Tell 'Aqaba; Cypros - Cypros

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Tell 'Aqaba; Cypros

Identification:

The hermitage was established within the remains of a fort built by Herod the Great and named after his mother, Cypros.

Monastery name:

Cypros

Monastery type:

Hermitage/hermitages

Monastery category:

Desert

Former fortress

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

24,041.00

63,923.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

19,040.00

13,920.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

On a conical hill overlooking Jericho.

Soils:

Rocky limestone

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 4 km (Jericho)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 4 km (Jericho)

Distance from Roman roads:

Close to the road connecting Jerusalem and Jericho.

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Netzer	1973-1974

History:

Initially constructed as a Hasmonean fort, apparently to watch over the approach to Jericho, it was later rebuilt by Herod the Great as a fortified palace. In the Byzantine period, a small monastery was constructed within the ruins of the former palace.

Bibliograpy:

Avi-Yonah, M., 1954	50
Netzer, E. and Damati, A., 1975	24-25
Netzer, E., 1975	55, 61
Ovadiah, A. and De Silva, C. G., 1981	211-12
Ovadiah, R. and Ovadiah, A., 1987	53
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	71
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	106
Meshel, Z. and Amit, D., 2002	306-29
Netzer, E. and Damati, I., 2004	233-80
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	180-82

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The site was excavated as part of the excavations of the Hasmonean and Herodian forts. Only scant remains of the monastery were reported, located on the lower terrace of the palace.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Tell 'Aqaba- remains of Byzantine structures, view from the southeast (Magen and Kagan 2012 I: 282, no. 143.3).

Figures

Tell 'Aqaba- plan of construction phases (Magen and Kagan 2012 I: 281, no. 143.2).

General description

Enclosing walls:

The small precinct was apparently surrounded by a wall or fence (20 x 20 m).

Churche/s:

A single small structure (6.5 x 6 m) was located in the precinct with an east-west orientation. This was deemed to be a chapel.

Small finds

Comments, discussion and summary:

The very small dimentions of the site and the absence of any other structures suggests that the site was a hermitage (Hirschfeld 1990: 71).

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
400	Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Enclosing wall

Monastery church:

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

Dwelling type:

cells

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

A small structure within a square precinct was identified as a small monastery or hermitage.

Dating material:

No precise dating was offered by the excavators. The monastery/hermitage was probably founded along with others in the area sometime in the fifth or sixth centuries.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Dating material:

No finds dated later than the Byzantine period were reported. It can, therefore, be assumed that the site was abandoned at the end of the Byzantine period.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned