Ancient Christian site in UAE opens to visitors
Dec 12, 2010, Courtesy AFP
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A general view of the United
Arab Emirates' only discovered
Christian monastery on November
29, 2009, in Sir Bani Yas
Island, Abu Dhabi. Photograph:
MARTIN PFEIFER/ TDIC/AFP By AFP |
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It is believed to have been built around 600
AD by a community of 30-40 monks and was
discovered in 1992, said the Abu Dhabi
Tourism and Development Company which is
developing the island.
Dr Joseph Elders, the chief archaeologist
for the Church of England, is leading the
team excavating the site, the company said
in a statement.
"Twenty years ago, we had no idea that
Christians came this far south and east" in
the Gulf region, The National quoted Elders
as saying. "We don't have many monasteries
from this period."
The people who lived at the monastery
probably belonged to the "Nestorian Church,
or Church of the East," it said, adding that
the settlement was abandoned after about 750
AD.
It opened to the public on Saturday.
