Between Passion and Glory: Plaster Cross Plaque From Ṣīr Banī Yās Island, UAE

Abstract

A near-complete plaster plaque with a moulded cross was found inside the compound of a cell on Ṣīr Banī Yās Island, UAE, part of a dispersed monastic landscape dated to ca. sixth–eighth centuries. Based on radiocarbon and material culture data, the plaque appears to have been made before the mid-sixth century. Substantial quantities of stucco have been found at the church before, but this plaque is the first piece of decorated plaster from the dispersed monastery. Several decorative elements can be compared with similar objects from the Gulf and Mesopotamia, and from further afield in India, Central Asia and China. They could be read in multiple ways by Christians in a Late Sasanian or immediately post-Sasanian context, adding up to two complementary interpretations of the cross plaque: on the one hand, a symbol of Christ's passion and death and, on the other hand, of his glory and kingship. The first set of meanings is expressed primarily through a visual language rooted in Christianity; the latter draws on elements from royal Sasanian iconography. Additionally, the plaque preserves evidence for private worship at the dispersed monastery congruent with prayer practice described in Syriac sources.