the fortunes of this trade. In the 1950s, Danish investigations along the southern shores of the Gulf discovered remains of two of these ancient civilazations, Dilmun and Makkan (Bibby 1969). Survey and excavation in Kuwait beginning in 1958 revealed that the upper Gulf was an important part of Dilmun in the early 2nd millennium. Both before, during and after the flourishing of the Dilmun civilization the island of Failaka located off the Kuwait mainland formed an important role in several Near Eastern trade networks with Mesopotamia as the dominant partner.