The Last Judgement in Saydnaya

ECA 7 (2010), p. 17-34; doi: 10.2143 / ECA.7.0.2136902

1 The Last Judgement in Saydnaya

Mat IMMERZEEL

INTRODUCTION about the church’s interior and its embellishment (Appendix, 3)4, and in 1697 Henry Maundrell The accounts and memoirs of travellers to the Mid- listed the city’s ruined churches5. Additional valu- dle East are a rewarding source of information as able sources are the pioneering accounts of the they testify to events from times past and contain Ukrainian monk Vasily Grigorovich-Barsky, who descriptions of places, buildings and works of art also made an accurate drawing of the monastery that may have disappeared or changed aspect in the and some churches in its vicinity in 1728 (Fig. 1)6, course of time. This particularly applies to the and Richard Pococke (1737). The latter noted the Monastery of Our Lady in Saydnaya, situated in presence of fragmented wall paintings in several the Qalamun Mountains to the north of Damas- dilapidated churches, but limited his observations cus. Famous for its miraculous icon, it has been one of the monastic church to the architecture and a of the most prominent centres of pilgrimage of the remark about ‘the old model’ of this construc- Middle East for centuries2. Although the monastery tion7. must have been founded in the early Byzantine This article deals with two British sources pub- period, the first reports of pilgrims flocking to this lished on the eve of the radical changes in the place date from the last quarter of the twelfth cen- 1860s, which entailed the almost total replacement tury. From that time on, dozens of accounts have of the ancient church by a modern building. These been written mainly by western travellers. The publications, by Josias Leslie Porter and John flourishing of Saydnaya’s cult is also apparent from Madox, both furnish interesting details about Last the considerable number of other monastic sites Judgement scenes: one in the church of the mon- and churches near the monastery. Some of these astery (Porter), and the other in a church that as yet were transformed Roman buildings, whereas others remains unidentified (Madox). Since these eyewit- were erected from antique spoils. Since Joos van ness accounts also deal with some aspects alluded to Ghistele found them ruined in 1491, the decline by their above-mentioned predecessors, the relevant must have started under Mamluk rule3. It was only parts of their texts on Saydnaya are reproduced in after the anti-Christian riots in 1860 that the the Appendix. remaining buildings were drastically renovated. This means that in attempting to reconstruct their history, we have to depend largely on the observations of earlier visitors. 1 This research was funded by the Netherlands Organization Medieval pilgrims were attracted by the mirac- for Scientific Research (NWO) and Leiden University. I would like to express my gratitude to Nada Hélou and ulous workings of the icon rather than Saydnaya’s Bas Snelders for their valuable advice, and to Maria Sher- sanctuaries and their art, but in the course of time wood Smith for her corrections. this religious interest gradually gave way to an 2 See, e.g., Immerzeel 2007; idem 2009a, 43-56; idem 2009b, inquisitive antiquarian perspective. Van Ghistele all with further references. 3 Immerzeel 2009b, 112, 116; Zeebout 1998, 301. was the first traveller to mention the architecture 4 Aquilante Rocchetta 1630. of the monastery’s church; his notes formed the 5 Wright 1968, 493. The churches are those of Sts John, Paul, basis of the account composed by Ambrosius Zee- Thomas, Babylas, Barbara, Christopher, Joseph, Lazarus, bout in 1557. The pilgrim’s guide by the Sicilian Virgin, Demetrius, Saba, Peter, George, All Saints, the Ascension, and the Transfiguration. Don Aquilante Rocchetta, who visited Saydnaya 6 Barsky 1886; Immerzeel 2009b; Pyatnitsky 2009, 93, Fig. 1. in 1599, contains some fascinating information 7 Pococke 1745, 131-134.

