Jerusalem- (Third Wall D extra-mural) - Armenian monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Jerusalem- (Third Wall D extra-mural)

Monastery name:

Armenian monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Urban

Pilgrims

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

221,595.00

632,358.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

171,594.00

132,354.00

Geographical region:

Jerusalem (extra-mural)

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

Level ground

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 0.2 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 0.2 km (Jerusalem)

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Amit and Wolff	1991-1992

Bibliograpy:

Ben-Arieh, S. and Netzer, E., 1974	97-106
Feig, N., 1993	48-52
Amit, D. and Wolff, S., 1993	52-56
Amit, D., Wolff, S. and Gorzalczany A., 1993	80-83
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	33
Tchekhanovets, Y., 2016	78-82

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The excavated area measured 65 x 20 m. The excavations revealed a church with crypts and burials, a large courtyard, a residential wing with a bathhouse and a large reservoir. Walls were preserved to a height of 0.50-0.80 m.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

General description

Enclosing walls:

Only the western encompassing wall of the complex was unearthed, the total are of the complex is not known.

Courtyards:

The complex had a central courtyard paved with stone flags of varying sizes. To its west stood a structure which was divided into two wings.

Churche/s:

The church (18.5 x 5.65 m, including the apse) was located north of the central courtyard. The bema was 20 cm higher than the floor of the prayer hall and paved in stone slabs. The prayer hall was paved in polychrome mosaics. A dated (to the mid seventh century) Greek inscription in a tabula ansata was preserved in front of the bema. Four cist tombs were located beneath the pavement of the church.

The entryways to the church were not found, the excavators surmise that the church was entered from the south.

Between the church and the courtyard there was a hall (15 x 3.1 m), paved in a polychrome mosaic with geometric patterns. At the eastern end of the northern wall of the hall a bench was built at a later stage, over the mosaic pavement. Tombs were uncovered beneath the floor of the hall.

Dwellings:

The structure located west of the central courtyard was identified by the excavators as a residential building. It was divided into two wings. In its center was a trapezoid room (5.5-5 x 4 m) which had apparently functioned as a reception room. The room was paved in a polychrome mosaic with a simple pattern. In its center was a medallion with an Armenian inscription dated to time after the Arab conquest. The dwellings of the monastery surrounded this room on the west and south. The dwellings were fairly large (4-5 x 3.5 m), their floors plastered. Only a few of these rooms were excavated. According to the excavators, these rooms formed the original nucleus of the monastery and were dated to the 6^th century.

South of the above rooms, a second unit of rooms was partially unearthed. This unit consisted of two rows of rooms: two in the northern wing and another five rooms in the eastern wing. These rooms were badly damaged in the 19^th century due to construction.

Bathhouse:

A bathhouse was uncovered in the northen wing of the residential part. Entrance to the bathhouse was from the courtyard via a doorway in its eastern wall. A small installation (perhaps a sink) was located near the entrance outside the bathhouse. The antechamber was paved in stone slabs and in it was a deep earthenware basin, inscribed (after firing) with the first three letters of the Armenian alphabet. In the southwestern corner, three steps led down to a rectangular bathing pool (3.5 x 1.6 m). The furnace was to the east of the pool, connected to it by an opening.

Burials:

Beneath the church and its entry hall, crypts with vaulted roofs containing built tombs were unearthed. these may have predated the establishment of the monastery (5th - 6th c). The burials were reached via stepped passages, some of their entrances remaining open even after the construction of the church.Two of the tombstones had Armenian inscriptions.

Four cist tombs were located beneath the pavement of the church in one of which a marble lid of a reliquary was found.

Three tombs were found in the eastern part of the hall south of the church, beneath the paving. In the westernmost of these, a tombstone was inscribed with a cross and an Armenian inscription.

Storage facilities:

Against the eastern wall of the residential wing and bordering on the central courtyard, there were some storage and cooking facilities. Some were sunk below floor level and were paved in a course white mosaic. Glass and cooking vessels were found in some of these rooms.

Hostelry:

Based on the presence of a bathhouse in the residential wing, a section of it probably served pilgrims.

Water installations:

An elaborate water collecting and storing system consisted of a network of drains and channels that collected water from all parts of the monastery. The system consisted of two parts: a northeastern system collected water from the main courtyard, the church and the residential area surrounding the courtyard. The western system collected water from the area south of the dwelling area and from the western part of the complex which had not been excavated.

The water was collected in a large rectangular (19 x 6.3 m, 6 m deep, capacity 700 m³) reservoir, hewn into the bedrock and vaulted. The reservoir had undergone changes in the 19^th c and was still in use in the 20^th c.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Glass	Glass vessels found in the crypt
Bones	Human bones found in the crypt.
Metal objects	Not specified.
Stone vessels	Marble lid of a reliquary.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
1,300	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

Dwelling type:

cells

Number of stories:

Bathhouse

Hostelry

Tombs type:

Cist tomb

Burial chamber

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Abandonment

General outline:

The monastery was established in the late fifth or sixth century.

Dating material:

Epigraphy, architectural considerations and finds.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

General outline:

The monastery was expanded in the seventh century. A bathhouse was added, the redisential wing enlarged, a reception hall added and the church extended and embelished.

Dating material:

Based on architectural considerations, finds and the inscription in the residential wing dated to the period following the Arab conquest.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Mid

General outline:

Modifications were made in the church and its apse.

Dating material:

Based on a dated inscription. The inscription mentions a deacon and hegumen and is dated to the middle of the seventh century CE.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Mid

General outline:

The monastery was abandoned in the Abbasid period, probably in the mid ninth century.

Phase date

Century:

8th-9th c.

Within century:

Mid

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use