Monastery from inside the ramparts The monastery from inside the ramparts at twilight.

James Foley

In Iraq, a Monastery Rediscovered

Near Mosul, War Has Helped and Hindered Efforts to Excavate the 1,400-Year-Old Dair Mar Elia Monastery

  • By James Foley
  • Smithsonian.com, September 16, 2008

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    A soldier scaled the fragile wall of the monastery and struck a pose. His buddies kept shouting up to him to move over some.

    He shifted to the left and stood the stadia rod straight to register his position for the survey laser on the tripod below.

    The 94th Corps of Engineers of Fort Leonard Wood, whose members normally sprint to their data points in full body armor and Kevlar helmets, are making a topographical map of the ancient Assyrian monastery that until recently had been occupied by the Iraqi Republican Guard and then by the 101st Airborne Division in the once verdant river valley near Mosul.

    The Dair Mar Elia Monastery is finally getting some of the expert attention that the 1,400-year-old sacred structure deserves. These days it is fenced in and a chaplain regularly guides soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez on tours of the ruins. The topographical mapping is part of a long-term effort to help Iraqis become more aware of the site and their own cultural preservation.

    "We hope to make heritage accessible to people again," explains Suzanne Bott, cultural heritage adviser for the provincial reconstruction team in Mosul. "It seems pretty clear from other postwar reconstruction efforts, people need some semblance of order and identity" returned to them.

    The provincial reconstruction team coordinated a trip for the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to visit and appraise the key archaeological sites in Ninewa Province, such as Hatra, with its distinctive Hellenic arches, and Nimrud, home of the famous statues of winged bulls.

    This past May, Iraqi archaeologists were able to visit the areas for the first time since the start of the war. While sites like the carved walls of Nineveh were in drastic need of protection from the sun and wind, the fact that many areas were largely unexcavated probably protected them from looters, according to Diane Siebrandt, cultural heritage officer for the U.S. State Department in Baghdad. Treasures like the famed gold jewelry of the tombs in Nimrud were transferred from the Mosul museum to a bank vault in Baghdad before the invasion.

    The Dair Mar Elia Monastery (or the Monastery of St. Elijah) was not so protected. It was slammed by the impact of a Russian tank turret that had been fired upon by a U.S. missile as the 101st Airborne charged across the valley against the Republican Guard during the initial invasion in 2003. Then it was used as a garrison by the 101st engineers. Shortly after, a chaplain recognized its importance, and Gen. David Petraeus, then the 101st commander, ordered the monastery to be cleared and for the Screaming Eagle emblem to be wiped off the inner wall of the courtyard.

    The eastern wall has concaved where the tank turret lifted into the brick and mortar. Inside the plain walls of the chapel, one shell-shaped niche is decorated with intricate carvings and an Aramaic inscription asks for prayers of the soul of the person interred beneath the walls. Shades of a cobalt blue fresco can be found above the stepped altar. Graffiti penned by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers is scrawled in hard-to-reach places throughout. Shards of pottery of an undetermined age litter what might have been a kiln area. Only the stone and mud mortar of the walls themselves seem to remain as strong as the surrounding earth mounds, which may contain unexcavated monk cells or granaries, Bott says.

    The topographical mapping will enable Iraqi archaeologists to peel back the layers of decay on the fortress-like house of worship with the early initials of Christ—the symbols of chi and rho—still carved into its doorway. It was constructed by the Assyrian monks in the late sixth century and later claimed by the Chaldean order. In 1743 the monks were given an ultimatum by Persian invaders and up to 150 were massacred when they refused to abandon their cells.

    A soldier scaled the fragile wall of the monastery and struck a pose. His buddies kept shouting up to him to move over some.

    He shifted to the left and stood the stadia rod straight to register his position for the survey laser on the tripod below.

    The 94th Corps of Engineers of Fort Leonard Wood, whose members normally sprint to their data points in full body armor and Kevlar helmets, are making a topographical map of the ancient Assyrian monastery that until recently had been occupied by the Iraqi Republican Guard and then by the 101st Airborne Division in the once verdant river valley near Mosul.

    The Dair Mar Elia Monastery is finally getting some of the expert attention that the 1,400-year-old sacred structure deserves. These days it is fenced in and a chaplain regularly guides soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez on tours of the ruins. The topographical mapping is part of a long-term effort to help Iraqis become more aware of the site and their own cultural preservation.

