Bethlehem - The Nativity: Justinian church

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Bethlehem

Church name:

The Nativity: Justinian church

Functional Type:

Memorial

Church type:

Trefoil

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

219.81

623.57

Coordinates, ICS system:

169.81

1,123.57

Location:

Village/Town

Geographical region:

Judean Hills

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

8,5 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

Near the eastern fringes of the ancient settlement.

Distance from Roman roads:

On the road from Jerusalem to Hebron.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Description of the cave of the Nativity and of Jerome's tomb, from an itinerary of ca. AD 570.
2	Description of the church of the Nativity, from an itinerary of ca. AD 681-684, composed ca. 698.
3	Description of the church containing the tomb of St Jerome.
4	Concise paraphrase of Adamnan's descriptions, from a geographical work compiled AD 702-703.
5	Description of the Church of the Nativity, from an 8th cent. guidebook for pilgrims.
6	Inventory of the clergy and monks in Bethlehem, from an official report ordered in AD 808.
7	Measurements of the different parts of the church.

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Four-line anonymous commemorative inscription inscribed on a marble baptismal font in the southern aisle.
2	Numerous Greek grafitti with crosses and Christian formulae incised on the walls (CIIP IV.1 nos. 3220-24, 3226); fragment of a Greek commemorative inscription on a piece of a chancel screen, found in secondary use in the caves below the basilica (no. 3225); and a marble plaque with an illegible Armenian inscription, possibly medieval, found in one of the underground grottos (no. 3227), all not included.

Text number

Summary

Four-line anonymous commemorative inscription inscribed on a marble baptismal font in the southern aisle.

Numerous Greek grafitti with crosses and Christian formulae incised on the walls (CIIP IV.1 nos. 3220-24, 3226); fragment of a Greek commemorative inscription on a piece of a chancel screen, found in secondary use in the caves below the basilica (no. 3225); and a marble plaque with an illegible Armenian inscription, possibly medieval, found in one of the underground grottos (no. 3227), all not included.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Hamilton	1932
Harvey	1934
Bagatti	1949
Alessandri et ali.	2009-15

History:

In 1932 the excavations were limited to the western courtyard of the church - the location of the ancient atria. In 1934 - inside the basilica. In 1949 - in the Franciscan monastery. In 2009 a Palestinian Presidential Committee for the restoration of the Nativity church was set up and in 2010, a consortium of experts was appointed to make a new, thorough survey of the building, assess the most urgent repairs to be done and work out a comprehensive restoration project. The latter started in September 2013 and is still (2017) ongoing: it first concerned the roof, windows, narthex, and doors, and in 2015 it was also extended to the mosaic decorations. The results of their work was published by Alessandri (ed.) 2020.

Bibliograpy:

de Vogüé, M., 1860

Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883

De Riant, P. , 1889

Harvey, W., 1910

Dickie, A. C., 1911

Vincent L. H. and Abel F. M., 1914

Hamilton, R. W., 1934

Baumstark, A., 1934

Harvey, W., 1935

Vincent, L.-H., 1936

Harvey, W. and Harvey, J. H., 1937

Vincent, L.-H., 1937

Richmond, E. T., 1938

Rücker, A., 1938

Vionnet, M., 1938

Hamilton, R. W., 1939

Schneider, A. M., 1941

Crowfoot, J. W., 1941

Hamilton, R. W., 1947

Vincent, L. H., 1948

Hamilton, R. W., 1968

Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982

Avi-Yonah, M., 1993

Schick, R., 1995

Taylor, J. E., 2007

Bernabei, M. and Bontadi, J., 2012

Bacci, M., Bianchi, G., Campana, S. and Fichera, G., 2012

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Replaced the Constantinian church. Still in use. A trifoil transept basilica comprising of an atrium, a narthex, a nave flanked by two aises on either side, and a trefoil church-head set above the Nativity Cave. 53.2X26.8 m. in diemensions (Ovadiah 1970).

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

General view to the east. Bacci 2017, Fig. 3.

Colonnade in the Armenian Monastery, Library or School of St. Jerome, belonging to the southern wing of the Justinianic atrium. Bacci, Fig. 15.

Star marking the location of Christs birth. Bacci 2017, Fig. 5.

Figures

Church of Nativity. The present state with caves underneath. From: Harvey 1935: Pl. I.

