ARAMAIC WATCH: Lebanon is full of churches with medieval frescoes, some of which have inscriptions in Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. But effort has not been put into their restoration and preservation until recently.

Lebanon may never pull in the same volume of tourists as Italy or Greece, but it does have the historical artifacts and relics to compete. The areas of Byblos, Batroun, Koura and the Qadisha Valley in particular are full of old chapels and churches. Some date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, and many are covered from floor to ceiling with frescoes.

The significance of these decorative paintings extends to several disciplines, from religious scholarship and theological debate to the rather more secular study of art history. Many are inscribed in three languages - Greek, Syriac and Arabic. Some look as if they had been sprung from the surrealist imagination of Andre Breton, with elaborate systems of symbols, including seraphim wings that open to reveal an allover pattern of watching eyes. The problem, however, is that little to no attention has been paid to their proper preservation.

In September 2005, Mouawad, who is a professor at the Lebanese American University and a researcher at St. Joseph University, formed an association with four of her colleagues in the field - Suad Slim, chairman of Antioch studies at Balamand University; Levon Nordiguian, director of the prehistory museum at St. Joseph University and co-author of "Chateaux et Eglises du Moyen Age au Liban," the book Mouawad is presently using as a reference; Nada Helou, an art historian and Byzantine specialist at the Lebanese University; and economist and fund manager Bernard Jabre.

The idea for the Association for the Restoration and Study of Lebanon's Medieval Frescoes was born a year before that, when Mouawad was one of a number of specialists to host a delegation of 100 visitors to an academic conference.