89 Items
View of the excavated church looking north
This shows the majority of the area of what had been the 1938 church and reveals the stone foundations of an earlier chapel on the site.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Views of the room uncovered beneath the east end of the 1938 church
These pictures show the small room located at the east end of the 1938 church underneath the sanctuary. This is where local informants remember there being a small chamber for sick people to stay for three days in the hope of being cured by the saint.
Type: Archaeological Site
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
The sarcophagus with metal bands to hold the object together
When the walls and base on which the sarcophagus had been standing were removed, cloth-wrapped metal bands were secured around the objects to keep it together and make sure that the tomb remained stable.
Type: Sculpture
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tomb
Fragment of Mamluk ceramic found during the excavation of the church
This ceramic fragment is typical of Mamluk wares that were produced in C13th Syria.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Finds, Archaeology, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mamluk, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Details of the Byzantine sarcophagus once the surrounding walls have been dismantled
This shows details of the Byzantine sarcophagus once it has been cleared of rubble and cleaned up. Amongst the pilgrimage graffiti a star of David was discovered with two Hebrew characters, suggesting that at some point Jewish, as well as Christian and Muslim pilgrims venerated the holy man buried at the site. A number of Syriac and Arabic inscriptions on the tomb have been published in epigraphic surveys of Syria.
Type: Sculpture
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Hebrew, Inscription, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Star of David, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription, Syrian Civil War
View to the south west looking over the former site of the 1938 church
This shows that the local account of a small chamber to the east of the sanctuary was correct. Local informants told of a small room to the east of the altar where those afflicted with illness stayed for three days and nights in the hope of cure from the saint.
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
Stone arcade running east from the site of the 1938 church
A stone arcade was revealed to be running further east than the 1938 church, on the same alignment of the church so that it suggested that the building was once larger and had contracted over time as the shrine had declined in importance.
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
View of the east wall of the chapel after the dismantling of the 1938 church
These pictures show the stone wall that was beneath the east end of the 1938 church and elements of the stone and mud brick chambers that abutted it.
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
Details of a network of walls to the west of the main monastery entrance
These walls are believed to have been earlier phases of the enclosure wall.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Wall
Details of clearing the walls and other debris around the sarcophagus of Mar Elian
These pictures show the clearing away of the walls and debris that abutted the sarcophagus of Mar Elian. This was necessary due to the damp that was permeating the tomb from the north wall. In this pictures the darker soil in the pictures shows where the earth was still damp even in the summer heat of the Syrian desert.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Byzantine, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Syria, Syrian Civil War