Exploring Bahrain: A Country With Desert Landscapes

Bahrain is a desert nation in the Persian Gulf, consisting of Bahrain Island and 33 of the 37 Bahrain Islands. The country is mostly a low-lying and barren desert, with outcroppings of limestone forming low rolling hills, stubby cliffs, and shallow ravines. The landscape is covered by saline sand, which can support only the most resilient desert plants, such as thorn trees and scrub. The country's capital, Manama, is located about 40km from the Tree of Life, a 400-year-old Prosopis cineraria tree that stands 9.75m tall in the middle of the desert.

The Tree of Life

The survival of the Tree of Life remains a mystery. Bahrain receives little to no rain throughout the year, and there is no obvious water source nearby. Some believe that the tree's roots, which are 50 metres (160 feet) deep, may reach a water source, while others speculate that the tree extracts moisture from the sand or the air. The tree's resilience has puzzled locals and scientists alike, with various theories put forward to explain its survival.

The tree has also gained a mystical reputation, with some claiming it is the same Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible and that it stands in what was once the Garden of Eden. Others believe it is protected by Enki, the ancient Sumerian god of freshwater.

Bahrain's desert landscape

Bahrain is a small Middle Eastern country in the Persian Gulf, comprising Bahrain Island and 33 of the 37 Bahrain Islands. The country is mostly desert, with 92% of its land classified as such. The landscape is arid and barren, with little to no rain throughout the year. The terrain is mostly low-lying, with outcroppings of limestone forming shallow hills, cliffs, and ravines. The limestone is covered by saline sand, which supports hardy desert vegetation, including thorn trees and scrub.

The Tree of Life, or Shajarat-al-Hayat, is an iconic symbol of Bahrain's desert landscape. This Prosopis cineraria tree stands 9.75 metres (32 feet) tall and is estimated to be over 400 years old. It is located on a barren hill in the Arabian Desert, approximately 40 kilometres from Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The tree's resilience and lush foliage, despite the absence of a visible water source, have puzzled scientists and drawn visitors from around the world.

The Kingdom has been facing environmental challenges, including desertification, due to the degradation of limited arable land, drought, and dust storms. Additionally, coastal degradation has resulted from oil spills and discharges from large tankers, refineries, and distribution stations.

The country's arid climate

Bahrain has an arid climate. The country experiences two seasons: an extremely hot summer and a relatively mild winter. During the summer months, from April to October, the average temperature in the afternoon is 40 °C (104 °F) and can reach 46 °C (114.8 °F) in May, June and July. The combination of intense heat and high humidity makes this season uncomfortable.

In addition, a hot, dry wind known as the qaws blows sand clouds across the barren southern end of Bahrain toward Manama in the summer. Temperatures are more moderate in the winter months, from November to March, ranging between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F). However, humidity often rises above 90% during this time. From December to March, prevailing winds from the northwest, known as the shamal, bring damp air over the islands.

Regardless of the season, daily temperatures are fairly uniform throughout the archipelago. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Bahrain was on 20 January 1964, when it dropped to -5 °C (23 °F) in Awali and 2.7 °C (36 °F) at Bahrain International Airport. This particular freeze was accompanied by a white-out, with icicles forming on trees and fences.

Bahrain receives little precipitation, with the average annual rainfall being 72 millimetres (2.8 inches). Rainfall is usually confined to the winter months, and there are no permanent rivers or streams on any of the islands. The winter rains tend to fall in brief, torrential downpours, flooding the shallow wadis that remain dry for the rest of the year and impeding transportation.

Little of the rainwater is saved for irrigation or drinking. However, there are numerous natural springs in the northern part of Bahrain and on adjacent islands. Underground freshwater deposits also extend beneath the Persian Gulf to the Saudi Arabian coast. These springs have been an important source of drinking water for Bahrain and have attracted settlers to the archipelago since ancient times. Despite increasing salinization, the springs continue to be a crucial source of drinking water for the country. Since the early 1980s, desalination plants have provided about 60% of daily water consumption needs.

The Arabian Desert

The climate is predominantly dry, with most areas receiving around 100mm of rain per year, though some places get as little as 30-50mm. Temperatures are extremely hot in the summer, with average highs in low-lying areas generally over 40°C, and can reach 48°C along the Persian Gulf. In the winter, temperatures can drop below freezing at night. The sunshine duration index is very high, with between 2,900 and 3,600 hours of sunshine a year, and cloudy periods are rare.

The desert is bordered to the north by the Syrian Desert, to the northeast and east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, to the southeast and south by the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and to the west by the Red Sea. A large part of the Arabian Desert lies within Saudi Arabia, with Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq making up the rest of the region.

The desert consists of two major regions. The first, the ancient Arabian platform, is in the west and is composed mainly of Precambrian gneiss. The second region, in the east, comprises sedimentary rock layers deposited over the past 541 million years on continental shelves and within marine basins along the margins of the Arabian platform. The Arabian Desert is the richest petroleum-producing region in the world, with vast amounts of petroleum formed between the sedimentary rock layers.

The landscape is characterised by broad plains covered with chert, other rocks, or gravel, as well as plateaus, sand dunes, and sabkhahs (saline flats). The sand dunes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including barchan (crescent-shaped), seif (linear), and pyramidal. The two largest sand bodies in the Arabian Desert are Al-Nafūd in the northwest and the Rubʿ al-Khali in the southeast.

The ecoregion has about 900 species of plants, though the Rub'al-Khali has very limited floristic diversity, with only 37 plant species. Vegetation is evenly distributed, with some interruptions of near-sterile dunes. Some typical plants include Calligonum crinitum, Cornulaca arabica (saltbush), Salsola stocksii (saltbush), and Cyperus conglomeratus. There are also around 102 native species of mammals, including the Arabian oryx, sand gazelle, mountain gazelle, and Nubian ibex. The area is also home to 310 bird species.

The Garden of Eden

Nearly 92% of Bahrain is desert, and the island has often been referred to as the Garden of Eden. Bahrain was historically known as Dilmun, a prosperous trading society with abundant supplies of water and lush vegetation. Dilmun is described in ancient Mesopotamian mythology as a pure and holy place, a "land of immortality" where sickness and death did not exist. The Sumerian tale of Dilmun, a garden paradise, is believed to have inspired the biblical story of the Garden of Eden.

The "Tree of Life" in Bahrain further fuels the speculation of Bahrain as the Garden of Eden. This 400 to 500-year-old mesquite tree stands alone in the desert, with no visible water source to sustain it. Despite the arid conditions, the tree is flourishing, with green leaves and roots full of water. The tree, also known as "Shajarat-al-Hayat", holds cultural and sacred significance. Some believe it to be the actual Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden, while others attribute its existence to Enki, the ancient Sumerian god of freshwater.

The archaeological significance of Bahrain as a potential site for the Garden of Eden is further supported by the discovery of the ruins of the Barbar Temples, built on a water spring. The temples were once used to worship the God of Spring Waters and his Sacred Wells, adding to the idea of Bahrain as a place of abundant water sources.

British archaeologist Geoffrey Bibby conducted extensive archaeological investigations along the southwest coast of the Arabian Gulf, which he published in his book, "Looking for Dilmun" in 1969. He discovered the remains of a Sumerian civilisation, providing evidence of Bahrain's ancient connection to Dilmun.

While modern scholars generally dismiss the idea of Bahrain as the Garden of Eden, the country's rich history and cultural significance continue to spark curiosity and intrigue.

Frequently asked questions