msmooretravels

Books about Failaka Island

Here is a list of a few important books to read when studying Failaka Island:

Here is a list of a few important journals & articles:

Here are publications about Hellenistic archaeological finds:

Here are publications about Bronze Age archaeological finds:

Here are publications about the stamp seals:

Here are books published by the Ministry of Information Department of Antiquity & Museums:

Books by Khaled Salem Muhammad:

This website has compiled various books about Failaka, which you can see below. Khaled Salem Muhammad was a scholar who has written many books on Failaka that are often cited in bibliographies of other works on the island. In the article Spatial Assessment of pre-20th-century settlements on Failaka Island by Mohamed Aziz and O. Alotaibi they include a map by Muhammad for which they say, “The Ancient Features Map, by the researcher Khaled Salem Muhammad. This map dates back to the year 1958. Muhammad projected different sites on the basis of his own experience with the sites — as a peninsula national, in collaboration with elderly inhabitants of the island, and following a comprehensive field survey of the peninsula’s territories and features.” According to the bibliography of Aziz and Alotaibi’s article, Muhammad’s works include:

  • (1977) The Island of Failaka: A Historical Perspective between the Greeks and the Twentieth Century. Al-Nahda Magazine, Issue 523, October, p. 45, Kuwait.
  • (1985)  Scenes of Life in Ancient Times on the Island of Failaka. Al Rubayan Publishing
  • (1993) The Island of Failaka: A Historical/Social Perspective, 2nd edition. Dar Al-Kutob Publishing
  • (1996) Pages from the Past of the Island of Failaka, 3rd edition. Dar  Al-Kutob Publishing
  • (2000) Kuwait in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Dar Al-Oruba Publishing and Distribution, Kuwait.
  • (2006) Failaka Island: The Most Famous Kuwaiti Island, History and Heritage.

Books by Danish scholars:

  • (1968) l-Bahrain: De danske ekspeditioner til oldtidens Dilmun, P.V. Glob
  • (1969) Looking for Dilmun, Geoffrey Bibby
  • (1970) Rejsedagbøger, Thorkild Hansen

Here are publications by the French archaeological teams have dug at Failaka:

It is stated on this website that, “The island of Failaka is a foremost site for archaeologists because of the density of major settlements documenting the history of the Middle East during various periods. Many of these settlements were excavated by the French Mission in Kuwait. Between 1983 and 2009, the team dug five key areas in Kuwait, unearthing temples and churches, fortifications, and dwellings: Bronze Age Tell F6, Achemenid Tell Khazneh, Hellenistic Fortress of Tell F5, Early Islamic al‑Qusur and diachronic Akkaz. Since then, preliminary results have been published but most of the data is unpublished and inaccessible. During the Gulf War (1990‑1991), all the archives of the Kuwait National Museum were lost and numerous artifacts disappeared, were mixed, or destroyed. The White Levy Grant will allow us to carry out data curation and proper digitization to make all the archives of this Mission freely and publicly available online (under Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC) on a dedicated website linked to a database. It will also be the first step before completing the final publication of al‑Qusur settlement. This Christian monastery, dating at least as far back as the Umayyad period and located in the middle of the island, was excavated during five campaigns (1988-1989, 2007-2009) by the French Mission in Kuwait. The publication project (Open Research in Failaka: processing archives of the French Mission in Kuwait (1983- 2009) for open access dissemination and final publication) is directed by Dr. Julie Bonnéric in collaboration with Florent Gelsomino.”

(1975) The Kuwaiti Digest National Day Issue – Quarterly House Journal of The Kuwait Oil Company Volume Three, Number One, January / March 1975. Ahmad, Haider; Ralph Shaw; William R. McDowall. Published by KOC

Italian works on Kuwait & Failaka

Other archaeological sites or missions:

Older works that discuss Failaka (the only one of the following which does so meaningfully is Lorimer, the rest of the sources only briefly mention the island):

Books about Kuwait more generally that discuss Failaka:

  • (1980) Modern Kuwait, David Sapsted
  • (1991) The Origins of Kuwait, BJ Slot
  • (1992) Kuwait: A Nation’s Story, Peter Vine

Here are various works focused on or that discuss the Dilmun civilization:

    Relevant Databases & Websites:

    A list of academic articles that discuss Failaka, found on jstor, academia, or similar databases:

    Here are images from the 1972 book Kuwait: Prospect and Reality by Zahra Freeth

    5 comments

    Leave a Reply