Horvat Ma'on - ST. STEPHEN

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Horvat Ma'on

Identification:

Based on an inscribed bread stamp, the site was dedicated to St. Stephen (see discussion in Source of Knowledge).

Monastery name:

ST. STEPHEN

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Village

Pilgrims

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

143,079.00

51,887.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

93,076.00

82,185.00

Geographical region:

North-Western Negev

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Raphia

Topographical location:

Level ground

Soils:

Loes

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

18 km (Raphia)

Distance from nearest settlement:

Ca. 18 km (Raphia)

Distance from Roman roads:

Ca. 0.3 km from the road connecting Gaza with Nessana.

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Nahshoni and Seriy	1998-1999

Bibliograpy:

Di Segni, L., 1997
Nahshoni, P. and Seriy, G., 2004	65-67
Nahshoni, P. and Seriy, G., 2014	13-62
Di Segni, L., 2014	31-6

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

The excavated site was tentatively identified by Nahshoni and Seriy as a monastery. The excavators did not provide reasoning behind their identification. It is possible that what led them to this suggestion was the large complex of rooms with a church within close proximity (130 m). A unique bread stamp found in the excavation identifies the church as being dedicated to St. Stephen, a saint whose cult was widespread in the southern and eastern parts of Palestine (Di Segni 2014: 33). However, Di Segni proposed that the remains are those, not of a monastery but of a parochial church and the attached structures were the dwellings of the bishop.

State of certainty:

Uncertain / Questionable

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The site is in a poor state of preservation with meagre remains of walls and some limestone slab pavement. The complex consisted of two structures flanking a street and other architectural remains. Seven large rooms were uncovered in the eastern building and five in the western one. A fairly large number of marble fragments, colored tesserae and tiles were found.

General description

Storage facilities:

The western building, which showed signs of a conflagration, contained Gaza jars standing upside down arranged along a wall with plaster stoppers. This suggests a storage area where oil was probably stored, indicated by signs of a mighty blaze.

Water installations:

A cistern was located south of the western building.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

An unidentified installation (preserved size 1.0 x 1.8 m) built of small stones and coated with white plaster was found in the western structure.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Pottery	Pottery dated to the Byzantine period including: Gaza Jars; Coptic vessels; a goblet stamped with a herringbone pattern; a bread stamp, bearing a cross and Greek inscription, found hidden in a grind stone in secondary use.
Other	Plaster stoppers bearing a molded relief of a lion and a cross.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Brick

Components

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
unknown			Ground floor

Storage facilities – warehouses

Water installations:

Cisterns

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Stratum IV

General outline:

Two structures built of mudbrick, separated by a street.

Dating material:

Based on ceramics and numismatics the complex is dated to the end of the sixth - beginning of the seventh century.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

The complex went out of use in the early Islamic period. The western building was destroyed by a strong conflagration.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Mid

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned