51 Items
Site of the east end of the former 1938 church
This is a view of the east end of the 1938 church after the structure was dismantled.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
View of over the site of the former 1938 church
This is a view looking north west over the site of the 1938 church after it was dismantled due to structural instability.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Intervention 38/39 and the west end of the former site of the 1938 church
This picture shows the continuing excavation of domestic chambers to the west of the 1938 church. In 2004 this church had to be dismantled as it was structurally unstable and the stone walls in this picture show the remains of the 1938 church.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Architecture, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Dayr Mar Elian Museum
This small exhibition space was established in the restored room north of the tower at Mar Elian and held the fragments of Byzantine reliquaries found during the excavations, along with ceramic and glass objects. This included a number of C19th amphorae that had been uncovered west of the 1938 church and which environmental analysis revealed had held wine or grape molasses.
Type: Museum Exhibit
Tags: Archaeological Finds, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Museum, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Stripping off the cement cladding of the interior of the Mar Elian 1938 church
The cement cladding in the west of the church around the sarcophagus was stripped back to try and alleviate a damp problem. During this process the structural faults of the building were fully revealed and it became clear that the church had to be dismantled.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 1938, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Syria, Syrian Civil War
View of the 1938 Church of Mar Elian
This church was built in 1938 over the Byzantine sarcophagus of Mar Elian on the site of the earlier shrine. In 2002 it was discovered that the cement cladding enclosed a mud brick structure. When the church was surveyed and the cement was stripped back to alleviate a damp problem, it became clear that the church had become fundamentally unstable. It was dismantled in 2004 and the salvaged materials were used in the rebuilding of a new church on the model of the 1938 structure to the west of the shrine. The new building was made of stone and a traditional mud brick chapel was constructed over the sarcophagus, which remained in situ.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 1938, Architecture, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Shrine, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Chains in front of the altar in the Church of Mar Elian
The local people believe that Mar Elian is able to cure mental illness and until the recent past it was usual to chain those suffering with such an illness in the church for three nights. The chains were left in place until the dismantling of the 1938 church in 2004. The practice of sleeping in the church for three nights to pray for healing was continuing at the time that these pictures were taken, but the chains were not used.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Chains, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Healing, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syrian Civil War
Visit of the Community of al-Khalil (Deir Mar Musa) to the excavations at Dayr Mar Elian
The Community of Al-Khalil visited from Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi at the end of the 2004 season to tour the excavations at their daughter house of Dayr Mar Elian.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Deir Mar Musa, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Eid Mar Elian 2001
Every September 9th the feast day of Mar Elian ("Eid Mar Elian") is celebrated at Dayr Mar Elian. As the saint is venerated as both a Christian saint (Mar Elian) and a Muslim Sheikh or holy man (Sheikh Ahmed Khoury - Sheikh Ahmed the Priest) several thousand people from Qaryatayn and the neighbouring villages attend the mass held in the cloister. This is presided over by the local Syrian Catholic Metropolitan and the Sheikh of Qaryatayn. These pictures start by showing the preparations for the event the day before the pilgrims arrive, before showing the events of the day itself. Msgr. Georges Kassab and Sheikh Assad are shown addressing the crowds attended by assorted Christian clerics, including Fr. Jacques Mourad, Prior of Mar Elian and Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio, the Abbot of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi. On this occasion a small display was constructed in the church to explain about the forthcoming archaeological excavations and to educate local people about the processes of archaeology so that they were happy that the project would not impact on their worship at the tomb of Mar Elian.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Church, Eid Mar Elian, Ethnographic information, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sheikh Ahmed Khoury, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Visits of Cardinal Musa Daoud to Dayr Mar Elian
Cardinal Musa Daoud was formerly Syrian Catholic Metropolitan of Homs before being elevated to the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in 1998. However he swiftly resigned the Patriarchate after being named Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in November 2000, a post that he held until 2007. As a native of Meskaneh in Homs province, the Cardinal had a special devotion to the shrine of Mar Elian and visited it annually to celebrate a mass at the site. Here two such visits in 2001 and 2003 represented in these photographs.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Cardinal Musa Daoud, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Ethnographic information, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War