Khirbet Rabi'a - Monastery (?)

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Rabi'a

Monastery name:

Monastery (?)

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

22,334.00

61,381.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

17,334.00

11,381.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert fringes

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

A rocky slope.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 14 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 3.5 km (Thecoa)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 3.5 km east of the road leading from Jerusalem to En Guedi.

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Hirschfeld	1984

Bibliograpy:

Hirschfeld, Y., 1985	82-84
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	64
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	211
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	162

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

The site was not excavated and the available information is based on the survey. Hirschfeld identified the complex as a monastery but he also stated that it might have served as a farmstead (Hirschfeld 1985: 82-84, no. 66). He did not unequivocally state that remains of a church had been identified in the complex. It is therefore not certain that the site was, in fact, a monastery. Inscribed crosses testify to the Christian identity of the structure.

State of certainty:

Uncertain / Questionable

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Rooms on the eastern and northern parts of the complex are in a poor state of preservation. The rooms on the western side are in a good state of preservation. The reservoir is till functional today.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

kh. Rabia- plan of the monastery (Hirschfeld 1990:65, Fig. 76).

Kh. Rabi'a- general plan of the site (Magen and Kagan 2012 II: 162, Fig 261).

General description

Enclosing walls:

The structure is rectangular (22.2 x 18.5 m) enclosing an area of 411 m².

Courtyards:

The complex consists of rooms built around a central L-shaped courtyard in the center of which there is a cistern.

Tower/s:

Southwest of the courtyard are the remains of a rectangular tower (5.1 x 3.4 m).

Churche/s:

Remains of a church were not located. However, one room in the western part of the complex contained engaged columns and was roofed with a cross vault. This may indicate a second story where the church may have been located.

Dwellings:

Some of the rooms probably served as dwellings but the specific use of each is unknown.

Water installations:

A reservoir is located in the middle of the courtyard, its roof supported on arches. It was still functional at the time of the survey.

Garden:

The structures of the site are built on a moderate slope containing many cultivated plots.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

Outside the eastern wall of the complex, a crushing stone from an oil press was found.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Many fragments of Byzantine pottery.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
411	Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Tower/s

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
No traces

Dwelling type:

cells

Garden

Agricultural installations:

oil press\es [=o/p]

Water installations:

Cisterns

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Abandonment

General outline:

The two central rooms were constructed as one closed unit.

Dating material:

Dated very generally to the Byzantine period, based on the fragments of pottery found in the survey. No finer dating has been suggested to date.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

General outline:

The northern hall and a vestibule in the south were added.

Dating material:

Architectural considerations.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

General outline:

The courtyard attained its final shape by the construction of rooms on the eastern and northern sides.

Dating material:

Architectural considerations.

Phase date

Century:

6th-7th c.

General outline:

Probably abandoned sometime in the Early Islamic period.

Dating material:

Lacking evidence of the continued use of the complex, it may be assumed that its use came to an end in the first half of the seventh century CE.

Phase date

Century:

7th c?

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned