monastery
Sir Bani Yas church and monastery
Sir Bani Yas Island, Al Dhafra, United Arab Emirates · Persia & Church of the East (supplement)
24.333, 52.600
Attested. Archaeologically attested. Dating is from finds, plus limited radiocarbon results.
Since 1992, excavations on this Gulf island have revealed a church, monastic dormitories and scattered monks' cells of the Church of the East, dated to the 7th-8th centuries and possibly starting in the late 6th. A cross plaque found in 2025 links the site to Christian art from Iraq and Kuwait. It is the first ancient Christian site found in the UAE.
Source stance: neutral. Archaeology.
People and groups named here
- Monks of the Church of the East (unnamed)
Sources
- DCT Abu Dhabi discovers ancient cross at monastery site on Sir Bani Yas Island
Abu Dhabi Media Office / Department of Culture and Tourism. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- The dispersed monastery on Ṣīr Banī Yās Island: results of the 2025 excavations
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies (Archaeopress). Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Sir Bani Yas (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.