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 17 28/11/11 14:27 JOSIAS LESLIE PORTER between wall paintings and icons, but in the case of the iconostasis there is no doubt that he meant the As a missionary of the Presbyterian Church of latter. The presence of an iconostasis with icons was Ireland, Josias Leslie Porter (1823-1889) lived in reported earlier by Rocchetta (Appendix, 3). At any Damascus from 1849 to 18598. He made the most rate, the iconostasis described was not the present of the opportunities afforded by his stay, and he one, which includes icons painted in 1812 by soon started exploring Lebanon and Syria, making Michael, a Cretan artist who signed his works with notes of everything he deemed to be of any interest. Michael Polychronis al-Kreti and was active in The results of his indefatigable wanderings were Syria between 1809 and 182112. At the building of published in two huge volumes in 1855. No less than the present church in the 1860s, Michael’s icons nine pages are dedicated to his visit to Saydnaya on were reused in the new iconostasis. Despite the 19th October 1852 (partly included in Appendix, high artistic qualities of these works of art, Porter 1). The most fascinating passages concern the inte- has not a good word to say about them. rior of the monastic church. Punctuated with his That the church was also decorated with wall own, often condescending, comments, his account paintings follows from his remark about ‘(…) the is a unique testimony to this building some ten first attempts of an ill-conditioned schoolboy with years before it was almost entirely destroyed to be a charred stick upon a white wall’. Although Poco- replaced by the present church. cke and Madox only refer briefly to fragments vis- In the broad outline, Porter’s description corrobo- ible in some of the churches around the monastery rates those of earlier visitors. The porch with four (see below), Porter’s assertion is credible. In 1999 columns was also commented on by van Ghistele a mural fragment of an archangel came to light in (1491)9 and Rocchetta (1599; Appendix, 3), and is the southern annex room of the Chapel of the Vir- depicted in detail on Barsky’s drawing from 1728 gin (al-cAdra)13. As regards the possibility of embel- (Fig. 1)10. Unlike his predecessors, Porter dedicates lished columns, one should note that two reused a few lines to a painting of the Virgin between the antique columns in the nearby Church of St John archangels Gabriel and Michael over the doorway. the Baptist still bear the traces of Christ and a mil- Although this image disappeared when the church itary saint, respectively14. During the renovation of was knocked down, its memory must have lived on the 1860s, the apse of the original monastery’s as in 1951 a wall painting with the same icono- church was spared demolition and turned into graphy was applied over the entrance of the new the present Chapel of al-cAdra15. The ‘pictures of church (Pl. 1). The observations about the church’s saints innumerable’ Porter observed inside the apse architecture, consisting of a nave and four aisles might well be the many icons, dating from the separated by four rows of five columns, are less seventeenth to the nineteenth century, which were detailed than those given by van Ghistele, Barsky inserted in a wooden framework covering the sem- and Pococke11. What is extremely important, how- icircular lower zone of the chapel (Pl. 2). This ever, is Porter’ reference to various works of art: framework must have replaced earlier wall paint- ‘The whole of the walls, pillars, and wooden altar- ings at some point; at least, this can be interred screen are adorned, or rather disfigured, by paint- from Rocchetta’s account (appendix, 3). The fact ings’. Unfortunately, Porter does not distinguish that the apse predates the renovation follows from the presence of mosaics representing animals in rec- tangles, seen by Barsky, the Russian Archimandrite 8 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09.html?term=Porter, Porfiriy Uspensky (in Saydnaya in 1843), and %20Josias%20Leslie. Emmanuel-Guillaume Rey (1883)16. Porter, too, 9 Immerzeel 2007; idem 2009b, 111. notes this ‘tessellated pavement of marble’, yet the 10 Immerzeel 2009b, 111, Figs 1, 2. 11 Immerzeel 2009a, 46-47; idem 2009b, 111. oldest reference to this early Byzantine floor embel- 12 Agémian 1993, 180; for this artist, see also Agémian 1969, lishment is found in Rocchetta’s account from 1599 116-122. (Appendix, 3). 13 Immerzeel 2005, 156, Pl. XVIIb; idem 2007, 19, Pl. 6; idem Leaving the refurbishment of the apse aside for 2009a, 47, Pls 10, 11. 14 Immerzeel 2007, 24, Pls 10, 11; idem 2009a, 48, Pl. 12. the time being, we now focus on Porter’s elaborate 15 Immerzeel 2007, 19-20; idem 2009a, 47. description of the Last Judgement on the west wall. 16 Immerzeel 2007, 19; idem 2009a, 47. This scene contained familiar elements such as

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 18 28/11/11 14:27 Fig. 1. The Monastery of Saydnaya in 1728; after the drawing by Barsky (Barsky 1886, 100-101)

1. Monastery of Our Lady 2. Church of St Peter 3. Roman tomb with reliefs 4. Church of St Babylas (destroyed) 5. Church of St Saba (destroyed) 6. Church of St Barbara 7. Church of St John the Baptist 8. Monastery of the Transfiguration 9. Church of St Sophia 10. Church of St Nicholas 11. Monastery of St George Fig. 2. Map of Saydnaya (drawing Mat Immerzeel)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 19 28/11/11 14:27 Christ Enthroned between the twelve apostles, the beside the empty throne of the Second Coming doorway to heaven with St Peter holding the keys, (Hetoimasia). From this point on, the lower regis- the Mouth of Hell, the Scales of Justice with an ters are divided into heaven and hell (to the view- angel and a devil, two angels holding a devil down er’s left and right, respectively), on either side of with long iron hooks, devils mounted on souls, and central images. In the third zone, Adam and Eve naked female souls with snakes. Porter is almost are flanked by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Vir- lost for words when describing the atrocities in this gin in Paradise, all with souls on their laps (left), scene, but his statement that he had never seen any- and by heretical bishops (right). The fourth zone is thing this horrible in Europe says more about his made up of righteous bishops, patriarchs, kings limited knowledge of Christian art than about the and prophets, including Moses holding the Tables unique brutality of Saydnaya’s Last Judgement; of Law (left), and monks, Jews and Satan, holding such imaginative depictions of the hereafter were the Antichrist on his lap (right). In between heaven the rule rather than the exception in the Middle and hell, there are two trumpet-blowing angels. Ages, West and East alike17. Finally, the fifth zone depicts righteous monks, The presence of a Last Judgement in Syria is not nuns, and St Peter (left), and condemned souls exceptional. In the Monastery of Our Lady of (right). In the centre, an angel and a devil pull Hamatura, also known as Deir Saydet Hamatur or at the Scales of Justice, in order to influence the Deir Hamatura, near Qusba in Lebanon, the south weighing of souls. face of a groined vault over the central section of The Last Judgement in Saydnaya is similar to the church is embellished with this scene, com- that of Deir Mar Musa insofar as it includes repre- bined with a Deisis (first half of the thirteenth cen- sentations of St Peter with the keys, the Scales of tury). Surviving details include Christ Enthroned Justice, and a series of naked female souls with and the Virgin with two angels, an angel walking snakes (Pls 4, 5). There are also some differences. towards the Scales of Justice, and two naked souls18. Since in Deir Mar Musa Peter and Paul are fea- Recently traces of a Last Judgement have come to tured at the uppermost level, they are not included light in the chapel of Marqab Castle between Tar- in the row of seated apostles flanking the empty tus and Latakia in Syria19. The nearest instance, throne of the Hetoimasia. Also absent are the Mouth however, can be found in the formerly Syrian of Hell, the angels holding devils down with long Orthodox Monastery of St Moses the Ethiopian, or iron hooks, and a devil riding a soul. The scene of Deir Mar Musa al Habashi, situated some 60 km the angels versus devils is, however, depicted on a to the northeast of Saydnaya (Pls 3, 4, 5)20. Here, thirteenth-century Last Judgement icon in the too, the scene covers the west wall of the church. Monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai21. Dev- It is part of the third layer of paintings, executed by ils riding souls are less common, but this scene is Sarkis ibn Gali ibn Barran in 1208/1209. Deir Mar found in the portal relief of the monastic Church Musa’s Last Judgement is divided into five registers. of Sainte-Foy in Conques from ca 1120-1125, At the top, one finds Sts Peter and Paul, perhaps where it is placed above the Mouth of Hell in the receiving the keys and the law from Christ, followed centre of the lower register22. in the second zone by the ten other apostles sitting For the sake of completeness we should also mention the seventeenth-century Last Judgement in the Syrian Orthodox Church of Mar Sarkis in 17 See the many examples in Pace et al. 2007. Saddat, between Deir Mar Musa and Homs (Pls 7, 18 Cruikshank Dodd 2004, 210, Pls XXIII, 6.11-6.14; Hélou 8). This variant clearly differs from that of Deir et al. 2007, 278-280; Immerzeel 2009, 94, Pl. 55; Nordi- Mar Musa and other medieval examples. At the top guian/Voisin 1999, 387-389, Pls on 232, 233. is Christ Enthroned between the Virgin and a 19 Zibawi 2009, 84, Pl. on 85. 20 Cruikshank Dodd 2001, 77-103, 140-144, Pls XV-XXI, cherub and trumpet-blowing angels. The archangel 63-79; den Heijer et al. 2007, No. 97; Immerzeel 2009b, Michael holding the Scales of Justice is depicted 65-66, Pls 37, 127; Westphalen 2007, 113-114, Taf. 19, between the twelve apostles ranged in two rows. To 20; Zibawi 2009, 130-138, Pl. on 131. 21 the left, angels receive the righteous souls in heaven, Inv. no. 151; Pace et al. 2007, 58-60, Fig. on p. 59. 23 22 Pace et al. 2007, 106-109, Figs 3, 5. and to the right we find devils with chained souls . 23 Immerzeel 2009, 43; for the situation before the repainting, Can we, thus, assume that the painting that Por- see Uspensky 1902, Pls 17-21. ter described was medieval? In this matter the level

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 20 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 1. Wall painting: the Virgin between Gabriel and Michael; 1951 (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

Pl. 2. Inside chapel (photograph Dianne van de Zande)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 21 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 3. Last Judgement; Deir Mar Musa (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 22 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 4. Last Judgement, Scales of Justice; Deir Mar Musa (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

Pl. 5. Last Judgement, Women with snakes; Deir Mar Musa (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

Pl. 6. Apostles; upper apse, Deir Mar Yacqub, Qara (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 23 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 7. Last Judgement; Church of Mar Sarkis, Saddat; situation in 1902 (Uspensky 1902, Pl. 18)

