BAHRAIN STORIES -Natural Pearls of Bahrain

The Bahraini Pearl                                                                                         
I have been acquainted with pearls since my move to the tiny Persian Gulf island of Bahrain nearly three years ago.  My curiosity about the little gems has led me into identifying and exploring the nature of their history and their collection.                                                                                                                                
Prior to written history, human beings -- in all probability -- came upon Gulf pearls while combing the seashore for food.  Throughout the ensuing centuries, however, divers would collect splendid natural pearls from the seas off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar, creating a colossal domain that would set the stage for a unique undertaking that would eventually change the mercantile and social symmetry of the area.                                                                                                                                 

Known as the cradle of the pearling trade, Bahrain’s heritage and historical evidence confirm that some of the best gems emerged from its boundaries. Currently, diving for profit off the shores of Bahrain’s warm and shallow Arabian Gulf waters is a memory of the past as pearling is now almost entirely only practiced as a sport.                                                                                                 
Esteemed by many, the lustrous pearl is unique among the world’s gemstones. Reflecting light evenly and efficiently without glitter or sparkle, pearls are the only natural gems nurtured inside living organisms; the exquisite luster of Bahraini pearls derived from the distinctive fusion of the salty sea and the sweet water springs that collect near the coastal basin surrounding the islands. Bahrain in Arabic, means precisely 'two seas' referring to the natural springs that rise from the depth of its seabed. 

Origins                                                                                                              A natural pearl develops by accident within the oyster or mollusk, as the product of alien irritants such as grains of sand, dust particles, parasites or even seaweed that may squeeze into the shell. As a protection mechanism, the oyster secretes fluid -- called nacre -- around the irritant coating it and layering it repeatedly over time, until the pearl forms. When numerous irritants penetrate an oyster, several pearls may be uncovered within a single shell. Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is the lustrous substance that makes up the gem.                                                                                                                    
Locally recorded accounts reveal that the superb reputation of Gulf pearls gave this area its significant commercial appeal. Cherished by numerous civilizations, men have forever been captivated by pearls; the Persians alleged pearls to be tears of the Gods, while Romans and Greeks considered them drops of dew and divine seeds, their delicate luster denoting wealth, purity and perfection.

Some 3000 years before Christ, men along these parts were diving for pearls off the Arabian Peninsula and the surrounding Persian Gulf islands. Bahrain is still considered the leading authority in the trade of the finest natural pearls. Even today, ‘man-altered’ cultured pearls are barred from the Bahrain gem market in an important effort to preserve its local heritage. 

  Legend, Affluence and Collapse                                     

Ancient Arabian tales portray pearls as the result of raindrops -- spilling over with moonlight -on their downward journey into the seas, to be received by partly opened oyster shells. Fantasy notwithstanding, the affluent oyster beds surrounding the islands, made Bahrain an important pearling sanctuary.                                                                           

Early on, in the ancient kingdom of Assyria, in northern Mesopotamia’s earliest recorded history, inscriptions remain making allusion to the ‘lustrous beads’ taken from the waters around Dilmun (Bahrain’s ancient name). Pearls created a center of magnetism for pirates, traders, and local divers -generating a platform for Arab and Persian tribal rulers- to clash in bloody warfare over control of the rich Arabian Gulf’s oyster resources.                                                                    

Lush oyster pearl banks embedded along the archipelago’s coastlines, and the booming business to harvest them, brought along vital economic revenue to Bahrain -exclusively- until the 1930’s The natural pearl industry and its life-style, however, were eventually replaced when a Japanese man by the name of Kokichi Mikimoto was propelled onto the world’s gem markets with the development and introduction of the cultured pearl. Since then, Japan has been a top leader on the market.                                                                     Opportunely enough, at about the time pearling was declining in the area -- due to over usage of coastal waters, the world’s economic depression, and the new-fangled cultured pearl development -the momentous discovery of oil launched Bahrain on a new passageway to prosperity.