According to officials, archaeologists unearthed an old Christian monastery on a small island off the coast of the UAE.
A new perspective on the history of early Christianity along the Arabian Gulf coast can be gained from the monastery on Siniyah Island, which is a part of the sand dune emirate of Umm Al-Quwain.
It is the second monastery of this type to be discovered in the Emirates, and it dates back as far as 1,400 years, long before the region’s vast deserts gave rise to a rich oil industry.
The two monasteries were lost in the sands of time as scholars assume that as Islam became more dominant in the area, Christians gradually converted to the Islamic faith.
Christians are still a minority in the greater Middle East today. The UAE is currently a “mixing pot of nations,” according to Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University who assisted in the investigation of the recently discovered monastery.
It is quite amazing that something similar occurred 1,000 years ago, and this is a tale that needs to be recounted, he said.
The monastery is located on Siniyah Island, which protects the Khor Al-Beida marshlands in Umm Al-Quwain, an emirate located along the Arabian Gulf coast about 50 kilometres northeast of Dubai. Archaeologists found the monastery in the northeastern corner of the island.
The island has long been under the control of the royal family, which has protected it and made it possible to find historical sites there. The discovery team is still working at the location, and it is partially financed by the UAE’s Ministry of Culture. There are a number of structures beside the church that archaeologists think are part of a pre-Islamic community.
On some parts of the island, mountains of discarded clams from the pearling industry resemble enormous, industrial-sized hills. Another settlement nearby was destroyed by the British in 1820 before the area joined the Trucial States, the forerunner of the UAE. The modern-day hamlet of Umm Al-Quwain on the mainland was founded as a result of the destruction of that village.
On Sir Bani Yas Island, a natural preserve and location for opulent hotels off the coast of Abu Dhabi and close to the Saudi border, archaeologists found the first Christian monastery in the United Arab Emirates in the early 1990s. It also originates from the same time period as the recent discovery at Umm Al-Quwain.
However, the Khor Al-Beida marshlands in Umm Al-Quwain have been home to humans continuously for at least 10,000 years, according to Neolithic-era evidence of early life there.