    "We hope to make heritage accessible to people again," explains Suzanne Bott, cultural heritage adviser for the provincial reconstruction team in Mosul. "It seems pretty clear from other postwar reconstruction efforts, people need some semblance of order and identity" returned to them.

    The provincial reconstruction team coordinated a trip for the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to visit and appraise the key archaeological sites in Ninewa Province, such as Hatra, with its distinctive Hellenic arches, and Nimrud, home of the famous statues of winged bulls.

    This past May, Iraqi archaeologists were able to visit the areas for the first time since the start of the war. While sites like the carved walls of Nineveh were in drastic need of protection from the sun and wind, the fact that many areas were largely unexcavated probably protected them from looters, according to Diane Siebrandt, cultural heritage officer for the U.S. State Department in Baghdad. Treasures like the famed gold jewelry of the tombs in Nimrud were transferred from the Mosul museum to a bank vault in Baghdad before the invasion.

    The Dair Mar Elia Monastery (or the Monastery of St. Elijah) was not so protected. It was slammed by the impact of a Russian tank turret that had been fired upon by a U.S. missile as the 101st Airborne charged across the valley against the Republican Guard during the initial invasion in 2003. Then it was used as a garrison by the 101st engineers. Shortly after, a chaplain recognized its importance, and Gen. David Petraeus, then the 101st commander, ordered the monastery to be cleared and for the Screaming Eagle emblem to be wiped off the inner wall of the courtyard.

    The eastern wall has concaved where the tank turret lifted into the brick and mortar. Inside the plain walls of the chapel, one shell-shaped niche is decorated with intricate carvings and an Aramaic inscription asks for prayers of the soul of the person interred beneath the walls. Shades of a cobalt blue fresco can be found above the stepped altar. Graffiti penned by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers is scrawled in hard-to-reach places throughout. Shards of pottery of an undetermined age litter what might have been a kiln area. Only the stone and mud mortar of the walls themselves seem to remain as strong as the surrounding earth mounds, which may contain unexcavated monk cells or granaries, Bott says.

    The topographical mapping will enable Iraqi archaeologists to peel back the layers of decay on the fortress-like house of worship with the early initials of Christ—the symbols of chi and rho—still carved into its doorway. It was constructed by the Assyrian monks in the late sixth century and later claimed by the Chaldean order. In 1743 the monks were given an ultimatum by Persian invaders and up to 150 were massacred when they refused to abandon their cells.

    After World War I, the monastery became a refugee center, according to chaplain and resident historian Geoff Bailey, a captain with the 86th Combat Support hospital. Christians supposedly still came once a year in November to celebrate the feast of St. Elijah (also the name of the monastery's founding monk).

    Because it became incorporated into the Iraqi Republic Guard base during the 1970s, professors from the school of archaeology at the University of Mosul had a limited awareness of its existence, but the monks of nearby Al Qosh have an oral and written memory of Dair Mar Elia, says Bott, who recently visited the monks.

    Excavation and radio carbon dating would help transform the monastery into a truly understood historical site, but to do that the provincial reconstruction team needs both support from outside archaeological institutions like the renowned University of Mosul, the University of Chicago, which has experience in Ninewa, and more importantly the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. International nongovernmental organizations like UNESCO have also expressed interest in Ninewa since Hatra is listed as a World Heritage Site.

    Security is a stumbling block in all cases. The archaeology students from the University of Mosul were invited inside the secure U.S. base to work on the monastery excavation, says Diane Crow, a public diplomacy officer in Mosul. Then, in June, a dean in the College of Agriculture was assassinated. Crow says she's hopeful she can persuade students and professors to come in the fall.

    "It's not that people don't want to preserve the sites, it's that right now they're scared. I don't know if someone who's not here right now can understand that or not," Crow says.

    In the sense of its ecumenical and tumultuous passage, the St. Elijah Monastery is emblematic of Ninewa Province, still caught in the deadly struggle between insurgents and Iraqi security forces backed by the U.S. 3rd Artillery Regiment, which currently patrol the ancient city.

    The first day on patrol with the 3/3rd ACR we passed churches and mosques along the Tigris. The second day we witnessed a car bombing that killed and wounded Iraqis in an attempt to target a senior Iraqi Army commander. Mosul is still as violent as it is beautiful, although attacks against U.S. soldiers have decreased significantly in recent months since the Iraqi-led Operation Lion's Roar.

    "There's always the perception that Mosul is falling," says Capt. Justin Harper of Sherman, Texas, who leads a company of soldiers on regular patrols to support the Iraqi Police. "Mosul is not falling. The enemy is trying all the actions it can, but if anything, the government is legitimized in how it can respond."

    For the soldiers back on base who get to tour the Dair Mar Elia, it puts a human face on Iraq, Bailey explains. "They see not just a place of enemies. They also see cultural traditions and a place to respect."

    "This is how progress is actually measured when it is considered against the backdrop of millennia," Bott says. By the end of the week, the ancient monastery will be transformed into a three-dimensional CAD model for future generations of Iraqis who will hopefully soon have the security to appreciate it.


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    Comments

    This article was a very pleasant surprise. We only hear of the bombs and fighting in the area. It is a very impressive find for the Iraqi people and the rest of the world. Our religious past tends to get overshadowed by all the anti-christian/anti-islamic/anti-judaic hatred in the news, instead of hearing about the world's religious and sacred sites that should be preserved. There are many religious sites throughout the world that little is known about that can give incite to man's past. It is very important to the spiritual well being of mankind to understand and accept the knowledge and differences that these sacred places can give us.

    Posted by Margaret Petroski on September 18,2008 | 08:31 PM

    It is nice to hear from the State Department that many areas around Mosul were spared the looting that has devastated thousands of archaeological sites in Iraq. But is it really true? The sites that have been visited are among a small number that came under US military protection. They have been spared not, as the State Department officer claims, because Mosul's sites are largely unexcavated -- unexcavated sites elsewhere in Iraq have been decimated -- but because we have guarded them. That is something the State Department and the military have been unwilling to acknowledge, since it would obviously point to the need to put military and security resources into guarding sites at a point when the overall administration policy has been to reduce our footprint. We owe it to the Iraqis, and to ourselves, to do more to secure the sites from the looting that is daily destroying more and more of the record of our origins.

    Posted by Lawrence Rothfield on September 21,2008 | 02:57 PM

    Suzanne Bott indeed speaks the truth. The monastery is one of the only sites that is being protected by the coalition forces. the walls of Ninewa are not, the city of Nimrud is not, the city of Babylon, is not. The list goes on and on. They are being protected because the Iraq people have stepped up and realized that this is their heritage and they should protect it. The looting was done largely by forces against the coalition that then sold the items on the black market to fund their terror campaigns. Please do not speak of things you know nothing about. Suzanne Bott is in Iraq she has been to all the sites mentioned in this article. She knows what she is talking about.

    Posted by Victor on September 23,2008 | 01:04 AM

    i was very interested in this story and have even tried to pursue more information on it. i would love to know how to attend one of these tours.

    Posted by john berry on September 26,2008 | 06:44 AM

    What a beautiful story. I like the part about the chaplain and General Petraeus recognizing the sacredness of the space and giving it proper respect. I can almost see their faces as they try to figure out how to move out of it. It's refreshing to read something with culture, history and relevance within the context of the war reports. Thanks for bringing us there with you.

    Posted by suree on September 26,2008 | 11:12 PM

    Thanks Victor for sticking up for my big sister. I'm proud of her. Keep up the good work, Sue! Love and I can't wait till you come home again.

    Posted by Timothy P. Bott on September 27,2008 | 05:19 PM

    This great achievement considered the first real step towards the reconstruction of my love , Iraq , I have to say that the P.R.T of Nineveh proved that the famous proverb ( it is easy to say but it is hard to do what we say ) is sometimes wrong. I appreciate the efforts that Suzanne and her crew paid to draw a little smile on the Iraqi people faces , the Moslems before the christens by finishing this job. I wish that Iraq become free and the coming reconstruction projects will be achieved by the Iraqi people , at that time of course we will be in need of the help of our adequate friends like Suzanne and her team to come from U.S & international countries and cooperate with their Iraqi friends in rebuilding the second home Iraq.

