Beit 'Anun (Bethennim) - SE slope Church (Central Church)

Vertical tabs

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Beit 'Anun (Bethennim)

Identification:

Also known as Beit 'Enun or Beit Einun. Bethennim of Eusebius and Hieronimus (On. 24,, 16; 94, 29) (TIR, 82)..

Church name:

SE slope Church (Central Church)

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

212.11

604.88

Coordinates, ICS system:

162.11

1,107.88

Location:

Village/Town

Geographical region:

Judean Hills

Topographical location:

On the southeastern slope, at the edge of the site.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 22 km south of Jerusalem.

Distance from Roman roads:

On the road between Aristobulias and Jerusalem - the eastern road of Hebron Hills, connecting Bethlehem, Theqoa and Zif.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Source of knowledge

Literary sources

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dedicatory inscription of Probatius the priest within a tabula ansata, at the western end of the central nave.
2	Very fragmentary inscription in a tabula ansata, at the western end of the southern aisle.
3	Commemorative mosaic inscription of the priests Thaimon, John, and John, in the side room built north of the atrium.
4	Commemorative mosaic inscription of the deacon Salaon, steward, in the side room built north of the atrium.
5	Fragmentary commemorative mosaic inscription of donators within a tabula ansata, in a small room near the narthex.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Kochavi	1967/8

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Magen, Abu Sakur and Shavit	1993 and 1997

Bibliograpy:

Ovadiah, A., 1970
Kochavi, M. and Ovadiah, R., 1972	identification p.27, p. 57-8 (no. 118)
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982
Bagatti, B., 2002	71-73
Magen, Y., 2012
Di Segni, L., 2012

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Tow stages were descerned, expressed in raising the Stage 1 floors by ca. 0.7-1m, rebuilding the western facade with its entrances and adding an annexed chapel (labelled "diakonikon") on the north, and a square room at the northern end of Stage 1 narthex, adjoining the Stage 2 annexed chapel. The floor raising and rebuilding were required, so it is suggested, by winter inundations of Stage 1 church due to its bad-calculated location on a slope.

In Stage 1 church was a mono-apsidal basilica with lockable pastophoria flanking the apse. In the second stage the northern pastophorium was delineated on its west by a screen and transformed to a baptistry with an hexagonal font, and a chapel was attached to its north.

The complex is relatively well preserved. It was almost entirely excavated.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

The church lacks a conventional atrium surrounded by a peristyle. Instead it had an open courtyard on the west. In the first stage it was paved with a layer of white plaster. In the second stage the courtyard was paved with large limestone slabs. On the north the courtyard is deliniated by a rectangular room labelled "Inscriptions Hall" (see under "Attached structures"), erected at subphase a of Stage 1. On the east the courtyard was deliniated by the pillars of the narthex. Under the southern part of the courtyard is located a water cistern, constructed in the Late Roman period and continued to be in use until the Crusader period.

Narthex:

15.0x2.8 m in dimensions. In the first stage the narthex was separated from the open courtyard west of it by a row of square pilasters, which supported a roof made of wooden beams and tiles. The pilasters carried a N-S arcade and each of them also retained an W-E arch that rested on an opposite pilaster attached to the facade of the basilica. In the second stage the floor was raised by ca. 0.7 m., the pilasters were replaced by columns, and on the east it was delineated by the new facade of the basilica, that had no attached pilasters on its western face. A small square room (2.75 X 2.75 m), paved in white mosaic, was added to the north of the narthex.

Façade and entries:

The main entrance to the church was 2.16 m wide, the northern entrance was 1.2 m wide and the southern entrance was 1.26 m wide. The Stage 1 facade, with attached pilasters on its western face, was replaced by a new wall of large white ashlars of flat smooth faces. The early facade was preserved only to its bottom course.

Lateral walls:

The outer faces of the walls were made of ashlars, some up to 1.4 m long. The inner faces were constructed of small cemented field-stones coated with multicolored plaster. The Lateral walls of stage 1 continued to serve also in the second stage.

Nave:

The first stage nave measured 19.7 X 7.2 m and was paved with a mosaic carpet with geometric patterns. In the second stage the floor were elevated by 0.7m a got a new mosaic floor of enterlacing geometric patterns encircling octagons and circles with zoomorphic patterns defaced by iconoclasm.

