Khirbet Jinjas - HEPTASTOMOS

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Jinjas

Identification:

The site is identified as the laura of Heptasomos ("Seven Mouthed") founded ca. 510 CE by Sabas. The identification, originally by Delau, is accepted by scholars.

Monastery name:

HEPTASTOMOS

Monastery type:

Laura

Monastery category:

Desert

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

22,970.00

62,680.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

17,970.00

12,680.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

The laura is spread over an area of moderate hills.

Soils:

Rocky limestone

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 12 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 0.5 km (at the side of the road leading from Jerusalem to Jabel Muntar).

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Sabas settles in a cave and receives water from a cistern called Heptastomos, AD 478.
2	Jacob, a monk of the Great Laura attempts to build a laura of his own and is admonished by Sabas who founds the monastery of Heptastomos, ca. AD 510.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Guérin	1868-69
Delau	1899-1900
Féderlin	1904
Corbo	1958
Hirschfeld	1982

History:

The monastery of Heptastomos ("seven-mouthed") was one of the foundations of Sabas, named for a cistern near which a monk from the Great Laura had attempted to found a laura of his own. It was founded in 510 CE as a laura, some distance from the cistern itself but retained the name. The laura was probably abandoned sometime in the early seventh century CE.

Bibliograpy:

Guérin, V., 1868-1880	III: 101
Riess, V., 1892	228-31
Delau, V., 1899-1900	233-40
Vailhé, S., 1900	19-48; 75-78; 272-92
Corbo, V. C., 1958	85-88
Hirschfeld, Y., 1983	58-59
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	40-41
Hirschfeld, Y., 1992	29-30
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	142
Patrich, J., 1995	110-113
Hirschfeld, Y., 2003	189-203
Di Segni, L., 2005	175-176
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	108

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologically and Literarily definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The remains of this laura are spread over four spurs and cover a large area (250,000 m²). The laura consists of 25 cells dispersed around a core complex. The complex was surveyed but not excavated. A boundary fence remains preserved to a height of one or two courses.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Heptastomos- plan and section of cistern (Hirschfeld 2003: 158, Fig. 82).

Heptastomos- sketch plan of the site (Hirschfeld 1990: 42, Fig. 46)

Heptastomos, map of the area (Hirschfeld 2003:89, Fig. 1).

General description

Paths:

The main route arriving from the northwest forks from the road connecting Jerusalem with Jericho. A second path arrives from the southwest ascending from the bed of the Kidron riverbed.

Enclosing walls:

This is the only laura in the Judean Desert known to have had a wall. The enclosed area is about 700 x 230-600 m. The core is surrounded by a wall forming a quadrangle (60 x 35-40 m.), enclosing an area of about 2200 m² comprising about one tenth of the total area of the complex.

Gate/s:

Remains of a gate (2.6 m wide) were found west of the central structure.

Courtyards:

Two or three courtyards are located in the core of the laura.

Tower/s:

In the northern part of the core, abutting its enclosing wall, there is a square structure (2.5 x 2.5 m) resembling a tower.

Churche/s:

At the center of the core is a church (15 x 6 m.) with two adjacent rooms.

Dwellings:

25 cells belonging to the laura were identified. These were clustered in three groups. Ten were found on the north ridge, eight on the central one and seven in the southern part of the laura. The cells are simple and small, consisting of one or two rooms without a cistern (only three cells were found to have had cisterns) or a courtyard. They are built of dressed stone bound with mud plaster on the exterior. Unlike some of the other laurae, none of the cells are in caves, either natural or hewn. The average distance between cells is 60 m. One of the cells was found to be larger than the others and was surrounded by a low wall.

Stable:

Water installations:

Two cisterns were found in the core of the monastery and two more outside the core. About 150 m. northwest of the core, a round cistern (7 m. diameter and about 8 m. deep, ca. 175 m³) served the northern group of cells. A second cistern, rectangular in shape with rock hewn walls (7.5 x 2.8 m.) served the southern group of cells. The cisterns of the core, located in the courtyard in the southwest, served those who lived in that area. The cisterns were fed by channels.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

Remains of a round structure abutting the wall of the core, on the outside, may have been a columbarium.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Bowls, jugs, storage jars- dated to 6th and first half of 7th c.
Other	roof tiles.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
250,000	Large

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Border marks

Gate/s:

Tower/s

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Dwelling type:

cells

Built paths

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

200

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Founded by Sabas in 510 CE.

Dating material:

Based on Cyril of Scythopolis (V. Sab.39 [ed. Schwartz, 129-130]).

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

General outline:

Possibly abandoned in the first half of the seventh century CE.

Dating material:

Pottery assemblage

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned