Jubail Church, Archaeological ruins of a church in Jubail, Saudi Arabia
Jubail Church is a ruined church near Jubail on Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast. Low walls of reddish-brown stone and mud-brick, roofless and eroded, enclose small rectangular spaces; a narrow doorway survives in the foreground wall and a taller squared corner stands to the right. Two crosses are carved into the wall on either side of the inner doorway from the nave to the sanctuary.
The church belonged to the Church of the East, a branch of Eastern Christianity in West Asia. Its date is disputed: some sources place it in the fourth century, others in the seventh. It was found in 1986 by picnickers and excavated in 1987 by the Saudi Department of Antiquities; as of 2008 the excavation results remained unpublished.
The church served Christian communities scattered across the Arabian Peninsula, with the building functioning as a spiritual gathering place for local believers. These congregations were part of a wider religious network that stretched from the Persian Gulf into Mesopotamia.
Access to the site requires advance permission from local Saudi authorities, as it remains an active archaeological area with restricted visitor entry. Those interested in visiting should contact the relevant local departments beforehand to arrange necessary clearances.
The ruins were found in 1986 by picnickers, not by a vehicle, and excavated by the Saudi Department of Antiquities in 1987. Two crosses are still carved into the wall on either side of the inner doorway between the nave and the sanctuary. As of 2009 the site was fenced and closed to visitors and archaeologists.
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