Jubail Church Explained
Jubail Church (Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ|ʿĒḏtā ḏ-Maḏnḥā ḏ-ʾĀṯūrāyē, Arabic: كنيسة الجبيل) is a church building near Jubail, a city in the Eastern province on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] It is one of the oldest churches in the world. It contains two still visible crosses that have been carved into the wall on either side of the middle inner doorway leading from the nave towards the sanctuary.[6]
The church was discovered in 1986 and excavated by the Saudi Department of Antiquities in 1987. As of 2008, the results of the excavation had not been published,[7] amid sensitivity about artifacts of non-Islamic religions.
Date
The date of the Jubail Church is contentious. Some sources place it in the fourth century, whereas others place it in the seventh. It contains a stucco, which suggests it is contemporary with similar Christian sites known from al-Qusur, Sir Bani Yas and Kharg.
History
The church originally belonged to the Church of the East (Nestorian Church), a branch of Eastern Christianity in West Asia. The majority of its adherents today are ethnic Assyrians.
It was discovered in 1986 by picnickers, and excavated in 1987. As of 2009 the site was fenced, and tourists and archaeologists were not permitted to examine it. Faisal al-Zamil, who had previously visited the site, was not permitted to publish information about it in Saudi media.[8]
See also
External links
Notes and References
- J.A. Langfeldt, "Recently Discovered Early Christian Monuments in Northeastern Arabia", Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 5 (1994), 32–60 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1994.tb00054.x/abstract.
- Changing Identities in the Arabian Gulf: Archaeology, Religion, and Ethnicity in Context T. Insoll – The Archaeology of Plural and Changing Identities, 2005 – Springer "He mentions how access to the monuments was restricted, and how the church in Jubail supposedly had its impressed crosses obliterated. Besides vandalism, the presence of these Christian remains caused a debate over what exactly they signified."
- The Nestorians in the Gulf: Just Passing Through? Recent Discoveries on the Island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE J. Elders – Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, 2003 "There are sites along the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, at Jubail (Langfeldt 1994), and inland at Thaj and also Jebel Berri (Potts 1994). There is at least one, possibly two, church sites on Qatar."
- A Pre-Islamic Christian site on Sir Bani Yas G.R.D. King, P. Hellyer – Tribulus, the Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group, Vol. 4:2 (October 1994). p. 5-7.".. Bani Yas discovery can also be related to the discovery of a church with a fine cross at Failaka, in Kuwait, in 1990 by Vincent Bernard and JF Salles. Their stucco crosses are dated to the Fifth-Sixth Centuries AD. The discovery of two churches and crosses at Al Jubail and Thaj in eastern Saudi Arabia has also recently been announced, which are also related to the same Nestorian tradition."
- Crossing the Line L. Castoro – 2002 – The lost churches of the Arabian Gulf: recent discoveries on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates J. Elders – Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2001 "There are two known sites along the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, at Jubail (Langfeldt 1994) and slightly inland at Jebel Berri (Potts 1994). There are unconfirmed but persistent reports of at least one, more probably two church sites on Qatar."
- Web site: Saudi Arabia has the Oldest Standing Church on Earth? . Randy W. Horton . . 29 August 2019 .
- Carter . R.A. . 2008 . Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam . Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy . en . 19 . 1 . 71–108 . 10.1111/j.1600-0471.2008.00293.x . 0905-7196.
- News: Abu-Nasr . Donna . Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not . 8 July 2024 . Associated Press . NBC News . 30 August 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230324041649/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32618070 . 2023-03-24.
Saudi Arabia