Gulf monasteries: Siniya Island and Sir Bani Yas
c. c. 590 – c. 750
Place: siniya-island · coming soon
25.600, 55.600 · Approximate location. · On the map
The archaeology is published. Coordinates for Siniya are approximate; Sir Bani Yas is at 24.33, 52.60. The Kharg Island monastery is now usually dated later (9th c.).
Excavations in the UAE have found monasteries of the Church of the East on Siniya Island (Umm al-Quwain), occupied from the late 6th or early 7th century to the mid-8th, and on Sir Bani Yas, from the second half of the 7th century. They show that the Gulf's Christian communities lasted through Muhammad's lifetime and well into Islamic rule.
Links
Text and wording
In
Beth Qatraye: Christianity on the Gulf coast
The Siniya and Sir Bani Yas monasteries are part of the Gulf Church of the East network.
includes
attested
Sequence
Out
Gulf monasteries were active during and after Muhammad's lifetime.
contemporary_with
attested
Sources
- 'Excavations at a late antique to early Islamic pearling town and monastery on Siniya Island, Umm al-Quwain', Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
Archaeopress. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Robert A. Carter, 'Christianity in the Gulf during the First Centuries of Islam', Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 19 (2008)
Wiley. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Wikipedia: Sir Bani Yas
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.