Umm Leisun; Khirbet Umm Leisun - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Umm Leisun; Khirbet Umm Leisun

Identification:

Based on a Georgian inscription found in the crypt, the monastery has been identified as one in which the dominant community was Georgian, although its name, or very existence, is not known from any Georgian sources (Seligman 2015: 162-163; Mgaloblishvili 2006-2007:533-537; 2015; Tchekhanovets 2009:110-114; Tchekhanovets 2018: 150-156). The excavators suggested identifying the monastery with that of Eustathius which Hirschfeld (1990:46-47, no. 30) identified at Khirbet Bureikut.

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Former farm

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

22,324.00

62,736.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

17,324.00

12,736.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert fringes

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

On a ridge or spur formed by two tributaries of Nahal Qidron.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 4.5 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 4.5 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 0.5 km

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name
Kloner

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Seligman and Abu Raya	1996

Bibliograpy:

Kloner, A., 2000	147
Seligman, J. and Abu Raya, R., 2002	127-40
Seligman, J., 2004	163-67
Mgaloblishvili, T., 2007	527-39
Tchekhanovets, Y., 2009	110-14
Seligman, J., 2011	162-63
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	92-93
Mgaloblishvili, T., 2015	185-95
Seligman, J., 2015	145-81
Tchekhanovets, Y., 2016	107-109
Tchekhanovets Y., 2018	150-156

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

Although a chapel was not definitly identified, its identification was suggested by the excavators to be the largest room of the complex (Room I). This suggestion is based on the room's orientation (east-west), the location and the dating. The presence of mosaics and roof tiles supports this identification.

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Architectural remains were in a poor state of preservation due to modern construction work in the vicinity. In many places only a single course of stones remained and parts of floors. Because of the slope on which the monastery was constructed, it was built on a few levels, staircases connecting the levels were not found.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Kh. Umm Leisun- segments of the mosaic paving (Magen and Kagan 2012 II: 93, no.214.2)

Figures

Kh. Umm Leisun- general plan of the remains (Magen and Kagan 2012 II: 92, no. 214.1)

General description

Enclosing walls:

The compound is rectangular, surrounded by walls measuring 65 m from east to west and ca. 40 m from north to south.

Gate/s:

The entrance to the complex was on its eastern side, on the lowest level. The staircase leading to the upper level was not found.

Courtyards:

A passage led from the gate to a central courtyard measuring 30 x 20 m.

Churche/s:

Room I (the largest: 14 x 7.6 m), located west of the courtyard, is in an east-west orientation, paved with a geometric patterned mosaic but no clear evidence of an apse. Entrance to the room was probably from the west. Stone bases of engaged pilasters, which held arches that supported the roof, were found at 2.5 m intervals. Remnants of wall plaster were found and a curved surface to the east suggests that there may have been an apse.

Dwellings:

Three mosaic paved rooms built on a north-south axis were uncovered in the northwestern part of the excavated area and remains of an additional room were seen to the east. Rooms II and III: (ca. 6.5 x11 m ) had an east-west axis and were entered from the east. They are constructed of well-dressed ashlars. Room I – a simple white mosaic with guilloche border. Room III- only a small part was excavated. Room IV- this room had a plain white mosaic and remains of plaster coating on the walls.

Burials:

Two burial vaults were discovered on the northern side of the courtyard. Both crypts were hewn into the bedrock to a depth of three meters on either side of a staircase which was well preserved. The constructed walls of the stairwell were plastered. Remains of red paint were found on the plaster. The southern of the two crypts (8.3 x 4.1 m) contained six arcosolia, a raised tomb with a Georgian inscription and seven burial troughs beneath the flagstones. A total of 24 interments was found, of adult males. The northern crypt (3.6 x 2.7 m) was apparently not intended originally as a burial site. It contained two burial troughs with at least two interments. In 1895 Bliss and Dicky (1898: 242) visited the site and described a burial crypt. Their description does not correspond with the two crypts found in Seligman's excavation who suggested that there may have been a third crypt, no longer in existence.

Cave/s:

A partly natural and mostly hewn cave with finds from earlier periods was found full of debris but not excavated.

Kitchen:

A small internal courtyard may have served as a kitchen or cooking area evidenced by a tabun (oven).

Baking oven:

see kitchen section.

Water installations:

Channels cut into the rock and covered by the flagstones of the courtyard, led water to an underground cistern. A large, rectangular reservoir was located near the entrance, at the lowest level of the complex. The reservoir measured at least 8.2 x 3 x 3.6 m (capacity of at least 88 m³). Two other cisterns are known and a fourth, which probably belonged to the complex as well, is located a short distance to the north.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

A rock-cut pressing installation was found in the vicinity.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Pottery	Fine Byzantine Ware bowls; basins; casseroles; jars; juglets.
Stone vessels	A fragment of a basalt grinding stone (38 cm diameter) with a carved raised ring preserving remains of an iron pivot.
Other	Charred wood
Oil lamps
Glass	Fragments of window panes
Other	A large numbers of roof tiles.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
2,600	Large

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Components

Enclosing wall

Gate/s:

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Kitchen

Baking oven

Tombs type:

Cist tomb

Burial chamber

Arcosolium

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Painted plaster

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Foundation of the monastery is attributed to the end of the fifth century or first half of the sixth century.

Dating material:

Epigraphy

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

The site suffered a conflagration which probably caused its abandonment.

Dating material:

Byzantine and Early Islamic pottery, quantities of ash in the debris that filled the staircase leading to the crypt.

Phase date

Century:

7th c?