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MONASTERIES AND CHURCHES OF THE QALAMUN (): ART AND PILGRIMAGE IN THE MIDDLE AGES1

MAT IMMERZEEL PAUL VAN MOORSEL CENTRE, LEIDEN UNIVERSITY

he mountainous area to the north scape of the Qalamun through the ages. We of , known as the Qala- do, however, have to realise that this inten- mun (Djebel Qalamūn), has long tion is ambitious, as it requires a systematic been a Christian stronghold in the survey of the area and a detailed analysis of predominantlyT Muslim Middle East (fig. 1; the ancient buildings combined with a study all figures are by the author, unless men- of relevant literary sources. With this limita- tioned otherwise).2 Traditionally, the major- tion in mind, our point of departure will be ity of the Qalamun’s were adher- the situation in the decades before and dur- ents to the Byzantine Orthodox (Melkite) ing the Crusader era (1099-1291), focussing Church, living in places such as Saydnaya, in particular on two interrelated subjects that Macarat Saydnaya, Macalula, Yabrud, Qara in recent years have raised scholarly inter- and Deir Attiya. The Syrian Orthodox est: the flourishing of church art in the Qala- Church was well established in Nebk, Qary- mun, and the impact of pilgrimage, in par- atain and Sadad in the eastern part of the ticular to the Monastery of Our Lady in Qalamun, owned two monasteries here (Deir Saydnaya.

Mar Musa and Deir Mar Elian), and had 1. HISTORY bishoprics in Damascus3 and Sadad.4 With the increasing importance of the Greek The Christians of the Qalamun lived in the in Damascus and its sur- shadow of the events that rocked the roundings in the eighteenth century, the de- from time to time, yet they lived close nomination of several Melkite monasteries enough to Damascus and the Crusader states and churches changed from Greek Orthodox to experience the consequences of political to Greek Catholic.5 In the next century the and socio-economic changes, with their ad- two West Syrian monasteries were trans- vantages or disadvantages. From 970 on- ferred to the Syrian Catholic Church. wards, Damascus fell under the authority of This study aims at giving the initial im- the Fatamids in Cairo. The foundation of the petus to reconstructing the Christian land- Latin states around 1100 did not really pose

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 74 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______a threat to the Emirate of Damascus. Nur ad- headed by General Kitbuqa entered Damas- Din succeeded where the Crusaders had cus in the presence of its allies, the Arme- failed; he took Damascus in 1158. Saladin’s nian king and the Latin Prince of .9 capture of and the rural areas of Many Mongols were adherents of the East the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 resulted Syrian Church, which helps to explain why in a certain détente between the contesting the Christians of the cities that they con- parties. Under the Ayyubids (1174-1249) quered were occasionally spared. Feeling commerce and cultural life flourished. Da- strengthened by this changed state of affairs, mascus was a junction on the trade routes Damascene Christians went in public pro- connecting all quarters of the Islamic world cession through the streets on 31 August. and the Crusader states and apparently the Their joy was premature: three days later the indigenous Christians benefited from these Mamluks defeated the Mongol contingent at favourable conditions as well. Ain Jalud. The Muslims retaliated upon the In Damascus too, the Melkites formed Christians by demolishing the cathedral and the predominant Christian minority. By the Syrian Orthodox church.1 0 Soon after, contrast, for the Syrian Orthodox this city the cathedral was rebuilt, but it was de- was of minor importance. The Muslim au- stroyed again in 1400. Not a single post- thorities had imposed restrictions on the medieval source alludes to adorned churches number of churches within the city walls, inside Damascus. If there were any murals reducing it to a maximum of fifteen. This left, they must have disappeared during the amount the Christians had to share with the anti-Christian clashes in the summer of Jews, who had one synagogue. According 1860. Many Christians perished when their to Ibn cAsakir (shortly before 1169), most quarter in between Bab Tuma and Bab of the Damascene churches were either Sharqi was sacked and burned down.1 1 The ruined or turned into mosques.6 Two build- houses and churches were reconstructed or ings were still in use: the Melkite Cathedral replaced in the next years, and this was done of al-Mariamiya (St Mary’s), which the so thoroughly that next to nothing of the old Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr found deco- architecture survived. rated with ‘remarkable pictures that amaze Turning back to the Middle Ages, soon the mind and dazzle the gaze’ in 1184,7 after the defeat of the Mongols, the Mamluks and a Syrian Orthodox church near Bab started a series of campaigns against the Cru- Tuma. The restrictions did not apply to saders, ending with the fall of Tripoli in 1289 churches outside the city walls, like those and Acre in 1291. With the favourable atti- of St Paul and St George. The latter was tude of the Damascene Christian population mentioned as a property of the Monastery towards the Mongols in mind, the new rul- of St Catherine on Mount Sinai in a letter ers had good reasons to suspect the indige- of Honorius III to Abbot Simeon of nous Christians of being the natural allies of this convent from 1217.8 their fellow believers from the West and In the mid-thirteenth century, the politi- East. The assault of Qara in 1266 illustrates cal and military balance in Syria changed the perceptibly deteriorating situation (see dramatically due to the Mongol invasions. below), and symbolises the end of the flour- On 17 February 1260, the Mongol army ishing Christian renaissance in West Syria.

