Arrowhead in the leg of a monk that died as a martyr in Square 35, locus 17
Skeleton found in the northeast corner of square 23.
Burial 1134010 of an adult female (age 17 to 35
years old) who was found buried 1.39 meters below the surface in Square 34. A
bronze ear ring can be seen by her left ear.
The position of her legs suggests extreme torture.
Burial 1135017 of an adult male who was a martyr.
He was tortured by having his hand cut off at the wrist. His left
arm was fractured by a blow. Both of his legs were torn from his
hip socket. He body was crushed beneath a heavy wooden door (the
hardware was preserved directly above his skeleton).
Burial 1135017 was wounded with 3 iron arrowheads
that were embedded in the knee and ankle of his right leg.
Burial 1135017 has a open mouth which is typical
of the martyr burials, but not typical of 99% of burials at Tuneinir.
The open mouth may have related to torture that dislocated and damaged
his jaw. The open mouth and unremoved arrowheads may reflect the
rapid burial of the body as the mudbrick walls of the monastic cells
collapsed on the body. There is no evidence for scavenger damage
to the martyr burials.
Burial 1144026 of an adult male who was a martyr.
This burial was discovered in 1999 was the first martyr burial
discovered in Area 11.
Burial 1153018 of an adult male who was a martyr.
His skull shows several compression fractures that were healed (over
the right eye, for example) and an unhealed compression fracture
over his left eye orbit that was probably the cause of his death.
Associated with his burial were two worn Umayyad copper fals which
help date the burial after the Umayyad Period (to Abbasid or Seljuk)
but before the plentiful copper coinage of the Ayyubid Period.
Worn Byzantine "M" follis coin found associated with one of the
martyr burials.
Cyst burial made in the ruins of the monastic cells.
Photographic credit: Professor David Hanlon, SLCC-MC
Last updated 26 February 2005.