A Note on the Architectural Layout of the Early Islamic Church on Sir Bani Yas Island, UAE

• Authors: Agnieszka Lic , Achim Lichtenberger , Rami Farouk Daher , Rana Zureikat

Abstracts

EN

It has been suggested that the church on Sir Bani Yas island, dated to the seventh–eighth century, originally had a tower rising over its south-eastern room. This would be a unique feature as other hitherto known churches in the Gulf dated to the early Islamic period did not have towers. One of the arguments for the existence of the tower has been the increased thickness of the northern wall of the south-eastern room. However, close examination of the remains reveals that the increased thickness of this wall is in fact related to the rectangular apse of the chancel. Other arguments used previously to support the claim that the church had a tower are critically assessed in this paper, which concludes that the Sir Bani Yas church had no tower and that its chancel had a rectangular apse, yet another architectural feature it shares with other early Islamic Gulf churches.

Keywords

EN

Sir Ban Yas; church; Gulf; archaeology; architecture; apse; early Islamic period

• Publisher: Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
• Journal: Études et Travaux (Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences)
• Year: 2023
• Issue: 36
• Pages: 83-91

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Agnieszka Lic

• Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

• https://orcid.org/0000000264428802

author

Achim Lichtenberger

• Institute for Classical Archaeology and Christian Archaeology; Archaeological Museum, Münster University, Münster

• https://orcid.org/0000000326539859

author

Rami Farouk Daher

• School of Architecture and Built Environment, German Jordanian University, Amman

• https://orcid.org/0000000244178295

author

Rana Zureikat

• https://orcid.org/0009000027697176

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Identifiers

DOI

10.12775/EtudTrav.36.004

Biblioteka Nauki

28763088