Pl. 8. Last Judgement; Church of Mar Sarkis, Saddat; present situation (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 24 28/11/11 14:27 of reliability of his vociferous disapproval of the Frankish states30. It may be suggested that the Last execution is crucial. A first point in favour of the Judgement in the Monastery of the Virgin also venerable age of this representation is his observa- dated from this period, although the information is tion about its worn state: ‘So close and frequent too scarce to be certain on this point. have been the examinations of this rare work of art, that it is now much injured by contact with JOHN MADOX rough fingers’. Certainly, Porter scorns almost everything in Saydnaya, but we also should not over- John Madox set foot ashore in Alexandria on look his assessment about ‘the first attempts of an 19 August 1821 and ended his travel through the ill-conditioned schoolboy with a charred stick upon Middle East in Sidon on 12 June 1825. The two a white wall’. Actually, several wall paintings in the volumes of his account were published in 1834. Qalamun live up to this description of primitive He arrived in Saydnaya on 5 January 1825, and paintings against a white background. This is the stayed there for two days (Appendix, 2). When com- case with a depiction of the Ascension of the pared to the rather negative approach of Porter, the Prophet Elijah in the rock-cut chapel dedicated to extract of Madox’s excursion to Saydnaya is exem- Mar Elias in Macarrat Saydnaya, 6 km to the east plary of this visitor’s open-minded and adventurous of Saydnaya, which is executed in red and yellow24. mentality. Instead of furnishing details about the Furthermore, an even more crudely painted row of refurbishment of the monastic church (with ‘tolera- enthroned apostles with faded Greek inscriptions bly painted pictures’ in the sanctuary), he elaborates features in the Monastery of St James the Persian on his exploration of the area at length and has (Deir Mar Yacqub) near Qara, to the north of clearly enjoyed the view of the Qalamun Mountains, Saydnaya. This mural is executed in reddish colours which is indeed splendid. (Pl. 6)25. Finally, the wall paintings of Layer 1 in The most remarkable lines of his description Deir Mar Musa were also painted in elementary concern another Last Judgement. The fragment of colours, although the execution is more sophisti- ‘angels rescuing the good from the grasp of the cated26. The dating of this layer is established devil’ might parallel the scene of the Scales of between 1058 and 1088, and in all probability the Justice in Deir Mar Musa, which actually shows a works in Mar Elias and Deir Mar Yacqub date from devil trying in vain to push down the right side of roughly the same period. the scales to take the soul on the left side, who is On the other hand, the fragmented angel found protected by an angel (Pl. 4). Madox’s observation in the annex room to the apse is painted in flattish about scenes depicting the Creation and Fall of red and yellow against a blue background. Limited Man is more puzzling, however. On the face of it, though the possibilities of a stylistic analysis of this his interpretation might well be correct, but it fragment are, it displays some characteristics of the makes more sense to suppose that he took a repre- style known as the Syrian Style, which characterizes sentation of naked women with snakes, as seen in several decorative programmes in Lebanon and Syria. This provincial variant of the Late Comne- nian Byzantine style is characterized by a simplified linear and flat appearance27. Exemplary in the 24 The present blue background was added at a later stage; Qalamun are Layer 3 in Deir Mar Musa, which Immerzeel 2005, 163, 169-170, 179, 181, Fig. 41, Taf. XIIIa, 20b; idem 2009a, 50, 54, Figs 4, 5, Pl. 16. includes the Last Judgement, (1208/1209), Layer 2 25 c Immerzeel 2009a, 70, Pl. 41. in Deir Mar Ya qub and the Church of St Sergius 26 Cruikshank Dodd 2001, 106-108; Immerzeel 2009a, in Qara (before 1266), and the medieval paintings 60-62, Pls 19-29; Westphalen 2007, 101-108, Pls 1-12. in the Church of Mar Elian in Homs28. In Sayd- 27 Cruikshank Dodd 2001, 110-114; Immerzeel 2009a, 12, 171. naya, comparable images have been discovered in the 28 29 Immerzeel 2009a, 67-74, with further references. Church of St Sophia (no. 9 on Fig. 2) . All these 29 The paintings of Layer 2 in Mar Elias in Macarrat Saydnaya works of art betray the hands of local artists and have been attributed to a Cypriot artist from roughly the date from the period when the art of church deco- first half of the thirteenth century (Immerzeel 2005; idem 2009a, 54). Those in the Church of St John are too dam- ration flourished in Syria: from the late twelfth aged for analysis; a large fragment in the Church of St century to the 1260s, when Mamluk attacks started Thomas near Saydnaya is in need of conservation. to pose a serious threat to the local Christians and 30 Immerzeel 2009a, 175-177.

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 25 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 9. Roman funerary reliefs; Saydnaya (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 26 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 10. Church of St John the Baptist; Arabic inscription from 1745 (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

Pl. 11. Church of St John the Baptist; Russian inscription (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

the lower zone of hell in Deir Mar Musa, for the Fig. 2) which is actually a well-preserved late antique Fall of Man (Pl. 5). mausoleum situated to the east of the monastery31. Unfortunately, Madox does not give the name of Next he arrived at the extant Roman tomb, with the church in which he saw these paintings, but reliefs cut in the rock on which the monastery was his conscientious account allows us to reconstruct his itinerary and follow in his footsteps (Figs 1, 2). His first goal was the Church of St Peter (no. 2 on 31 Immerzeel 2009b, 112, Pl. 3.

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 27 28/11/11 14:27 Pl. 12. Remaining wall of the old Church of St Barbara (photograph Mat Immerzeel)

built (no. 3 on Fig. 2; Pl. 9). Three niches contain- Fig. 1) and mentioned by Pococke as one of the ing two figures each are found over the entrance of places where decayed paintings could be seen33. the tomb. As Porter noted, one of the added funer- Today this church no longer exists; a large block of ary inscriptions furnishes the date of 510 A.G., cor- stone near the junction to the northwest of the responding with A.D. 19832. Nearby, Madox found monastery marks its location34. From this point on, ‘a curious excavation in the rock opposite, called the the confusion increases, as Madox visited another Church of St. Babylas’ (no. 4 on Fig. 2), of which Church of St Peter which was perfectly preserved no traces remain. After passing by the garden he and had columns. His next object was the unidenti- arrived at another church dedicated to the same fied church with the Last Judgement, for which he saint, with columns, arches and paintings on the had to cross a plain, after which he proceeded to the wall. He may have meant the ruined Church of St Church of St John (no. 7 on Fig. 2). This is the Saba, marked on Barsky’s drawing (no. 5 on Fig. 2; Church of St John the Baptist, along the road to the northwest of the monastery, which Barsky on his drawing labels as the Church of St John Chrysos- tom (Fig. 2). Madox abandoned his intention to 32 Nasrallah 1952, Pl. III,9; idem 1956, 75; Waddington ascend ‘Mount Sheberin’, i.e. Mount Sharubim, but 1870, no. 2562. The inscriptions were first included in on his way back to the monastery he passed a ruined Henry Maundrell’s journal (1697; Wright 1968, 494). 33 Immerzeel 2007, 23; idem 2009a, 48; Pococke 1745, 134. convent, perhaps the Monastery of the Transfigura- 34 Immerzeel 2009b, 112, Pl. 4. tion (no. 8).

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 28 28/11/11 14:27 The next day Madox returned to Mount Shar- CONCLUSIONS ubim, where he found the Church of St Thomas, a former antique temple. Arrived at the top of Josias Leslie Porter’s excursion to Saydnaya clearly the mountain, Madox discovered the site called came as a shock to him. He wrote down his impres- the Monastery of the Cherubim, which includes sion with the conceit of a narrow-minded nine- a church and a number of caves35. The present teenth-century British churchman, in whose eyes church was erected from antique spoils. In all the embellishment of the monastery’s church did likelihood these were taken from a temple at not constitute suitable religious art. Nevertheless, it this place, which, like the Church of St Thomas, was exactly this outrage that incited him to commit may have been transformed into a Christian sanc- his objections to paper, and thus to discuss the tuary. atrocious Last Judgement scene at length. The question is which church was embellished By contrast, John Madox comes to the fore as a with a Last Judgement. Habib Zayat suggests that more sympathetic person, who was eager to explore Madox’s observations relate to the Church of St and appreciate the environment he visited, and Nicholas, situated at a short distance from the who socialized with the local population. Even mausoleum-church of St Peter (no. 10 on Fig. 2)36, though Madox’s account of his tour of Saydnaya’s but this identification is out of date. The confusion antiquities seems to contain some mistakes – in all is caused by the fact that Madox mentions two probability, he mixed up the names of Saba and churches dedicated to St Peter. His description of Babylas, and John the Baptist and Peter –, his itin- the building he saw before crossing the plain is the erary turned out to be reconstructable, allowing us clue in this matter. This church was in perfect con- to identify the church with the fragmented Last dition and contained columns and an Arabic Judgement as that of St Barbara. inscription; it cannot, thus, be the transformed Both scenes were destroyed in the nineteenth mausoleum, which has no columns. Rather, the century, but fortunately only after they had been description fits the Church of St John, with its described by the two travellers from the British reused spoils. Here, an Arabic inscription is applied Isles. The question of when they were executed on a slab to the top left of the western entrance, cannot be answered with certainty. Yet both paint- commemorating the reconstruction of this building ings had a great deal in common with many medi- in A.D. 1745 (Pl. 10) at the orders of Patriarch eval Last Judgement representations, with elements Cyrillus VI (1724-1760), who presided over the familiar to the Eastern and Western iconographic birth of the Greek Catholic Church in Syria37. traditions. All in all, there are good arguments to Remarkably, a second inscribed slab to the right is believe that Porter and Madox saw paintings from in Russian; according to the nuns of the monastery, the twelfth or thirteenth century, when Saydnaya the text is a translation of the Arabic inscription was at the apex of its fame, and when church art (Pl. 11). Neither of these inscriptions has been flourished in the Qalamun. published as yet. Assuming that Madox has mixed up the names of Babylas and Saba, as well as Peter and John, we are now getting closer to identifying the decorated church: it must be the Church of St Barbara, which, indeed, was reached by crossing a plain (no. 6 on Fig. 2). Barsky’s drawing locates this sanctuary at the right spot, i.e. to the north of the monastery (Fig. 1). Another relevant point is Pococke’s observation of painting fragments in this sanctuary38. Today the Church of St Barbara serves as the chapel of the Greek Orthodox cemetery. Unfortu- nately, the building has been entirely modernized; 35 Pococke (1745, 131-132) calls it the Church of St Sergius. all that remains of the ancient structure is a section 36 Zayat 1932, 46; see also Immerzeel 2007, 23. of the north wall, without any trace of painted plas- 37 Immerzeel 2009a, 42; Schmidt 2005, 59-67; Walbiner 2003. ter (Pl. 12). 38 Pococke 1745, 134.

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 29 28/11/11 14:27 APPENDIX visitors, and is therefore placed in full view beside the entrance-door. So close and frequent have been 1. Josias Leslie Porter 1855, 340-347 the examinations of this rare work of art, that it is now much injured by contact with rough fingers, (340) We passed the plain diagonally, our course and it has been deemed prudent, in order to pre- from Burzeh to this spot having been nearly due serve a design of such originality and power, to north; and, on surmounting a spur from the moun- obtain a duplicate and hang it above it. This paint- tains on the left, we suddenly came in sight of ing represents the Day of Judgement. Christ is the convent and village of Saidnâya – the former seated upon a throne, with the twelve apostles, six occupying the summit of a precipitous ledge of on each side. Below, on the right, is the doorway rock in the midst of a wide and rugged valley; and to heaven, with Peter standing beside it grasping the houses of the latter scattered along its base and the massive keys; opposite this door, on the left, is clinging to its sides. On the spot where we stood is pictured some horrible but indescribable creature, a cubical structure of massive hewn stones, like the which has not the likeness of anything, at least on pedestal of a great column or colossal (341) statue. earth, whose capacious mouth forms the entrance The journey from Damascus to the convent-gate to hell. Between these is a great balance with an occupied four hours and twelve minutes. angel on one side and Satan on the other. Consid- The position and aspect of this building more erable caution, however, appears to have been nearly resemble those of a feudal castle of the mid- thought necessary in dealing with the latter person- dle ages than a peaceful retreat of piety and virtue. age under any circumstances, as two angels are The lofty massive walls stand on the summit of a holding him down by long iron hooks. The place scarped rock; and the only mode of access is by a and modes of punishment are likewise graphically winding staircase hewn out in its side, which leads delineated. In one place are seen numerous little to a narrow door plated with iron and studded with devils, fearful in form and terrible in countenance, large nails. This opens upon a narrow passage or mounted on the backs of spirits (!) and belabouring hall, from which corridors branch off to each side. them with heavy sticks; while in another place is a Passing this hall, we advanced though an open long range of women exposed to the attacks of archway to the little area in front of the church, a huge serpents, which gnaw such members as were large building, but not of great antiquity. In front most guilty. More minute details I cannot give; is a portico of four short columns supporting arches they are too disgusting to be even thought of; and instead of a pediment. The door is small and per- yet, be it remembered, this is a holy sanctuary, in fectly plain; over it are three figures wretchedly (343) which the purest females of the Greek church painted, the central one of which is supposed to shut themselves up lest they should be contami- represent the Virgin, and has upon it the blasphe- nated by contact with a sinful world. I have visited ,The Mother of God’). On her most of the principal picture galleries in Europe‘) والدة الاله mous title right hand is Michael the Archangel, and on her and I have seen many paintings that did not mani- left Gabriel. The interior is divided into nave and fest a very pure taste or a very high standard of aisles by ranges of short columns which support the moral feeling; but it has never been my lot to see roof. The whole of the walls, pillars, and wooden such disgusting obscenity as that exhibited on the altar-screen are adorned, or rather disfigured, by convent-walls of Saidnâya. paintings; most of which would about equal in point But the great attraction of the convent of Said- of merit and execution the first attempts of an ill- nâya is the ‘Lady Chapel,’ where the wonderful and conditioned schoolboy with a charred stick upon a wonderworking image-picture of the blessed Virgin white wall; while a few are so disgustingly obscene is enshrined as tutelary goddess. Having expressed that one feels relieved that the artist has been unable a desire to pay it a visit, we were, after some cere- to portray with any good degree of distinctness the mony, and after being obliged to take off hats and creations of his prurient fancy. boots, admitted to the holy sanctuary. It is beauti- (342) Our attention was especially invited to one fully and richly ornamented – the floor being of picture, which seemed to be regarded as a master- tessellated pavement of marble, and the lower parts piece by the attendant priest and the worthy abbess. of the wall of the same material inlaid with mother- It is a universal favourite with all the residents and of-pearl. Higher up are rows of chased silver lamps

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 30 28/11/11 14:27 and pictures of saints innumerable. On the eastern 2. John Madox 1834, 141-148 side of the chamber is a silver door, some eighteen inches square, opening into a little recess, where the (141) Pursuing my journey, I soon entered a short portrait of the Virgin, painted by Luke the Evan- and rocky pass, from which we came into a valley gelist, is now preserved in a silver casket! It is, of or plain; not a tree was to be seen. We continued course, death to touch it, or even to look at it. The along this, and, passing a ruinous village about a attendant priest assured us that one-half of the por- mile distant, called Telfeta, containing not more trait is stone and the other half flesh, and that the than thirty inhabitants, we gradually ascended a miracles wrought by it are without number! Said- rocky hill, and descended to the village and con- nâya is consequently the holiest shrine of the Virgin vent of Sidonaiia. The convent is upon the top of connected with the Greek church in Syria. It is not a rough barren rock, on the left side of a valley, and merely regarded with deepest veneration by the by steps cut out of this rock, you ascend to it; but poor and illiterate, but the whole clergy, from the for these, it would be almost inaccessible. Entering patriarch to the humblest priest, with the whole by a low door covered with iron plates, where some laity, unite in paying (344) homage to this strange priests received me, and ascending another flight of and holy image. The sick and afflicted flock to it steps also cut in the solid rock, I was shown into a from every part of the surrounding country; and room kept for the Patriarch of Damascus alone, many are the cures chronicled each returning sum- when he visits the convent. From this I went by mer. The salubrity of the mountain air, and the more steps to the top of the building, which is bracing exercise on the mountain-side, often revive walled in, and of a long octagonal shape. The roof the enervated Damascene who retires to this con- is flat, and composed of stones and a cement, with vent from the heat and filth of the city; and his straw well rolled. The village is directly below, the recovery is piously ascribed to the miraculous inter- houses of which are built of small stones, and have vention of this picture. (…) (346) In and around flat roofs; but many of them are in ruins. This the village and convent are many evidences of the place, though high in the mountains, is surrounded place having been inhabited by men of wealth and by still higher ranges. taste from a very early age. In the rugged (347) After having seen the setting sun shine most cliffs along the mountain-side above it are numer- (142) delightfully upon the snowy mountain to the ous sepulchral caves hewn in the solid rock, some west, called Djebel Sheik, I went down to dinner, of which are spacious and a few tastefully orna- and the head man of the convent, a Greek of mented. From one on the east side of the rock on Damascus, not a priest, dined with me, and several which the convent stands Maundrell copied three others came in the evening. Before dinner I went short Greek epitaphs from the ends of sarcophagi. into the church, which was lighted up, and found One of these contains the date 510, corresponding the congregation at prayers, the priest reading as to A.D. 198. There still stands in the village, a few fast as he could. A man showed me into the sanctu- yards below the convent, a square tower of fine ary, which is highly gilded and lit up, and contains masonry, which cannot be of a much later date a small ornamented iron case, with a curtain before than the tomb where Maundrell found the inscrip- it, and several tolerably painted pictures. tions (St-Peter’s 141). It stands on a platform com- Jan 6. – This day being a festa, at about halfpast posed of three tiers of massive hewn stones arranged three in the morning, I heard them calling to so as to form steps all round. It is a perfect square, prayers by beating a sort of tune with sticks, the twenty-nine and a half feet on each side, and Turks not allowing them bells. twenty-six feet high. The interior is vaulted, the At five A.M. I rose and went to the church, arches springing from massive square piers at the which contained a congregation of both men and angles, in one of which is a narrow winding staircase women, apart from each other. Soon after eight I leading to the top. The door is on the south, and is proceeded to the top of the convent, and at eleven ornamented with a plain moulding round the sides mounted my horse, and went with the villagers, a and a pediment: a deep moulding also runs round priest or two, and the head of the convent, to visit the top of the building. The ruins of several other some small places which they call churches. A few simple but massive structures are strewn along the of these are cut in the rock; some are in total ruin; mountain-side and in the valley below. and in others prayers are said only once a year. The

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 31 28/11/11 14:27 only well built (143) square building in the village having followed me, I was approaching some sus- was dedicated to St. Peter. I next saw a curious picious-looking cavities, and it occurred to me place cut in the rock, which has been a sepulchre, that, being up a vast height, without attendants, with six arched cells, large enough to contain two and hidden from all below, it might not be safe to bodies in each; but the cell on each side of the proceed. I therefore descended, and met my servant entrance may be said to be double, making them just before entering the village, he and I having equal to eight cells. The place is eight or ten feet arrived there by different roads. (145) This convent wide by fourteen of sixteen in length, and contains contains many chambers for pilgrims, and has now much rubbish. The entrance is small, and over it only five priests and twenty five nuns in it, though are the mutilated remains of six figures, nearly as when Maundrell was here it was possessed by large as life. These are cut in the solid rock, and twenty Greek monks. and forty nuns, who seemed, stand in pairs, in three niches, but are without as he says, to live together without any order or heads, and so defaces that the form only remains. separation. Two years since, it had nearly been An ornament like a shell is placed over the heads of demolished in the same way as the other small each pair, and at the foot of every niche is a Greek places of prayer near it have been, at various times, inscription, much destroyed by exposure to the by the Turks; for it happened that a Turk arrived weather. and demanded meat and drink, and, after partaking From this sepulchre I proceeded to a curious of every thing, attempted to depart without paying excavation in the rock opposite, called the Church the fathers a single para. This displeased them, of St. Babylas, not far from which are the remains words ran high, and at last they beat the Turk, of another church of the same name. The arches who, upon his arrival at Damascus, represented this and pillars still remain, with an altar-piece and in such terms that the pasha gave an order for the paintings on the wall; a little farther is the Church convent to be burnt and the village destroyed. of St. Peter, the most perfect of any I have visited; To avert the execution of this order, the Patriarch it has many columns, and there is an Arabic inscrip- went to the pasha and offered to pay a sum of tion in it. Before visiting these places, I rode down money, if the convent and village were spared. This to what they called the Garden, passing in it was agreed to, and ten thousand piastres were through a number of fig trees. It is full of mulberry demanded, to raise which, the Patriarch and many and other trees, well supplied (144) with water, and Christians at Damascus, and all the Christian vil- surrounded by a hedge. Whilst my servant and lages near, contributed. Thus the place was saved; guides sat around a pool of water and smoked their and this may account in some measure for the pov- pipes, I walked through this garden. erty of its inhabitants. They told me that there had We now repaired to the village directly across not been an Englishman at this convent for the last the plain. The church there is a tolerably good ten years. building, and contains a few paintings; two repre- Jan. 7. – After a fog, which enveloped us all the senting angels rescuing the good from the grasp of morning, had cleared up, I again set off, with an the devil, and a third, the beginning of the world, extra guide or two, to ascend the highest (146) and the temptation, fall, and banishment from mountain near, Mount Sherbere, and at about a Paradise of Adam and Eve. The population (about fourth of the way up from the Greek convent, came one hundred) of the village seemed very poor. And to the ruins of the church of St. Thomas. One part the houses were in ruins. My way back was amongst of the church remains and is kept locked up. In the the vines with which this valley is covered in many interior some pillars and arches and the altar places, and in my road to the village of Sidoniia, remain, but the roof is entirely destroyed. Several I visited the places of prayer, called churches, caverns and sepulchres are near; and at a little dis- before-mentioned. After leaving that of St. John, tance some large tombs. I attempted to ascend the highest mountain, near After an hour’s steep ascent, I arrived at what Mount Sherbere, though all said there was no road. they called the dangerous part of the ride, and here After, however, being a little baffled, I found one, one of the guides went into a small square entrance and passed some vast and rugged roads, on which in the stone, directly behind some immense rocks, were the ruins of a convent and its buildings. Still and capable of containing a great number of people. continuing to ascend, my servant and guide not Finding all was safe we proceeded. Close by, and at

