238 Items
The Early Syriac Liturgical Drama and its Architectural Setting
This article was published in 1999 and summarises some of the ideas that were expanded in the later monograph The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to-Sixth-Century Syrian Churches.
Type: Text
Tags: Archaeology, Architecture, Bema, C4th-C6th, Limestone Massif, Liturgy, Syria
Qaryatayn Tell
The tell in Qaryatayn was the centre of a middle bronze age kingdom, with the site being settled due to the presence of an oasis. The significance of the town declined over time although a garrison was permanently stationed in Qaryatayn in the Ottoman period in order to protect travellers from raids by the Bedouin as they travelled between Damascus and Palmyra. These pictures of the tell were taken by a local resident in May 2012 after the tell was bulldozed by unknown looters. Quickly taken on a telephone, the photographer returned the next morning with a camera but found the artefacts shown in these low resolution pictures had already been destroyed.
Type: Sculpture
Tags: Archaeology, Destruction, Looting, Qaryatayn, Sculpture, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tell
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
Sarcophagus of Mar Elian 
The Byzantine sarcophagus believed to hold the remains of Mar Elian (St. Julian) and is covered with pilgrimage graffiti believed to date back to at least the C9th. The form of the sarcophagus is late antique and dates from the C5th-C8th. These images show the tomb before it was cleaned by excavators and damage to the grave, reputedly caused by villagers in the 1920s, is clearly visible. It also shows the sarcophagus before its coverings were removed with the votive offerings placed at the shrine by the faithful and the green satin covering given by local Muslims denoting the tomb of a holy man in their tradition.
Type: Sculpture
Tags: Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Shrine, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription, Tomb
Palmyra Temple of Bel
The Temple of Bel as it appears today dates from the C1st-C2nd AD, but stands on a much older cult site near the date palm grove and Eqfa spring that enabled the foundation of a city in the middle of the Syrian desert. Later on the cella of the temple was adapted for use as a Christian church and faint traces of frescoes are still visible on the interior walls. It was also fortified in the middle ages and there was a village within the walls of the compound until the population was removed by the French authorities during their rule of Syria in the 1920s.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeology, Architecture, Bel, C1st-C2nd, Church, Fresco, Islam, Medieval, Palmyra, Roman, Sculpture, Syria, Tadmor, Temple
Resafa Cisterns
Located in the Syrian desert approximately 25 kilometres south of the River Euphrates, Resafa depended on capturing seasonal rainwater and irrigation systems for its water. This water was then stored in large cisterns until needed.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeology, Architecture, Byzantine, Cistern, Euphrates, Resafa, Roman, Sergiupolis, Syria, Water
Dayr Mar Elian: A Monastery of the al-Qalamun, Syria. Historical Background and Project Summary, Les Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes, vol. 45-46 (2002-2003), pp. 419-424
This is the final draft of a paper published in Les Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes.
Type: Text
Tags: Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Monastic Archaeology in Syria (2): the 2004 season at Dayr Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria
This is the report (unpublished) of the final season of the Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project (DMEAP). It was submitted for publication to Levant but the manuscript was overlooked when the publication changed editorial staff and material was lost in the move.
Type: Text
Tags: Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Excavation, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Reliquary, Syria, Syrian Civil War