KUWAIT
HISTORY :
Ancient ruins have not been drilled for in the State of Kuwait
except in Failaka and Akaz Islands despite the availability of
the archeological indications in various regions of the Kuwaiti
land reinforced by the geographical site and the archeological
discoveries in the adjacent regions.
On Failaka Island, investigations for ruins revealed the existence
of ruins which were contemporary with the Delmon Civilization
nearly 2000 B.C. Failaka Island was an active Commercial Station
between Bahrain and the Mesopotamia. Alexandria the Great has
founded a Greece Hellenistic colony around the late of the fourth
century B.C. He called this Island Ikarus which became a domicile
for the Greek community and foreign merchants in addition to its
original inhabitants. But competition took place between Kings
of Egypt and the Byzantine in Syria and Petra in Jordan regarding
Trading and in particular the trade of incense form the peninsula.
This competition resulted in victory for the Kings of Egypt which
decreased the importance of Ikarus Island (Failaka) as one of
the stations on that prosperous sea rout and finally it was deserted.
Human life was not resumed on this Island unless it was inhabited
by a group of the Kuwaiti people. But as to Akaz, settlement on
this Island may have not stopped as on the first century A.D to
the ninth or tenth century A.D.
This temple is located inside a castle on Kuwaiti Failaka Island.
It is a Hellenistic Greek pattern built temple as shown in this
picture. There is an altar inside the temple. It is thought that
it was built to serve the Greek god Apollo.
There are some Greek coins were found on Failaka Island.
They may be referred to the Age of the Macedonian Alexander the
Great. Such coins were found during the excavations made by the
official authorities in Kuwait.
Some other coins were found by the Island inhabitants while they
were excavating foundations for their houses.
KUWAIT ORIGIN & LOCATION:
Kuwait lies on the Northwest corner of the Arabian Gulf. Its port
is the best on the North of the Arabian Gulf. It is the gate of
the north part of Peninsula desert and a connection point between
the sea routs leading to India and East Africa, and also the land
routs leading to Great Syria and Europe. Through this port the
necessary goods including rice, coffee, sugar and textiles arrive
to be sold in the desert. If Shuwaikh Port was not there, then
it should be necessary to create such seaport, which is ideal
in its geography and nature.
Before three centuries Kuwait was a coastal village where its
inhabitants living on fishing and on what may be introduced by
the adjacent ports. Then a group of Arab families immigrated to
it including Al Subah Family who were chosen by the Kuwaiti people
to be their rules. In a letter sent by Shaikh Mubarak (Kuwait
ruler between 1896 -1915 ) to Basra ruler where he said in it:
"Kuwait is a desert land where to our ancestor Subah came in 1022
A.H, ( 1613A.D)."
Among the maps showing the borders between Kuwait and the Ottoman
Iraq, these map which was described by the two brothers (Oateter)
for the Ottoman State & Persia. In this map Kathma (Kuwait) appears
as the Coast and opposite to it Kathma Port was written on it:
This map was set before1737 .
