A SAUDI archaeologist, certain that he holds the key to a 4,000-year-old secret, gave a tour of the historic Saar Temple yesterday in his 12th attempt to convince Bahraini heritage chiefs that he is right.

Nabiel Al Shaikh, a photographer and archaeologist at Dammam Regional Museum, Saudi Arabia, is also hoping to drum up support among the Bahraini public.

He thinks the unusual corner of an ancient temple, located at the Saar settlement, was once a device used to measure the position of the sun - proving that the Dilmun civilisation followed a solar calendar.

The tour of the temple, which was meant to coincide with sunset was given from 5.30pm yesterday.

On the summer solstice, which falls on June 21 every year, he says the sun would set directly over the unusual corner.

The summer solstice is the first day of summer and also the day when the sun reaches its most northern point in the sky.

However, his theory has been undermined by the fact that the sun no longer sets directly over the corner of the temple when viewed from the inside.

He believes the temple corner was a device used by priests to know when the new year had started.

Mr Al Shaikh has made an annual pilgrimage to the Saar settlement since 1996 to watch the sunset from the temple, which he believes was a tool for identifying the seasons - allowing priests to know the best times for harvesting, fishing, sailing and farming.

But although the Bahrain government continues to offer support, heritage chiefs have yet to reward the theory with any official status.

Mr Al Shaikh says the fact that the sun does not set directly over the temple corner could be attributed to movement of the soil - backing up his claim by pointing out the slanting walls and doorways.

Although the theory is yet to be officially recognised, it has won support from others in the field including Saudi-based Australian archaeologist Claire Reeler. Among those present were Ms Reeler and American photographer Kay Erickson.