754 Items
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
Eid Mar Elian 2001
Every September 9th the feast day of Mar Elian ("Eid Mar Elian") is celebrated at Dayr Mar Elian. As the saint is venerated as both a Christian saint (Mar Elian) and a Muslim Sheikh or holy man (Sheikh Ahmed Khoury - Sheikh Ahmed the Priest) several thousand people from Qaryatayn and the neighbouring villages attend the mass held in the cloister. This is presided over by the local Syrian Catholic Metropolitan and the Sheikh of Qaryatayn. These pictures start by showing the preparations for the event the day before the pilgrims arrive, before showing the events of the day itself. Msgr. Georges Kassab and Sheikh Assad are shown addressing the crowds attended by assorted Christian clerics, including Fr. Jacques Mourad, Prior of Mar Elian and Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio, the Abbot of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi. On this occasion a small display was constructed in the church to explain about the forthcoming archaeological excavations and to educate local people about the processes of archaeology so that they were happy that the project would not impact on their worship at the tomb of Mar Elian.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Church, Eid Mar Elian, Ethnographic information, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Sheikh Ahmed Khoury, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Gathering information on local history
Over the duration of the project efforts were made to talk to local people to collect their memories of the monastery. The older inhabitants of Qaryatayn could remember the small mud brick shrine that stood over the sarcophagus until the modern church was built on the site in 1938. The eastern range of the cloister had also had a range of mud brick rooms until the 1980s, when termite damage caused them to collapse leaving only the south east tower and one other chamber still standing. Until this collapse the monastery was inhabited by Bayt Habib, a Christian Bedu clan. Members of this family, especially the family patriarch Abu Nasif, were amongst the most knowledgeable of the local informants.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Bedouin, Bedu, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Ethnographic information, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Visits of Cardinal Musa Daoud to Dayr Mar Elian
Cardinal Musa Daoud was formerly Syrian Catholic Metropolitan of Homs before being elevated to the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in 1998. However he swiftly resigned the Patriarchate after being named Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in November 2000, a post that he held until 2007. As a native of Meskaneh in Homs province, the Cardinal had a special devotion to the shrine of Mar Elian and visited it annually to celebrate a mass at the site. Here two such visits in 2001 and 2003 represented in these photographs.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Cardinal Musa Daoud, Church, Dayr Mar Elian, Ethnographic information, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Monastery, Qaryatayn, Social History, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Qalat Ibn Maan
Qalat Ibn Maan is the medieval castle that sits on the hill to the west of the ancient city of Palmyra. It is thought to date to the C13th and, although occupying an impressive defensive position its construction of rough fieldstone means that the walls would not have been able to withstand a heavy bombardment.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C13th, Castle, Citadel, Fortress, Palmyra, Qalat Ibn Maan, Syria, Tadmor
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
Qaryatayn Syrian Orthodox Manuscript dating from 1620
A number of Syriac and Garshuni manuscripts belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church were in the safe-keeping of a village family in the early 2000s and these MSS have now been presented to the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Homs. This MS dates from 1620 and gives details of a great flood at that time as well as information about local bishops.
Type: Manuscript
Tags: 1620, Garshuni, Manuscript, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syriac, Syrian Civil War, Syrian Orthodox
Qaryatayn Syrian Orthodox Manuscript dating from 1826
A number of Syriac and Garshuni manuscripts belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church were in the safe-keeping of a village family in the early 2000s and these MSS have now been presented to the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Homs. This MS is dated to 1826.
Type: Manuscript
Tags: 1826, Garshuni, Manuscript, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syriac, Syrian Civil War, Syrian Orthodox
Qaryatayn Syrian Orthodox Manuscript dating from 1815
A number of Syriac and Garshuni manuscripts belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church were in the safe-keeping of a village family in the early 2000s and these MSS have now been presented to the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Homs. This MS is dated to 1815 and includes the stories of St. Anabula the fool, St. Ishmoni and her seven sons and St. Elias and his son.
Type: Manuscript
Tags: 1815, Garshuni, Manuscript, Qaryatayn, St. Anabula, St. Elias, St. Ishmoni, Syria, Syriac, Syrian Orthodox
Kharbaqa dam
The Kharbaqa dam has traditionally been attributed to the Romans, but more recent research has argued that it was constructed in the Umayyad period as part of the irrigation networks linked to Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi. The dam is around 345 metres wide and 20 metres high, but how long it remained useful is debated as the southern side of the dam is completely silted up and it is believed that this process happened relatively early in the life of the dam limiting its value to the local irrigation system.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Dam, Irrigation system, Kharbaqa, Roman, Syria, Umayyad