Bir al Hamam - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Bir al Hamam

Identification:

The meaning of the Arabic name is “Pigeon Well”. The area is also known locally as Ras Kikis. It was formerly misidentified as a small Crusader fort or castle.

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Para Urban

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

174,834.00

1,178,531.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

224,830.00

678,548.00

Geographical region:

Samaria Hills

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Neapolis

Topographical location:

Overlooking Nablus, on the upper northwestern slope of Mount Gerizim.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 1 km (Neapolis).

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 1 km south of Neapolis.

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 1 km west of the road connecting Neapolis with Jerusalem.

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Palestinian Dept. of Antiquities	1999, 2001

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
An-Najah Univ, and Palestinian Dept. of Antiq.	2001

Bibliograpy:

Taha, H. , Hamamra, W., Yasin, J., Nasasra, B., el-Faris, D. and et als., 2015

Abu Alsaud, L., 2018

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A nearly square complex surrounded by a wall, preserved to a height of one to three courses. The west wing was damage by recent building activities. The internal walls are of roughly cut stones and partially dressed ashlars. Several structures are arranged on three sides (west, east and south) of a rectangular courtyard with a water cistern at its center.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

General description

Enclosing walls:

The wall, measuring 28 m east-west and 24 m north-south is a total of 104 m in length and encompasing an area of 672 m², is constructed of large, roughly dressed fieldstones. The wall that had encompassed the W (kitchen) wing, did not survived.

Gate/s:

Access was from the east, near the NE corner, through a 1.9 m wide opening that led to a stone paved entrance room 5.3 x 3.6 m =19.08 m² in dimensions - a gatehouse (erronousely identified by Taha et al. and by Abu Alsaud as the eastern part of the courtyard; it was rather a roofed room). A passage, 2.4 m wide led west to the courtyard. A second doorway, 1.22 m wide, led south, to the stable. In the SW corner of the gatehouse stood a stone vat ca. 50 m deep, with a hole at its bottom. When blocked it could water monks first entering into the confines of the monastery. It was not a baptismal font, as was suggested by Taha et alii.

Courtyards:

The rectangular courtyard measures 64 m². It had a white mosaic floor (partially preserved), laid over a bedding of pebbles imbedded in mortar. A water cistern was installed in its center, underneath. A square stone vat with a hole at its bottom, was set into the south-eastern corner. It served to collect rain water from the roofs and divert them through a draining channel into the water cistern.

Churche/s:

The mosaic paved chapel is locatd in the southern part of the monastery. The mosaic floor survives almost in its entirety. The interior of the chapel measures 8.5 x 3.4 m. The walls, plastered, survive to an average height of 80 cm and are about 1 m thick. The chapel is divided into two areas. The eastern, square in shape, is the sanctuary area. The western area was accessed by the northern staircase leading to a 118 cm wide doorway. Another doorway, 100 cm wide and 77 cm deep, in the northern wall of the chapel, connects it with the mosaic paved "Northern Room", attached to its north and labelled "Reunion Hall" (Abu Alsaud erronousely interpreted it as a refectory). It should rather be interpreted as a diakonikon where the monks, clergy and guests could convene before or after prayers. The door was blocked off in a second phase. Also, the second phase is represented by setting six pilasters over the mosaic floor of the prayer hall next to the north and south walls, in the four corners and in the middle. The roof thus rested on three arches that spanned the width of the chapel. In the first phase it must have been roofed by horizontal wooden beams resting on the north and south walls. A stone chancel screen was also set in Phase 2 over the mosaic floor in the eastern part of the prayer hall, forming a square sanctuary with an altar table at its center. It seems that in the first phase the square room roofed by means of another arch, labelled "Eastern Room", that was identified by Abu Alsaud as a storeroom, originally served as the quadrangular sanctuary of the chapel. In the second phase a wall disconnected the two units and the doorway between the "Eastern Room" and the "Northern Room" was also blocked.

Dwellings:

These might have been located in the western wing, which did not survive. No extant remains suggest a second storey.

Refectory:

A rectangular hall attached to the chapel on the north and labelled "Northern Room", was identified by Abu Alsaud as a refectory. It measures 8.2 x 3.5 m = 28.07 m²). Access was gained from the NW by the staircase. The door connecting it with the chapel was blocked when its sanctuary was shifted westward. A third door was located at the eastern extremity of the southern wall and led to the "Eastern Room" ("storeroom" according to Abu Alsaud). It should rather be interpreted as a diakonikon). The door could be opened inward, into the "storeroom". At a later stage this door was blocked. The "Northern Room" was paved with a polychrome mosaic that partially survived. Two incomplete Greek inscriptions, each in a tabula ansata, were incorporated in the mosaic floor. One in its center. The second next to the doorway to the prayer hall of the chapel.

Storage facilities:

The square room to the east of the chapel, measures 4 × 3.5 m = 14 m². Being idntified by Abu Alsaud as a storeroom, it rather seems to have originally been the sanctuary of the chapel. This is suggested by the location of the mosaic inscription in the chapel, next to the wall that separated the two spaces, facing east and being hidden by the newly placed altar.

Kitchen:

A kitchen with an oven and other facilities was uncovered in the western wing, that was buldozzed in recent building activities together with the wall that enclosed it within the confines of the monastery. Of these only the oven is well recognized.

Baking oven:

An oven was recognised in the western wing of the complex.

Stable:

Built against the eastern wall, to the south of the gatehouse. Several well preserved troughs can be seen there. It is near-rectangular in shape and measures 8.7 x 4.8 m. There is a full row of stalls along the western wall with five troughs. There is another shorter row of two troughs along the eastern wall. There is an independent entrance on the east, leading outside and a second 122 cm wide doorway on the north. Two skeletons of animal were found on the ground in the stable.

Water installations:

A water cistern under the courtyard and a water reservoire outside the complex, on the south. The total capacity of the water cistern would have been approximately 105 m³. The internal walls of the reservoir were coated with a layer of grey plaster.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category
Pottery
Metal objects
Glass
Coins

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
672	Small

Components

Enclosing wall

Gate/s:

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Refectory

Number of stories:

Kitchen

Baking oven

Stable

Water installations:

Cisterns

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

105

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

See general description.

Phase date

Century:

6th-7th c.

General outline:

Recognized mainly in the modification in the chapel and its northern annex. See details under General description, church.

Phase date

Century:

Unknown

Dating material:

Ayyubid coins and pottery were uncoverd in the western, kitched area, but it is not known whether the complex still served until then as a monastery.

Phase date

Century:

Unknown