Khirbet Zakhariya southwest - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Zakhariya southwest

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium with dispersed cells outside its wall

Monastery category:

Village

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

19,750.00

64,800.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

14,750.00

14,800.00

Geographical region:

Southern and Western Samaria

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Diospolis

Topographical location:

On the SW slope of Kh. Zakhariyah; el-Habis hermitage is located in a scarp of Kh. Zakhariyah, facing N. Within the confines of the industrial zone of present day Modi'in.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 9 km (Lod-Diospolis)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 9 km (Lod-Diospolis)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 2 km from the road connecting Lod-Diospolis with Jerusalem.

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Clermont-Ganneau	1874-1876

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Masarwa	August 2016

History:

Add to bibliography: Masarwa, D. Khirbat Zakariya (southwest), HA - ESI 136 (2024), https://hadashot.iaa.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=26514 Masarwa, D. and Tendler, A.S. “A monastery from the Byzantine period and a large settlement from the Abbasid and Fatimid periods at Khirbat Zakariya in the Modi’in Hills, Cornerstone 13 (2024), 155-162, 18 figures (Arabic).

Bibliograpy:

Guérin, V., 1875	II: 53-54
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1882	321-22
Germer-Durand, J., 1893	203-215
Clermont-Ganneau, C., 1896-1899	II: 355-356
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	260
Bagatti, B., 2002	204-206
Taxel, I., 2009	133-39
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	231-22
Dayan, A., 2015	108

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A small coenobium, 18.5 x 24.5 m in dimensions, with a chapel, a mosaic paved diakonikon, an olive press and additional rooms, 2 water cistern and a burial cave. Located to the SW of the Byzantine village of Khirbet Zakhariya. It was excavated by D. Masarwa in August 2016 and published in HA-IES 136 (2024) and Cornerstone 13 (2024) with 18 figures (text in Arabic and an English abstract). A hermitage known as el-Habis extended along the northern scarp of the village. It held two cells, the inner of which having benches along its walls and crosses inscribed on its walls. A courtyard extended in front of the el-Habis scarp. It is located near a large, ashlar built structure that was excavated in 1944 but not published. A baptismal font with an inscription mentioning Sophronia and Barichia was found at Kh. Kelkh, or Kelch, located some 250m east of Khirbet Zakhariya. Was the said ashlar structure near el-Habis a church (no columns were reported), or a chape? If positive, the baptismal font might have originated there, but this is far from being certain. A burial cave was found under the SE corner of the coenobium. Some more burial caves were also found in the vicinity.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Aerial photo of monastery, Cornerstone 13, 2024

Figures

General description

Enclosing walls:

The walls of the complex were founded on bedrock, mostly preserved one or two courses high; some walls were robbed, leaving only the robber trenches. The complex comprises a central courtyard (L123) surrounded by rooms, and north of it are the remains of a chapel.

Gate/s:

Access was from a vestbule located outside the SE corner of the monastery. The entrance to the vestibule was from its south, as is indicated by a threshold in its southern wall.

Courtyards:

The courtyard (L 123), is located in the middle of the monastery, being surrounded by room on all its sides.

Churche/s:

A monastic chapel with a diakonikon attached to its south, occupies the northern wing of the monastery. Both were mosaic paved. Only few patches were preserved in the chapel; that of the diakonikon depicts a large cross in a medalion.

Dwellings:

Three or four rooms in the southern wing might have served for dwellings. On of them to the NW of the vestibule. Dwellings might have also existed in a second floor.

Burials:

A rock cut burial cave was uncovered under the SE corner of the monastery, near its entrance. Access was through a rectangular shaft 1.7 m deep located outside the walls. It was approached from the south and hidden under cover stones. The burial chamber was square, and its walls and floor were coated with white plaster. On each of its three sides there was a rock-cut arcosolium with a trough. Only the eastern and western troughs (c. 0.9 × 1.9 m in dimensions) were excavated. The cave appears to have been robbed in antiquity. In the western arcosolium skeletons were found in a poor state of preservation. Two adults were identified: one likely a male over 15 years of age and the other unidentified. In the eastern arcosolium remains of two skulls were found, laid side-by-side north of a rock-cut headrest (width 0.65 m), and two adults over 15 years of age were identified, their gender unknown. The cave appears to have served the monks in its early phase; it was no longer in use in the late phase, being filled up with earth, and a small square structure being built above.

Storage facilities:

The northern room of the oilpress might have served for storage.

Cave/s:

El-Habis hermitage is a long and narrow east-west orientated rock carved cave, in a north facing scarp, measuring some 30 m long. Windows were carved into the northern wall and recesses or niches were carved into the walls in several places as well as several crosses. The entrance is on its eastern side. A two-rooms rock cut cave might had served for dwelling. The inner room has benches all arround. A Greek inscription on the wall saying "tomb of George", and crosses incised on the walls may suggest that a monk named George was interred there, and the tomb attracted believers.

Water installations:

A water cistern was located under the center of the courtyard. A second cistern was presumably added in a later phase outside the walls. A hewn reservoir was traced near the el-Habis.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

An oilpress occupied the western wing of the monastery. The installations include a round limestone basin that served as a collecting vat (L134; diam. 1.1 m, depth 0.6 m) with a settling depression at its bottom (diam 0.4 m, depth 0.15 m). A copper coin dating from the early Abbasid period (750–830 CE) was found above the paving of the oilpress, suggesting that it continued to serve as late.

Area B, located north and east of the monastery, yielded three simple winepresses and three retaining walls of farming terraces and a refuse pit of the monastery. No chronologically diagnostic material was uncovered.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Bones	See under the SE burial cave

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Size class
Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Gate/s:

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Dwelling type:

cells

caves

Storage facilities – warehouses

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Arcosolium

Dung hills

Agricultural installations:

oil press\es [=o/p]

wine press\es [=w/p]

Terraces [=t]

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2

General outline:

The site was founded in the late Byzantine period, the sixth century CE, and operated with changes throughout the Umayyad period, until the eighth century CE. The early phase is dated to the sixth–seventh centuries CE.

Dating material:

Small finds

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

General outline:

The late phase included light renovation works, mainly raising of floors, and the complex continued in use until the Umayyad period (eighth century CE).

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Modified

Post conquest history comments:

Phase 2 is presumably dated to this period

Conclusions:

The fact that the burial cave under the SE corner of the monastery was filled up and did not serve as such in Phase 2 may suggest that the complex ceased to function as a monastery in this phase (unless it was purposely hidden after being robbed and desecrated). A copper coin dating from the early Abbasid period (750–830 CE) found above the paving of the oil-press, as well as Abbasid potsherds found elsewhere at the site, suggest that a certain activity continued at the site as late.