Sede Nahum - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Sede Nahum

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

245,474.00

714,577.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

195,471.00

214,576.00

Geographical region:

Beth Shean Valley

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Scythopolis

Topographical location:

Level ground

Soils:

Volcanic

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

3 km (Beth Shean-Scythopolis)

Distance from nearest settlement:

3 km (Beth Shean-Scythopolis)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 2.5 km north of the road leading west from Beth Shean-Scythopolis

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Zori	1955-1957
Dalali-Amos	2011

Bibliograpy:

Tzori, N., 1957	261
Yeivin, S., 1960	46
Ovadiah, A., 1970	159-60
Schick, R., 1995
Goldfus, H., 1997	229-33
Dalali-Amos, E. , 2014
Habas, L., 2022

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

In the early excavations by Zori, the monastery was exposed in its entirety. The new excavation in 2011 revealed what was left of the monastery after the southern part was removed by modern construction activity.

Four strata were discerned: Stratum IIIb dates to the 4th century AD, when the old chapel was built. Stratum IIIa dates to the 4th – 5^th century AD with building extensions: an open courtyard and a southern residential quarter. Stratum II dates to the 6th century AD, with a new chapel, living quarters, halls and rooms, enclosed within a wall. Stratum I date to the 7th – 9th centuries AD, when the monastery was abandoned, and the site was inhabited by nomads (Dalali-Amos 2014).

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Sede Nahum, stratum II (Dalali-Amos, E., 2014)

Sede Nahum stratum IIIb (Dalali-Amos, E., 2014)

Sede Nahum statum IIIb (Dalali-Amos, E., 2014)

General plan with mosaics. Habas in Mazor FS, 2022.

General description

Enclosing walls:

The monastery was entirely enclosed in a perimeter wall (30 x 50 m).

Gate/s:

Entrance to the complex was through its southern wall.

Courtyards:

In the first phase there was one mosaic paved courtyard (7.4 x 8.5 m). A second, unpaved, courtyard was added in the second phase, in the residential area.

Churche/s:

The chapel was a broad hall (3.5 x 11.5 m) with a single apse facing east. The northern part of the chapel was destroyed in the late fifth century and later rebuilt as a long hall on an east-west axis. The chancel was separated from the hall by a chancel screen of which only the groove remains. Both the hall and the chancel were paved in a polychrome mosaic.

Dwellings:

Three rooms were found west of the pool, belonging to the first phase and probably serving the domestic needs of the resident monks. In the second phase, a new residential unit was added south of the chapel.

Refectory:

see above (dwellings)

Burials:

Two tombs were located west of the chapel. In the sixth century, when the monastery was rebuilt, two more tombs were added

Storage facilities:

see above (dwellings)

Kitchen:

see above (dwellings)

Baking oven:

Zori suggested that one of the rooms in the residential unit served for baking. A baking oven was not reported.

Water installations:

A plastered pool (3.2 x 3.5 m, 3.7 m deep) was located south of the chapel.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

A room belonging to phase 3 was found with red stains on the floor. Zori suggested that dying activity took place there.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category
Pottery
Inscription - see under epigraphy

Comments, discussion and summary:

The region of Beth Shean was known for its linen in the Byzantine period (Ben Yehuda 2005). Zori identified one room, tentatively, as used for dying and washing. This may suggest that the monastery produced linen for its income.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
1,500	Medium

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Basalt

Components

Enclosing wall

Gate/s:

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Storage facilities – warehouses

Kitchen

Tombs type:

Cist tomb

Workshops

Water installations:

Cisterns

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

IIIb

General outline:

Established in the fourth century. It consisted of a broad chapel, facing east, a pool and three rooms west of the pool.

Dating material:

Based on the pottery and other considerations

Phase date

Century:

4th c.

Phase name (as published):

IIIa

General outline:

The main construction extensions included a courtyard, a large residential area south of the chapel. At the end of the fifth century, the north part of the church was destroyed and the mosaic pavement severely damaged. The monastery was apparently abandoned for a short period of time.

Dating material:

Architecture.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Late

Phase name (as published):

General outline:

In the sixth century the monastery was rebuilt. A new chapel was constructed. Two more tombs were added in the area of the chapel and changes were made in the residential area. A room next to the church was proposed by Zori to be a baptistery. An external annex was added, proposed by Zori to have been a prison.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

General outline:

Apparently abandoned prior to the Arab conquest. No signs of violence were found in the excavation.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned

Post conquest history comments:

With no signs of violent destruction, the excavators suggested that the monastery was abandoned prior to the events of the early 7th century. However, many monasteries were abandoned without violence after the Arab conquest (Geva'ot Bar, Bir el-Qutt, Hura in the Negev and others) probably due to the difficult socio-economical conditions. It is quite likely that this was the case at Sede Nahum. The complex was used by nomads as a temporary dwelling and for burial throughout the 7th to 9th centuries.