Items - Architecture and Asceticism

Tags: Apostles

6 Items

Christ and the apostles

Christ and the apostles stand immediately above the semi-dome of the apse on the triumphal arch. Christ is flanked by Saints Peter and Paul who have their recognisable features of white hair and beard for St. Peter and a dark beard and receding hairline for St. Paul. Although the scene has been quite damaged, some elements are very well preserved and the image of St. Paul was the only illustration used in the commemorative service books handed to priests during Pope John Paul II's visit to Damascus in 2001.

Type: Painting
Tags: 1207/08, An Nabk, Apostles, Christ, Church, Deir Mar Musa, Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Mar Musa al-Habashi, Monastery, St. Paul, St. Peter, 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