247 Items
Babisqa
The church dated 390-407/8 at Babisqa is the larger of the two churches on the village and possesses a bema. The apse and the west wall were well preserved when the site was visited, with the north and south sides damaged but with the stones still in situ.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 390-407/8, Architecture, Babisqa, Bema, Church, Jebel Barisha, Limestone Massif, Syria
Ba'udeh
The church at Ba'udeh has been dated to 392/3 by inscriptions and the village appears to have been very wealthy in late antiquity. The fallen masonry obscures the church interior, although the presence of notched pillars suggests that it had a nave barrier, as noted at other sites. Tchalenko recorded a Greek-style ambon - a pulpit that would have held one person - rather than the bema that was more common in this region of Syria.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 392/3, Ambon, Architecture, Ba'udeh, Bema, Church, Jebel Barisha, Kafar Daret 'Azzeh, Kfellusin, Kharab Shams, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kafar Hawwar
At the time of the visit there were no roads within about 30 minutes walk of this village. The church is largely rubble with only the sides of the apse arch still standing, with the destruction almost certainly caused my earthquakes. The bema was still visible and the site was undisturbed. Tchalenko could not securely date the site through survey and noted both C4th and C6th elements in the church.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, C6th, Church, Jebel Halaqa, Kafar Hawwar, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kfellusin South Church
As this church stands to the south of the modern village it has not been as badly damaged as the north church and still has most of its walls attached, with only the west wall missing.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Jebel Halaqa, Kfellusin, Late Antique, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kfellusin North Church
The north, probably C5th, church has been heavily mined for building materials and, at the time of the visit was strewn with rubbish. Only the bema, apse and part of the southern colonnade were still extant and the presence of a notched pillar suggested that originally some form of nave barrier was present - as appears to have been the case at several other sites such as Kharab Shams and Kafar Daret 'Azzeh.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Halaqa, Kafar Daret 'Azzeh, Kfellusin, Kharab Shams, Limestone Massif, Syria
Sergibleh
The C5th century church was very well preserved apart from on the south side, as the ruins were located at a short distance from modern dwellings. The only exception to this was the fact that the bema had been disturbed by looters.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Halaqa, Limestone Massif, Sergibleh, Syria
Sinkhar
Sinkhar is located in a valley between Batuta and Sheikh Sulaiman and, at the time of the site visit, was only accessible by walking for some distance. The C4th church in the village was severely overgrown, meaning that only a well-preserved chapel to the south of the main church, that was added in the C6th, could be accessed and it was impossible to find any trace of the bema and other features recorded by Tchalenko in the 1950s.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, C6th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Sinkhar, Syria
Brad 561 Church
This church is a relatively large size considering that it stands directly to the north of the cathedral-sized Church of Julianos in Brad. An inscription dates it to 561.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 561, Architecture, Brad, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Syria
Brad Church of Julianos
Brad is on a high plateau in one of the more inaccessible areas of the Jebel Seman and was a large town in late antiquity, famous in hagiographical sources as the birthplace of St. Maroun. The Church of Julianos has been dated by inscriptions to 399-402 and is one of the largest churches in the region, with the remains of a large bema still visible and a side apse to the north and the west wall being the best preserved elements of the site at the time of visit. Much of the stone seemed to have been reused in the construction of local dwellings.
Type: Architecture
Tags: 399-402, Architecture, Bema, Brad, Church, Jebel Seman, Julianos, Limestone Massif, St. Maroun, Syria
Kimar
The modern village now surrounds the C5th church in Kimar, although a recently built house beside the site did not immediately threaten the ruins at the time of the site visit. The walls and bema were in relatively good condition, although nothing stood higher than around knee-height. At this site the bema had clear notches in the stone indicating that wooden seats and panels would have originally been attached to the stone base of the platform.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Seman, Kimar, Limestone Massif, Syria