451 Items
St. Elizabeth
St. Elizabeth faces east underneath the central arch of the southern arcade. This image was taken shortly before the fresco was cleaned.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, St. Elizabeth, Syria, Syriac Inscription
Unknown monastic saint
This figure faces south and is on the northern pier adjoining the west wall. The figure is wearing the distinctive monastic hood of a Syrian Orthodox monk and carries a cross with one hand raised in blessing. The Syriac inscription is too damaged for the saint to be identified. Above the saint are people who are presumed to be members of pagan cults destined for hell.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Monk, Pagan, Saints, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription, Syrian Orthodox
Samson and the lion
This fresco of Samson and the lion dates from the first level of painting and was therefore painted between 1058 and 1095. In this picture it is partially cleaned and that process was completed shortly after this image was taken. It is located on the north side of the southern aisle of the church and faces the viewer as they enter the church.
Type: Painting
Tags: An Nabk, C11th, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Lion, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Samson, Syria
St. John the Baptist
This picture of St. John the Baptist was taken shortly before the fresco was cleaned and consolidated in the summer of 2003 and is located facing east on the pillar adjoining the west wall.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, St. John the Baptist, Syria
View of the north arcade looking west 
The north west spandrel has St.Luke the evangelist above it and damaged female saints are visible underneath the arches.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Evangelist, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Saints, St. Luke, Syria
View of the east end of the church
The original iconostasis was destroyed at some point between the 1960s and 1982 when restoration of the monastery commenced. The chancel screen has fragments believed to show the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins and the triumphal arch above the semi-dome has Christ amidst the Apostles with the Annunciation above it on either side of the window. Unfortunately most of the Annunciation scene was stolen by fresco thieves in the 1980s.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Annunciation, Apostles, Chancel Screen, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Iconostasis, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Syria, Wise and Foolish Virgins
View of the south arcade of the nave
A view of the south arcade of the nave with the evangelists St. Matthew and St. Mark in the spandrels, Elijah and Elisha above St. Matthew and St. Julian the Old Man beneath him on the pillar and what is believed to be the remains of St. George above St. Mark.
Apostles are visible on the triumphal arch over the semi-dome of the apse. On the chancel screen are the remnants of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Apostles, Chancel Screen, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Iconostasis, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, St. George, St. Julian of the East, St. Julian the Old Man, St. Mark, St. Matthew, Syria, Wise and Foolish Virgins
The Last Judgement
The west wall of the church is the most well preserved of all the frescoes in the cycle and shows the Last Judgement. The left hand side (blue background) shows the elect ranked from the bottom as: Syrian Orthodox monks and nuns (identifieable by their monastic hoods embroidered with 13 crosses) and St. Peter, the Church Fathers and other saints and biblical figures, the Three Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and the Virgin Mary cradling the souls of the saved and above both sides the Apostles on either side of the Hetoimasia (Instruments of the Passion) with a pair of angels flanking the small window at the very top.
On the right hand side are the damned: fornicators, sinners such as usurers and murderers, foreign priests (Jews and Zoroastrians?), Muslims and at the top those Christians who are in doctrinal error - in this case those upholding the Council of Chalcedon.
In the centre Adam and Eve sit above two angels holding the scales of judgement and a saint or a devil receive the soul according to which side the scales fall on.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, Abraham, Adam, An Nabk, Angel, Apostles, Chalcedon, Church, Church Council, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Devil, Eve, Fresco, Hetoimasia, Isaac, Jacob, Jews, Last Judgement, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Monk, Muslims, Nun, St. Peter, Syria, Syrian Orthodox, Virgin Mary, Zoroastrian
St. Julian of the East otherwise known as St. Julian the Old Man
The figure facing the nave on the south east pillar of the church is clearly labelled in Syriac 'Mar Julyano Sobo' or St. Julian the Old Man. This is the same figure as St. Julian of the East or 'Mar Elian esh Sharqi' which was the dedication of the monastery in Qaryatayn, approximately 45 kilometres away and which was destroyed by IS in August 2015.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Elian, Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Mar Yulyano Sobo, Monastery, Qaryatayn, St. Julian of the East, St. Julian the Old Man, Syria, Syriac, Syriac Inscription, Syrian Civil War
Unidentified saint above the south western arch
This small saint is inserted between St. Bacchus to the west and a damaged figure believed to have been St. George to the east. Its diminutive size is because it is sandwiched between the highest part of an arch and a window in the clerestory.
Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Fresco, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, Saints, St. Bacchus, St. George, Syria