On Monday, a team of archaeologists in the United Arab Emirates announced the discovery of what they believe to be the Persian Gulf’s oldest pearling town on Sinniyah Island, located to the east of the Umm al-Quwain emirate.

According to the Umm al-Quwain Department of Tourism and Archaeology, the 30-acre town operated between the late 6th and mid-8th centuries, making it older than the Islamic civilization, CNN reported.

The results of the study indicate that the pearling town discovered by the researchers is one of the “largest urbanized settlements ever found” in the United Arab Emirates, with an estimated population of thousands of residents who relied on the pearling industry.

The houses in the community were constructed using local beach rocks and materials from the surrounding environment, and the roofs were made of palm trunks, as reported by CNN.

According to Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University, while other pearling settlements existed in the region, this one is particularly noteworthy because of its age, size, and year-round operation.

According to Power, the residents of the discovered town were likely Christian. This is supported by the proximity of the settlement to an ancient Christian monastery that was found nearby just last year.

Written by staff