was potentially a Mesopotamian domesticate; although it is sometimes thought to have
been domesticated in Arabia owing to early discoveries at two Neolithic sites in the
Gulf (Boivin and Fuller 2009 : 148 ), the sites in question were both engaged in trading
relations with Mesopotamia. In fact it is in Ubaid period Mesopotamia, at Oueili and
Eridu, that the first abundant evidence is found for cultivation of the date palm, albeit
slightly later (Parker 2010 : 198 ). It is not until the Hafit period that comparable
evidence is found in the Oman peninsula, at Hili 8 and HD- 6 (Azzarà in press).
We may therefore detect Mesopotamian agency in the development of the agricul-
tural foundations of Early Bronze Age society in the region. On the other hand, various
authors have pointed out that the earliest local Bronze Age ceramics derive from an
Iranian tradition of black-on-red painted ware, which begins to appear in small quanti-
ties in Hafit period contexts, and then become highly characteristic of the subsequent
Umm an-Nar period (D. Potts 2005 ; Cleuziou and Méry 2002 a: 200 ). Moreover,
metallurgy was already well-developed in Iran, and Cleuziou urges that southeast
Iranian links should be considered, rather than Mesopotamian connections, with
regard to the origins of metallurgy and agriculture in the region, as well as the local
ceramic tradition (Cleuziou and Méry 2002 a: 201 ).
Regarding copper production, current data indicates that between a fifth and a
quarter of Mesopotamia’s demands were fulfilled by metal from the Oman Peninsula
during the Jamdat Nasr, ED I and ED II periods, accounting for 21 per cent, 20 per
cent and 29 per cent of the analysed Mesopotamian inventory respectively. Within the
Oman Peninsula no smelting sites earlier than the mid-third millennium have yet been
identified (Weeks 2003 ), but there can be no doubt that copper production was taking
place on an increasing scale. Hafit period copper finds are reasonably plentiful, and
include fish-hooks, pins, tweezers and blades (Cleuziou 1989 : pl. 33 , 2 – 6 ; Cleuziou and
Méry 2002 b: 282 ; Begemann et al. 2010 : 138 ; Azzarà 2009 : 13 , n. 1 ; Frifelt 1971 : fig. 12
B–C, fig. 22 C–E; Frifelt 1975 : fig. 5 ; Cleuziou 1977 : 17 , 20 ; Boehme 2011 : fig. 3 ).
Mesopotamia and the Central and Upper GulfThe Central Gulf region renewed contacts with Mesopotamia during the Late Uruk
period. Apart from the archaeological evidence (see below), protoliterate texts from
Uruk provide early attestations to Dilmun, which by the second half of the third
millennium is well identified with Bahrain and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
The protoliterate references often mention Dilmun in conjunction with copper,
therefore either Omani copper passed through the Central Gulf, or Dilmun was then
used as a broad geographical designation for all areas on the southern side of the Gulf,
including the Oman Peninsula.
The evidence includes both lexical lists and economic documents. In the former we
find enku-dilmun, also transliterated Dilmun-enkux (ZÀ), enku being an official
concerned with tax or rent collection (Green and Nissen 1987 : 186 , Sign 77 ; D.T. Potts
1990 : 86 ). The translation “Dilmun tax-collector” is offered (Englund 1983 : 35 ;
D.T. Potts 1990 : 86 ). Such a man might have been responsible for collecting a portion
of the goods brought back by trading expeditions into the Gulf. Also in the lexical lists,
under metals, is either tun 3 –dilmun (Englund 1983 : 35 ), being an unidentified object
made of Dilmun-metal, or tun 2 –dilmun, being a ‘Dilmun axe’ (Nissen 1986 : 338 ). A geo-
graphical list (G 6 ) includes Dilmun, indicating that it had a geographical designation.
–– Robert Carter ––