ʻAcraba - Church

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

ʻAcraba

Identification:

The site is identified as the town of Acraba, the capital of a toparchy, mentioned by Josephus and Eusebius (On. 14). In an epistle of the 6th century CE (CSCO 103, 148-9), which was sent from Arabia to the Monophisite bishops, two monasteries of 'Acraba were mentioned: the monastery dedicated to St. Stephan with priests Elias and Thomas and the monastery of Abbot Titus with the priests Sabinus and Conon. Concerning the identification see Thomsen 1907: 19–20; Abel 1938: 247–248; Avi-Yonah 1976: 26; Möller and Schmitt 1976: 11; Reeg 1989: 498; TIR: 56–57.

Church name:

Church

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Unknown

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

232.71

670.44

Coordinates, ICS system:

182.71

1,170.44

Location:

Village/Town

Geographical region:

Samaria Hills

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Source of knowledge

Literary sources

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Fragmentary dedicatory inscription on a broken stone lintel found in secondary use.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Robinson and Smith	1857
Guerin	1870
Conder and Kitchener	1870s
Clermont-Ganneau	1874
Finkelstein, Lederman and Bunimovitz	1990s

Bibliograpy:

Robinson, E. and Smith. E., 1857	296-7
Guérin, V., 1875
Clermont-Ganneau, C., 1896-1899
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1881
Thomsen, P., 1907
Abel, F. M., 1938
Avi-Yonah, M., 1976
Möller, C. and Schmitt G., 1976	11
Reeg, G., 1989	498
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994
Finkelstein, I., Bunimvitz, S. and Lederman, Z., 1997
Bagatti, B., 2002	55-56
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Column bases, Corinthian capitals, doorpost and a lintel bearing a Greek dedicatory inscription in the ‎mosque, in a secondary use.

Description

Small finds

Comments, discussion and summary:

Sources mention two monophysite ‎monasteries in the sixth century. ‎According to tradition, the Old ‎Mosque was built over the remains ‎of a church. Tradition ‎identifies the ruins of another ‎structure as a monastery.‎

Detailed description

Structure

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

Dating material:

Sixth century according to literary sources.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Phase date

Century:

Unknown