Archaeologists find a 1,400-year-old Christian cross found in Abu Dhabi

Archaeologists working on Sir Bani Yas Island have uncovered a complete plaster cross from about 1,400 years ago – a find that ties a cluster of small houses to a Christian monastic community.

The island sits about 110 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi, and the evidence connects domestic life to worship in a way that had not previously been certain.

The cross, molded in plaster and nearly 1 foot long, turned up in the courtyard of one of the houses first excavated in the early 1990s. Those houses sit near a church and monastery dated to the seventh and eighth centuries.

Cross reshapes settlement history

Lead archaeologist Maria Gajewska works with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi. Her team has been returning to the site to answer questions left unresolved for three decades.

In a video report shared by regional outlets, the team explained how the plaster cross shifts the interpretation of those houses from a loose settlement to a monastic one.

They added that senior monks likely lived in seclusion nearby before joining communal prayer.

“This is a very exciting time for us, because in the past, we have always assumed that these houses were part of a dispersed monastic settlement,” said Gajewska.

“We never had concrete proof that they were inhabited by Christians. With this cross, we have now proved these houses were part of a Christian settlement.”

Cross shows cultural openness

The cross is a molded plaque made of stucco, a form of plaster commonly used for sculpture and architectural detail.

Its size and intact condition make it especially useful for interpretation because it can be studied without heavy reconstruction.

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak is the chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi.

“The discovery of this ancient Christian cross on Sir Bani Yas Island is a powerful testament to the UAE’s profound and enduring values of coexistence and cultural openness,” he said.

Local leaders like Al Mubarak emphasized the broader message they see in the discovery. 

Courtyard homes housed monks

Archaeologists think senior monks lived in the houses, practiced prayer and discipline, and then gathered at the church for worship.

That pattern matches what historians expect of monastic life in the region for that era. The arrangement also fits the physical layout on the ground.

Courtyard houses sit north of the church and monastery, and their contents point to small, stable households rather than busy trade spaces.

Where this fits in Gulf history

Christian communities flourished around the Arabian Gulf during Late Antiquity, and archaeology has confirmed that narrative across multiple sites.

A recent study documented a monastery and settlement on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, active during the seventh and eighth centuries. The findings show how faith communities connected across sea routes and shorelines.

These data points align with written sources that track the Church of the East and its bishops, traders, and monks moving along the Gulf. Together, they show faith and daily life woven into coastal towns as Islam emerged and expanded.

Clues from the cross itself

Stylistic details hint at how far ideas traveled. Officials have said the design shows close ties to crosses found in Iraq and Kuwait.

This clue matches the Church of the East network described in historical records and recent surveys of regional finds, including monasteries and churches spread across the Gulf.

Those links make sense in a maritime world where boats carried people, pottery, glass, and beliefs. A plaque that could be mounted on a wall would have served both as a focus for prayer and a mark of identity inside a private space.

What the site looks like today

Archaeologists discovered the church and monastery on Sir Bani Yas in 1992, then stabilized and prepared them for visitors in recent years.

The site is open to the public and presented with protective shelters, walkways, and signs that put the remains in context for nonspecialists, as listed by the Emirate’s visitor platform page.

A visitor center adds short exhibits that help explain how archaeologists identify rooms, date layers, and handle fragile materials. That kind of setup makes the science visible without putting the remains at risk.

Evidence builds settlement case

Small clues add up. The position of the plaque, its measurements, the plaster recipe, and the setting in a courtyard all help build a case for quiet domestic devotion linked to a larger worship space.

Archaeologists test these ideas by comparing finds from one site to others that are securely dated.

Patterns across ceramics, glass, and wall plasters can reveal which communities traded with one another. They also show how religious life settled into local routines.

Cross shows cultural exchange

The Sir Bani Yas cross supports a picture of a region where Christians and Muslims interacted and sometimes lived side by side.

That is consistent with evidence from other Gulf sites and with the timing of Islamic expansion into the area.

It also shows how faith practices traveled with people who worked along the coast.

Monks, sailors, and craftspeople carried styles and habits that took root in local soil. They preserved recognizable features that allow scholars to connect them across wide distances.

A connected Gulf community takes shape

The houses north of the church and monastery still have open questions. Researchers will focus on how the households were organized and how long they remained occupied.

Archaeologists will also test how the cross relates to other artifacts that point to prayer and communal life. Each additional excavation season brings more context for the layout, diet, trade, and daily routines in a small but well-connected community.

Sir Bani Yas represents one node in a broader regional network that includes sites in Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

All of these were tied to the Church of the East – a Christian tradition rooted in ancient Mesopotamia that spread widely along trade routes.

This larger picture draws on both texts and artifacts. As researchers record and publish more Gulf sites, the details of dates and daily life in this period become sharper and more concrete.

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