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2. THE MONASTERY OF this church I saw a wooden panel measuring SAYDNAYA one el long and half an el wide, placed be- hind the altar in an embrasure in the wall of The most famous Christian monument of the sanctuary guarded by an iron grille. On the Qalamun is the Greek Orthodox Monas- this panel a likeness of the Blessed Virgin tery of Our Lady in Saydnaya, situated had once been painted, but now, wondrous about 30 km to the north of Damascus (figs to relate, the picture on wood has become 1, 2). The main reason for its celebrity was a incarnate and oil, smelling sweeter than bal- miraculous known as the Chaghoura, sam, unceasingly flows from it. By which Syriac for ‘The Illustrious’, ‘Celebrated’, or oil many Christians, Saracens and Jews are ‘Renowned’. The earliest sources on the often cured of ailments.... To this place on convent and the cult of the Chaghoura are the feast of the Assumption of the glorious from the final quarter of the twelfth century. Virgin and on that of her Nativity all the From this moment on the information is Saracens of that province flock to pray to- abundant, since visitors have left us their gether with the Christians, and the Saracens memories in travel reports, which today are perform their devotions there with great rev- essential for research on the history of the erence’.13 site and the tradition of the icon and its Burchard’s account of the inter-religious cult.12 Allegedly, the convent was founded veneration of the Virgin of Saydnaya during by the Emperor Justinian in A.D. 547. The the feasts of the Assumption (15 August) icon is also said to date from this period, but and Nativity (8 September) astonishes, but so far few efforts have been undertaken to finds support in ‘History of Churches and substantiate these apocryphal allegations on Monasteries’, a fourteenth-century compila- the basis of literary traditions and the sur- tion of texts attributed to the Coptic viving remains of ancient buildings. priest, Abū al-Makārim, and composed of material collected between 1171 and about 2.1. THE CULT OF THE 1210. The author discusses in detail the icon CHAGHOURA and its miraculous oil production, and quotes a priest from the monastery: ‘On this The absence of historical sources on the day gather to this place Christians, Muslims, monastery and the icon from before the later Nestorians, Melkites, , and others, twelfth century is all the more remarkable approximately four or five thousand peo- because the earliest writings reveal astonish- ple’.14 Obviously, the incarnation of the icon ing details of what appears to be a centuries- fascinated believers irrespective of their re- old and vibrant tradition of pilgrimage to ligion. The persisting attraction that Sayd- Saydnaya’s convent. The first reference oc- naya has held for Christians and Muslims curs in the account of Burchard of Strass- until our own times strengthens the credibil- bourg, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s am- ity of these accounts. bassador at the court of Saladin, who visited Evidently, these sources bear witness to Saydnaya around 1175: ‘In this church a tradition of uncertain age, which may at twelve virgin nuns and eight monks de- first have been local, but which seems to voutly serve God and the Blessed Virgin. In have expanded to an international level from