Aisles:

The first phase aisles measured 19.7 X 3.3 m each, dimensions that were retained in the second stage. They were paved with a mosaic decorated with crosses. In the second stage the stylobate was elevated over long walls and new mosaic floors were laid.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The internal apse is built of well-dressed soft limestone ashlars. Its diameter is 6.1 m. Traces of multicolored wall-plaster were observed in the apse, suggesting that the apse walls were covered in frescoes. The bema was U-shaped but badly preserved. A large limestone slab, 1.8 X 1 m in dimensions, found in the middle of the apse served as an altar base. It had a round socket in its center and four square sockets in the corners.

Lateral spaces:

The apse was flanked by two square lockable pastophoria, 3.2x3.2m in dimensions.

In the northern side of the courtyard is located a large rectangular room. It is called in the publication the "Inscriptions Hall". The room is divided by two arches into three rectangular units and paved with a colored mosaic floor. The room has two entrances. One in its southern wall, leading from the courtyard. The other in the eastern wall, leading into the narthex. The "Inscriptions Hall" continued to serve into the Crusader period but, its functional purpose is unclear.

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Most pottery found in the site is Late Byzantine, from the sixth to seventh centuries. A few finds are Early Islamic and dated to the eighth century.
Coins	A coin of Constantine II, dated to 355 - 361 CE, was found under the floor level of the apse.
Inscription - see under epigraphy	5 Greek inscriptions. See under Epigraphy.

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Arcade of columns

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
8

Capital types:

Corinthian

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with lockable pastophoria (mon-aps II)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar remains:

base plate

Altar type:

Marble, table like

Altar reliquiarium type:

No altar reliquiarium

Altar location:

On the apse cord

Ambo:

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

N & S

Description and function of northern:

Lockable square room, 3.2 X 3.2 m in dimensions. It was not completely excavated. In the second stage it served as a baptisterium, separated from the aisle by a screen. The font was hexagonal. A white mosaic floor was laid around in the Umayyad period.

Description and function of southern:

Lockable square room, 3.2 X 3.2 m in dimensions. A square ashlar opening in the middle of the floor led through a square shaft into a vaulted crypt beneath this room. No bones or division into tombs were observed. It might had served as a secret treasury (skeuophylakion).

Crypt

Accessibility and description:

Small vaulted crypt is located under the floor of the southern pastophorium. Accessed through a square shaft open in the middle of the floor. No bones or division into tombs were uncovered in it. It is attributed to Phase 1. Seemingly it serve as a sort of hiding place for the most valuables of the church. A secret skeuophylakion.

Function:

A secret skeuophylakion.

Baptism

Loci:

During the second stage a hexagonal baptismal font was set on the mosaic floor of the northern pastophorium and it got a screen on the west. The font was surrounded by a white mosaic floor in the Early Islamic period.

Font structure:

Masonry built

External shape:

hexagonal

Internal shape:

hexagonal

Ben-Pechat type:

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

In the second phase a rectangular chapel, 13.5 X 5.1 m, paved with colored mosaic floor with a medallion holding a sort of chrismon in its center, was attached to the church on the north. A square room was open to the chapel on the west. The attached chapel seems to had served as a prothesis chapel / diakonikon.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Stage 1

General outline:

Basilical church with open courtyard, narthex and internal apse flanked by lockable pastophoria. The floors were paved with mosaics, into which inscriptions 1 and 2 were inserted. A third inscription (in the narthex) apparently also belonged to this phase.

Dating material:

The dating to late 4th-early 5th century CE is based on the mode of construction, architectural members, mosaic style and the early inscriptions 1 and 2 (Segni 2021: 169-170). In Sub-phase A the "Inscriptions Hall" was built to the north of the courtyard, obliterating two pilasters of the narthex.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Early

Subphases

Subphase A Date

5th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Phase name (as published):

Stage 2

General outline:

In this stage the floors of the basilica and the narthex were elevated by 0.7-1m, and its facade was rebuilt to match the new elevations. A rectangular chapel with a square room on its west was attached to the basilica on the north. The lockable northern pastophorium was transformed to an open baptisterium. The new mosaics suggest a 6th c. date.

Dating material:

Masaics style.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Dating material:

Traces of iconoclasm suggest that the church continued to be in use at least until the middle of the 8th century. It is possible that like other churches in the Hebron Hills it was damaged during the earthquake of 749 CE and therefore was abandoned. The church was rebuilt later, during the Crusades period.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Mid

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

In the second quarter of the 8th century the zoomorphic figures of the second phase mosaic floor were replaced by crudely made floral designs.

Conclusions:

It was suggested that the reason for building Stage 2 church was winter inundations that affected Stage 1 church due to its bad-calculated location on a steep slope. An unspecified period of desertion separated between the two stages. After the abandonment the church it was rebuilt during the Crusader's period.