Archaeologists have discovered the first physical evidence of a “long-lost” Christian community in the Middle East.
They have discovered what they believe was a bishop’s palace dating back to the mid-8th century and which was adorned with crosses and Christian symbols.
The team recovered glassware used for drinking wine, a practice that ended after the adoption of Islam, and textiles that could have been used during religious rituals.
The Church of the East, also called the Nestorian Church, thrived in the area until the Islamic religion became widespread in the early 7th century, leading the locals to abandon the area.
These findings are significant because they mark the first time that archaeologists have discovered evidence of Christian communities in Bahrain.
A building was discovered beneath a cemetery that may have been the bishop’s palace of the diocese, dating back to the mid-8th century and representing one of the oldest Christian buildings in the Gulf region. The bishop’s palace had eight intact rooms, including a kitchen with several fireplaces, a dining room, a possible work room and three living rooms.
Investigators discovered three plaster crosses (one pictured) hanging in the building.
The building was discovered beneath a cemetery in Samahij, Bahrain, an island country located off the coast of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Radiocarbon dating revealed that the structure had been occupied by humans 2,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest Christian buildings in the Persian Gulf region.
The episcopal palace preserved eight intact rooms, including a kitchen with several fireplaces, a dining room, a possible study and three living rooms.
“The implications[of the discovery]are significant as we have documentary evidence referring to the Christian community in Bahrain, but we lacked material evidence until this building was excavated,” Tim Insoll, lead researcher and professor at the University of Exeter, told DailyMail.com.
The Christian identity of the inhabitant was confirmed by three plaster crosses found inside the structure: two were used to decorate the building and one was transported or kept as a personal souvenir.
There was also graffiti scratched into the plaster of a Chi-Rho, which were the first two letters of the Greek Khristos Christ, and a fish, both early Christian symbols.
“We were amused to discover that someone had also drawn part of a face on a pearl shell in bitumen, perhaps for a child who lived in the building,” Insoll said in a Press release.
Based on artifacts found at the site, archaeologists reported that those living in the Christian community had “a good standard of living,” and discoveries of carnelian semi-precious stone beads and pottery shards originating in India suggested that the two countries traded with each other.
British and Bahraini researchers excavated a mound in the village cemetery between 2019 and 2023 and reported that the rooms survived because a mosque was later built on top of it, preserving the structure for the past 2,000 years.
There was graffiti scratched into the plaster of a Chi-Rho, which were the first two letters of the Greek Khristos Christ and a fish, both early Christian symbols.
The building at Samahij “is the first physical evidence found of the Nestorian Church in Bahrain and offers a fascinating insight into how people lived, worked and worshipped,” Insoll said.
He said the discovery “fills a gap in our understanding of Christianity in general in the Persian Gulf, as it was always very surprising that Bahrain, considering its historical importance in late antiquity and the early Islamic period, never had any archaeological indication of this, in contrast to finds in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, for example, which historically, were not so important.”
Today, the Persian Gulf region is largely Islamic, but before the “large-scale conversion to Islam” began in 610 BC, the Church of the East thrived.
British and Bahraini researchers excavated a mound in the village cemetery between 2019 and 2023 and reported that the rooms survived because a mosque was later built on top of it, preserving the structure for the past 2,000 years.
The local Samahij Muslim community had previously said they “had a mound beneath a ruined mosque/shrine in their cemetery, which they said contained something important,” Insoll said.
“Nobody listened, but in the end, when they took it seriously, they were right and the building was found.”