Description : Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܪܡܪܝ ܡܘܫܐ ܟܘܫܝܐ deiro d-mor mūše kūšoyo; Arabic: دير مار موسى الحبشي, ALA-LC: dayr mār Mūsá al-Ḥabashī), literally the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, is a monastic community of the Syriac Catholic Church located near the town of Nabk, approximately 80 km (50 mi) north of Damascus, on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon. 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 Robert Mason of the Royal Ontario Museum. Mason suggested that the ruins may date back 10,000 years and were likely constructed in Neolithic period (such as the Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture of the Anti-Lebanon). In 1838, the place, named Deir Mar Musa, was noted as having a Syriac population.
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