40 Collections
The Citadel of Zalabiyeh on the Euphrates
The salvage excavation of the Byzantine/Early Islamic citadel of Zalabiyeh on the River Euphrates in Syria. This project was begun in 2010 as a salvage mission due to the risk to the site posed by the projected construction of a dam as part of a hydro-electricity scheme. The project has been mothballed since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The data published here are the records of that first season of fieldwork in 2010. This includes interim site reports for the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) and funding bodies, photographs of the site fortifications and images of the excavations. It also includes all pictures of the small finds that were recorded and stored in the Deir Ez Zor Museum and are now believed destroyed due to the presence of IS in the city as a consequence of the Syrian Civil War.
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Joshua Bryant
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons
unless otherwise indicated
The Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project (DMEAP)
The survey and excavation of the monastery of St Julian of the East (Dayr Mar Elian esh Sharqi), Qaryatayn, Syria, 2001-2004. This is now the most complete surviving record of the site as the monastery was destroyed by the so-called Islamic State group in August 2015.
The photographs of the 2001-2003 survey and excavation seasons have been lodged with the Archaeological Data Service and are reproduced here with their permission. For those who would like more specialised information such as context and intervention numbers or direction of shot please refer to: http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/dmeap_ahrb_2004/gallery.cfm.
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
The Early Christian Architecture of Georgia
This collection of photographs was initially based upon pictures taken during fieldwork in May-July 2013, with the addition of some material from earlier research trips. The information gathered at this time has been added to and expanded over the course of the project fieldwork, most notably during long periods spent in Georgia in 2016 and 2017. The aim of the resource is to make available a range of images of early Georgian churches in order to study their form, function and architectural evolution, as well as to act as a record of their state of preservation at this particular moment in time. The fashion for rebuilding ecclesiastical monuments post-Communism is currently a serious threat to the architectural heritage of Georgia and these images record sites that are so far untouched as well as others that have already been modified.
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Peter Leeming
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
The hinterland of Edessa
This collection of photographs was taken on the field trip to Edessa in November 2012. Whereas Edessa was an early and conspicuously Christian city, its hinterland was a patchwork of early Christian and resolutely Pagan religious practices. It is notable that at least one stubbornly pagan cult centre, Harran, then became an early supporter of Islam. These pictures are intended to contextualise the wider region around Edessa and shed light on its Syriac-speaking inhabitants.
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Peter Leeming
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
The Limestone Massif of North-Western Syria
An archive of photographs taken on the Limestone Massif 1997-1999. They provide a record of the late antique towns and villages that populated the region from the first century BC/AD and that reached their height in the fourth- to sixth-centuries before mysteriously declining from the first decade of the seventh century onwards.
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
The Qalamoun
The Qalamoun mountains are east of the anti-Lebanon mountain range and spread north from Damascus in the direction of Homs. A number of the towns and villages of this region have ancient Christian populations and some of them are best known for their continued use of Aramaic.
Creator: Emma Loosley
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
Type: Architecture
Tusheti
Whereas the Svans of the western High Caucasus are notably Christian, albeit in a syncretistic form that retains many pre-Christian elements, the other mountain peoples of Georgia have retained far more pagan traditions and in Tusheti there is little (if any) evidence of Christian worship. As in Svaneti the villages are arranged into 'Communities' and there are eight communities in all. In this case only the names of the villages is included as there are no churches to catalogue and therefore no risk of repetition across communities as in Svaneti. This collection has been added to offer a juxtaposition to the evidence of extensive Christian occupation across central and southern Georgia.
Creator: Emma Loosley
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
Type: Architecture
Tyre
Tyre in Lebanon lies at the south of the country not far from the contemporary border with Israel. Its Christian history can be traced back to the New Testament where the Gospels report that Christ himself visited the city. This link with the new religion was reinforced by St. Paul staying one week to preach there as he travelled between Asia Minor and Jerusalem. Whilst a great deal of the ancient city is still extant, a large proportion of the ruins lie beneath the modern city making it difficult to reconstruct the geography of Tyre in Late Antiquity.
Creator: Emma Loosley
Date of Visit: March 1997
Contributor: Emma Loosley
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
Type: Architecture
Van
The province of Van in eastern Turkey occupies the eastern shores of Lake Van. Known as the Sea of Van to the locals, the lake is the largest in Turkey. The province is bordered to the east by Iran. The provincial capital, after which the province is named was the capital city of the Kingdom of Uratu and the greatly impressive citadel occupied by them remained in use for millennia with traces of each civilisation that occupied it still visible. The region had a very large Armenian population and had been part of several Armenian kingdoms prior to the early 20th century. The only visible evidence of any previous Armenian presence is the churches and monasteries to be found dotted around the province, the most famous of which is Aghtamar.
This file contains images of Aghtamar island taken in May 2015.
Creator: Joshua Bryant
Date of Visit: 18th May 2015
Contributor: Joshua Bryant
Rights: Metadata and all media released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA International licence unless otherwise indicated
Views of Jerusalem
This collection of photographs features views of the ancient city of Jerusalem from various viewpoints from within and outside the city. These photographs were taken from July to August 2013, October to November 2014 and July 2015.
Creator: Lucy O'Connor
Date of Visit: 1st July to 8th August 2013, 10th October to 6th November 2014, 6th to 16th July 2015
Contributor: Lucy O'Connor
Rights: Metadata and all media released under Creative Commons unless otherwise indicated
Type: General views