Atrium:

Due to the extention of the basilica westward by the addition of one bay and a narthex, the atrium was shifted to the west. Sophronius, in his Anacreontics 19 (603-4 CE), addresses it as a four-sided atrium. A corner pier and three of the columns belonging to the south side of this atrium can still be seen walled up in a room annexed to the vestibule of the Armenian monastery and in the so-called "Library of Saint Jerome” within this monastery. It extended to the western half of the present-day courtyard, and preceded by a forecourt surrounded as well by colonnades, whose western limit corresponded approximately to that of the modern road separating the courtyard from Manger Square.

Narthex:

This was added only in this phase. 26.8X6m in dimensions according to Ovadiah 1970.

Façade and entries:

The facade, with a gable and three entrences is still standing. This can be seen from the narthex. On the outside they were reduced in size twice, or more. The upper part was adorned, seemingly, by a wall mosaics depicting the Addoration of the Magis, mentioned in the Letter of the three patriarchs of the East to emperor Theophilus.

Lateral walls:

Those standing now are the original Justinianic walls (Bacci 2017; Alessandri 2020). They are 1 m. thick (Ovadiah 1970).

Nave:

10.4 m. wide (Ovadiah 1970), is flanked by two aisles on either side, each comprising 11 columns 2.7 m. distant from each other, 44 in number altogether. The columns, monolithic, of reddish mizzi ahmar rock, stood on a raised stylobate, laid over the mosaic floors of the Constantinian church. They were crowned by normal Corinthian capitals. The architraves, of cedar wood of Lebanon, composed of three parallel beams, were engraved by floral motives and crosses on both sides and on the suffits. These were later masked by plaster. A chain for an oil lamp was hooked in a cross engraved in the center of each suffit. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis revealed that they can be dated to the year 605 +- 60, i.e. between 545 and 665 CE (Bernabei/Bontadi 2012, pp. 58 –59). A shallow relieving arch, later blocked, extended from capital to capital above the architraves. The clerestory and the roof are still preserved. The wooden beams of the ceiling, carrying the roof were replaced in the 11th c. and later. Dendrochronological analyses indicate that the earliest of its beams date from a refurbishment made around 1164, and the rest of them can be traced back to the major restorations made between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries (Bernabei/Bontadi 2012, 59 – 60). The roof was of lead tiles.

Aisles:

The inner aisles are separated form the outer aisles by colonnades of 11 columns. Each aisle was 4.1 m. wide. A monolithic baptismal font is standing at present in the southern external aisle (see under Detailed Description, baptism).

Transept Nave:

This has 2 rows of 2 columns. Four thicker corner columns supported the dome adorning the intersection of nave and transept. The Axis of the northern and southern arms did not coincide with that of the corresponding apses.

Transept Aisles:

A single column separated the transept nave from the northen aisle of each wing of the transept . There were no southern aisles. Two staircases lead down to the Grotto from the southern and northern side of these aisles. The southern one is for descending, the northern one - for ascending. The Altar of the Circumsision is located in the eastern aisle of the southern arm of the transept. An Altar of the Kings is located in the northern aisle of the transept nave.

The opening of the Well of the Star is located to the east of the northern staircase. The monolithic baptismal font located today in the souther external aisle of the basilica, might had served, originally, as the well-head (Bacci 2017).

Transept Ends:

Trifoil. Each arm ended in an apse, 8.4 m. in diameter and 4.5 m. deep. An altar of virgin is located in the northern apse.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

A platform, elevated two steps above the nave and the transept, extended under the dome, and above the Nativity Cave. The bema, with the altar, extended farther east. The altar was set along the cord of the apse. A synthronon was built against the wall of the apse. Betweenn the transept and the eastern apse are several alements relating to the cave: two sets of semi circular stairs ar cut north ans south of the cave; A semi circular construction of inknown functio; and the area of the chancel. The apse contains fragments of a synthronos.The conch of the central apse seems to have been embelished by a wall mosaic depicting Mary, seated, holding Christ, mentioned by the Letter of the Three Patriarchs of the East to emperor Theophilos, and depicted also on lead ampulae.

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Marble

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total	Extant in S	Extant in N
11	11	11

Number of aisle columns in a row:

Total	Extant in N	Extant in S
11	11	11

Capital types:

Corinthian

Transept Nave

Transept Ends:

See under General Description.

Transept aisles

East end:

External apses, round

Church Head/Chevet:

trefoil

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Bema type text:

Only one lateral opening, on the south, leading to a staircase ascending to the Sacristy and Chapel of St. George.

