Ascalon (Tel) - East Church (Saint Mary the Green?)

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Ascalon (Tel)

Identification:

Identified as the Crusaders church of St. Mary the Green after excavation and research of the frescoes. Before the excavations it was assumed that this church was located closer to the sea (Grid 50), near a Muslim weli called Maqam al-Khadra (meaning: "shrine of the Green (Lady)"). Pringle (1993: 68, no. 22), didn't embrace the proposed identification.

Church name:

East Church (Saint Mary the Green?)

Dedication:

St. Mary. The dedication of the church might be related to the circus faction of the "Greens", popular in Byzantine times.

Functional Type:

Baptismal basilica

Church type:

Basilical - Free standing basilica

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

157.32

619.02

Coordinates, ICS system:

107.32

1,119.02

Location:

Urban

Geographical region:

Southern Coastal Plain

Topographical location:

inside the ancient city, 90 m south of "Jerusalem Gate" (Grid 50) (the eastern gate of the city).

Distance from nearest settlement:

Inside ancient Ascalon

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Ascalon

Source of knowledge

Literary sources

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Unpublished painted panel with an Arabic inscription and several Greek names.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Tzaferis, Stager (Leon Levy Expedition)	1985

Bibliograpy:

Esse, D. and Stager, L., 1986
Stager, L. and Esse, D., 1987
Pringle, D., 1993	68
Bagatti, B., 2002	152-156
Tzaferis, V. and Stager, L. E., 2008
Peers, G. , 2009
Huster, Y., 2015	49, no. 24.

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The basilical church (11.20x12.90 m) had a small apse flanked by two apsidioles (niches) attached to the eastern city wall. The two colonnades comprised of 5(?) columns each. The baptismal font in the center of the church was dated to the Byzantine period. In the Crusader period the basilica was shortened; only suggesting a cruciform vaulted ceiling resting on four columns.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Narthex:

The church had a narrow and long narthex that was entered from its northern, narrow, side.

Façade and entries:

Only one doorway in the center of the western wall of the church led from the narthex to the nave.

Nave:

The nave was divided from the aisles by two rows of three columns made of Aswan granite; they had probably been imported centuries earlier, sometime during the Roman period and were reused in the construction of the church.

Aisles:

The aisles ended on the east by small niches.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The apse was incorporated in the city wall, which also served as the eastern wall of the church. Against the apse there was a synthronon that was robbed out later. Wall paintings were added in Mediaeval times to the central apse and to the two flanking niches.

Lateral spaces:

Apsidioles.

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Brick

Atrium:

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total	Extant in S	Extant in N
5	1	1

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with open lateral rooms or spaces (mon-aps I)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

incisions on walls

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Baptism

Loci:

Water flew from the apse through a lead pipe and a settling basin reaching a marble-lined cruciform baptistery installed into the early marble floor in front of the bema. The small size and shallowness of the baptistery indicates that baptism was done by sprinkling rather than by immersion. The plates reveting the cruciform font were inserted into the marble pavement of the church. To the west there was a cistern, 4 m deep, connected to the font. The font is cruciform but conforming only partially to Ben Pechat type 4a. The arms of the cross are concave, unlike type 4a, which has straight arms and right angles between the arms. New font type.

External shape:

cruciform

Internal shape:

cruciform

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Upper galleries

Upper galleries:

above both aisles

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

Small basilical church with a cruciform baptistery in front of the bema.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Phase name (as published):

Crusader

General outline:

The Byzantine church was still in use during the Early Islamic period. In the twelfth century the Byzantine basilica was rebuilt into a cross-shaped domed cathedral.

Phase date

Century:

12th c.

Within century:

Late

Phase date

Century:

Unknown

Post Arab conquest history:

Unmodified