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 76 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______the late twelfth century onwards. In 1186, seemed to me that in one part of it some ves- holy oil from Saydnaya was brought to tige of red colouring might be discerned.’18 Europe for the first time. In the previous Ludolph von Suchem (approx. 1350) also year, an exchange of prisoners of war took saw the red traces, and left us more details place. Among the western prisoners released on what had originally been represented: was the Templar Walter of Marengiers, ‘(…) behind the altar, in a semicircular arch who, on his way to Jerusalem, had obtained in the wall, there is a figure of the blessed a bottle of oil when passing through Sayd- Mary suckling her child, painted from the naya. Shortly thereafter, Guido Chat brought waist upwards upon a wooden tablet, and a portion of this oil to the Abbey of Alta- fenced with iron bars; but the painting is so vaux (Haute-Vienne, France), and also re- black with age and kisses that one can vealed all details of the Chaghoura and its scarce make out that it was a figure, beyond miraculous workings to the French monks.15 that a little red colour can still be seen in the This was the beginning of the western inter- clothing’.19 est in Saydnaya and the involvement of the The suggested depiction of the suckling in promoting the cult of Virgin should be seen in light of the claim the Chaghoura.16 By the fourteenth century, that the healing oil which had made the the cult was so popular in the West that Chaghoura so famous had flowed from her European travellers continued visiting the incarnated breasts. This detail was men- place despite the loss of the Crusader states, tioned already in Guy Chat’s account and in a tradition that would continue for centuries. the inventory of the Abbey of Altavaux, to The Chaghoura was either held to have which he donated a phial of oil.20 In this been painted by St Luke, or brought by a matter, Ludolph must have relied on an ex- monk from Jerusalem or in isting tradition rather than his own observa- the sixth century. In spite of the anecdotal tions, since by his own account he did not nature of these stories and the obscure his- see more than the same red traces remarked tory of the cult, the icon itself had already by his predecessors. reached a venerable age by the late twelfth The motif of the Virgin suckling the century. The arguments for this are testimo- Child is known as Maria Lactans or Virgin nies about the eroded appearance of the im- Galaktotrophousa. Westerners such as Lu- age reported by Abū al-Makārim and several dolph may have been familiar with this vari- fourteenth-century westerners. Abū al- ant, since it had become popular in Euro- Makārim alleges that just a few spots of red- pean art from the second half of the thir- dish paint had survived.17 His words are teenth century onwards.21 However, the tra- echoed by Wilhelm von Boldensele, who dition of the suckling Virgin is rooted in the was in the monastery in 1333: ‘Behind the Middle East. A grotto near the Church of the high altar of the church there is on view [set Nativity in Bethlehem was believed to be in] the wall a certain panel which is com- the place where the Virgin fed the Child, pletely black and damp. It is said that the and was known as early as the late seventh likeness of the glorious Virgin was formerly century.22 Powdered limestone from this site depicted on it, but on account of its age no was said to be dried milk, and found its way trace of a design is visible, except that it to the West in the luggage of returning pil-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 77 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______grims. The iconography of the suckling Vir- iron bars, about four feet above floor level, gin can also be traced back to pre-Islamic behind the large altar.25 The same basilical times, when it was depicted in and design, with two rows of six columns, was Palestine.23 Thirteenth-century representa- described earlier by Jacopo da Verona tions embellish the Church of Sts Sergius (1335).26 and Bacchus in Qara to the northeast of Two later accounts, however, differ fun- Saydnaya (fig. 8), and the Cave Chapel of damentally from these fourteenth-century Sayyidat Naya at Kfar Schleiman in Leba- observations. The Ukrainian monk, Vasily non.24 Thus on further consideration the in- Grigorovich Barsky, in Saydnaya in 1728, terpretation of the Chaghoura as a depiction counted four rows of five columns support- of the Virgin Galaktotrophousa may well be ing vaults in a church with five naves.27 less far-fetched than it might appear. Anec- Thus the church must have been a basilical dotal stories about the nature of the image construction consisting of a nave with two may have travelled to the West together aisles at each side. One might be inclined to with the phials filled with holy oil. believe that Barsky was referring to an en- Though the Chaghoura is still purported tirely different building than Verona and to exist, this claim is nevertheless impossi- Poggibonsi, but his words are confirmed by ble to verify, since scholars have no access the British traveller, Dean Richard Pococke, to the icon. It is said to be kept in a metal who came to Saydnaya in 1737 and also box inside the Chapel of al-cAdra, an annex describes the church as being ‘ruined and at the south side of the apse of the present repaired.’28 Barsky also furnishes interesting church. Some believe that the Chaghoura details about the eastern part of the church. was lost centuries ago, a suspicion nour- He noticed a stone altar below a canopy ished by the stipulation that only the bishop with four marble columns, some large can- and the abbess of the monastery are allowed dleholders containing candles, an iconosta- to see it. sis with a veil, and floor mosaics.29 Since floor mosaics are characteristic of many 2.2. THE CHURCH early Byzantine churches in the Middle East, it may be suggested that the monastery None of the medieval sources reveals any- was indeed the Justinian foundation claimed thing about the presence of wall paintings or by tradition. other inside the church. Naturally, the The church was damaged during an pilgrims’ eyes were mainly focused on the earthquake in 1759 and restored three years Chaghoura, which after all was the reason later. More radical changes occurred after for their visit. One exception is Niccolò da the aforementioned riots against Christians Poggibonsi, who was on pilgrimage be- in 1860, which left many churches in Leba- tween 1345 and 1350. He furnishes surpris- non and Syria ruined. It does not seem very ingly accurate details about the churches of likely, however, that the monastery suffered the Holy Land and their decoration, and of directly from this event. The Prussian con- the church of ‘Sardinale’ he states that it had sul, Johann Gottfried Wetzstein, summarizes three naves with twelve columns. The Chag- the destructions that occurred in the Damas- houra was placed in a window or niche with cus area. Concerning Saydnaya he only re-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 78 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______ports on the attacks on nearby Macalula and tury is plausible. Modest though this surviv- Macarat Saydnaya, forcing its populations to ing fragment is, its presence supports the find shelter in the Monastery of Our Lady.30 hypothesis of an integral decoration pro- Because of its fortress-like construction, the gramme in the first church similar to those convent appears to have been secure enough in other monastic churches in the Qalamun to be spared the worst. After the situation (see below). had calmed down, many damaged churches were restored or completely rebuilt. Appar- 3. OTHER ADORNED MONUMENTS ently this campaign was considered a good IN AND NEAR SAYDNAYA juncture to renovate the monastery and re- place the church with a new building. In It seems that the restrictions on the amount 1883 Emmanuel-Guillaume Rey wrote that of churches allowed in Damascus did not the chapel incorporated into the modern apply to places outside Syria’s capital. In building was the only surviving part of the 1697 Henry Maundrell counted no less than ancient church. Moreover, the mosaics that sixteen sanctuaries in Saydnaya, but these Barsky saw were still visible at that time.31 buildings were already in a bad state by Actually, the Chapel of al-cAdra measures then.33 Post-medieval reports allude to paint- about 6 m wide and 5 m deep, is semicircu- ings in the churches of St John, St Barbara, lar and covered over with a semi-dome, and St Saba, the Prophet Elijah, St Babylas, St therefore has all characteristics of the apse Nicholas, the Convent of St Thomas near of a fairly large . Being the most Saydnaya, and in a ruined sanctuary near the holy place of the site, it was kept in honour road to Damascus.34 Although these sanctu- and renovated only superficially. aries have been modernized, a survey may The chapel is not the only part of the well be rewarding. Indeed, poorly preserved church that was spared. Visitors enter the fragments can be seen in the Church of Saint sanctuary through a small apsed room to its John the Baptist and the Greek Catholic south. As with other sections of the outer Church of St Sophia. In the first building wall, architectural elements belonging to two antique columns were embellished, per- earlier building phases are discernable from haps in the twelfth or thirteenth century. the outside (figs 2, 3). Renovation work in One recognizes Christ holding an open book the room in 1999 revealed a Syriac inscrip- with a few Greek letters, and traces of the tion near the south entrance and a painting coat of mail of a standing warrior saint.35 fragment on the west wall to its left. Unfor- In the modern Church of St Sophia is a tunately, with the incorrect association of niche that is in fact a doorway to its adjoin- Syriac with the Syrian Orthodox Church in ing medieval predecessor, which has fallen mind, the convent’s nuns had the inscription into disrepair and is hermetically sealed. removed immediately after its discovery, but The sidewalls of the doorway reveal frag- the painting remained visible until recently. ments of a prophet (Elijah?) and Daniel, It was possible to pick out details of an arch- who is identified by the Greek inscription angel (fig. 4).32 These traces do not allow a ∆[ANI]ΗΛ (figs 5, 6). A detailed analysis is reliable stylistic analysis, but a provisional hampered because in modern times the de- dating to the late twelfth or thirteenth cen- cayed scenes have been repainted, but by

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 79 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______their style it can be estimated that they were night to visit the Monastery of Our Lady, made in the thirteenth century. others headed home on their donkeys, after The best-preserved decoration is in the consuming their fill of the excellent wine of Cave Chapel of the Prophet Elijah (Mar the region.38 Yet in view of the inter- Elias) in Macarat Saydnaya, about 6 km to religious cult of Saydnaya, the tradition of the southeast of the monastery. This cave shared veneration may well have been much was held to be the place where Elijah hid in older. the desert near Damascus from the troops of The Middle East is blessed with many his persecutor, Queen Jezebel, and where he grottoes claiming to be Elijah’s dwelling anointed Elisha (I Kings 19:15). Hoof prints place, with the Cave of Elijah on Mount sculpted in the rock recall Elijah’s ascension Carmel as the best-known instance. All were into heaven on his chariot drawn by fiery important pilgrim destinations. In Jewish horses. Here we find a representation of this and Muslim circles in Greater Syria, the cult biblical event, which has been dated to the of Elijah/al-Khidr was very popular, espe- eleventh century, and a series of paintings cially in the vicinity of Damascus.39 The from the late twelfth century or first half of earliest account of his double identity in the thirteenth century, thus contemporary to connection with a sheltering cave here is the expansion of the cult of the Chag- attributed to Kacb al-Ahbar, a Jew who con- houra.36 The lower zone shows a procession verted to in 636. At least from the of prelates with the Virgin and a deacon sur- twelfth century onwards, Damascus had a rounding the altar, while the upper zone pre- mosque, several oratories and shrines dedi- serves parts of three anonymous saints and cated to al-Khidr. Moreover, the thirteenth- the Virgin of the Deisis. A large niche in the century Muslim theologian al-Harawi writes north wall is adorned with several saints, about a place near where many including Demetrius, George and Nicholas, prophets were buried, including al-Khidr. and the Virgin Enthroned with the Child on Here votive offerings were made by Mus- her lap (fig. 7). The style of these paintings lims, Jews and Christians.40 reveals the hand of a Cypriot artist, who ap- It is doubtful whether Jews participated parently could work in the Qalamun without in the veneration of the Chaghoura—as Bur- any problems, even though this part of Syria chard of Strassbourg suggests—and the was firmly in Muslim hands. Chapel of Mar Elias. They had their own Like the Monastery of Our Lady, the ‘Cave of Elijah’ in Jubar, less than 2 kilo- Chapel of Mar Elias is frequented by adher- metres from Bab Tuma. It was accessible ents of different Churches and Muslims, through the synagogue, the building history who come here to venerate the enigmatic of which Jubar’s Jews traced back to the wise man al-Khidr, identified with the prophet himself.41 The earliest references Prophet Elijah.37 The age of this inter- are to be found in the accounts of Rabbi confessional cult is uncertain. Alfred von Pethachia from Regensburg (1178) and Kremer witnessed the celebration of St Samuel ben Samson (ca 1210). It is signifi- Elijah’s feast on 1 August 1850, and de- cant that Arab-speaking Damascene Jews scribes the massive arrival of Damascene called their prophet al-Khidr as well. Christians and Muslims. Some stayed over- Concerning medieval Muslim sources

