Pre-islmaic Christian monastery in UAE!
Recommended for Preparatory Grades
On an island in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an old Christian monastery is found. As per experts, it may have been built before Islam took over the Arabian Peninsula.
What is a monastery?
A monastery is a building or group of buildings where priests or religious figures live and work.
The discovery of a monastery on an island gives a new perspective on the history of early Christianity. It is the second monastery in the Emirates of this kind. Historians estimate it could be as old as 1,400 years.
Key facts!
- Scholars say that as the number of Muslims in the area grew, more and more Christians converted to Islam.
- As a result, the sands of time erased the two monasteries from history.
- The monastery is on Siniyah Island which is about 50 kilometres northeast of Dubai.
- The layout of the monastery makes it look like the early Christians who worshipped there did so in a single-aisle church.
- It looks like some of the rooms inside the church have a sacred font.
- An oven was also found that could have been used to bake bread or wafers for communion.
- A second building next to the monastery was also found.
- It has four rooms and most likely was built around a courtyard.
- Historians estimate that it may have been the home of a priest.
- Even though most of the UAE is becoming more urban quickly, the royal family has kept ownership of the island.
- This has made it possible to excavate places from the past.
- The UAE Ministry of Culture is helping to pay for some of the excavation work that is still going on at the site.
Check out the video by “Journeyman Pictures” on YouTube to see what life is like inside a monastery.
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