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Introduction
An Nabk or Al Nabk, is a town at midway between
Damascus (81 Km.) an
Homs. It is administratively belonging to Damascus and the
capital of the Qalamoun. An Nabk has an altitude of 1255
meters. It has a population of 52,502 as of 2007. An-Nabk Contains
the ruins of the old monastery of Mar Moses.
Historical Sites:
Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi: (the monastery of Saint Moses the
Abyssinian) has stood at the eastern fringes of the Anti-Lebanon
mountains near An-Nabk town since at least the sixth century.
Thought to have been built on the remnants of a Roman watchtower,
today it resembles a storybook castle perched on the edge of a
steep precipice overlooking the Syrian desert.
The first reference to the foundation is in a manuscript dated
586CE. It is thought that by this time the community was already a
thriving Laura in which the monks live in cave-hermitages and
return to the monastery in order to pray together. The monastic
buildings themselves provide evidence of occupation in subsequent
periods. The church itself is typical of the basilical form of the
5th to 6th century, as are motifs carved into the stonework of the
church. A period of prosperity in the 11th to 13th centuries is
indicated by the renovation of the church in 1058 CE followed by
no less than four different levels of frescoes, with the last
bearing an inscription dating it to 1192 CE. However it is not
until the 15th century CE that there are significant finds of
ceramics to give a more thorough understanding of the continuity
of occupation of the site, and even this is due to the abandonment
of certain rooms, and so represents the beginning of the decline
of the monastery. The monastery is certainly known to have been
completely abandoned by 1831 CE.
The history of the refoundation of the monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi
began in 1982, when a young Italian Jesuit called Fr. Paolo
Dall'Oglio was in the area on a retreat, during which he fell off
of a cliff, almost dying. In 1984 he began restoration with the
aid of volunteers from the local communities and from Europe. In
1991 he completed a Ph.D. in comparative religion and Islamic
studies at the Gregoriana in Rome. Within the year he had begun
the official foundation, with the monastery in occupation since
that date, officially under the aegis of the Syrian Catholic
church.
Today Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi is actively involved in a wide
variety of ecumenical and environmental projects. Standing as it
does at the end of a mountain valley leading to the desert, it is
in a perfect location to engage with a variety of environmental
organisations hoping to reverse the tide of desertification and
encourage agro-biodiversity, and the community has been very
active in promoting such endeavours. Wadi Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi,
the catchment area of the valley itself, is on the verge of
becoming a National Park, and the monastic community works in
collaboration with the Ministry Commission of the National Park.
The National Park will enable environmental and cultural concerns
to be married with economic considerations by promoting
eco-tourism.
All these projects are undertaken in full partnership not only
with the Ministry Commission of the National Park, but also the
local community. The monastery stresses the importance of both
Muslims and Christians from the local society feeling that they
have a relationship with the monastic community. Such an emphasis
is due to the refoundation of the monastery in the 1980's being
overtly intended to act as a focal point of ecumenical interfaith
dialogue. The monastic community is exceptionally active in
encouraging understanding between Christians and Muslims in a
region where such understanding is essential to world peace.
Another important aspect of the present situation is the
development of the Abraham route, an international initiative for
eco-tourism and pilgrimage along a trail that runs from Harran in
southeast Turkey, through Syria, and Jordan, to Hebron in
Palestine. Both of these monastic sites will be a stations on this
route.
Robert B. J. Mason |
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