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 80 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______on the Elijah/al-Khidr tradition of the Da- saw, it is reasonable that the al-Khidr cult mascus area, Ibn cAsakir (d. 1176) briefly also flourished in Saydnaya alongside that mentions a cave where the prophet hid in the of the Chaghoura for centuries. mountains north of the city.42 Yet the most intriguing passage can be found in the jour- 3. QARA nal of Ibn Jubayr, who stayed in Damascus in the summer of 1184. He lists a number of In Saydnaya’s Melkite hinterland, the urge holy places near Mount Qasiyūn to the north for renovation has erased almost all murals. of Damascus: ‘At the edge of this mountain, Scarce traces testify to the church of the where the western plain with its gardens Greek Catholic Monastery of Sts Sergius comes to an end, is the blessed hill men- and Bacchus in Macalula being once deco- tioned in the book of God Most High as be- rated.44 The situation is, however, more fa- ing the dwelling of the Messiah and his vourable in Qara, situated along the ancient mother (…). It is one of the most remark- road connecting Damascus with . Two able sights of the world for beauty, ele- embellished Christian buildings testify to gance, height, and perfection of construc- this ’s thriving Melkite culture in the tion, for the embellished plasterwork, and Middle Ages: the Church of Sts Sergius and for the glorious site. It is like a towering Bacchus inside the village, and a few kilo- castle, and one climbs to it by steps. The metres to the west of the present agglomera- blessed dwelling is a grotto in its middle, tion, Deir Mar Yacqub (Monastery of St like a small chamber, and beside it is an- James the Persian; fig. 1). The most dra- other room said to be the oratory of al-Khidr matic event in Qara’s history occurred in the (…). Men hasten forward to pray at those first years of the Mamluk campaigns against blessed spots, especially in the blessed the Crusaders. In September 1266, a Muslim dwelling. This has an iron door that closes force installed outside the village heard ru- on it. The mosque encloses the hill, where mours about the inhabitants having sold there are circular paths and a fountain than Muslim slaves to the Crusader contingent of which no more beautiful can be seen.’43 Crac des Chevaliers. When a delegation of One cannot resist the temptation to re- monks from Deir Mar Yacqub came to the late this admiring description to the Monas- camp to offer presents and food they were tery of Our Lady in Saydnaya. An argument captured. The soldiers did not take half for this daring identification is the Chapel of measures: the monastery was destroyed and Mar Elias and its inter-religious cult, but the monks and a number of villagers were there is another potential candidate: the massacred. Others escaped or were led away Cave Chapel of St George near the Monas- in slavery, and the early Byzantine Church tery of St George to the south of the Monas- of St Nicholas was turned into a mosque, tery of Our Lady. St George too is an alter which it still is today.45 Soon a Muslim ego of al-Khidr, and this oratory also attracts population filled in the empty village, but in Christians and Muslims alike seeking for the course of time Christians returned. In baraka (‘blessing’) up till the present. Be 1465 the Russian merchant Basil found Qara that as it may, even though it is hardly pos- populated with Christians again, whereas sible to establish which oratory Ibn Jubayr monks and Qara’s metropolitan, Macarius,

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 81 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______were living nearby, presumably in the mon- cocke found the convent entirely ruined.49 astery.46 With the installation of the Greek Catholic Today Qara still houses Greek Catholics Church in the Qalamun after 1724 it fell and Greek Orthodox. After the collapse of under the jurisdiction of the Greek Catholic the Church of St George in the nineteenth Patriarchate in Damascus. century, the only sanctuary with a medieval In 1970, the prospects of renovation of origin within the city is the Church of Sts the then still ruined church were nil. Con- Sergius and Bacchus. Its fragmented murals cerned about the preservation of the visible were restored in the 1960s. All that remains fragments of murals, the responsible au- is the upper half of five scenes fixed on the thorities decided upon their detachment. north wall.47 The central image is that of the They found new, temporary, homes in the aforementioned Virgin Galaktotrophousa Archaeological Museum of nearby Deir At- below a decorated arcade, flanked by the tyia and the Museum of Antiquities in Da- equestrian saints Theodore to the left and mascus. About two decades later, renovation Sergius to the right (figs 8, 9). To the ex- started to make the monastery suitable for treme left remains part of a depiction of a the accommodation of a community of nuns. female saint, to the extreme right St John the This included the uncovering and restoring Baptist. Noteworthy is that the saints’ names of the remaining fragments by the Deutsches are written in Greek and vertical Estrangela Archäologisches Institut Damascus and the alike. Sts Sergius and Theodore are dressed Directorate General of Antiquities and Mu- with a coat of mail (mail hauberk) worn seums in Damascus. Photographs taken be- over a long-sleeved tunic, are crowned, and fore the detaching of the ‘museum frag- hold a lance and a round shield, which is ments’ enabled the German scholar Stephan abundantly beaded and adorned with pre- Westphalen to determine their original set- cious stones. In addition, St Sergius carries a ting. Recently, these pieces returned to their red-crossed white banner, an attribute gener- original home, and, awaiting resettlement, ally associated with the Crusaders. We will they are exhibited in a room near the church. consider this typical element further below. In anticipation of their future restoration, an Although some parts of Deir Mar additional number of detached and deterio- Yacqub’s architecture testify to the antiquity rated fragments are also stored in the mon- of this monastery, history is silent on this astery.50 complex until the events of 1266. The age of On a regional level the construction of the dedication to St James the Mutilated re- the church building is unique, inasmuch as it mains a question as well; the oldest refer- consists of an upper and a lower church ence known is to be found in the colophon sharing the same apse construction. The ear- of an Arabic gospel from 1476/77 written by liest decoration in the upper apse consists of the Priest Yuwakim from this monastery.48 enthroned apostles with Greek inscriptions, Simultaneously, this source confirms Basil’s executed in reddish colours on a white back- allusion to the return of Christians, but in ground (fig. 10). These figures still have to the next centuries it had its ups and downs. be studied, but for their simplicity they can Deir Mar Yacqub was attacked again in the be assigned to another artist than the one early seventeenth century, and in 1737 Po- who decorated the nave of the lower church.

