Ḥura; Ḥorvat Ḥura; Khirbet Ḥura - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Ḥura; Ḥorvat Ḥura; Khirbet Ḥura

Identification:

First identified as Nahal Shoqet by Govrin 1991, no. 24, pp. 43 (Hebrew), 35* (English)).

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Village

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

192,715.00

578,040.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

14,330.00

7,705.00

Geographical region:

Beer Sheba Valley

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Eleutheropolis

Topographical location:

Level ground

Soils:

Loes

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 43 km (Eleutheropolis)

Distance from nearest settlement:

0.5 km

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 1 km east of the road connecting the Hebron hills with Elusa and the western Negev.

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dated mosaic building inscription of Somm[os] and Ele[utherios], belonging to an earlier building upon which the monastery was constructed.
2	Dated building inscription for the completion of the monastery, within a tabula ansata in the mosaic pavement of the prayer hall, May/June 575.
3	Dated building inscription of Elias and a cruciform acclamation, at the centre of the mosaic pavement of the refectory, Sept. 582 (?).
4	Bilingual Greek / Syriac mosaic inscription in a room west of the prayer hall, Nov./Dec. 596.
5	Small fragment of a marble plaque with remains of two lines, not included.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Tristram	1882
Wooley and Lawrence	1914-1915
Govrin	1989

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Carmel	2013
Varga	2014

Bibliograpy:

Tristram, H. B., 1882	373
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883	396-97
Woolley, C. L. and Lawrence, T. E., 1914-1915	48-49
Govrin, Y., 1991	56-60
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	148
Zelin, A., 2001	179; English summary 127*
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	306-7
Varga, D., 2015
Varga, D. and Rasyuk, A., 2017	109-118
Varga, D., 2021
Varga, D. and Talgam, R. , 2023

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A fairly well preserved monastic complex 28x21 in dimensions. The walls are preserved up to two courses. The mosaic pavements of the chapel and refectory are particularly well preserved with four inscriptions. The western part of the complex is only partially preserved. This wing apparently contained the service rooms of the monastery.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Kh. Hura - mosaic pavement with inscription (Ynet)

Figures

Hura- plan of the monastery (Varga and Rasyuk 2017: 110)

General description

Enclosing walls:

The complex is entirely enclosed on a wall measuring 20 x 28 m. The wall is constructed of flint and chalk with small stones and mud as bonding.

Gate/s:

Two entrances to the complex were identified: one is located in the southern wall, entering a vestibule with a bilingual mosaic inscription (Greek and Palestinian Aramaic). The second entrance is located in the western wall, entering one of the service rooms. This entrance was blocked at a later stage.

Courtyards:

The site possesses an unpaved courtyard with rooms in the west, south and east.

Churche/s:

The chapel is oriented towards the southeast. At the eastern end there is a bema, raised 0.15 m higher than the prayer hall. The bema was separated from the hall by a chancel screen (not found). The prayer hall was paved in a well excecuted polychrome mosaic pavement containing an inscription in a tabula ansata in the eastern part.

Refectory:

A refectory is located east of the courtyard. It is paved in a polychrome mosaic containing an inscription in Greek, surrounded by amphorae, vessels, birds and geometric patterns. The refectory is entered through two openings in its western wall. A small postern was apparently located in its northern wall. The refectory is some 0.40 m lower than the rest of the complex, two steps lead down from the courtyard in each doorway.

Burials:

A cemetery was partially excavated some 15 m northeast of the complex. 40 cist tombs were found, four of which were excavated. The tombs contained the skeletal remains of adult males. Four graves were found to be empty. Just inside the southern entrance to the monastery, a depression was found in the vestibule/narthex measuring 1.2 x 2.5. This was suggested by the excavators to have been the tomb of an abbot. A bilingual inscription in Greek and Christian Palestinian Syriac is located in the room naming an abbot .

Water installations:

A cistern was apparently located beneath the northern part of the courtyard. It had collapsed at some point.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Pottery	Large storage jars, amphorae, cooking vessels, basins and bowls. Dated 6th-early 7th c.
Glass	Fragments of glass vessels typical of the Byzantine period.
Coins	A few Byzantine

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
588	Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Gate/s:

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
single nave			Ground floor

Refectory

Tombs type:

Cist tomb

Water installations:

Cisterns

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Abandonment

General outline:

A church or monastery stood at the site. Remains are located in the western, service wing of the structure. Based on the intricacy of the mosaic remains, this area may have served as a chapel or refectory of the early structure.

Dating material:

Mosaic pavement.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

First half

General outline:

Either the monastery was newly founded or major changes took place with the construction of the chapel in the southeasten part of the complex. The Greek mosaic inscription on the eastern end of the prayer hall dates its construction to 575 CE according to the era of Eleutheropolis. Another inscription, in Room 4, that seems to have served as the narthex of the chapel, is dated to 596.

Dating material:

Epigraphy

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Second half

General outline:

A new mosaic pavement was laid in the refectory.

Dating material:

Epigraphy

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

The monastery was abandoned in the early part of the 7th century apparently following earthquake damage.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned

Post conquest history comments:

The monastery was apparently abandoned in a peacful manner. No signs of violence were reported and the paucity of find is indicative.