Restoration work advancing on two unique 13th-century mural reliefs at Iraq’s Mar Behnam and Sarah Monastery after ISIS militants destroyed 80% of artworks

If you walk into the ancient church at the Mar Behnam and Sarah Monastery in northern Iraq today, you’ll still see the scars. But you’ll also see something else — careful hands at work, slowly bringing back what extremists tried to wipe out.

Restoration is moving forward at a steady pace on two extraordinary 13th-century mural reliefs inside the historic monastery. The project is being carried out by the monastery’s administration alongside the French cultural organization Mesopotamia. It comes years after ISIS militants deliberately shattered the artworks, attempting to erase centuries of Christian history from the Nineveh Plain.

What was meant to be permanent destruction is now becoming a story of return.

Ten Years After ISIS, A Story of Survival

The monastery was recently featured in a special report by EWTN News marking a decade since the rise of ISIS in Iraq. The program revisited the devastation left behind — burned churches, smashed icons, displaced families — but it also highlighted something equally important: slow, determined rebuilding.

Mar Behnam Monastery has become a visible symbol of that resilience. Perched not far from Mosul, the complex dates back to the 4th century and has long served as a pilgrimage site for Christians across Iraq and the broader region. Even during waves of invasion over the centuries — Mongol attacks, Ottoman pressures, regional conflicts — the monastery endured.

ISIS was only the latest attempt to silence it.

Two Murals Unlike Any Others

Inside the church stand two facing plaster reliefs: one depicting the “Martyrdom of Mar Behnam,” the other honoring Saint Sarah. According to Chorbishop Mazen Mattoka, the monastery’s superior, there are no comparable works today in terms of their size, age, and artistic complexity.

The Mar Behnam mural stretches nearly four meters in length and two meters in height — monumental by medieval standards. Opposite it stands the more modest but no less meaningful depiction of Saint Sarah, measuring about two meters tall.

Both are framed with inscriptions in Arabic and Syriac, reflecting the layered linguistic and cultural identity of Iraqi Christianity.

Beyond their historical value, the murals have long been objects of popular devotion. Pilgrims would pray before them, light candles, and ask for intercession. They were not museum pieces — they were living faith.

When ISIS Tried to Erase a Civilization

The destruction was methodical. ISIS militants smashed facial features, gouged out sculptural details, and shattered plaster surfaces. According to sculptor Thabet Michael, who leads the current restoration team, roughly 80% of the reliefs were damaged.

In many areas, only the outer frame remained.

The goal was not random vandalism. It was cultural erasure — an attempt to sever Iraq’s Christian roots, which date back to the earliest centuries of the faith. ISIS targeted churches, manuscripts, cemeteries, and religious art across the region, believing that by destroying symbols, they could erase memory itself.

But history is harder to erase than stone.

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A French Journalist and an Unexpected Beginning

Father Mattoka describes the restoration effort as guided by providence. French journalist Pascal Makosian visited the monastery after liberation and was deeply moved by the devastation. Through his organization, Mesopotamia, he initiated a restoration campaign under the sponsorship of the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul and in coordination with the Nineveh Antiquities Inspectorate.

Local Iraqi artists joined the effort, blending international expertise with deep local knowledge.

This cooperation matters. It signals that Iraq’s heritage is not only a local treasure but part of the shared history of humanity.

Rebuilding Faces, Reclaiming Meaning

Restoration has not been simple. Thabet Michael had worked on a previous restoration in 2011, experience that proved invaluable. But this time, the damage was far worse. Entire facial features were obliterated.

To reconstruct the original appearance, the team relied on historical documentation — including black-and-white photographs taken by foreign travelers in 1904. Though lacking color and fine detail, those early images provided crucial guidance.

Step by step, fragment by fragment, the restorers rebuilt what they could.

The materials used match the originals: gypsum mixed with lime, strengthened slightly for durability. Surviving pigment fragments were analyzed to recreate the closest possible shades to the medieval palette.

Colors That Preach Without Words

The murals are rich with symbolic color and theology.

Royal blue frames inscriptions, evoking heaven.
Red signifies martyrdom and sacrifice.
Green points to eternal life and spiritual continuity.

In the Mar Behnam relief, the saint is shown mounted on horseback. Beneath him, imagery suggests the defeat of evil. Above, angels lift him toward the kingdom of heaven — a clear visual proclamation of resurrection.

Art here is not decoration. It is doctrine carved into plaster.

Scholars note that the style reflects the Atabeg artistic tradition of the period, blended with local Iraqi influences and even echoes of Assyrian civilization. The Syriac artists of Tikriti origin who created the originals were known for their mastery of sculpture and calligraphy, leaving behind a legacy that still speaks centuries later.

More Than Stone and Plaster

The restoration is not only about aesthetics. It is about identity.

Iraq’s Christian population has declined sharply over the past two decades due to war, persecution, and economic hardship. Before 2003, estimates placed the number at around 1.5 million. Today, only a fraction remain.

Projects like this signal that Christian presence in Iraq is not merely a memory. It is a living, rebuilding reality.

Mar Behnam Monastery stands today as both sanctuary and statement: faith survived.

What’s Next?

Work on the murals continues, with final stabilization and finishing phases still underway. Preservation measures are also being considered to protect the reliefs from humidity and environmental damage in the years ahead.

Beyond these two artworks, broader restoration efforts are ongoing across the Nineveh Plain — rebuilding homes, churches, schools, and community life.

For Father Mattoka and those involved, the goal is not simply to restore walls, but to restore confidence. The monastery hopes to welcome more pilgrims, scholars, and visitors in the coming years, transforming a site once marked by destruction into a place of encounter and renewal.

The dust of ISIS is being cleared — slowly, carefully — but decisively.

Summary

Restoration work is advancing on two unique 13th-century mural reliefs at Iraq’s Mar Behnam and Sarah Monastery after ISIS militants destroyed roughly 80% of the artworks.

Led by the monastery in partnership with the French organization Mesopotamia, the project relies on historical photographs, traditional materials, and detailed artistic study to recover the original imagery.

The murals — rich in theological symbolism and artistic heritage — stand as powerful signs of resilience a decade after ISIS’s rise, reflecting broader efforts to preserve Christian history and rebuild communities in Iraq.