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Represented in the southwest corner are than the most recent murals in Deir Mar scenes from the Life of Christ, including the Musa from 1208/9 (see below) but prior to Baptism, the Cleansing of the Temple and the dramatic event of 1266.52 some miracles. On the south side of the tri- umphal arch is a saint holding a circular ob- 4. THE SYRIAN ORTHODOX ject in his right hand. Westphalen’s stylistic analysis reveals analogies with Byzantine art The eastern part of the Qalamun was popu- from the first half of the eleventh century.51 lated with Syrian Orthodox Christians, who At a certain point both churches were had two monasteries here: Deir Mar Musa repainted, in all likelihood by the same local (Monastery of St Moses) near Nebk and workshop or artist that decorated the Church Deir Mar Elian (Monastery of St Elian) near of Sts Sergius and Bacchus. In the apse of Qaryatain. Today both are inhabited by Syr- the upper church remain fragments of fron- ian Catholic communities, whereas the tally depicted saints, of whom St Nicholas is population of the village of Sadad is still identified by his name written in Greek and Syrian Orthodox. For its paintings, Deir Mar vertical Estrangela (fig. 11). The ‘museum Musa belongs to the most important ar- fragments’ originated from the lower apse. chaeological sites of the Christian Middle There, the upper zone contained a Deisis East. So far, no murals have been found in with two archangels, the twelve apostles and Deir Mar Elian, but judging from the re- two prophets or kings, the one to the ex- mains near the present complex the site has treme right being Solomon. The lower zone a long history.53 bears the images of Church Fathers, such as Deir Mar Musa is situated in a remote Sts Gregory, Athanasius, John of Alexan- valley across the mountains to the east of dria, and James. In between them was a Vir- Nebk, and is mentioned as early as the sixth gin Blachernitissa (now in storage). The century.54 Building inscriptions in Arabic thematic disposition on the triumphal arch commemorate the rebuilding of the church focussed on Old Testament scenes with a in A.D. 1058/1059, shortly after which the Eucharistic connotation. To the right is walls were adorned for the first time. The Moses Receiving the Law, and very likely convent led a sorry existence until a Syrian the Sacrifice of Isaac was represented on its Catholic community under the guidance of opposite. As in the village church, mounted Father Paolo dall’Oglio re-occupied the site saints dominated the sidewalls of the nave. in the 1980s. Their perseverance revitalized Recognizable are traces of a reddish horse the monastery and turned it into a widely heading toward the apse in the centre of the reputed spiritual centre. As the renovation of south wall and, further to the west, a frag- the buildings that had fallen into disrepair ment of a greyish mail hauberk. also required the restoration of the medieval The chronology of the most recent paintings inside the church, a conservation paintings follows from their stylistic and campaign was set up by the Istituto del iconographic kinship with murals in Deir Restauro in and the Directorate Gen- Mar Musa (see below) and wall paintings eral of Antiquities and Museums in Damas- and icons made in the Tripoli area in Leba- cus, whose due intervention brought the im- non. They would have been painted later ages back to life.55

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The fortress-like complex is built on a inscription the artist presented himself as protruding rock overlooking the valley. The Sarkis (Sergius). He decorated the entire choice of this isolated place was not haphaz- nave and the apse. Noticeable are the An- ard; here rainwater found its way down to nunciation and Christ between the apostles the plain from the mountains and the con- on the triumphal arch, a Deisis-Vision and struction of a well gave the inhabitants ac- the Virgin Blachernitissa in between Church cess to abundant water. The church is lo- Fathers in the apse, and six mounted saints cated at the north side of the complex. Its and the four evangelists on the sidewalls. decoration appears as a puzzling patchwork Sarkis’ masterpiece is a huge Last Judge- of scenes and inscriptions on successive ment scene according to Byzantine fashion plaster coverings or directly on older im- on the west wall. Among the represented ages, and extends over the nave, the apse, riders are Sts George and Theodore as well and the two aisles. Arabic inscriptions fur- as Sts Sergius and Bacchus. As in Qara, nish clues to the chronology of three main both hold a crossed banner, which is white layers and the names of two artists. The first with a red cross in the case of St Sergius and layer was painted shortly after the renova- red with a white cross in that of St Bacchus tion of the mid-eleventh century (Layer 1), (figs 15, 16). the second dates from A.D. 1095 (Layer 2), As for this standard, direct Latin influ- and the third from A.D. 1208/9 (Layer 3). ence can be excluded since the Qalamun Part of Layer 1 can still be seen in both was never incorporated in any of the Cru- aisles and includes Samson Killing the Lion sader states. Rather, it demonstrates the sig- (south aisle; fig. 12), the angel of the Bap- nificant interaction between Qalamun’s tism of Christ (north aisle) and colourful Christians and their fellow believers within ornaments, all painted in reddish and yel- the neighbouring County of Tripoli lowish colours mainly on a white back- (Melkites, Maronites, and to a lesser extent ground. Inside the nave, details of this layer Syrian Orthodox). There, mounted banner- are visible on spots where later paintings carriers are also depicted in churches in have flaked off. On the side elevations one Deddé and Eddé al-Batrun, whereas two distinguishes the Ascension of the Prophet icons representing St Sergius with the ban- Elijah and fragments of the mounted saints ner in St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount George and Theodore. Traces of half-naked Sinai are attributed to artists working in this figures on the triumphal arch have been Crusader state.56 Deir Mar Musa’s Layer 3 identified as the Forty of Sebaste also shares striking formal characteristics with the bust of the Archangel Michael (fig. with murals in the County of Tripoli and the 13). In A.D. 1095 an artist called Hunayn paintings in Qara. This ‘Syrian style’ typi- (diminutive of John) repainted several ear- fies the indigenous art of West Syria, and lier New Testament scenes on the extremi- gives proof to flourishing artistic activities ties of the aisles: the Baptism of Christ, the aiming at the embellishment of churches Presentation in the Temple (fig. 14), and the used by local communities. Inspiration for Three Women at the Empty Grave (Layer the iconography was found in the persisting 2). The third painting campaign took place oriental tradition, and contemporary Byzan- in A.D. 1208/9 (Layer 3). In a dated Arabic tine and Crusader art.

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Turning to the inscription languages in visit all backgrounds were painted in light Deir Mar Musa, the many contemporary blue and some scenes were entirely re- dedicative and commemorative inscriptions painted or covered over. Johann Georg are in Arabic, the lingua franca of the time. Herzog zu Sachsen came to Sadad in 1927, Surprisingly, the names of saints and scenes and was much displeased with the results of of Layer 1 are not in Syriac but in Greek, this intervention.61 In 2004, this church was except for the name of the Archangel Mi- being restored, resulting in damage to the chael on the triumphal arch, which is also bottom zone of the representations. This written in vertical Estrangela. Layer 2 con- allowed confirmation of the absence of older tains some Greek abbreviations, but Layer 3 decorations underneath. In the Church of the is inscribed in Syriac (vertical Serto). The Archangel Gabriel, however, one discerns Syrian Orthodox shared this linguistic shift traces of a blue background and red border- with their neighbouring Melkite fellow be- lines on the north wall, which, in view of lievers, even though the inscriptions in Qara our experience with other adorned monu- are bilingual and the only Syriac inscription ments in the area, are probably medieval. of Saydnaya has been erased. As a liturgical Noticeable is the discovery of a small sar- language, Syriac certainly gained ground in cophagus-like reliquary in a niche in the east thirteenth-century West Syria. It is true that wall of the Church of St Sergius. This object from the late twelfth century onwards, paint- is made of Proconnesian marble and on sty- ings in the Melkite churches of the County listic grounds can be dated to the fifth or of Tripoli bore Greek inscriptions, but those sixth century (fig. 18). Certainly Sadad is to in the Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus be a more than interesting field of research near the Monastery of Kaftun, are in both on the material history of the Syrian Ortho- horizontal Estrangela and Greek.57 On the dox Church in the Qalamun. other hand, Syriac predominates in contem- porary Maronite churches as well as in the 6. CONCLUSIONS Church of St Theodore in Bahdeidat near Jbeil, which had a Syrian Orthodox priest in This brief overview reveals the predominant 1256.58 position of Saydnaya as a reputed centre of Two of Sadad’s churches, dedicated to inter-religious pilgrimage and therefore the St Sergius and the Archangel Gabriel re- Qalamun’s gateway to the outer world. In all spectively, were adorned in the eighteenth probability, this city had more chapels, century.59 In the first church one finds, churches and monasteries than Damascus among others, images of equestrian saints, ever had, and there are enough testimonies patriarchs, the Last Judgement, and the Vir- to these buildings being decorated to con- gin enthroned with the Child, and in the sec- clude that it was a major centre of art pro- ond equestrian saints, the Nativity and the duction. In the case of the Chapel of Mar Dormition of the Virgin (fig. 17), all with Elias near Macarat Saydnaya, which must Syriac inscriptions. Theodore Ouspensky’s have been frequented by Christian and Mus- photographs of the murals inside the Church lim pilgrims as well, the artist came from of St Sergius from 1902 show a situation Cyprus. One imagines that the presence of different from the present one.60 After his such an important centre of pilgrimage had a

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 85 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______impact on the entire region. Its art may have Saydnaya may have played a key role in the inspired artists in their design of church em- transition of concepts of embellishment. bellishment in other places. However, the eleventh-century murals in A striking feature of the paintings from Deir Mar Musa, Deir May Yacqub and the the early thirteenth century in Syrian Ortho- Chapel of Mar Elias prove that the Qala- dox Deir Mar Musa is their kinship with the mun had a thriving artistic tradition in the art of the County of Tripoli and contempo- pre-Crusader period already. It was the rary Byzantine traditions. Obviously, from combination of the old and the new that an artistic point of view the gaze of its shaped the thirteenth-century art of the monks was turned towards the West rather Qalamun. With the Mongol invasions and than the Syrian Orthodox homelands in Tur the Mamluk reactions in the 1260s, the Abdin and North Mesopotamia. Many of its flourishing of church adornment art was iconographic subjects can also be found in halted. Nevertheless, Saydnaya’s cultic im- Qara and the indigenous churches of the portance persists up to the present, and Tripoli area irrespective of their denomina- therefore is a shining example of continuing tion, accentuating the uniformity of Chris- religious traditions going beyond political tian art in West Syria. In this matter too, and military realities.

