Deir Sam'an; Deir Sim'an - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category
Site Name: 
Deir Sam'an; Deir Sim'an
Monastery name: 
Monastery
Monastery type: 
Cenobium
Monastery category: 
Isolated in the countryside
Former fortress
Location
Coordinates, ITM system: 
20,500.00
66,390.00
Coordinates, ICS system: 
15,500.00
16,390.00
Geographical region: 
Southern and Western Samaria
Provincial affiliation: 
Palaestina I
Bishopric: 
Diospolis
Topographical location: 
Hilltop
Distance from nearest bishop-seat: 
ca. 25 km (Lod-Diospolis)
Distance from Roman roads: 
0.4 km from the road connecting Shechem-Neapolis with the coast.
Source of knowledge
Epigraphy
Hide Archaeological remains
Surveyed site
Surveyors: 
NameDate
Guérin
1868-1869
Conder and Kitchener
1971-1877
Gofna and Porath
1967-1968
Finkelstein, Lederman and Bunimovitz
1981-1985
Excavated site
Excavators: 
NameDate
Magen
1992-1994
State of certainty: 
Archaeologicaly definitive
General description
State of preservation/which parts were uncovered: 

The site was extensively excavated revealing the major part of the complex. In some places the walls were preserved almost to their full height. In the northern wing an entrance was preserved to its full height (1.90 m), including finely worked doorposts topped by a monolithic lintel, carved with a tabula ansata. Above the lintel there is a relief arch, indicating that the wall rose high above the entrance.

Illustrative material: 
Hide General description
Paths: 

Access to the site was via two roads: one road ascended from the west, from the main Diospolis-Neapolis road, several hundred meters away. The second path came from the northeast, reaching the main entrance to the complex,

Enclosing walls: 

The main structure is rectangular, its enclosing walls measuring 39 x 36.5 m, encompassing an area of 1,424 m2.

Gate/s: 

The main entrance to the complex is located on its eastern side with a second gate in the north.

Courtyards: 

The courtyard (20.4 x 10.40 m) was paved with a carelessly executed polychrome mosaic, partially inlaid with red and black stones. It is a rectangular carpet, 6.5 x 3 m divided into two squares, in each of which two circles form a frame adorned with lozenges. Remains of black and red crosses are visible in the center of the eastern circle.

Tower/s: 

Outside the northeastern corner of the building, a large room (6 x 4.70 m) was constructed. To the north of this hall there is a square tower (4 x 4 m) with a bedrock floor.

Churche/s: 

The second story church (15.2 x 8 m external dimensions; 14 x 6.4 m internal dimensions) consisted of two parts: a hall with two rows of columns, and a narthex. The staircase apparently led to the narthex. Arches were installed in the corridor leading from the gate in order to bear the weight of the second story. These were removed in the third phase. The church was paved in a polychrome mosaic featuring geometric designs. A chapel (12.5 x 5.5 m) was established in the northern wing. The chapel had a gabled roof of wooden panels covered with tiles. A large room (5.7 x 5.5 m) was discovered in the east of this wing. It was paved in a white mosaic with a large cross in its center and palm trees between its arms. An additional cross is located opposite the entrance. It has been suggested that the two crosses and its elevated floor indicate that this was the chapel's chancel.

Burials: 

The crypt: in the northeastern corner of the main building, there is a large room (5.8 x 5.4 m) with an arch bearing pillar. In the center of the room there is a burial cave consisting of two Byzantine arcosolia. The entrance to the cave was covered with stone slabs. The burial room itself was hewn (3.4 x 3.1 m and 2 m deep). Three burial chambers contained trough tombs. Crosses were engraved in the tomb walls. A similar tomb was found north of the structure, between the settling pool and the cisterns.

Stable: 

A large hall (10.5 x 5.8 m) south of the entrance, had apparently been used in the fortress phase of the site as a stable. This was divided into smaller rooms in the monastic phase and a second story was built over it, supported by arches.

Water installations: 

Two large bell-shaped cisterns were constructed in the first phase (one in the northwestern corner of the central structure, the other in the southern wing). They are dated to the late Roman period, based on the type of plaster. In the northwest corner of the southern wing there is a cistern that received the runoff water from the roof. North and west of the main building, a large system was uncovered consisting of built cisterns and open pools fed by channels from the central building. A large, square, hewn and plastered pool (6.5 x 5.5 x 3.6 m; 128 m3) over which four finely built arches were installed to bear the stone slabs that covered the cistern, belongs to phase I. A second round pool (12.7 diameter x 1.10 deep 139.4 m3). A southern trapezoidal pool (12 x 950-7 x 4.3 m; 423 m3) and a square western pool (10.7 x 7.4 x 4.3 m; 340 m3). Another pool was located west of the central structure but was not in use in the Byzantine period. (The total water capacity of the external pools was ca. 1,030 m3).

Agricultural and industrial installations: 

Two wine presses were found northwest of the complex. The eastern winepress had three collecting vats. The second winepress, nearby, was converted into an olive press in the Early Islamic period.

Hide Small finds
Small finds: 
CategoryDescription
Pottery
Plates, Gaza jar, Caesarea jar
Oil lamps
A candlestick lamp
Coins
Hellenistic and Umayyad
Metal objects
Iron and bronze fragments - Mamluk and Ottoman
Glass
Umayyad and Abbasid fragments
Detailed description
Dimensions: 
Total area (sqm)Size class
1,423
Medium
Hide Structure
Materials applied (walls): 
Limestone
Materials applied (roofing): 
tiles
timber
stone
Hide Components
Enclosing wall
Gate/s: 
2
Tower/s
Courtyard/s
Monastery church: 
Church typeDiakonikonLink to church sectionChurch location
basilical
Upper floor
Number of stories: 
2
Tombs type: 
Cist tomb
Burial chamber
Arcosolium
Retaining walls
Agricultural installations: 
oil press\es [=o/p]
wine press\es [=w/p]
Water installations: 
Cisterns
Channels
Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m): 
1.448
Inscribed crosses
Architectural evolution
Phase name (as published): 
Phase II: Byzantine period.
General outline: 
The monastery was established in a fourth century Roman fortress. Structural changes were made, a second story church and a chapel in northern wing were added.
Dating material: 

Dated to the Byzantine period, a more precise dating was not provided

Hide Phase date
Century: 
5th-6th c.
Post Arab conquest history: 
Ceased to function
Post conquest history comments: 
In the Early Islamic period, the site was converted into an industrial olive press. The second story church was destroyed and structural changes were made.