Khirbet el-Kuṣeir - SOUSAKIM

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet el-Kuṣeir

Identification:

The site was first identified as the Hermitage of Cyriac, as told by Cyril of Scythopolis (see Literary Sources), by Marcoff and Chitty. The identification was accepted by Hirschfeld.

Monastery name:

SOUSAKIM

Monastery type:

Hermitage/hermitages

Monastery category:

Desert

Source of sacredness:

Sacred Objects

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

230,132.00

609,634.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

180,128.00

109,632.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

On a steep slope.

Soils:

Rocky limestone

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 25 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 15 km (Thecoa)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 8 km east of the road from Jerusalem to Ein Guedi by the Dead Sea.

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Cyriacus retreats to a remote place called by the locals "Sousakim" for seven years, AD 535-542.
2	Cyriacus returns to Sousakim, where he lives eight years in seclusion, AD 547-555.
3	A tame lion guards Cyriacus' vegetable garden.
4	Miracle of rain in Sousakim.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Marcoff and Chitty	1928
Blake	1969
Hirschfeld	1981

Bibliograpy:

Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883	387
Vailhé, S., 1900	19-48; 75-78; 272-92
Marcoff, M. and Chitty, D. J., 1929	167-78
Chitty, D. J., 1966	126-31
Blake, I., 1969	87-93
Hirschfeld, Y., 1984	281-85
Hirschfeld, Y., 1985	122-28
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	69-70
Hirschfeld, Y., 1992	218-22
Hirschfeld, Y., 1993	149-54
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	235
Di Segni, L., 2005	243-44
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	167

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologically and Literarily definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The walls of the chapel are preserved to their full height of 3.3 m. A retaining wall of the terrace remains to a height of 2.5 m.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

General description

Paths:

Two paths lead to the site, one from Tekoa, the other from the village of Bani Naim. The two paths converge close to the site.

Churche/s:

The chapel is built against the upper part of the cave, the west wall blocks the entrance to the cave at this spot. The walls are preserved to their full height, 3.3 m. The chapel is an almost square room (4.1x 3.6 m.), its foundations laid directly on the bedrock. The walls are 0.80 m thick, on the outside built of large ashlars (some reaching 1.5 m.) on the inside of fieldstones. Mortar was poured into the center of the wall to bind it. The entrance is to the south, it is narrow and low (1.6 x 0.60 m). Three small windows that widen inwards allow light to enter. The lintel of the east window is decorated with a black painted cross. Niches were installed in the east and north walls. The east one is larger and can be regarded as an apse. It is divided in two by a horizontal stone slab which may have served as a shelf for offerings. It is not possible to know if there was direct access from the chapel to the cave. The chapel was roofed with a dome, two courses of which remain in situ. It is a precise circle with an inner diameter of 1.4 m. of small fieldstones bound with mortar. The construction of the chapel is typical of martyria (Krautheimer 1965: 150). The existence of the dome and its sophisticated construction is supportive of the view that the chapel was built to commemorate St. Cyriacus, i.e. after the end of the saint’s life.

Dwellings:

The hermit's dwelling was in the cave (see below).

Cave/s:

The cave is relatively large and consists of two levels. The lower level has a low and narrow entrance and a wider area at the back. The entrance was blocked by a dry wall, remaining to a height of 1 m. this may have been built at a later period by shepherds. A narrow passage leads to an elevated space at the back (4.5 x 4 m) with a height of 2.5 m. At the back of this space there is a natural ledge (1.6 x 1 m) which may have served as a sleeping bench. The upper entrance to the cave is blocked by the western wall of the chapel.

Water installations:

On the lower terrace of the site, there is a small oval cistern (2 x 4 m, depth not revealed).This would have supplied drinking and irrigation water for the hermit and the plot respectively. A second small cistern is built in the farther garden, near the cliff. The cistern is round, 2.2 m diameter and about 1.8 m deep (ca. 12.5 m³). The inside has a thick coating of hydraulic plaster containing large quantities of crushed pottery, typical of the Byzantine period. Both of the cisterns were filled with runoff water from the rocks in the area.

Garden:

Two garden plots were identified. One plot is located by the entrance to the cave, on the lower terrace. It was leveled through the construction of a retaining wall that remains to the height of 2.5 m. Probably its original height was 3 m. the area of the plot is about 25 m². A second garden plot is located on the bank south of the riverbed. It is about 40-50 m² in size and the cliff above it provides shade for most of the day. This would have helped in the prevention of moisture loss from the ground and made its cultivation easier. The two plots were apparently sufficient for the maintenance of one hermit.

Small finds

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Size class
Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

stone

Components

Enclosing wall

Monastery church:

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

Dwelling type:

caves

Built paths

Retaining walls

Garden

Water installations:

Cisterns

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

Painted plaster

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

The cave becomes a hermitage when Cyriacus settles in it.

Dating material:

Cyriacus settled in 538 CE, based Cyril of Scythopolis (see Literary Sources).

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

First half

General outline:

A memorial chapel is constructed at the mouth of the cave.

Dating material:

Byzantine period. The construction of the chapel is typical of martyria (Krautheimer 1965: 150). The existence of the dome and its sophisticated construction is supportive of the view that the chapel was built to commemorate St. Cyriacus, i.e. after the end of the saint’s life.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Second half

Phase date

Century:

7th c?

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned