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The Church and Frescoes of Deir Mar Musa
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The church of the
monastery was built in 1058AD. It is a square of about 10X10 meters
and divided into two sections. The larger section is a nave, with
two aisles, illuminated by a high eastern window. The second section
is the sanctuary containing the altar and the apse; it is separated
from the rest of the church by a stone and wooden chancel screen.
Frescoes inside the church
To date three layers
of frescoes have been revealed in the church. The first layer is
from the middle of the 11th century AD, the second from
the end of the 11th century, and the third from the end
of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century.
The images of the
most recent layer are fairly complete, and compromise of two
integrated iconographic cycles. The first -and largest- cycle
focuses on the dimension of sacred history. The second, in the
sanctuary, represents the Mystery of the eternal and present
instant.
The first cycle
begins with the image of the Annunciation. Gabriel stands on the
north side of the east window and the Virgin Mary stands on the
south; the Immanuel, the infant Jesus, the sun of justice, rises
above. ( This image was destroyed, together with other images, in
1983 but has been partially reconstructed out of pieces.)
Beneath the window,
Jesus Christ with apostles and evangelists inaugurated the time of
the Church, which receives sustenance from the Mystery of the
Temple, the Holy of the Holiest. The nave of the church is decorated
with saints: female of the arches and mails on the pillars.
The four evangelists
are pained above the four central pillars. Thy look upwards to he
heavenly page which thy copy with Syriac letters in their Gospels.
Six martyred saints painted as knights, on the highest part of the
nave, ride towards the East fighting the good jihad of faith.
The second cycle,
that of the actuality of the mystery starts from the door of the
Temple. The ten virgins of the Gospel of Matthew 25 were painted on
the external face of the stone-part of the screen, at the door to
the sacred space of the altar. Very little remains of this painting
but it has been partially reconstructed to show that five of the
virgins had lights burning in their right hands and five had
extinguished lights in their left hands.
Behind the altar
stands the Holy Virgin, her child sitting on the throne of her womb.
Around her stand the
Fathers of the Church. In the semi-dome of the apse, above the
altar, we can still see something of the representation of Christ as
Son of Man, on his throne and surrounded by cherubim. Mary, the
mother of the Savior, and John the Baptist are painted in the large
arc close to the throne, to act as intercessors.
The two cycles, one
of history and one of sacrament, are linked together by a
representation of the final judgment on the west wall of the nave.
The top of the fresco but probably represented Christ in his glory
giving peter the keys to the kingdom. (Peter is still visible,
standing on the right side, with Paul to the left.)
Beneath the west
window, is the cross with the symbol of the passion of Jesus: nails,
ladders and the crown of thorns. On the top of the throne, painted
in the oriental fashion with cushions and carpets, is the white
shroud, symbol of the resurrection from the tomb. Sitting to the
left and right of the throne are ten apostles and evangelists who
act as judges. With Peter and Paul, they complete the number of
twelve.
The rest of the
representation is divided between the right (paradise) and left
(Hell). In Paradise, beneath the throne, Adam and Eve pray for all
their children. Beside them, the saved people are in the embrace of
the virgin Mary, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Beneath them two angels
play the trumpets of judgment, and the Prophets, Moses with Elijah,
and, David with Solomon, stand together with the Fathers of the
Church. A niche, which probably held the relic of St. Moses, is
beneath them. Beside it, an angel of intercession pulls down the
plate of good deeds of the scales of divine justice. Close to him,
Saint Peter opens the little door of paradise with a white key. The
martyrs St. Stephen and St. James enter first, together with four
ancient Syrian monks and three nuns.
On the left, beneath
the thrones of the apostles, groups of bishops suffer the pain of
fire and cry bitter teats. Beneath them sinners belonging to many
cultures and religions suffer from a heavy rain of fire. Under them,
beside a terrible Stan strangling an impious individual, monks and
nuns burn in hell. Lower still a small devil, with a red tongue of
scandals and lies, pulls the left plate of the balance, the one of
bad deeds. Close to him are represented four sinners bound like
mummies, with symbols of their sins tied to their necks. The first
worshipped money, the second was violent, the third, perhaps an
usurer and the fourth a dishonest trader who cheated with his
balance. In the end, a line of naked men and women tied with chain,
with snake entering their bodies through the door of senses,
represent the condemnation of adultery and fornication. At the
bottom, is painted base of colored marble, perhaps indicating the
final crystallization of the material world.
In the second layer
of frescoes, in the northern aisle near the baptistery rests an
image of the baptism of Jesus with an angel serving as a deacon and
St. Simeon Stylites sitting atop his column. On the southern wall of
the nave, on top of the first pillar, we admire an Elijah from the
first layer, ascending in his chariot.
Other frescoes,
especially older ones, are likely to be revealed in future
restorations. The Syrian General Directorate of Monuments and
Museums, together with the central Institute of Restoration of Rome,
will continue to collaborate in future restorations in the growing
context of Syrian European co-operation programs.
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