Pottery jar, Tylos period, containing 310 imitation silver tetradrachms, excavated in 1970 close to the North rampart of the fort, in the Qal'at Al-Bahrain Site Museum, near Manama in Bahrain. The coins were minted in the 2nd century BC and are imitations of the official coinage of Alexander the Great used in the Seleucid Empire, with Alexander as Heracles on one side and, unusually, Shamash, an Eastern Arabian divinity, on the other. The museum was opened in 2008, displaying artefacts of the history and archaeology of the Qal'at al-Bahrain, or Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, built 6th century AD, once the capital of the Dilmun Civilisation. Qal'at al-Bahrain is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Picture by Manuel Cohen
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