Pre-Islamic Bahrain - Bet Qatraye

/ bahranihistory
Pre-Islamic Bahrain - Bet Qatraye
The ecclesiastical province covering Bahrain was known as Bet Qatraye or "the Isles".[1]
By the 5th century the Bet Qatraye was a major centre for Nestorian Christianity (which had come to dominate the southern shores of the Persian Gulf), with Samahij[2] being the seat of bishops. It was a center of Nestorian Christianity until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD.[3] As a sect, the Nestorians were often persecuted as heretics by the Byzantine Empire, but Bahrain was outside the Empire's control offering some safety. The names of several of Muharraq Island’s villages today reflect this Christian legacy, with Al Dair meaning “the monastery” or "the parish."
In 410, according to the Oriental Syriac Church synodal records, a bishop named Batai was excommunicated from the church in Bahrain.[4] It was also the site Bahrain of worship of a shark deity called Awal. Worshippers reputedly built a large statue to Awal in Muharraq.
======
References
1. "Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and Southeastern Arabia", Peter Hellyer, Journal of Social Affairs, volume 18, number 72, winter 2011, p. 88
2. From Persian sa-mahij (سه ماهی) meaning Three Fish.
3. Curtis E. Larsen. Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society University Of Chicago Press, 1984.
4. Jean Francois Salles, p. 132.

[@rjito9581]

Bet Qatraye is modern Qatar, Bahrain was called Delmun.

[@ASHRF1979]

The name Delmon has been discontinued since the 7th century BC. and Qatar was part of Bahrain until the 19th century

[@mickeymick2861]

That, and also Bahrain used to refer to the entire northeastern coast of Arabia and not just the Islands we know today.

[@DragnGo]

RUSHq8 Bet Qatraye is the same region as ancient Dilmun and historical Bahrain. They were just different names given to the same place by different peoples. The name Bahrain actually reflects a description the Sumerians gave the land, making it the longest continuous name for the region. The Ottomans called the whole area Ahsa. FYI There was a large town in Failaka that was part of Bet Qatraye. Khark Island next to Bandar Bushehr was also part of the same collective. The Utub coalition best reflects the most recent recurrence of this seemingly natural grouping, with Sabah, Khalifah and Thani in their respective modern states and Mathkour and Khulaifat previously in Bushehr and Daylam.

[@DragnGo]

RUSHq8 Notice also that the name Bahrain is analogous to Nahrain, or Mesopotamia. Of course, Dilmun/Bahrain centered more tightly between Qatar, Qatif and Ahsa, even while spanning the whole of North Eastern Arabia and part of Dasht as per the archaeological evidence. Over time, names like Bahrain, Qatar and even Kadhma, became isolated to specific spots.

[@DragnGo]

RUSHq8 There is material history that links the Indus Valley with Mesopotamia. The UAE was understood to be Oman up until the modern nation state took its name.