Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and southeastern Arabia

Abstract EN

Excavations by the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) have identified two pre-lslamic Christian monasteries west of Abu Dhabi, on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah.

The former seems to have been abandoned in the mid- to late Seventh Century AD, while the second, on Maraivah, may have been abandoned at approximately the same time, and before completion.

The two sites are the first archaeological evidence of the presence of Christianity in the United Arab Emirates, and, indeed, in southeastern Arabia.

The majority of the pre-lslamic Christians in the area were from the Church of the East, formerly knoivn as the Nestorian Christians.

In southeastern Arabia, Christianity rapidly disappeared after the coming of Islam, probably as a result of conversion or dispersal.

For a period of time in the middle of the First Millennium AD, however, Christianity was an important part of the historic culture of this part of Arabia.