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'We never had concrete proof': Archaeologists discover Christian cross in Abu Dhabi, proving 1,400-year-old site was a monastery
The discovery of a Christian cross proves that eighth-century houses found in the United Arab Emirates were part of a monastery.
Archaeologists have uncovered a complete plaster cross dating to 1,400 years ago during an excavation in the United Arab Emirates. The Christian symbol finally proves that a series of houses discovered decades ago were part of a monastery.
"This is a very exciting time for us," Maria Gajewska, an archaeologist at the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi, said in a video. "We never had concrete proof [the houses] were inhabited by Christians."
Nine small courtyard houses were excavated in 1992 on Sir Bani Yas, an island 110 miles (170 kilometers) southwest of Abu Dhabi. Nearby, archaeologists found a church and monastery dating to the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. But it was unclear whether the houses were related to the monastic settlement.
This year, archaeologists returned to Sir Bani Yas for further excavation. In the courtyard of one house, they found a stucco plaque in the shape of a Christian cross measuring nearly 1 foot (30 centimeters) long.
With that cross, "we have now proved these houses were part of a Christian settlement," Gajewska said. Senior monks probably lived in the houses, secluding themselves and praying, before reconvening at the monastery with their brethren, she said.
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Sir Bani Yas was just one location of Christian worship in the region during this time period, according to a translated statement from the Abu Dhabi Media Office. Christianity spread around the Arabian Gulf between the fourth and sixth centuries before the rise of Islam starting in the seventh century. Muslims and Christians lived on Sir Bani Yas until the monastery was abandoned in the eighth century.
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The new excavation "helps us better understand the nature of life and the relationships that connected the inhabitants of the island with the surrounding regions," Hager Hasan Almenhali, an archaeologist at the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi, said in the video.
Archaeologists plan to continue their work on the courtyard houses. The Sir Bani Yas church and monastery site is open to the public.
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Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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