![The structure in Samahij was once used as the palace for a local bishop, scientists say](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/14/TELEMMGLPICT000385592334_17209821954240_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGqsACZlHbE0dphyiTtkx51TmGTZwRSZcqbDiPNar8DA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Evidence of 1,300-year-old Christian community found on Arabian Gulf
Archaeologists make groundbreaking discovery of settlement 300 years before Muslim conquest of Bahrain
![The structure in Samahij was once used as the palace for a local bishop, scientists say](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/14/TELEMMGLPICT000385592334_17209821954240_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGqsACZlHbE0dphyiTtkx51TmGTZwRSZcqbDiPNar8DA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
One of the earliest Christian buildings in the Arabian Gulf has been discovered by British archaeologists, who say the groundbreaking find is over 1,300 years old.
It has been uncovered in Samahij, Bahrain, and has been dated back to the 4th century AD.
The British-led team found the excavation was part of the Nestorian Church, a sect of Christianity in Asia, and is the first evidence that the Nestorian Church was present in modern-day Bahrain.
Researchers believe the structure was once used as the palace for a local bishop before the region converted en-masse to Islam around 300 years later.
The building has a kitchen, a refectory, a dining room, a workroom and three living rooms.
Three plaster crucifixes and graffiti of Christian symbols helped the researchers work out that the stone-walled excavation is a former religious site.
![The site is due to reopen to the public in 2015](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/14/TELEMMGLPICT000385592695_17209823972580_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqrXQPXGvM58CJoUBPwmOnP4AUi_eAXJmjTzXoJ-uDM54.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Archaeologists also found evidence that the occupants drank wine and ate pork: two practices that were forbidden after Islam became the dominant religion.
Records show that the area had a rocky relationship with church authorities as a bishop in Samahij was excommunicated in 410 AD.
The building in the village, on Bahrain’s northern coast, survived after a mosque was placed on the same site.
Among the finds were copper coins minted by the Sasanian Empire, which was a powerhouse in the region until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh and eighth centuries.
Various crops found in the dig are currently being analysed in order to help uncover more mysteries about Christianity in Bahrain.
Trade with India
The community based in the building also appear to have traded with India after excavators found carnelian stone beads and broken pieces of pottery, which originated in south Asia.
A small number of churches, monasteries and residences have been found in the Gulf in the past though most have been dated much later than the Bahraini excavation.
Professor Insoll, of the university’s institute of Arab and Islamic studies, said: “We were amused to find someone had also drawn part of a face on a pearl shell in bitumen, perhaps for a child who lived in the building.”
The British-Bahraini collaboration was led by Prof Tim Insoll of the University of Exeter and took place between 2019 and 2023.
“This is the first physical evidence found of the Nestorian Church in Bahrain and gives a fascinating insight into how people lived, worked and worshipped.”
The site is now being turned into a museum to preserve this important piece of history.
The historical landmark is expected to reopen to the public in 2025.