Hyrcania; Kh. Mird; el Mird - CASTELLION

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Hyrcania; Kh. Mird; el Mird

Identification:

According to Cyril of Scythopolis, Sabas came to a hill called Castellion for the duration of Lent, where he later established a coenobium. The monastery was identified with the remains located at Khirbet el-Mird that was also identified with the Second Temple period fortress of Hyrcania. The first to identify the site was Furrer (1880: 235). His identification being confirmed by later surveys and excavations.

Monastery name:

CASTELLION

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Desert

Former fortress

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

23,480.00

62,527.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

18,480.00

12,527.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

Hill top

Soils:

Rocky limestone

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 18 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca.18 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 10 km south of the road connecting Jerusalem with Jericho.

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Foundation of the monastery of Castellion, AD 492.
2	Instruction of laymen for the monastic life.
3	Patriarch Elias I of Jerusalem (AD 494-516) buys hostels for the Castellion in Jerusalem and in Jericho.
4	A disciple is sent by Sabas to Castellion to learn self discipline.
5	A woman from Scythopolis donates curtains (altar screens) to Castellion and Spelaion.

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Short CPA invocation of the Lord Jesus Christ painted in black on a fragment of wall plaster, found in an underground cavern at Khirbet Mird during the 1952-1953 excavations.
2	Three dozens frescos of monastic saints painted on the walls of a burial cave, located at the west end of the southern terrace.
3	Invocation of the Lord on behalf of Andrew (?) the monk (?), chiseled on a stone found at the same burial cave.
4	Conical sundial of limestone with Greek numerals, apparently found at the same burial cave.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Marti	1880
Palmer	1881
Wright and Milik	1959
Patrich

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name
White Fathers

History:

According to Cyril of Scythopolis, Sabas came to a hill called Castellion for the duration of Lent. The site was located some 3.7 km (20 stadia) from the Great Laura. Later, Sabas brought a group of monks to build the monastery as a coenobium. The church was consecrated in 492 CE.

Bibliograpy:

Furrer, K., 1880	234-36
Marti, K., 1880	19-24
Palmer, E. H., 1881	346
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883	212
van Kasteren, J. P., 1890	76-122
Vailhé, S., 1900	19-48; 75-78; 272-92
Mader, A. E., 1928	33-52
Mader, A. E., 1929	122-135
Mader, A. E., 1937	27-58; 192-212
Pierri, P. G., 1947	12-15
Milik, J. T., 1953	526-39
Bagatti, B., 1954	311-15
Wright, G. R. H., 1961	9-14
Allegro, j., 1962	97
Ovadiah, A., 1970	111-12
Cohen, R., 1970	330
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982	149
Patrich, J., 1986	52-55
Patrich, J., 1987	31-37
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	33-34
Hirschfeld, Y., 1992	52
Patrich, J., 1994	76-82
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	149
Schick, R., 1995	374-75
Patrich, J., 2002	336-52
Di Segni, L., 2005	160-62
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	119-21

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologically and Literarily definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The site was excavated in the early twentieth century, exposing a chapel and a longitudinal hall, suggested to have been a refectory.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Aerial view of the site (Hirschfeld 1992: Fig. 28)

The burial cave and the medieval paintings of the saints (Hirschfeld 1992: 145, Fig. 73).

Figures

Hyrcania- plan of the remains (Patrich 1994).

Castellion- reconstruction of the monastery (Patrich 1995: 139, 62).

General description

Paths:

Within the site, paths and flights of stairs connected the various parts.

Enclosing walls:

The earlier Herodian fortress was surrounded by a wall that was in use in the monastic phase. The original wall surrounding the fortress covers an area of 95 x 60 m (5700 m²)

Courtyards:

To the south of the church there is a stone paved courtyard within which there are openings to two cisterns.

Churche/s:

The northern wing of the former Herodian palace became a chapel which was paved with a mosaic in red, black, yellow and ochre, in a geometric and vegetal design, with a guilloche border. Three complete marble screen posts and fragments of two screen plates were found. A room south of the chapel served as a diakonikon or a baptistery.

Dwellings:

The dwelling cells of the monks were built in the south of the site, at the foot of the retaining wall. Nine cells were marked by Schick (who mistook the monastery for that of Euthymius) but these may have been shepherds' shelterrs and not dwelling cells. some of the earlier cisterns were turned into dwelling cells by the monks, evidenced by papyri found in one and graffiti on the walls of several cisterns.

Refectory:

A long rectangular hall was located west of the church. This may have served as a refectory.

Latrine/s:

A small chamber in the southern part of the eastern monastery wall may have served as a lavatory.

Burials:

Southwest of the summit there is a burial cave (4.8 x 4.45 m). Eight sarcophagi were arranged in two rows. Other burials were arranged in the walls of the cave. The walls are decorated with the figures of 36 saints, all monks of the Desert (Mader was able to identify 25 of the figures by the inscriptions. The paintings were dated by him to the 11-12 centuries CE). Inscriptions in Greek, Arabic and Syriac were carved by pilgrims, among them an epitaph of a monk.

Cave/s:

See Burials above.

Water installations:

Some 20 cisterns and reservoirs with a total capacity of 20,000 m³ were surveyed. These installations predate the monastery. Some were in use during the monastic phase of the site. Two cisterns are located in the courtyard to the south of the church, two flights of stairs lead to two other cisterns. An aqueduct dated to the Herodian period was restored in the Byzantine period and possibly a second aqueduct as well.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Stone vessels	A sundial with an inscribed cross; lid of a reliquary with a saddle roof and four horns in the corners (25.5 x 12 cm), described by Mader as an ossuary lid. The narrow edge was decorated with an inscribed cross.
Oil lamps	A lamp with and inscription and a cross.

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Castellion- sundial (Hirschfeld 1992: 82, Fig. 35).

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
5,700	Large

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Baptismal font

Refectory

Latrines

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Built paths

Retaining walls

Water installations:

Cisterns

Painted plaster

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

The monastery made use of the ruins at the summit of the hill. The northern and western wings of the monastery were built on the remains of the Herodian palace. The northern wing became a chapel. The dwelling cells of the monks were built on the south of the site, at the foot of the retaining wall. Founded by Sabas in 492 CE

Dating material:

Literary

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

The monastery continued to function at least into the eighth century.

Dating material:

Literary. The Vita of S. Stephen the Sabaite reports that his uncle Zacharias was the abbot around the mid eighth century. Papyrus documents dating between the eighth-tenth centuries indicate some presence but it is not known if the monastery continued to function.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Second half

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

Iconoclastic damage was noted on the murals but the mosaic pavement of the church did not show signs of such.

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use

Post conquest history comments:

In the excavations, papyri in Aramaic, Arabic and Greek were found, mostly dating to the eighth-tenth centuries. Wall paintings dated by Mader to the medieval period were found in the burial cave. This would indicate some sort of Christian presence at the site throughout the period. The paintings in the burial cave were dated by Meinardus (1965-1966: 355) to the eleventh to twelfth centuries but there is no certainty that at this late period this was an active monastery (Patrich 1995: 144).