Identification:
In the early twentieth century, Féderlin (1903: 181-182) suggested that the site contained the remains of the "Laura of the Towers of the Jordan" mentioned by John Moscus (Pratum 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 [ed. Migne; Eng. tr. J. Wortley: 7-9]). He suggested that the laura was named so after the corner towers of its core structure, that being the remains which he had surveyed.
Augustinović (1951: 112) proposed that it was the shape of the monks' cells that gave the name to the laura based on Moschus who tells of a beggar that came to "his little tower" (Pratum 9). However, no cells had been reported to be associated with the remains at hand.
In connection with this, Di Segni proposed that the Laura of the Towers was located at a completely different location, east of Archelais, where the Madaba map shows a tower over a vault with a ladder beside it (Di Segni 2005: 150-151, note 69).
Hirschfeld (1992: 132-133) stated unequivocally that the complex, which had been excavated by Zelinger (unpublished), was that of a communal monastery clearly showing the characteristics of such an establishment. He mentions two other such sites which had been surveyed by Sion (1996), showing a similarity in plan to the monastery at hand. Hirschfeld proposes that there was a common plan that characterized the monasteries of the Jericho region, i.e. a square or rectangular plan with rooms built around a central courtyard, was enabled by the relatively level ground of the region.
The monastery remains un-named.