    Posted by Saba Omari on September 27,2008 | 08:54 PM

    In February 2005 I was fortunate enough to see this monastery before it was fenced off and protected. I was located there with the US Army Corps of Engineers. It was sad to see a lot of the damage and graffiti. The US Army Chaplains there took it upon themselves to protect this site by fencing it off. I left the Mosul area July 2007. By then the monastery had the attention of a lot of agencies such as the State Department and the PRT. Some of my Christian Iraqi friends would ask me about the status of their monastery and would be happy when I told them of the restoration news. I have some awesome pictures of this place but there is not a place to post them here. I loved the time I spent there in the north.

    Posted by Michael L. Carney on November 2,2008 | 01:11 PM

    Susan and the Chaplain took me on a special tour with the UNESCO group on Tuesday evening 11/18/08 and the site is spectacular and has much to be preseved. However, the decay rate is increasing and the signs of looting are easy to see. Thanks for the preservation and stabilization by the Army, but immediate help is needed before some of the major walls and stucco work collapse. Smaller rooms were also loosing ornaments quickly and there are many small (but not insignificant) details that need to be recorded and saved before they are rubbed or crumble away. Even a 60-90 day team of trained persons from a mjoar university could do alot to stabilize and save this site. The original altar, which goes back at least 500 years is also quite an item to see. Hopefully East and West can agree to save a site such as this.

    Posted by Ralph Allen on November 22,2008 | 11:52 AM

    The area of preservation and restoration is an obvious way US forces and the state department can educate the people of Iraqi that we truly care about their cultures, traditions,heritage and history. I was in Vietnam, January 1967 until April 1968. As a Paratrooper with HHC, 1/327th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade,101st Airborne Division. And with the 9th Infantry Division Pathfinder Detachment. The common thought was, " To Win The Hearts And Minds ", of the people,in the Republic of South Vietnam. I am so proud to read of what Suzanne Bott educates us on! And the realities Victor comments about, should remind us,... do it right this time. Timothy P. Bott,... I Love your big Sister too! Mickey Allums, Killeen, Texas, by Fort Hood.

    Posted by Mickey Allums on January 27,2009 | 03:36 AM

    If an archaeology group is to work on this monastery, I strongly suggest that it happen while the US has 100% control of the site. Not only for security, but also for the readily available explosive ordinance disposal assets on the base; this site is littered with unexploded shells and mortars. This opportunity may only last for a few years, and the clock is ticking. Kudos to those who have already put in so much work and research into this project. Also, the tenant unit at the time of this article was the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3dACR), not the "3rd Artillery Regiment." I recently had a chance to visit this wonderful place while on a tour with the 3dACR.

    Posted by Tyler Ellis on February 17,2009 | 01:01 AM

    I am a soldier who is stationed at Diamondback.I recently had the honor and pleasure to visit the monastary.I was impressed and hurt.I hate to see such an important part of our "Christian Heritage" in such a state.As impresed and awed as i was I would love to know what this monastary must have looked like before the deteriation.If anyone has pictures,maps or any references to this "Holy Place" i would love to get more links.I would love to se a "Discovery Channel" show on this whole valley especially the tombs if there are any. i would love to be on that expedition.Let all Christian pause and pray for our countries,families and our fading religion.We seem to have forgotten where we came from.GOD bless you all and protect you.

    Posted by ronald simpson on October 25,2009 | 04:57 PM

    I am a soldier stationed at Diamondback. Over the course of several months, steps have been taken to ensure the restoration of the monastary continues. I would like to acknowledge Master Sergeant Miller, of the 47th Combat Support Hospital, for his tireless work at trying to restore some of the areas that have been damaged. Using ancient techniques, he is creating mortar that will be used to seal off the roof in areas where water is damaging the structure. He has also crane-lifted heavy marble stone into the interior of the courtyard that will be used to replace a step that is missing in the chapel. Just a couple days ago, MSG Miller, SSG Ahner, SGT Mendoza and I gathered yet more pieces of pottery from the grounds. Intermingled with the shards were pieces of shrapnel left over from the fighting. Through it ALL, a monument of peace still stands in Iraq, while dozens of wrecked machines of war lay in ruins just across the street. Here's wishing well to those that will follow in MSG Millers' steps in preserving a beautiful piece of Christian/Iraqi history.

    Posted by James G. Crumbaker on January 19,2010 | 08:13 AM

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