Shiloh - Northern Church (Early)

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Shiloh

Church name:

Northern Church (Early)

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Free standing basilica

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

227.58

662.17

Coordinates, ICS system:

177.57

1,162.20

Location:

Village/Town

Geographical region:

Southern and Western Samaria

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Samaria-Sebaste

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Invocation of the Lord on behalf of Eutonius the bishop, Germanus the priest and Zosys the mosaic-worker, within a tabula ansata in the mosaic pavement in the chancel.
2	Dedicatory inscirption of Zosys the artist, in a small panel in the northwestern corner of the central mosaic carpet in the nave.
3	Six-line dedicatory inscription of Eutonius the bishop and Germanus the country bishop, in the mosaic pavement in front of the entrance of the baptistery.
4	Invocation of the Lord within a tabula ansata, in the mosaic pavement in front of the doorway that leads into the northern aisle.
5	Invocation of the Lord within a medallion, in the mosaic pavement in the northern aisle.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Magen and Aharonovitch	1998, 2006-2007
Danish expedition	1926, 1929, 1932 and 1963

Bibliograpy:

Kjær, H., 1931
Andersen, F. G., 1985
Magen, Y. and Aharonovich, E., 2012
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	159-62, no. 44

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The early church has an irregular architectural plan, dictated by the existence of earlier structures and a street to the west of the church. The church (19 X 18.5 m) was basilical and consists of a nave, two aisles but no apse. It had a quadrangular church-head. Unlike a regular layout, a narthex, mosaic paved and with three openings to the northern aisle, was set at the north. A baptistery was installed within a separate Late Roman structure to the southwest of the church. The western side is slightly diagonal due to the constrains of a street leading up to the Tell. The southern aisle is longer than the northern. The walls were decorated by frescos and stucco.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

No atrium.

Narthex:

The entrance to the church was from the north through a 1.95 m wide doorway that led into the narthex. The narthex measures 11.25 X 2.35 m. It is located to the north of the church, not to its west, as is regular. It is paved by a mosaic floor with geometric patterns. A doorway in the eastern wall of the narthex led into a rectangular room, the eastern part of which was covered by the later church. Three openings in the southern wall of the narthex lead to the northern aisle.

Façade and entries:

The western wall, delineated by the street leading up to the tell, ran slightly diagonal relative to the northern and western walls.

Lateral walls:

The wall are of dressed stones and ashlars, some in secondary use. The walls' inner faces were coated with white plaster and apparently ornamented with frescoes and stucco.

Nave:

The nave measuring 10.5 X 6.65 m was separated from the aisles by two rows of columns standing on stylobates. The nave was paved with a mosaic floor with geometric patterns. A bench was built along its western wall. The bench is mentioned in an adjacent inscription.

Aisles:

The northern aisle measures 10.85 X 2.3 m. The southern aisle measures 13.2 X 2.3 m. Both aisles had mosaic floors with geometric patterns. A water cistern, at least 7 m deep, is incorporated under the floor of the southern aisle. A bench is built along the western wall of the southern aisle.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The U-shaped bema raised 0.55 m above the floor of the nave. Its eastern part lay under the later church and have not been excavated. Yet it seems that the church-head was quadrangular. It was decorated by a latice of geometrical patterns.

Lateral spaces:

Remains of at least two rooms were identified south of the church but they have been almost completely damaged by later structures. Another room was found to the north of the nave.

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Atrium:

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
4

Bema type text:

Elevated 55cm above the nave.

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar remains:

no remains

Ambo:

Synthronon:

Attached structures

Att structures photos and planes:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Baptistery:

Tripartite

Baptistery description:

Detached from the churches to the SW, across the street. Erected between 386 and 392, by bishop Euthropos of Sebaste and served both the early and the late North Churches. The font in the center of the middle hall is square, 2x2m in dimensions, 0.45m deep.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Basilical church of unusual plan with narthex attached from the north.

Dating material:

Erected between 386 and 392, by bishop Euthonius of Sebaste mentioned in two of the inscriptions, one in the bema, the second in the baptistery.

Phase date

Century:

4th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

Was replaced by the later church in the early 6th c., so it might have been damaged in the Samaritan revolts of 484 and 529, like the adjacent "Basilica Church".

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes