Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam

Abstract

This article re‐examines the ceramics of SBY‐9, a church and monastery site on the island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi emirate, U.A.E. It then explores other archaeological evidence for Christianity in the Arabian Gulf and compares it to the textual data, resulting in a reconsideration of the history and activities of the Church of the East. The pottery of SBY‐9 indicates that the monastery complex was occupied some time between the second half of the seventh century and the mid‐eighth century AD and not, as previously believed, the sixth–seventh centuries AD. Other excavated churches and monasteries in the Gulf region should also be redated to the eighth and ninth centuries AD (al‐Qusur, Kharg). These findings cast a new light on the history of Christianity in the Arabian Gulf after the Muslim conquest.

Islamization and trade in the Arabian Gulf in the age of Mohammad and Charlemagne

“…The same phenomenon can be seen in Kuwait (Kennet et al 2014), Bahrain (Carter and Naranjo Santana 2011) and Qatar (Carvajal López et al 2016;Carvajal López et al in press;McPhillips et al 2015). This is also the period in which we see an interesting upsurge in Christian monasteries in the Gulf, seemingly corresponding to an expansion of Christianity which lasted until the 9th-10th centuries (Carter 2008;Kennet 2007: 89-94).…”

“…Here, Kennet's reclassification of Sasanian-and Islamic-period pottery, increasingly accepted by scholars (e.g. Carter 2008;Carvajal López et al 2016;Carvajal López et al in press;McPhillips et al 2015;Priestman 2013) is critical, because it provides a basis for reassessing the dating of a series of archaeological phases across the Gulf (Kennet 2002;. For our present purposes Kennet's account of the development of settlement patterns between Periods A to D (2012) (see Table 1 for general dating) will be the focus of attention.…”

Fulayj: a Late Sasanian fort on the Arabian coast

“…41). There are also parallels with Sir Bani Yas, area D at Jazirat al-Hulaylah, al-Qusur and Kush III, which are all dated to around the mid seventh to the mid/late eighth century (Patitucci & Uggeri 1985; Sasaki & Sasaki 1996: figs 46, 48–49; Kennet 2004: 13–18; Carter 2008: figs 13–16). Elements of these later assemblages are, however, missing, including carinated glazed bowls, Honeycomb ware, jars with stamped rosettes and cream torpedo jars, suggesting that most of the Fulayj material is earlier (Kennet 2004: TURQ Type 72, HONEY; Priestman 2013: TORP.RG, STAMP).…”

Monks, dinars and date palms: hagiographical production and the expansion of monastic institutions in the early Islamic Persian Gulf

“…Steve proposed a late Sasanian foundation for Kharg and traced its continued occupation until the tenth century, while King suggested Sīr Banī Yās flourished between the fourth and eighth centuries. Carter, however, has undertaken a refined analysis of the evidence on the basis of a new pottery sequence for the late antique and early Islamic Gulf (Carter 2008; Kennet 2004). His conclusions are as follows: 1) the monastic institutions of both Sīr Banī Yās and Kharg could have been constructed no earlier than the late seventh century; 2) the monasteries flourished between the late seventh century and the middle of the eighth century; and 3) if the monastery at Sīr Banī Yās was abandoned at some point in the middle of the eighth century, Kharg apparently lasted until the ninth.…”