Siniya Island lies just a few hundred meters from the mainland of the Emirate of Umm al-Quwain (UAE). In the course of exploratory work for potential development, archaeological remains were found, and our excavations in Jan-Feb 2022 revealed this to be a church and associated buildings, most likely a monastic complex, pertaining to the 7th to 8th centuries CE. It is the fifth church to be found in East Arabia and it raises interesting new questions about the expansion of Christianity in this region both before and after the rise of Islam. The substantial amount of imported ceramics and glass also tells us much about trade along the Gulf-Indian Ocean maritime routes. In addition, the project seeks to understand the environment of the lagoon in which Siniya Island sits (al-Khawr al-Byada) and around which are several major archaeological sites, including the Bronze Age Tell Abraq and the large Hellenistic-Roman settlement of ed-Dur.
Technical skills utilized: photogrammetry; GIS; zooarchaeology; XRF; environmental and geomorphological survey
Contact: Robert Hoyland, Co-Director (rgh2@nyu.edu)
This project accepts students. Interested graduate students studying a subject related to Christianity and/or Islam in East Arabia in the early medieval period should reach out to Robert Hoyland via email.