203 Items
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 before excavation
Intervention 7 was the reference given to the first trench opened to the east of the 1938 church. This site was chosen because of the belief that the church had contracted in size over time, with local informants claiming that a range of interlocking 'beehive' mud brick chambers had made up the earlier shrine on the site, itself built on the remains of a still earlier church. These images show the site of the trench before excavation commenced looking east from the roof of the church.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, 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
Hawwarin
Hawwarin was known as Evaria in late antiquity and is recorded as being the seat of two bishoprics. It appears to date from the Roman era as there is extensive evidence of Roman spolia in the Byzantine remains in the town. The local population talk of there having been seven basilicas in the settlement and evidence of three of these is still extant, although only one has been excavated thus far - by a Syrian team led by Wedad Khoury of the DGAM. The Roman dressed limestone blocks were carried to the site from some distance away as there are no quarries in the vicinity of the town and the modern dwellings are mud brick or cement. At the centre of the settlement is the mysterious "burj" or tower, which local people believe to have been part of an Umayyad hunting lodge, but which is built with Roman spoil and may well date from the Byzantine period as its nearest equivalent structure is the C6th stone tower at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi. However, unlike the Qasr and neighbouring Khans/Caravanserai this tower has entrances to both the north and south rather than the single entrance that is the norm for such structures.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Architecture, Basilica, Byzantine, Castle, Church, Evaria, Hawwarin, Limestone, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, Roman, Syria, Tower, Umayyad
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
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
Clay pipes
A number of clay pipes were found during the excavation and through communication with archaeologists at the Citadel of Damascus, it was established that they were amongst the earliest evidence for tobacco use in the region.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Clay pipes, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tobacco
Lithics
A selection of lithics found in and around Dayr Mar Elian, including a tool discovered in the bed of the wadi to the west of the monastery.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Lithics, Syria, Syrian Civil War
A fragment of glazed ceramic
This fragment was the only evidence of high-status highly decorated ceramic found at Dayr Mar Elian - which was a contrast from the high-status ceramics that were found at Mar Musa - there was not enough evidence to discern whether the fragment was a decorative motif or formed part of an elaborate inscription.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Photographs of ceramic finds at the end of the 2002 excavation season
These photographs were taken as a sample of the most diagnostic ceramic finds from the first season. In the second and third season the DGAM sent a ceramic specialist to catalogue and, where appropriate, to restore the finds.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sherds, Syria
View of the site on the completion the Syrian-led excavations at Dayr Mar Elian
A Syrian team from the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) continued excavations at Dayr Mar Elian after the end of the British project. These images were taken on a site visit with the superior of the Monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio and Fr. Jacques Mourad, a monk at Mar Musa and parish priest and prior of Mar Elian.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria