Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܪܡܪܝ ܡܘܫܐ ܟܘܫܝܐ ''deiro d-mor mūše kūšoyo''; ar, دير مار موسى الحبشي,

ALA-LC ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...

: ''dayr mār Mūsá al-Ḥabashī''), literally the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, is a

monastic community A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

of the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Christianity ...

located near the town of Nabk,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, approximately north of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, on the eastern slopes of the

Anti-Lebanon Mountains The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of th ...

. The main church of the monastic compound hosts precious frescoes dating to the 11th and 12th century. An ancient building, stone circles, lines and tombs were recently discovered near the monastery in 2009 by

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Robert Mason of the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

. Mason suggested that the ruins may date back 10,000 years and were likely constructed in

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period (such as the

Heavy Neolithic Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, dating to the Epipaleolithic or early Pre-Pottery Neolithic at the ...

Qaraoun culture The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as a particular Neolithic variant of the Lebanese highlands ...

of the

Anti-Lebanon The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of ...

). In 1838, the place, named ''Deir Mar Musa'', was noted as having a

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

population.

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
173
/ref>

Gallery

Frescoes, Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, Mar Musa or Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Nabk, approximately 80 kilometers north of Damascus, Syria - 1.jpg, Fresco depicting

Saint Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October. According to their hagiography, Se ...

at the monastery.

References

Bibliography

External links

The official site of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi

The Monastery of St Moses, Syria
at the Royal Ontario Museum * Pictures o

(scroll to bottom) {{Authority control Megalithic monuments in the Middle East Eastern Catholic monasteries in Syria Syriac Catholic church buildings Populated places established in the 6th century 6th-century establishments in Asia

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links