DELETING THE MILLENNIAL HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SYRIA
The Mar Elian monastery was a monastery built in the 5th century AD and for centuries it represented an important symbol of the Syriac Catholic church in the Middle East.
In 2015, after having captured the nearby city of al-Qaryatain, the Islamic State completely bulldozed the monastery and the tomb of Mar Elian was brutally desecrated and the remaining bones were crushed.
If you want to know more, about the ISIS destruction of Dayr Mar Elian you can download the academic research in this page.
Loosley, E. and Finneran, N. 2005. Monastic Archaeology in Syria. Excavations at Dayr Mar Elian al-Sharqi, Qaryatayn: a Preliminary Report on the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Field Seasons, Levant 37, 43–56.
Loosley, E. 2016. The monasteries of Mar Elian esh-Sharqi in Al-Qaryatayn, Syria and Mar Behnam in Al-Hamdaniya, Iraq
Loosley, E. 2020. Cultural Memory as a Mechanism for Community Cohesion: The Case Study of Dayr Mar Elian esh-Sharqi, Qaryatayn, Syria. In V. Apaydin (ed.) Critical Perspectives on Cultural Memory and Heritage, UCL Press, 211-223.