65 Items
Kalota
There are several churches in Kalota, the one with a bema is dated 492 and located to the east of the sprawling settlement. The village is sprawling and was quite extensively inhabited in 1997 and 1998. The new road to the village means that it will now be even densely inhabited and this will put the archaeological remains at risk.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Seman, Kalota, Limestone Massif, Syria
Qal'at Kalota
The C5th church of Qalat Kalota stands on a hill to the west of the village of Kalota. It gets its name from the Arabic word "Qal'ah" or castle as, like Kharab Shams, the church was fortified in the Islamic era. It is generally well preserved and stands in a large courtyard with a martyrium to the south of the church.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Early Islamic, Fortress, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Martyrium, Qalat Kalota, Syria
Kharab Shams
The church of Kharab Shams was built in the C4th and is generally well preserved, however it was altered in the early Islamic period when the apse area was turned into a small fortress. Today the small settlement is completely abandoned except by shepherds and goatherds who use the wells around the site.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Church, Early Islamic, Fortress, Jebel Seman, Kharab Shams, Limestone Massif, Syria
Kafar Nabo
Kafar Nabo is on Jebel Seman about halfway between Burj Heidar and Brad and in 1997 it was accessible only by walking. The settlement was sacred to the god Nabo in antiquity and in the C4th a large church was built on the site of the pagan temple. Elements of this temple were incorporated in the church, which also possessed a double-size bema. Scattered around the site were the remains of a ciborium, an earlier Latin inscription, two Roman statues (one male, one female) and a Greek inscription on a door lintel.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C4th, Church, Ciborium, Figure, Greek, Greek Inscription, Jebel Seman, Kafar Nabo, Latin, Latin Inscription, Limestone Massif, Nabo, Pagan, Sculpture, Syria, Temple
Sheikh Sulaiman C5th church
The C5th church remains in the heart of the village and it is perhaps for this reason that so little of it was still extant in 1997. The bema was still visible along with fragments of wall and several doorways, but the rest of the stone had been taken from the site.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bema, C5th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Sheikh Sulaiman, Syria
Sheikh Sulaiman C6th church
This church is very well preserved with the portico and a tower still extant. There is some speculation that the tower could once have been the dwelling of a hermit due to the stylite imagery on the portico and because the whole complex was constructed a short distance away from the village.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C6th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Sheikh Sulaiman, Stylite, Syria, Tower
Sheikh Sulaiman church dated 602
This church is located to the west of the village of Sheikh Sulaiman and an inscription dates its construction to 602, making it one of the youngest securely dated churches on the Limestone Massif
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C7th, Church, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Sheikh Sulaiman, Syria
Dayr Seman north west monastery
This monastery is in a more ruined condition than its counterpart and stands apart from the rest of the village, with a view of the bottom of the triumphal way leading up to Qalat Seman.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Dayr Seman, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Monastery, Pilgrimage, Qalat Seman, Syria
Dayr Seman south west monastery
This is one of two monastery complexes in Dayr Seman, which when it was visited and photographed in 1997 was in a very good state of preservation and partially inhabited by a Kurdish family. The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) later evicted them, but it may now be reinhabited.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Dayr Seman, Inscription, Jebel Seman, Limestone Massif, Monastery, Pilgrimage, Qalat Seman, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription
Qal'at Seman
Qal'at Seman is the site where Simeon Stylites the Elder stood on a pillar for 36 years. The hill is located to the north of Jebel Sheikh Barakat and the monumental complex was constructed on the orders of the Emperor after Simeon died in 459. It was one of the biggest churches in the world at the time it was built.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C5th, Church, Jebel Seman, Jebel Sheikh Barakat, Limestone Massif, Martyrium, Pilgrimage, Pillar, Qalat Seman, Simeon Stylites, Stylite, Syria