- Collection: The Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project (DMEAP)
98 Items
Fragments of glass bangle
Throughout the site we found evidence of glass bangles. Predominantly blue in colour, some had elaborate decoration although others were far cruder and simpler.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Bangle, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Glass, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Gathering information on local history
Over the duration of the project efforts were made to talk to local people to collect their memories of the monastery. The older inhabitants of Qaryatayn could remember the small mud brick shrine that stood over the sarcophagus until the modern church was built on the site in 1938. The eastern range of the cloister had also had a range of mud brick rooms until the 1980s, when termite damage caused them to collapse leaving only the south east tower and one other chamber still standing. Until this collapse the monastery was inhabited by Bayt Habib, a Christian Bedu clan. Members of this family, especially the family patriarch Abu Nasif, were amongst the most knowledgeable of the local informants.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Bedouin, Bedu, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Ethnographic information, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War
General view over the cloister looking north west
This gives a view over the cloister and beyond to the orchard and hills to the west of Qaryatayn.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Landscape, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Glass vessel fragments
Fragments from a glass vessel that was found in Dayr Mar Elian.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Glass, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Vessel
Inscription dated 1419 in the name of Emir Sayf Ed-Dawleh
This Arabic inscription above the interior door of the monastery was erected in the year 1419 and in it the Emir Sayf Ed-Dawleh pledges to defend all pilgrims to the shrine from attack.
Type: Inscription
Tags: 1419, Arabic, Arabic Inscription, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Emir, Inscription, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sayf Ed-Dawleh, Shrine, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Int 12 view of the wall and trench
In this picture the wall built outside the north of the cloister can be seen in context with the north wall of the church and the enclosure.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Interior views of the unrestored mud brick chamber
These pictures show the room to the north of the tower before it was restored.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Intervention 12, cleaning the cloister wall and a trench to discover the wall foundations, pre-excavation
This picture shows the north wall of the church joining the wall of the cloister as the wall of the church had become incorporated in the northern part of the enclosure wall.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syrian Civil War
Intervention 14, test trench on SE corner of cloister
This reveals that the two walls are not tied to each other at any point.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria
Intervention 14, test trench on SE corner of cloister, pre-excavation
This is the external SE corner of the cloister and is the corner with a mud brick tower. Stripping back the render revealed that the corner was constructed of two walls that abutted without being tied to each other.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War