the website Kuwait Philatelic.

The photos from the 1980s below come from this flickr account.

Postcard from the 1980s:

From this flickr album, dated to 2011: