Saturday, August 22, 2015

Maaloula, Syria

Perhaps the world's oldest Christian altar was in the Church of Mar Sarkis in Maaloula. The lip around its edge betrays its use for pre-Christian animal sacrifice, which the crucifixion of Jesus made unnecessary. It survived the transition from pre-Christian to Christian times but it could not survive the Syrian civil war. Mar Sarkis has been destroyed. [1996]

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