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Bahrain: No.4 One dinar
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First issued — 16 October 1965.
Size — 148 mm x 68 mm.
Signature — Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman al Khalifah.
Watermark — The head of a falcon.
Security thread — Solid.
Printer — Thomas de la Rue and Company.
Illustration — Crest of Bahrain, with a dhow in full sail and two beached dhows.
Back
Illustration — The ruins of the Suq al Khamis (Thursday Market) mosque are one of the oldest relics of Islam in the whole Arabian Gulf. Originally found to the south of Manama, the modern metropolis has grown to encircle the ruins. Dominated by two minarets, whose construction is relatively modern, the ruins have been restored and reinforced with concrete. Although the age of the mosque is not known, it was recorded that an inscription once appeared on one of the mosque’s wall dating part of the construction at 740 AH (1339 AD). One sign of the antiquity of the mosque is the use of a ‘Qibla’ wall, which had stones set beside them to indicate the direction of Mecca. In most mosques, the direction of Mecca is indicated by a ‘Mihrab’ or prayer niche in one wall of the mosque. The use of Qibla stones is therefore quite unusual, with the only other mosques known to have Qibla stones being those of Ibn Tulun in Cairo and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.
Built inside a wall that measured twenty-seven by thirty yards, the mosque was constructed from stones quarried in Bahrain. Built around a central courtyard, the pillars and columns were joined by arches that supported a teak frame, which in turn supported a roof that was probably constructed with brushwood.