Maronite mummies

Yasmine
Born	around 1283 A.D. Asi-al-Hadath, Qadisha Valley
Died	around 1283 A.D. Asi-al-Hadath grotto
Cause of death	Mameluke Siege
Known for	First Maronite mummy ever uncovered

The Maronite mummies are eight well preserved natural mummies of Maronite villagers dating back to around 1283 AD. They were uncovered by a team of speleologist/archaeologists during a rescue excavation in the Qadisha Valley of Lebanon in 1990. They are currently on display in the National Museum of Beirut.

The mummies were found in the 'Asi-al Hadath cave located in the Kadisha Valley in Lebanon, on July 13, 1990 by a group of speleologists/archaeologists of the Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches Souterraines du Liban- GERSL, namely Abi Aoun Pierre, Baroudy Fadi, Ghaouch Antoine and Khawaja Paul.¹ The find was the result of two years of excavation. Initially, the discovery consisted of a single four-month-old infant mummy.²

The infant was named Yasmine by her discoverers after a child whose name was mentioned in a manuscript discovered on-site. The infant was clothed and fully interred only 40 cm below ground, she was laid on her back alone in the grave, her head resting on a smooth stone. Yasmine was carefully wrapped in medical gauze and immobilized with splinting devices by the team and transported from the grotto to a customized laboratory, created by the discoverers. Multiple other remains were found following the discovering, include seven bodies (four infants and three adults) as well as skeletal remains of several others.³

The condition of the remains varied considerably. While some individuals survived in an exceptional state of preservation, others were represented primarily by skeletal remains and fragments of dried tissue. The best-preserved examples retained soft tissue, hair, and clothing.⁴

One of the most notable examples of preservation is an embroidered textile depicting two peacocks facing one another with a tree of life between them. The colours of the embroidery remained vivid despite centuries of burial.⁵⁴

Preliminary examination indicated that the bodies had undergone natural mummification. According to the excavators, the grotto acted as a protective environment that limited decomposition by reducing the formation of air pockets around the burials. The cave's low humidity and the apparent absence of organisms within the soil further slowed the decay of both the human remains and associated materials.⁶

The mummies were removed from the grotto in 1990 and transferred to the National Museum of Beirut. Researchers later noted that preservation outside the cave environment presented new conservation challenges, including exposure to fluctuations in temperature, pollution, microorganisms, and other factors that could contribute to deterioration.⁴

Yasmine, a four-month-old infant, was buried wearing three layered dresses. The innermost garment was blue, covered by a beige dress and an outer dark beige dress embroidered with silk thread. Her head was covered by a headdress worn over a silk headband.⁷⁸

Yasmine was also buried with personal adornments, including an earring and a necklace decorated with mouth-blown glass pearls and two coin fragments dating to the reign of the Mamluk sultan Baybars.⁹

Numerous textile fragments were also recovered from the grotto, both from the burials and from elsewhere within the cave. Several retained vivid colours despite centuries of burial. Among the most notable surviving examples is an embroidered motif depicting two peacocks facing one another with a tree of life between them. Textile finds have been compared with designs found in the Rabbula Gospels, a sixth-century Syriac illuminated manuscript.⁵

Additional textile remains recovered from the cave included robes made from heavy cotton and decorated with geometric and floral motifs, including squares, diamonds, crosses, and flowers.¹⁰

More than twenty manuscripts were unearthed from the grotto. Among them was a manuscript written in Syriac that has been identified as a Maronite hymn, as well as an Arabic manuscript bearing the name and signature of George, son of David, the archdeacon of al-Hadath.¹⁰

The infant mummy known as Yasmine received her modern name from a child mentioned in one of the manuscripts recovered from the site.³

In addition, archaeologists recovered a talismanic prayer requesting the intercession of saints in curing a sick child.¹¹

Among the objects recovered from the grotto were poles, arrows, and arrow notches.¹² A wooden arrow survived intact from tip to nock and retained paper fletchings rather than feathers. Additional fragments of wooden arrows were also recovered, including examples with Turkish-style nocks.

A variety of household and personal items were recovered from the grotto. These included medieval pottery fragments, among them a vessel bearing the Arabic inscription, "This belongs to Boutros from al-Hadath".¹³ Several engraved wooden combs were also found. The combs were double-toothed, with fine teeth on one side and coarser teeth on the other.¹⁴ A wooden house key was recovered from the body of an adult female mummy.¹⁵

'Asi-al-Hadath Grotto is near Hadath el Jebbeh.¹⁶ The high altitude of the grotto makes access or regular use of it as living quarters difficult.¹⁷ Yet, there is evidence of organized communal arrangements, a man-made water reservoir (3.5m x 1.4 m surface, 1.5 m depth, and eight cubic meters volume); a stone basin for grinding grain by hand; and two well-like openings, probably used for retrieval and storage of water.¹ The grotto contains two main rooms: a large living quarter and the graveyard room.¹⁸

Research carried out by the GERSL ² corroborated the date of 1283 AD, when the area around the cave was part of the County of Tripoli.³

Between 1102 and 1289, Mount-Lebanon including Hadath el Jebbeh, fell within the confines of the County of Tripoli.¹⁹ Tripoli was one of the four fundamental city units of the Kingdom of Jerusalem of the Crusaders²⁰ the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, and the Royal Territories.²¹ Meanwhile, the Mamluk Sultanate overtook Egypt, Syria, and Palestine and set out to conquer Lebanon and expel the Crusaders. As modern scholars have pointed out, the Maronites, who constituted the majority population of that County,²² presented a constant obstacle to the Mamluks:²³ "[I]n fact, the effective military assistance rendered by the Maronites to the Franks of Tripoli must have been one of the factors that helped the County face repeated Muslim attacks successfully and outlast the other Crusader states."²⁴ It was not long before the Mamluks realized that to capture Tripoli, Lebanon, they must first subdue the Maronites.²⁵

The Mamluks launched several assaults against the highland of Tripoli, devastating Bsharri, Baqufa, Kfarsaroun, Hasroun, al-Hadath, and others between 1250 and 1289.²⁶ One particular raid was recorded in ibn Abd al-Zahir's chronicle during his service as Secretary of the Court of three Mamluk sultans from 1223-1292. Under the title of "the Account of Capturing the Patriarch of al-Hadath from the Region of Tripoli", he wrote:

It happened that a Patriarch of the region of Tripoli annoyed, behaved insolently, became haughty, and frightened the governor of Tripoli and all the Francs. He led astray these people of those mountains and the people of those valleys who are of the strayed people. And this continued until he was feared by every neighbor. He entrenched himself in al-Hadath and held his nose high with arrogance and no one succeeded in tricking him... It happened that the governors of the Sultan ambushed him several times but did not find him. Then the Turkmans sought him in his place and tricked him so that they captured and blind-folded him and took him prisoner. The Patriarch was one of the infidels and their impious ones, hence the Muslims were relieved of him and were spared his wickedness. His capture was a great conquest, greater even more than the conquest of a stronghold or a fortress."²⁷

Reports similar to that of ibn 'Abd az-Zahir are found in the margins of two Bibles from the al-Hadath region near the Monastery of Qozhaya. Patriarch Istifan al-Duwayhi discovered the two Bibles during his research and writing of Tarikh al-Azmina between 1670 and 1704. The first Bible contains a note written in 1283 by an anonymous Christian who witnessed these events. The account in the second Bible is a copy of the first one, dated 1504. These accounts testify to the dramatic events unfolding in 'Asi al-Hadath during the 13th century. The witness and writer of the original account of 1283:

On August 22, 1283 the Muslim soldiers headed toward al-Hadath where the inhabitants took refuge in a magnificent and inaccessible grotto called al-'Asi. The grotto was besieged for seven years. The soldiers received it through the Aman - a pledge of security and a promise of protection given by Muslim(s) to non-Muslim(s) (Jews and Christians) belonging to dar al-harb (Abode of War) for a specific period of time. Those non-Muslims who belong to dar al-salam (abode of Islam) fall under the dhimmi status.,²⁸ then burned its prefecture (the al-Hadath village) by fire and took the women captives.²⁹

These two references are testimonies about a tragic event that occurred in al-Hadath. The accounts coincide in time, place, and action, and confirm an offensive against al-Hadath, thereby providing some historical context for our understanding of this archaeological discovery.³

Compared to the mummies of Egypt, these mummies were simply buried without any long term or elaborate preparation. A preliminary observation of the mummies already reveals striking parallels with customs and rituals still practiced in present-day Lebanon. An adult woman was found buried with her eighteen-month-old child. The infant was placed at the mother's left shoulder. We are almost certain that the infant is hers since this method of burial is still practiced today in Lebanon when the deaths of both mother and child are caused by complications in the birthing process.¹⁰ Most interesting of all is the adult woman who is buried with her infant. She is found with pieces of cotton and cloth inserted in both her vaginal and anal orifices. This preparation of the deceased for viewing is still practiced to our day. In some areas of Lebanon such as the Bekaa Valley, the cotton and cloth pieces are wrapped around a small onion and inserted in the human orifices. Another cultural manifestation is the presence of long black human hair found between Yasmine's toes. It probably belonged to the child's mother. Local tradition has it, that the grieving mother will pull out her hair while kissing the feet of her lost child.³⁰ A talismanic prayer recovered from the grotto requests the intercession of saints in curing a sick child. This prayer resembles the ones still in practice and use among the Maronites in present-day Lebanon, e.g.,. 'Kitab Mar Antonios' -- the Talisman of Saint Anthony of Qozhayya.³¹ A wooden house key was found on the body of one of the adult female mummies. In accordance with traditional customs, at the funeral of the last surviving member of a family, the key to the dead person's house will be tossed over the roof of that house indicating that the house of that family will forever be closed. In this case the person died in a besieged Grotto, so the key was tossed in the grave ¹⁵ similar circumstances mourners will comment by saying, "pity this family, their house is forever closed."

1. These are the first dry mummies ever to be discovered in Lebanon.
2. Many similarities exist between the burial of the mummies and some present-day Lebanese burials. For example, one of the infants had long strands of hair between its toes. According to local tradition in some areas of Lebanon today, a mother whose child dies will pull out her hair in lamentation while kissing the feet of her deceased child. Similarly, today in Lebanon, when the last member of a family dies, the key to the family house is thrown over the roof, indicating that no one will live in the house again. The presence of a key in the 'Asi-al Hadath cave may also indicate that the last member of a family had died there as well.

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  Man made water basin remains to date inside 'Asi-al-Hadath Grotto.
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  A wooden key found in the cave.

• Abi Aoun B., Baroudy F., Ghaouch A. Khawaja P and alias Momies du Liban: Rapport préliminaire sur la découverte archaéologique de 'Asi-al-Hadat (XIIIe siècle), France, Édifra, 1993