26°56′14.78″N 49°39′23.3″E / 26.9374389°N 49.656472°E
Jubail Church | |
---|---|
كنيسة الجبيل | |
Location | Jubail |
Country | Saudi Arabia |
Denomination | Christianity |
Architecture | |
Completed | 4th-century[specify][citation needed] |
Jubail Church (Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ, romanized: ʿĒḏtā ḏ-Maḏnḥā ḏ-ʾĀṯūrāyē, Arabic: كنيسة الجبيل) is a church building near Jubail, a city in the Eastern province on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the oldest churches in the world. It contains two still visible crosses that have been carved into the wall on either side of the middle inner doorway leading from the nave towards the sanctuary.[1]
The church was excavated by the Saudi Department of Antiquities in 1987. As of 2008, the results of the excavation had not been published.[2]
The date of the Jubail Church is contentious. Some sources plate it in the fourth century,[1] whereas others place it in the seventh. It contains a stucco, which suggests it is contemporary with similar Christian sites known from al-Qusur, Sir Bani Yas and Kharg.[2]
Discovered in 1987, it originally belonged to the Church of the East, a branch of Eastern Christianity in the West Asia. The majority of its adherents are ethnic Assyrians.[3][4][5][6][7]