Scythopolis/Beth Shean - ABBA JUSTINUS

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Scythopolis/Beth Shean

Identification:

The remains of the monastery were found in the FitzGerald excavations. An inscription found at the site mentions the dedication of the monastery of Abba Justinus Apocrisarius in 521/2 CE. Mazor suggested that this may have been the monastery called Ethemaneith that Sabas visited in 518 CE, according to Cyril of Scythopolis (V. Sab. 62, 163). However, this interpretation does not fit in with the description provided by Cyril, according to whom, the recluse living at Ethemaneith was named John. According to Di Segni (1997: 391-392),the inscription found at the site, refering to a "monasterion" is probably a reference to the seclusion cell of a single monk. Mazor (2010:286-287; 2013) suggestion was definitively rejected by Di Segni (2022).

Monastery name:

ABBA JUSTINUS

Monastery type:

Hermitage/hermitages

Monastery category:

Urban

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

247,777.00

712,287.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

197,774.00

212,286.00

Geographical region:

Beth Shean Valley

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Scythopolis

Topographical location:

On a slope

Soils:

Volcanic

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

Less than 0.5 km (Beth Shean-Scythopolis)

Distance from nearest settlement:

0.5 km (Beth Shean-Scythopolis)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 0.5 m southeast of the road leading northwards from Beth Shean-Scythopolis

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dated building inscription in a rectangular frame, found on an isolated fragment of mosaic floor, September 522.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
FitzGerald	1929

Bibliograpy:

FitzGerald, G. M., 1939
Mazor, G. and Bar-Nathan, R., 1994	135-37
Di Segni, L., 1997	391
Mazor, G. and Bar-Nathan, R., 1998	7-35
Mazor, G., 2008	1634
Mazor, G., 2010	273-300
Mazor, G., 2013	44-48

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

Di Segni noted that Scythopolis had a number of urban hermits. If Abba Justinus was indeed a recluse (as the inscription states [TB]), she added, his monastery may have been just a one-man place, with some cells for himself and his disciple or servant, and a chapel (Di Segni 1997: 393). With the exception of the inscription, no remains of a monastery were actually found, nor those of a chapel.

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

Small finds

Small finds:

Category
Inscription - see under epigraphy

Detailed description

Components

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
No traces

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Dated to 521/2 CE.

Dating material:

Epigraphy

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

First half

Phase date

Century:

Unknown