94164_ECA7_2010_02.indd 32 28/11/11 14:27 the back of this high and stony mountain are the offered to find a man who would take me in secu- remains of another church, from the top of which rity to Tadmor for five hundred piastres, and one the view just then was singular, for the whole coun- of the Turks offered to accompany me as a guide, try, excepting the high mountains, was enveloped and said he should like much to go to England in fog, as far as the eye could reach. To this, the with me. brilliancy of the sun, (for the sky was without a cloud,) gave a white (147) woolly appearance. 3. Don Aquilante Rochetta, 25 March 1599 39 Looking to the left, I was surrounded by the distant high range of AntiLebanon and Djibel Sheik, cov- Le portique de l’église est de cinq arcades avec qua- ered with snow, while at some distance and in a tre colonnes en pierre…. Entre les deux ailes est la valley was the village of Itencouse, the only one I nef soutenu par quatre ou cinq colonnes de style saw, containing, it is said, about two hundred varié. Ensuite s’élève un mur (l’iconostase) auquel Turks. More to the left was the road to Aleppo. My sont suspendus divers tableaux de saints, de Notre- servant fired at two large eagles which were upon a Dame surtout; la peinture est tantôt à l’antique et rock, and I sprang several brace of partridges close dévote, tantôt à la grecque. On entre après dans la to this church. Some of the stones of the edifice are Sancta Sanctorum où est l’autel; il y a une mosaïque of considerable size, being from six to nine feet in en briques belle et variée; derrière l’autel est une length, and above two in breadth and depth. tribune avec d’anciennes peintures. On returning, we ascended the neighbouring rock, Au delà est une enceinte ronde couverte de on the top of which there was formerly a small mosaïques; il est un petit balcon où brûlent sans tower. Having discharged our pistols, and the cesse des lampes; derrière une porte d’argent ornée guide, who remained below with the horses, having de deux ranges de perles et d’ébène, sur un marbre returned the compliment, we began to descend. très fin, on voit comme une pierre noire couverte Passing the convent of Barbola, we arrived in an d’une étoffe cramoisie, brodée; et dans du marbre, hour and a half at that of Sidonaiia. A message was une image de Notre-Dame en grande vénération delivered to me that a Turk, a sheik, had arrived par plusieurs nations. from Damascus, and desired to pay me a visit, or would be glad to see me in the Padrone’s room BIBLIOGRAPHY below. I preferred going to him, and, being ushered in due form, all rising on my entrance, I found Agémian, S. 1969, ‘Introduction à l’étude des icônes melkites’, fourteen or fifteen persons in the room, including in: V. Cândea (ed.), Icônes Melkites. Exposition organisée par the sheik, two men who appeared to be attendants, le Musée Nicolas Sursock, 16 mai – 15 juin 1969, Beyrouth, and a servant dressed as an Arab. I was seated at the 95-126. top of the room, and, after smoking and drinking Agémian, S. 1993, ‘Les icônes melkites’, in: V. Cândea (ed.), Icônes grecques, melkites, russes. Collection Abou Adal, with them for an hour, for the Turk drank plenti- Genève/Beyrouth, 171-181. fully of the wine, a fellow began to play upon a Aquilante Rocchetta 1630, Peregrinatione di Terra Santa pipe. The company (148) consisted partly of the ed’altre provincie nella quale si descrive distintamente quella working people of the village, and they seemed to di Christo secondo gli Evangelisti, Palermo. be in fear of the Turks, who only come as spies, Barsky, V.G. 1886, Stranstvovaniya po Svyatim mestam Vostoka and to extort money from them. They do not sleep s 1723 po 1747 g, St Petersburg, T. II. in the convent without an order from the Patriarch Cruikshank Dodd, E. 2001, The Frescoes of Mar Musa al- of Damascus. The sheik ordered music, and two or Habashi. A Study in Medieval Painting in Syria, Toronto. Cruikshank Dodd, E. 2004, Medieval Painting in the Lebanon, three of the party got up and danced, as they called Wiesbaden (SKCO 8). it, whilst we continued smoking and singing. The Gaudard, J. 1908, La Sainte Vierge au Liban, Paris. sheik informed me of two battles that had been Heijer, J. den, et al. 2007, ‘The Inscriptions’, ECA 4, 133-186. fought some little time before, between the Emir Immerzeel, M. 2005, ‘The Decoration of the Chapel of the Bechir’s party and a numerous horde of Meta- Prophet Elijah in Macarrat Saydnaya’, in: Schmidt/West- walies, and some Christians, in the neighbourhood phalen, 155-182. of Baalbec, in which the Emir’s party had been defeated, and his son, it was said, killed. His palace had been attacked, and he had fled. The sheik 39 Translation in Gaoudard 1908, 479-480.

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