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An ancient Christian monastery possibly dating as far back as the years before Islam spread across the Arabian Peninsula has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, officials announced Thursday.

The monastery on Siniyah Island, part of the sand-dune sheikhdom of Umm al-Quwain, sheds new light on the history of early Christianity along the shores of the Persian Gulf. It marks the second such monastery found in the Emirates, dating back as many as 1,400 years — long before its desert expanses gave birth to a thriving oil industry that led to a unified nation home to the high-rise towers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The two monasteries became lost to history in the sands of time as scholars believe Christians slowly converted to Islam as that faith grew more prevalent in the region.

Today, Christians remain a minority across the wider Middle East, though Pope Francis arrived in nearby Bahrain on Thursday to promote interfaith dialogue with Muslim leaders.

For Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University who helped investigate the newly discovered monastery, the UAE today is a “melting pot of nations.”

“The fact that something similar was happening here a 1,000 years ago is really remarkable and this is a story that deserves to be told,” he said.

The monastery sits on Siniyah Island, which shields the Khor al-Beida marshlands in Umm al-Quwain, an emirate some 50 kilometers northeast of Dubai along the coast of the Persian Gulf. The island, whose name means “flashing lights” likely due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, has a series of sandbars coming off of it like crooked fingers. On one, to the island’s northeast, archaeologists discovered the monastery.

Carbon dating of samples found in the monastery’s foundation date between 534 and 656. Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 and died in 632 after conquering Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.

Viewed from above, the monastery on Siniyah Island’s floor plan suggests early Christian worshippers prayed within a single-aisle church at the monastery. Rooms within appear to hold a baptismal font, as well as an oven for baking bread or wafers for communion rites. A nave also likely held an altar and an installation for Communion wine.

Next to the monastery sits a second building with four rooms, likely around a courtyard — possibly the home of an abbot or even a bishop in the early church.

On Thursday, the site saw a visit from Noura bint Mohammed al-Kaabi, the country’s culture and youth minister, as well as 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 island remains part of the ruling family’s holdings, protecting the land for years to allow the historical sites to be found as much of the UAE has rapidly developed.

The UAE’s Culture Ministry has sponsored the dig in part, which continues at the site. Just hundreds of meters away from the church, a collection of buildings that archaeologists believe belongs to a pre-Islamic village sit.

Elsewhere on the island, piles of tossed-aside clams from pearl hunting make for massive, industrial-sized hills. Nearby also sits a village that the British blew up in 1820 before the region became part of what was known as the Trucial States, the precursor of the UAE. That village’s destruction brought about the creation of the modern-day settlement of Umm al-Quwain on the mainland.

Historians say early churches and monasteries spread along the Persian Gulf to the coasts of present-day Oman and all the way to India. Archaeologist have found other similar churches and monasteries in Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

In the early 1990s, archaeologists discovered the first Christian monastery in the UAE, on Sir Bani Yas Island, today a nature preserve and site of luxury hotels off the coast of Abu Dhabi, near the Saudi border. It similarly dates back to the same period as the new find in Umm al-Quwain.

However, evidence of early life along the Khor al-Beida marshlands in Umm al-Quwain dates as far back as the Neolithic period — suggesting continuous human inhabitance in the area for at least 10,000 years, Power said.

Today, the area near the marshland is more known for the low-cost liquor store at the emirate’s Barracuda Beach Resort. In recent months, authorities have demolished a hulking, Soviet-era cargo plane linked to a Russian gunrunner known as the “Merchant of Death” as it builds a bridge to Siniyah Island for a $675 million real estate development.

Power said that development spurred the archaeological work that discovered the monastery. That site and others will be fenced off and protected, he said, though it remains unclear what other secrets of the past remain hidden just under a thin layer of sand on the island.

“It’s a really fascinating discovery because in some ways it’s hidden history — it’s not something that’s widely known,” Power said.
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The movies have returned to Indian-administered Kashmir after an absence of more than three decades.

A new multiplex cinema, INOX Srinagar, lit up its three screens for the first time on September 30, almost 33 years after all of the region’s theaters shut down in the face of a campaign by armed militants opposed to cinemas, beauty parlors and liquor shops.

Even today, the threat of violence remains high for the several dozen theatergoers who visit the multiplex each day, seeking a novel experience in the case of the younger generation or, in the case of their elders, a nostalgic reminder of times past.

Would-be patrons must pass through a tight security cordon, having their cars checked by a rifle-bearing policeman, and then being frisked at the main gate before entering the theater. An armored truck with at least a dozen policemen is stationed near the entry gate, and an elevated security tower stands next to the ticket counter.