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar type:

Marble, table like

Altar location:

On the apse cord

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

grades

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Crypt

Accessibility and description:

Cave of Nativity. Accessed by two staircases from the northern and southern transept. Earlier staircase, ascending from the west, was blocked. The bronze door at the top of the northern staircase is Justinianic. A conch in the eastern wall holding an altar. A silver star underneath marks the place of nativity. Few steps near the SE corner descend to the place of the Manger and the Adoration of the Magi. An opening of a cistern is located in the NW corner. --- Underground Chapel of St. Jerome - under the southern portico of the Franciscan Cloister. --- Cistern under the NW part of the bema. Its opening is the Well of the Star.

Function:

Commemorating the Nativity.

Cult of relics

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

Bones are shown in the Tomb of the Holy Innocents. For traditional tombs of other saints, see above, under Crypt.

Burial loci

Burials loci:

--- Tombs of Sts. Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Paula and Eustochium - under the eastern end of the northern aisles of the basilica. --- Tomb of the Holy Innocents, under the northern transept. --- Burial Grottos, under the southern external aisle of the basilica.

Baptism

Loci:

A monolithic baptismal font of reddish (mizzi ahmar) stone, is standing at present in the southern aisle of the basilica. It is attested there since the 16th c. (Ben Pechat 1989: fig. 18). A Greek votive inscription framed in a tabula ansata reads: “For remembrance, rest, and remission of sins of those whose names the Lord knows”. Both the epigraphic characteristics and the overall shape point to a sixth-century date. A marble font, smaller in size, was stuck inside. Following a recent inspection it was suggested that originally the monolith was open at its bottom. The 1934 excavations brought to light the circular opening of the well in the northern side and next to the bema - seemingly the well inside which the Star of the Magi was shown to pilgrims. It was suggested that the said monolith may have originally served as well-head of this well. Hence the very existence and the original location of the baptistery are unknown.

Font structure:

Monolithic

External shape:

octagonal

Internal shape:

quadrifoil

Ben-Pechat type:

Attached structures

Sacristy / skeuophylakion:

Other

Sacristy / skeuophylakion description:

An oblong rectangular chapel - Sacristy and Chapel of St. George in Hamilton's 1968 map (Fig. 8), accessed by a staircase from the bema, is attached to the church on its SE corner.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2

General outline:

This is the present church, excluding the wall mosaics and drawings on the columns and elsewhere, which are from the Crusaders' restoration.

Dating material:

Rebuilt by order of the Emperor Justinian after the Samaritans revolt.

Historical and archaeoogical considerations for dating this phase prevent determining an exact date. The data and considerations were presented recently (2017) by Bacci:

Dendrochronological and radiocarbon analysis of the wooden architraves revealed that they can be dated to the year 605 +- 60 years, i.e. between 545 and 665 CE (Bernabei and Bontadi 2012, pp. 58 –59).

This building project is mentioned only in the Arabic Chronicle of Eutychius (Ibn-Batriq), Patriarch of Alexandria (9th c.), according to which the first building was pulled down by order of Justinian, since he considered it to be too small. The event took place after a Samaritan revolt. The emperor was not satisfied from the new building presented by his envoy to the Holy Land, and ordered to behead him.

Procopius does not mention it in his "Buildings". Hence, it might had started only after the compostion of this book was completed (ca. 554-560). But it can also be conjectured that Procopius’ silence about these works may be due to the Emperor’s disappointment about the final form of the first new building.

The Samaritan revolt mentiond by Eutychius might be that of 555/56, rather than that of 529/30. It may also be that the need for new works was prompted by some damage caused by the earthquake which devastated Palestine in 551.

Cyril of Scythopolis (ref.) hints that in 557 the narthex - a new distinctive feature of the reconstructed building, already existed.

According to Bacci (2017), it should be assumed that the building campaign was initiated after Procopius had finished his book, i.e. after 560 according to most scholars, or even earlier, around 554 –555 according to an alternative hypothesis. The reconstruction works at Bethlehem could therefore have started in the last years of Justinian’s rule and have lasted beyond his death in 565.

The triconch layout is first mentioned by Sophronius, Anacreontics XIX, 23–56 (603-4 CE).

The church remained unharmed by the Persians due to the wall mosaics on its facade, depicting the Adoration of Magi. This is mentioned in the Letter of the Three Patriarchs of the East to the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (9th c.).

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Second half

Dating material:

The Crusaders refurbished the church with wall mosaics in the clerestory and drawings on the columns.

Phase date

Century:

12th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use

Post conquest history comments:

A mosque for individual prayers was installed in the southern transept. The church continues to be in use, basically undamaged by the conquest, to the present. After the Crusaders security conditions required blocking the lateral entrances, and reducing drastically the dimensions of the central doorway, in order to prevent Muslim horse or camel riders to get in.

In continuous use