103 Items
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 after fifth day of excavation
These are progress shots of the trench.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 after fourth day of excavation
These are progress shots of the trench.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 after third day of excavation
This shows the progress of the excavation after three days and then images of the day's work with pictures taken from both the church roof and the (modern) kitchen roof looking NW towards the trench.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 after second day of excavation
This shows the trench after two days of work from above, and also shows a view of a cutting in the trench.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Trench to the east of the 1938 church, recorded as Intervention 7 after first day of excavation
This picture was taken from the church roof looking east and shows that the first day of excavation had revealed the top of a substantial stone wall.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeology, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Excavation, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
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
Chains in front of the altar in the Church of Mar Elian
The local people believe that Mar Elian is able to cure mental illness and until the recent past it was usual to chain those suffering with such an illness in the church for three nights. The chains were left in place until the dismantling of the 1938 church in 2004. The practice of sleeping in the church for three nights to pray for healing was continuing at the time that these pictures were taken, but the chains were not used.
Type: Ethnographic information/Social History
Tags: Chains, Dayr Mar Elian, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Healing, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syrian Civil War
Qaryatayn Syrian Orthodox Manuscript 
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. The date of this MS is unknown.
Type: Manuscript
Tags: Garshuni, Manuscript, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syriac, 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
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