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Project Profiles Lebanon
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Our Lady of Balamand Monastery and
University
Tripoli, Lebanon 450 Manuscripts, including related collections from Lebanon & Syria  Digitizing studio and technician at Balamand Monastery. © HMML 2005 HMML digitally photographed its first manuscripts in the Middle East during the first days of the Iraq war in 2003 at this Antiochian (Greek) Orthodox Monastery and University in the hills above Tripoli. The Antiochian Orthodox Church traces its lineage back to its founding in Antioch by Saints Peter and Paul. It is also called the Antiochian Rūm Orthodox Church, after the Arabic word for “Rome.” This name reveals two important relationships: the continuity of the Byzantine Empire with the Roman Empire, and the close link between the Greek-speaking, pro-Chalcedonian branch of the church of Antioch with the Byzantine Empire. The monastery was built during the Crusade period for French Cistercian monks; the name derives from the French Belmont, “beautiful mountain.” Later the monastery became home for Orthodox monks. In the late twentieth century, Balamand became home to a thriving seminary and then to a large University serving Lebanon’s diverse population. HMML completed the Balamand collection in December 2005, but maintained a preservation studio there until Spring 2007, so that manuscripts brought from Antiochian Greek Orthodox monasteries and churches in Lebanon and Syria could be photographed. Many of the older liturgical manuscripts (from the 16th to the 17th centuries) contain a Syriac translation of the Greek Byzantine Rite used in the region until it was replaced by a vernacular Arabic version. The printed Balamand catalog is available on Vivarium. In May 2005, HMML and Saint John’s University honored the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch, His Beatitude Ignatius IV Hazim, with the Pax Christi Award. Learn more about the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Church.
Manuscript Resources at HMML The manuscript collection of Our Lady of Balamand is described in detail in an Arabic-language printed catalogue. Use the button below to access an online version of this catalogue:
Sample images of the Balamand manuscripts can be browsed. Shelfmarks should refer to manuscript numbers in the scanned catalogue.
Search by Shelfmark (Manuscript Number)
Syntax for Searching Shelfmarks:
Catalogue is in Arabic. Manuscripts are in Arabic and Syriac.
More information can be found
here. Finding Manuscripts from This Project in OLIVER, HMML's Online Manuscript Database
To find manuscript records from this collection in OLIVER, go
to: Manuscripts from other locations were also taken to Balamand and digitized. These can be found by using the "City" drop-down and selecting the following cities:
Broumana |
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