Why Islands? Understanding the Insular Location of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Christian Monasteries in the Arab-Persian Gulf

Why Islands? Understanding the Insular Location of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Christian Monasteries in the Arab-Persian GulfArchéologie(s) 8Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/FSH3YCVI/tei

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

2025-05-20-05:00

Born digital.

CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.JulieBonnéricWhy Islands? Understanding the Insular Location of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Christian Monasteries in the Arab-Persian Gulfhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/FSH3YCVIhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/FSH3YCVIhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/FSH3YCVICarolineDurandJulieMarchandBérangèreRedonPierreSchneiderNetworked Spaces: The Spatiality of Networks in the Red Sea and Western Indian OceanLyonMOM Éditions2022193-210Archéologie(s) 8All three of the Christian monasteries excavated in the Arab-Persian Gulf, probably founded at the end of the Sasanian era (ca 6th-7th centuries?) and occupied until the 9th century, are located on islands. The insularity of the Kharg, al‑Qusur and Sir Bani Yas monasteries raises questions, and this paper will analyze the many factors that could explain this location. From a practical point of view, the islands offered many natural resources that were efficiently exploited by the monks. In the perspective of its missionary policy, the Church of the East would have benefited from the network of monasteries on the route to China. Symbolic arguments, if not decisive, may have influenced the choice to settle on islands, seen as enabling the isolation of the monks from the outside world and protecting the monasteries from a hostile power, the Sasanian persecution still being in the monks’ memories. Bonnéric, Julie. “Why Islands? Understanding the Insular Location of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Christian Monasteries in the Arab-Persian Gulf.” In Networked Spaces: The Spatiality of Networks in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean, edited by Caroline Durand, Julie Marchand, Bérangère Redon, and Pierre Schneider, 193–210. Archéologie(s) 8. Lyon: MOM Éditions, 2022. Julie Bonnéric, Why Islands? Understanding the Insular Location of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Christian Monasteries in the Arab-Persian Gulf, in Networked Spaces: The Spatiality of Networks in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean, ed. Caroline Durand et al., Archéologie(s) 8 (Lyon: MOM Éditions, 2022), 193–210.