103 Items
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
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
Bowl
This bowl was donated to DMEAP by a local family to be placed in the small museum that was set up in the monastery to display finds with the agreement of the DGAM.
Type: Portable Object
Tags: Bowl, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Fragments of glass bangle
Throughout the site we found evidence of glass bangles. Predominantly blue in colour, some had elaborate decoration although others were far cruder and simpler.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Bangle, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Glass, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Clay pipes
A number of clay pipes were found during the excavation and through communication with archaeologists at the Citadel of Damascus, it was established that they were amongst the earliest evidence for tobacco use in the region.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Clay pipes, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tobacco
A fragment of glazed ceramic
This fragment was the only evidence of high-status highly decorated ceramic found at Dayr Mar Elian - which was a contrast from the high-status ceramics that were found at Mar Musa - there was not enough evidence to discern whether the fragment was a decorative motif or formed part of an elaborate inscription.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Excavation, Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syrian Civil War
Ostracon
Apart from the pilgrim graffiti on the sarcophagus of Mar Elian, the only evidence of Syriac epigraphy found on the site was this fragment inscribed on a ceramic sherd.
Type: Archaeological Find
Tags: Archaeological Finds, Ceramic, Dayr Mar Elian Archaeological Project, Ostracon, Qaryatayn, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription, Syrian Civil War