Items - Architecture and Asceticism

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

Reliquary casket

These pictures show the lid of a Byzantine reliquary casket that was discovered buried north of the altar of the 1938 church, along with a shattered glass vessel and the broken bases of two other Byzantine reliquaries.

Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Byzantine, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Reliquary, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Views of the trench by the monastery entrance to study the wall alignment of the cloister

These pictures show the trench across the south side of the cloister that demonstrated how the alignment of the cloister had shifted with the rebuilding of the enclosure walls over time.

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

View north west over the former church site

This picture shows the footprint of the 1938 church, with the sarcophagus protected by wooden boards to the left of the picture.

Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Sarcophagus, Syria, Syrian Civil War

General view over the cloister looking north west

This gives a view over the cloister and beyond to the orchard and hills to the west of Qaryatayn.

Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Landscape, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Intervention 38/39

This shows the progress on the network of chambers to the west of the dismantled church.

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

Reopening of Intervention 7 to investigate how it relates to the east end of the church

These pictures show the backfilling around intervention 7 being removed in preparation for continuing work in the trench.

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

Extension to the trench by the entrance to Mar Elian

As it became clear that the alignment of the cloister had changed over time, a trench opened to the east of the monastery entrance was extended to the west in order to study the changed angle of alignment 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, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War

Views of the Byzantine sarcophagus after the 1938 church was dismantled

It was the dampness around the sarcophagus of Mar Elian that first led to the structural survey that revealed that the 1938 church was unstable. The cement skim on the roof was uneven and pushed the east and west walls outwards. In addition mud brick walls above a stone foundation had been clad in cement. When water penetrated cracks in the cement, the walls could not breathe and this caused the damp and instability in the church.