The Bahrain National Museum was officially inaugurated by the late Amir H.H. Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa on 15 December 1988. It was considered one of the finest museums of its kind in the Gulf region. Today, the Bahrain National Museum is one of the island’s main cultural landmarks.

Conceived and designed by Krohn and Hartvig Rasmussen, the outstanding building is characterized by its white travertine marble facade and is centrally located on an artificial peninsula overlooking the island of Muharraq. The museum complex is composed of two connected buildings with approximately 20,000 square metres of floor space. The main building houses the permanent exhibition area, temporary exhibition halls, an art gallery, a lecture hall, gift shop and café. The administrative offices, curatorial research areas, conservation laboratories, exhibition construction and collection storage areas are located in the administrative building.

 
The Museum is the repository of 6000 years of Bahrain’s history. The story of Bahrain comes to life in the Halls of Graves, Dilmun, Tylos and Islam, Customs and Traditions, Traditional Trades and Crafts, and Documents and Manuscripts. The exhibition halls, located on the ground and first floors, are accessed by the grand foyer, a large dramatic space accented by shafts of natural light, which hosts the exhibition, “Investing in Culture”.