Tel Ashdod - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Tel Ashdod

Identification:

The monastery was identified as such by an inscription that dates its foundation and that of the winepress attached to it to the year 529 CE (Di Segni 2008). The inscription named the abbot under whom "The winpress was built from its foundations, together with the monastery". The abbot's name was interpreted as Johannes by Tzaferis (2006) and as [Ger?]manus by Di Segni. If the monastery was named after the abbot, it would probably have been one of these names.

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

16,813.00

62,920.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

11,813.00

12,920.00

Geographical region:

Southern Coastal Plain

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Azotos

Topographical location:

Level ground

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 6 km (Azotos)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 0.5 km east of the road leading from Ashkelon-Ascalon to Lod-Diospolis.

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Building inscription commemorating the construction of a winepress and monastery, 9 June or 14 July 529.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Gudovitch	1990

Bibliograpy:

Gudovitch, S., 2006	1-2 (English summary 233)
Tzaferis, V., 2006	3-5 (English summary 233-34)
Di Segni, L., 2008	31-36

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Only a mosaic paving testified to the existence of a monastery, through an inscription. The inscription was embedded in the winepress belonging to the monastery.

General description

Agricultural and industrial installations:

The mosaic paving found at the site was part of a winepress that belonged to the monastery.

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

Agricultural installations:

wine press\es [=w/p]

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

No remains, excepting the mosaic pavement, were found of the monastery. According to the inscription, the winepress and the monastery were built "from the foundations" in 529 CE.

Dating material:

Epigraphy

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

First half

Phase date

Century:

Unknown