Bahrain’s pearl heritage: reviving the millennium of the old culture

“I always say that all Bahrainis has a pearl in his blood,” Mohamed Alsloise, a pearl Diver and a field research for the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Jewels (Datas) UN news. “Almost all families moving from the Arab Gulf or Iranian coast in Bahrain were divers.”

Mr. Alsloise is passionate in preserving and reviving this age tradition, notes that many families in the Gulf have a member who were a pearl diver or contributed to a pearl diving industry.

Biseli in the Persian Bay of Bahrain’s economy for thousands of years, but after the top around around 20. century, the perfection of cultivated pearls in Japan from the 1930s provoked a sharp and devastating industry.

Khaled Salman, a diver since the 1970s, explains that while Roni continues, he is no longer working on old.

“Today, larger quantities were extracted in technology, enabling divers to remain under water for a long time period. In the past, the diver would remain under water, but now divers can stay under water or more.”

Due to lower pearl prices, Salman records, “many people do not sell pearls that draw; stored them until prices are growing and then sell them to Bahrain.”

Some pearls are used in local industries, while others are placed outside Bahrain. He also emphasizes three types of pearls: synthetic, culture and natural, adding that “distinguishing these species requires experience and modern equipment.”

Pearl decline also affected Bahrain shipbuilding. Abdulla, the designer of wooden ships and boats for more than 35 years of perspective: “Bahrain is famous for its industry shipbuilding, which was an integral composition for the pearl, varied with design, but now smaller ships for the pearl due to reduced demand.”

Wood for shipbuilding is imported from Africa and Singapore, and, says Abdull, the lifespan of the ship can stretch out of 100 years.

Folklore, songs and tradition

“Most of the Bahrain traditions are associated with the pearl diving industry. For example, pearl diving songs,” says Mr. Alsloise. “The folklore of pearl diving is transmitted to generations. We are still singing the same songs, which were originally foamed to strengthen morale on ships.”

Bahreen’s historical pearl site, known as Pearling Path, is enrolled As a place of world heritage by an educational, scientific and cultural organization of the United Nations (UNESCO). The site testifies to a pearl tradition and a fortune that was generated in the Gulf region for millennia.

According to UNESCO, the area consists of 17 buildings in Murharraq, three island cameras, part of the sea coast and the fortress Qal’at bu mahir on the southern top of the island of Muharraq, where are the storage ships from the bed.

There are shops, warehouses, mosques and homes of a rich dealer in the area. According to UNESCO, the location is the only complete example of the cultural tradition of pearl culture and wealth that has produced when the Gulf Economy has dominated the second century trade from the second century to Japan, developed cultivated pearls.

It also represents an outstanding example of the traditional use of marine resources and human interaction with the environment, which shaped the economy and cultural identity of the island of Island Society.

Pearling returned

“I am one of the people who have fallen in love with the pearl diving without any instructions of my parents or families,” Mr. Alsloise. “The generation before us was not allowed to dive when they were young because, after the oil was discovered, all jobs switched to the oil industry.”

According to Mr. Alslaise, since 2017, when the Bahraini authorities introduced the imported licenses for pearl diving, many people who reported did not have previous knowledge of pearl diving.

“Now, seven years down the line, many Bahrainis have rejoined with this heritage. Over 1000 divers are now registered and Roni to create income for themselves.”