On the southern outskirts of Mosul City, Iraq in the area of ancient Nineveh lies the Forward Operating Base Marez. Within the FOB’s boundaries is St. Elia monastery, which was originally built in the 6th century by Mar Elia. I first visited the monastery in early 2005 while assigned as a contractor to the Army. Then the monastery was open for visitation by the base’s personnel at anytime and as near as I could tell everyone respected the monastery’s mystic and history as an archeological site. Now in 2008 there is a chain link fence surrounding the site for the primary purpose of safety due to the amount of unexploded ordnance (UXO) being found. While I was walking in and around the walls years prior the thought of UXO’s were in the back of my mind but were shoved aside by my concentration on photographing the monastery’s character along with the birds and animals seen nearby. Birds that I’ve seen nearby include the Little Owl, pictured in this post, Magpies, Francosian Pheasants, hard to photograph when they continually hide in the tall grass, Kestrels as described in my previous post, hawks, which I have little talent in identifying one from another, multitude of buntings and a few wild dogs. Future posts to include images of the above.
The monastery’s crumbling red mud walls have seen and felt periods of strive between humans for nearly 1,500 years. The original Christian inhabitants enjoyed the lush green valley supplied by a mineral stream that provided ample resources for the monks to raise crops and livestock. During my previous tour my friends and I would park our vehicle at the monastery and then run the winding roads and wind swept flowered hills. Cresting the hills presented a beautiful view of Mosul City and the snow capped mountains to the north along the border of Iraq and Turkey. Now, for the same reason of clearing UXOs, foot traffic and especially running is not allowed in the area.
Throughout the centuries monks and the monastery’s patrons continued to hold services there. During the last century the monastery was cared for by the Assyrian/Chaldean Catholic Church until during the later part of the 1940’s the Iraqi army constructed a military base in this area and sealed off the access to the monastery’s flock.
Iraq, considered the center of human civilization, has several archeological sites that are over thousands of years old. Efforts by Iraqis with assistance from other governments and the U.S. military are preserving the sites as the operational tempo allows. Until the Iraqi Government becomes a cohesive entity to support its own people and resources there remains a long road ahead for preserving these historical sites as well as the critical recovery of the southern marshes that Saddam had drained years ago.
Below are links to two different articles providing two different perspectives of the history of the monastery. NPR: Chaplains Struggle to Protect Monastery in Iraq http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16493810 Zinda Magazine: St. Elia Monastery, Dair Mar Elia (scroll towards the bottom of the page for the article) http://www.zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2006/03.25.06/index_sat.php
The monastery’s crumbling red mud walls have seen and felt periods of strive between humans for nearly 1,500 years. The original Christian inhabitants enjoyed the lush green valley supplied by a mineral stream that provided ample resources for the monks to raise crops and livestock. During my previous tour my friends and I would park our vehicle at the monastery and then run the winding roads and wind swept flowered hills. Cresting the hills presented a beautiful view of Mosul City and the snow capped mountains to the north along the border of Iraq and Turkey. Now, for the same reason of clearing UXOs, foot traffic and especially running is not allowed in the area.
Throughout the centuries monks and the monastery’s patrons continued to hold services there. During the last century the monastery was cared for by the Assyrian/Chaldean Catholic Church until during the later part of the 1940’s the Iraqi army constructed a military base in this area and sealed off the access to the monastery’s flock.
Iraq, considered the center of human civilization, has several archeological sites that are over thousands of years old. Efforts by Iraqis with assistance from other governments and the U.S. military are preserving the sites as the operational tempo allows. Until the Iraqi Government becomes a cohesive entity to support its own people and resources there remains a long road ahead for preserving these historical sites as well as the critical recovery of the southern marshes that Saddam had drained years ago.
Below are links to two different articles providing two different perspectives of the history of the monastery. NPR: Chaplains Struggle to Protect Monastery in Iraq http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16493810 Zinda Magazine: St. Elia Monastery, Dair Mar Elia (scroll towards the bottom of the page for the article) http://www.zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2006/03.25.06/index_sat.php
