The Church of the East monastery on Sir Bani Yas is an archaeological site in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

discovered in 1992. The site is significant as evidence of the presence of Christianity in the UAE in the pre-Islamic period. Believed to be

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

, the Christian community continued for at least a century after the arrival of Islam . In 1992 the remnants of an ancient buried building on the eastern side of the island of

Sir Bani Yas Ṣīr Banī Yās ( ar, صِير بَنِي يَاس) is a natural island located southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It lies offshore from Jebel Dhanna, which serves as a crossing point to other islands such as D ...

were discovered, and through further excavations was found to be a 7th century Church of the East Christian

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

which operated for 150 years. The site consists of a church, a monastery and a series of courtyard houses, including dormitories, a kitchen, cells and burial sites. dating to the 7th and 8th centuries CE. The monastery is believed to have housed between 30-40 monks. The complex was built around the sole burial found on the site. Archaeological finds indicate contact with Bahrain, India and Iraq. the site is part of a series of Christian complexes across the Persian Gulf region including

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

at both Akkaz and Al Qusur on

Failaka Island Failaka Island ( ar, فيلكا '' / ''; Kuwaiti Arabic: فيلچا ) 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 ancien ...

, at Kharg on the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

coastline and in the Eastern Province of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Jubail Jubail ( ar, الجبيل, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 684,531 as of 2021. It is home to the largest industrial city in the world. It is also home to th ...

. In 1995, a site director of the excavation project discovered a Christian cross in the form of a small piece of plaster, identifying it as a Christian site by comparing it to ancient churches known from elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region. Assessments by the team in charge of excavating the ancient Christian monastery concluded that the site was, at one time, home to about 30 monks from the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

Stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

decorations were found including Nestorian crosses and vine and scroll motifs. The complex is the oldest Christian site in the UAE.

Other early Christian sites in the UAE

In 2000 further remains were discovered on the island of Marawah, with a church similar to that on Sir Bani Yas.

References

{{coord missing, United Arab Emirates Assyrian Church of the East churches Islands of the United Arab Emirates Christianity in the United Arab Emirates 7th-century churches Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia