Failaka Island
| Native name: جزيرة فيلچا | |
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Beach at Failaka Island
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 Failaka Island
Location in Kuwait
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| Geography | |
| Location | Persian Gulf |
| Coordinates | 29°26′20″N 48°20′00″E / 29.43889°N 48.33333°ECoordinates: 29°26′20″N 48°20′00″E / 29.43889°N 48.33333°E |
| Administration | |
| Province | Ahmadi Governorate |
Failaka Island (Kuwaiti Arabic: فيلچا /fe:lɪt͡ʃə/, Arabic: فيلكا Faylakah / Fēlaka ) is a Kuwaiti Island in the Persian Gulf. The island is 20 km off the coast of Kuwait City in the Persian Gulf. The name "Failaka" is thought to be derived from the ancient Greek φυλάκιο(ν) - fylakio(n) "outpost".
In 2000 B.C., Mesopotamians settled in Failaka at least a century before the Dilmun civilization. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur occupied Failaka and ran a mercantile business. Failaka had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B.C.
Starting in the 3rd millennium BC, Failaka belonged to the Dilmun civilization. During the Dilmun era (from ca. 3000 BC), Failaka was known as "Agarum", the land of Enzak, a great god in the Dilmun civilization according to Sumerian cuneiform texts found on the island. As part of Dilmun, Failaka became a hub for the civilization from the end of the 3rd to the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Failaka was settled following 2000 BC after a drop in sea level.
After the Dilmun civilization, Failaka was inhabited by the Kassites of Mesopotamia, and was formally under the control of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. Studies indicate traces of human settlement can be found on Failaka dating back to as early as the end of the 3rd millennium BC, and extending until the 20th century AD. Many of the artifacts found in Falaika are linked to Mesopotamian civilizations and seem to show that Failaka was gradually drawn toward the civilization based in Antioch.
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