The Kashmir Valley boasted some 15 movie theaters until 1989, when militants opposed to Indian rule in the region demanded their closure. All were shut down on January 1, 1990.

Some were turned into malls, some into hospitals, and some into bunkers now occupied by Indian paramilitary forces. Several, subjected to grenade or firebomb attacks, are nothing more than piles of bricks. A few short-lived attempts to reopen theaters since 1990 failed in the face of heavy security and militant threats.

None of that history has dampened the enthusiasm of INOX Srinagar owner Vikas Dhar, whose family has owned movie theaters in Srinagar since the 1960s. He told VOA that for him, the opening of his multiplex marks the realization of a dream.

So far attendance has been sparse, with a little more than 5,000 patrons visiting the 524-seat complex in its first month of operation. But Dhar is already looking ahead.

“It is not a big figure, but it will increase with the passage of time when people will come out of their houses without being afraid of anyone,” he said.

“We are planning to provide a wholesome entertainment for the entire family, and it requires more development,” Dhar continued. “The launch of multiplex is generating interest among people and will surely increase in the near future. We are also thinking of developing a play area for children and food court for the adults next year.”

A peek at the past

For Mahjabeen Ashai, a homemaker in her early 60s, a visit to the cinema brought back the past. “Though hard but I visited INOX Srinagar just to recollect memories of old times when I used to watch movies in halls with my husband,” she told VOA.

But for a younger generation of Kashmiris who have never visited a movie theater, there is the question of why they should put up with the security risks when they can enjoy the same films in their own homes on streaming video – commonly referred to in the region as OTT (Over The Top).

“I like watching stuff from the comfort of my home,” said Tayba Gulnar, a 27-year-old lawyer. “Almost all of us have big TV screens with OTT subscriptions at home. Cinema is a public place and is different from what it used to be 10-15 years ago.

“Why should I go to the cinema to watch a movie?” she asked. “I would only watch an animated movie in cinema, if I ever go there.”

But Dhar is convinced that even younger Kashmiris will learn to appreciate the unique experience of watching a film in a cinema. He said that movies such as “Avatar” and “Avengers” with their dramatic special effects can only be fully enjoyed on the big screen.

Dhar’s optimism is shared by Manmohan Singh Gauri, whose Palladium Cinema was perhaps the best-known theater in the region before shutting down with the others at the beginning of 1990. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was photographed shaking hands in front of the theater with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, then prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir, not long after independence from Britain.

Gauri told VOA that he hopes to open his own two-screen multiplex if he is granted permission by the government. He said he expects his bid could make a big impact, adding that the return of cinema to the valley can give younger Kashmiris access to more information about what is happening around the world.

Despite the strict security measures, the threat of violence remains a concern; just in the past week four militants were killed in twin encounters with Indian forces in Kashmir.

But Dhar said he is taking steps to keep his patrons safe. “At present we are running three to four shows in a day and don’t have any plans for late evening shows,” he said.
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Migos rapper Takeoff is dead after a shooting early Tuesday outside a bowling alley in Houston, a representative confirmed. He was 28. 

Takeoff — whose name was Kirsnick Khari Ball — was part of Migos along with Quavo and Offset. A representative for Migos, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed to The Associated Press that Takeoff had died. 

Police responded shortly after 2:30 a.m. to reports of a shooting at 810 Billiards & Bowling, where dozens of people had gathered on a balcony outside of the bowling alley, which is on the third floor, police said. Officers discovered one man dead when they arrived. 

Security guards who were in the area heard the shooting but did not see who did it, a police spokesperson said. Two other people were injured and taken to hospitals in private vehicles. 

No arrests have been announced. 

The Grammy-nominated rap trio from Georgia have had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including their multi-week No. 1 “Bad and Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called “Culture,” “Culture II” and “Culture III,” with the first two albums hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. 

They earned an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018, for their streaming success with multiplatinum songs like “Motorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj),” “Stir Fry,” and “Walk It Talk It.” 

They also played a fictional version of themselves on an episode of the hit TV show “Atlanta.” 

Offset, who is married to Cardi B, released a solo album in 2019, while Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album “Only Built for Infinity Links” last month. 

 
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The international market for Native American fashion is growing. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns caught up with Indigenous designers at a Native American fashion show in the Western U.S. state of Colorado. Videographer: Scott Stearns, Jodi Westrum
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