SW News: The United Arab Emirates’ tourism and archaeology department on Thursday announced that the remains of an ancient Christian monastery, probably much older than the spread of Islam over the Arabian Peninsula, were discovered on an island off the coast of the mainland.

The excavated monastery lies on Siniyah Island in the emirate of Umm al-Quwain. Carbon dating of the excavated samples revealed that the monastery’s foundation dates between 534 and 656 AD. Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 AD and died in 632 AD after conquering Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.

“The fact that something similar was happening here 1,000 years ago is really remarkable and this is a story that deserves to be told,” said Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University who helped to uncover the newly discovered monastery remains.

The monastery’s floor plan viewed from above suggests that ancient Christians prayed inside a single-aisle church at the monastery. Structures that appear to be rooms contain baptismal font and an oven for baking bread for eucharistic offerings. A nave that might have held an altar and an installation for communion wine was also traced in the findings.

On Thursday, the site was visited by Noura bint Mohammed al-Kaabi, the country’s culture and youth minister, Sheikh Majid bin Saud Al Mualla, the chairman of the Umm al-Quwain’s Tourism and Archaeology Department and a son of the emirate’s ruler.

The findings which are still going on at the site were sponsored by the UAE’s Culture Ministry.

This is the second such monastery to be found in the Emirates which dates back to 1,400 years. Historians said that ancient churches and monasteries were spread along the Persian Gulf to the coasts of present-day Oman.

Historians said that early churches and monasteries were found in Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. “It’s a really fascinating discovery because in some ways it’s hidden history — it’s not something that’s widely known,” Archaeologists Power said.