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1 This research has been funded by the Neth- (1849-1861): dargestellt nach seinen hinter- erlands Organisation for Scientific Research lassenen Papieren (Berlin: Schwarz; Islam- (NWO) and Leiden University. kundliche Untersuchungen 136, 1989); L.T. 2 For the history of the Qalamun in the Ro- Fawaz, An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in man and Early Byzantine periods, see: J. Nasral- and Damascus in 1860 (London: Cen- lah, “Le Qalamoun à l'époque romano-byzantin,” tre for Lebanese Studies, 1994); Burns (2005), Les annales archéologiques de Syrie 6 (1956) 63- 251-54. 86; for traveller’s accounts, see: J. Nasrallah, 12 Main publications: G. Raynaud, “Le Mira- “Voyageurs et pèlerins au Qalamoun,” Bulletin cle de Sardenai” Romania 11 (1882), 519-37; P. d’Etudes Orientales 10 (1943-44) 5-38. Peeters, “La légende de Saïdnaya,” Analecta Bol- 3 L. Pouzet, Damas au VIIe/XIIIe siècle: vie landiana 25 (1906), 137-57; H. Zayat, Histoire de et structures religieuses d’une métropole islami- Saidnaya (Harissa, 1923) (in Arabic); P. Devos, que (Beyrouth: Dar El-Mashreq; Recherches T. “Les premières versions occidentales de la A 15, 1991), 306-10. légende de Saïdnaia,” Analecta Bollandiana 65 4 J.-M. Fiey, Pour un Oriens Christianus (1947) 245-78; D. Baraz, “The Incarnated Icon novus: ré́pertoire des diocèses syriaques orien- of Saidnaya goes West,” Le Muséon 198 (1995) taux et occidentaux (Beyrouth: Orient-Institut 181-91; B. Hamilton, “Our Lady of Saidnaiya; der deutschen Morgenländischen Gesell- An Orthodox Shrine Revered by Muslims and schaft, 1993), 261-62. Knights Templar at the Time of the ,” 5 A. Schmidt, “Zur Geschichte des Bistums in The Holy Land, Holy Lands, and Christian Qara im Qalamun,” in Christliche Wandmalereien History ed. R.N. Swanson (Woodbridge/ in Syrien: Qara und das Kloster Mar Yakub, ed. Rochester, NY: The Boydell Press, 2000), 207- A. Schmidt, S. Westphalen (Wiesbaden: Reichert 15; M. Immerzeel, “The Monastery of Saydnaya Verlag; Sprachen und Kulturen des Christlichen and its Icon,” Eastern Christian Art 4 (2007), Orients 14, 2005), 13-68. forthcoming. 6 N. Elisséef, La description de Damas d’Ibn 13 Translation: Hamilton (2000), 207. cAsākir (historicien mort à Damas en 571/1176 14 S. Al-Syriany (ed.), Ta’rīk al-kanā’is wal- (Damas: Institut Français de Damas, 1959), 213- adyirah fī al-qarn al-tānī ‘ašar al-mīlādi li-‘Abī 25. al-Makārim Vol. 3 (Cairo, 1981), 47-48, fol. 7 R.J.C. Broadhurst, The travels of Ibn 142a-143a; translation: Baraz (1995), 189, and Jubayr: being the chronicle of a mediaeval Hamilton (2000), 209, n. 10. Spanish Moor concerning his journey to the 15 Devos (1947), 272-78; Hamilton (2000), Egypt of Saladin, .. Arabia, Baghdad .. Jerusa- 211. lem and .. Sicily (London: Jonathan Cape, 1952), 16 K. Ciggaar, “Painters, Paintings and Pil- 296. grims in Medieval Jerusalem: Some Witnesses 8 D. Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader from East and West,” Eastern Christian Art 2 Kingdom of Jerusalem. A Corpus, 2 Vol., (2005), 127-38. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993- 17 Al-Syriany (1981), 48. 1998), Vol. 2, 52. 18 Translation: Hamilton (2000), 208. 9 S. Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 19 A. Stewart (transl.), Ludo van Suchem: Vol. 3 (London: Penguin Books, 1990), 305-314. Description of the Holy Land, and the way 1 0 Pouzet (1991), 329-31; R. Burns, Damas- thither (London: Palestine Pilgrim’s Text Soci- cus. A History (London/New York: Routledge, ety 12, 1895), 132. 2005), 197-98. 20 Devos (1947), 272-73; for the inventory, 11 I. Huhn, Der Orientalist Johann Gottfried see: Hamilton (2000), 211. Wetzstein als preußischer Konsul in Damaskus 21 E. Cruikshank Dodd, “Christian Arab

