The ruins of a Christian monastery believed to pre-date Islam have been discovered in the United Arab Emirates.
It was found buried under sand dunes on an island, 50 kilometres northeast of Dubai.
The monastery’s floor plan suggests Christians worshipped in a single-aisle church.
Other rooms had a baptismal font and an oven for baking communion bread.
A section known as the nave most likely held an altar and a place for communion wine.
A second building containing four rooms may have housed a church leader.
It’s the second ancient monastery found in the UAE after another was unearthed in the early 1990s.
Both are believed to date back 1,400 years.
Carbon samples suggest they could have been in use in the early sixth to mid-seventh century.
Many scholars believe early Christians on the Arabian Peninsula converted to Islam in the seventh century when the Muslim faith was growing exponentially.
Some historians claim it was the official start of Islam.
Premier Christian News reports that caused the monasteries to be abandoned and buried under the dunes.