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Sources for the Madonna Allattante in ,” Arte au XIIe et XIIIe siècles (Paris: Picard, 1993), Medievale II/2 (2003), 33-34; idem, “Jerusalem: 292. “Fons et Origo”: Sources in “Outremer” for the 32 M. Immerzeel, “The Decoration of the Development of Western Medieval Art,” in Inter- Chapel of the Prophet Elijah in Macarrat Sayd- actions. Artistic Interchange between the East- naya,” in Schmidt/Westphalen (2005), 155-82; ern and Western Worlds in the Medieval Period, Immerzeel (2007), Pl. 6. ed. C. Hourihane (Princeton: The Index of Chris- 33 T. Wright, Early Travels in Palestine, tian Art Occasional Papers IX, 2007), 11-27, comprising the narratives of Arculf, Willibald, esp. 22-24. For the tradition of this theme, see: A. Saewulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Cutler, “The Cult of the Galaktotrophousa in Maundeville, de la Brocquière, and Maundrell Byzantium and Italy,” Jahrbuch der öster- (New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1968), 498. reichischen Byzantinistik 37 (1987) 335-50; G.P. 34 Immerzeel (2005), 155-56; idem (2007). Bonani, S.B. Bonani, Maria Lactans (Rome: 35 Immerzeel (2007), Pls 10, 11. Scriptae Pontificiae Facultatis Theologicae 36 Immerzeel (2005). “Marianum” 49, nova series 21, 1995), 24-28. 37 P. Franke, Begegnung mit Khidr: Quellen- 22 Pringle (1993), no 62, 156-57. See also H. studien zum Imaginären im traditionellen Islam Leclercq, ‘Galactite,’ in Dictionnaire d’archéo- (Stuttgart: Steiner; Beiruter Texte und Studien logie chrétienne et de liturgie, T. 6/1, ed. F. Ca- 79, 2000); J.W. Meri, “Re-appropriating Sacred brol, H. Leclercq (Paris, 1924), 38-46. Space: Medieval Jews and Muslims seeking 23 For Egypt, see: Cruikshank Dodd (2007), Elijah and al-Khadir,” Medieval Encounters: 33; for a sixth-century description of this scene Jewish, Christian and Muslim culture in conflu- in the Church of St Sergius in Gaza, see: F.-A. ence and dialogue, 5/3 (1999) 243-64. , “Gaza au VIe siècle d’après le rhéteur 38 A. von Kremer, Mittelsyrien und Charikios,” Revue Biblique 40 (1931) 5-31, esp. Damaskus: geschichtliche, ethnographische und 14; Immerzeel (2007). geographische Studien während eines Aufenthalt 24 Qara: Cruikshank Dodd (2003); idem daselbst in den Jahren 1849-1851 (Wien, 1853), (2007), 22-23, Figs 13, 14, with further references. 182-84. 25 Fra Niccolò of Poggibonsi, A Voyage Be- 39 Meri (1999). yond the Seas (1346-1350), ed. T. Bellorini, E. 40 Meri (1999), 255-26. Hoade (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Francis- 41 Meri (1999), 244-52; Immerzeel (2007). canum Collectio Maior, 2, 1945), 78. 42 Elisséeff 1959, 185. 26 Pringle (1998), 220. 43 Broadhurst 1952, 285-86. 27 V.G. Barsky, Stranstvovaniia Vasilia 44 J. Nasrallah, “La peinture monumentale Grigorovicha Barskago po sviatym mestam dans les patriarcats Melkites,” in Icônes Melki- Vostoka s 1723 po 1747 (Travels of Basil Grig- tes. Exposition organisée par le Musée Nicolas orovich Barsky in the Holy Places of the East Sursock, 16 mai - 15 juin 1969, ed. V. Cândea from 1723 to 1747), 4 vols, 1885-1887, vol. 2, (Beyrouth, 1969), 67-92, esp. 80, n. 2. 101-108. 45 Schmidt (2005), 27-37. 28 R. Pococke, A Description of the East, 46 Baronesse de Khitrowo, Itinéraires russes and some other Countries, Vol. II,1; Observa- en orient (Genève: Fick; Publications de Société tions on Palaestine or the Holy Land, Syria, de l’Orient latin, Série géographique 5, 1889), Mesopotamia, Cyprus, and Candia (London: 248. Bowyer, 1745), 133. 47 M. Immerzeel, “Holy Horsemen and Cru- 29 Quoted in Zayat (1932), 224. sader Banners. Equestrian Saints in Wall Paintings 30 Huhn (1989), 183, 216, 227. in Lebanon and Syria,” Eastern Christian Art 1 31 E.-G. Rey, Les colonies franques de Syrie (2004) 29-60, esp. 47, 56; S. Westphalen, “Das

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Kloster Mar Yakub und seine Wandmalereien,” Romeny, M. Immerzeel, S. Westphalen, “The in Schmidt/Westphalen (2005), 69-153, esp. Inscriptions,” all in Eastern Christian Art 4 117-18, 121-22, 124, 173, Taf. 12a/b 15b3-5; (2007). Cruikshank Dodd 2007, 22, 24, Fig. 13; with 56 Immerzeel (2004); idem, “Icon Painting in further references. the County of Tripoli of the Thirteenth Century,” 48 Schmidt (2005), 43. in Hourihane (2007) 67-83; N. Hélou, “A propos 49 Pococke (1745), 139. d’une école syro-libanaise d’icônes au XIIIe 50 Westphalen (2005). siècle,” Eastern Christian Art 3 (2007) 53-72. 51 Westphalen (2005), 91-95. 57 N. Hélou, M. Immerzeel, “Kaftun. The 52 Westphalen (2005), 120-24. Wall Paintings,” Polish Archaeology in the 53 For the history of both monasteries, see: Mediterranean 16 (2005) 453-458. H. Kaufhold, “Notizen über das Moseskloster 58 E. Cruikshank Dodd, “Mar Tadros, bei Nabk und das Julianskloster bei Qaryatain in Bahdeidat. Paintings in a Lebanese Church from Syrien,” Oriens Christianus 79 (1995) 48-119. the Thirteenth Century,” Journal of the Cana- 54 Kaufhold (1995), 60; (Cruikshank Dodd) dian Society for Syriac Studies 1 (2001) 61-83; 2001, 10-11. esp. 61; idem (2004), 20. 55 For the monastery and its paintings, see: 59 J.G. Herzog zum Sachsen, “Sadat, E. Cruikshank Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa Karjeten und Harawim,” Oriens Christianus, al-Habashi. A Study in Medieval Painting in Ser. 3, 2 (1927) 233-42; E. Littmann, “Die Syria (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Gemälde der Serjios-kirche in Sadad,” Oriens Studies; Studies and Texts 139, 2001). Forth- Christianus, Ser. 3, 3-4 (1928-29) 288-91. coming: M. Immerzeel, “Some Remarks about 60 Th.I. Ouspensky, “Archeologiskjetskie the Name of the Monastery and an Enigmatic pamyatniki Sirii,” Izvestija 7,2 (1902) 133-39, Scene;” S. Westphalen, “Deir Mar Musa: Die Pls 17-21. Malschichten I – III;” J. den Heijer, B. ter Haar 61 Sachsen (1927), 235.

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1. Map of the Qalamun

2. Monastery of Saydnaya: entrance and outer walls

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3. Monastery of Saydnaya: Outside of the Chapel of al-cAdra and annex room

4. Fragment of an angel; Monastery of Saydnaya

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5. Prophet Elijah; Church of St Sophia; Saydnaya

6. Daniel; Church of St Sophia; Saydnaya

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7. Virgin with the Child Chapel of Mar Elias Macarat Saydnaya

8. Virgin Galaktotrophousa; Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus, Qara (Bas ter Haar Romeny)

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9. St Sergius; Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus, Qara (Bas ter Haar Romeny)

10. Enthroned apostles; Deir Mar Yacqub, Qara

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11. St Nicholas; Deir Mar Yacqub, Qara

12. Samson killing the lion; Deir Mar Musa

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13. Triumphal arch with the Forty Martyrs; Deir Mar Musa

14. Presentation in the Temple; Deir Mar Musa

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15. St Sergius; Deir Mar Musa

16. St Bacchus; Deir Mar Musa

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17. Dormition of the Virgin; Church of the Archangel Gabriel, Sadad

18. Lid of a reliquary box; Church of St Sergius, Sadad

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