Shiloh - Northern Church (Late)

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Shiloh

Church name:

Northern Church (Late)

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Annex\es on N & S

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

Topographical location:

At the foot of the tell, to its north.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Samaria-Sebaste

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Four-line building inscription within a tabula ansata, in the mosaic floor at the eastern end of the northern aisle.
2	Two-line dedicatory inscription, in the mosaic floor at the eastern end of the northern aisle.
3	Invocation of Mary on a bronze cross found in the debris.
4	Stamp of Hermogenes on a mortar, found in the debris.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Magen and Aharonovitch	1998, 2006-2007

Bibliograpy:

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 Late church was constructed about 0.6 m above the Early church and is more to the east than its predecessor. Including the atrium it measures 34.5 X 14 m. It is mono-apsidal with a protruding external trapezoidal shape. Annexes of several units are attached to its north and to its south.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

The square atrium (11.6 X 11.6 m) was erected over the Early church's prayer hall. It was surrounded by fourcolumns porticoes on each side, each 2.3 m wide. The northern portico was divided into two rooms. The eastern portico functioned as a narthex. A doorway (0.7 m wide) in its northeastern corner led into the northern wing of the church. The atrium was paved with stone slabs of various sizes. The floors of the porticoes were of white mosaic.

Façade and entries:

Three entrances led from the eastern portico into the prayer hall. The central entrance was wider than the lateral two.

Nave:

The nave (10.7 X 6.5 m) was separated from the aisles by two rows of six columns.

Aisles:

The dead end aisles were 15.8 m long and 2.4 m wide. Their mosaic floors were some 5-10 cm higher than the nave floor level. The aisles had dead ends. The mosaic floor of the northern aisle is entirely preserved. In the eastern end of the northern aisle there were two Greek inscriptions and possibly an offering table, or an alcove was located there. A slot for the screen was preserved on its western fringes. Two screen posts incorporated in the Muslim maqam originated, so its seems, from this church. Openings in the northern and southern walls of the aisles led to the annexes.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The U-shaped bema raised two steps above the nave. The external apse, polygonal, was 6.1 m in diameter. From its outer side it was trapezoidal in shape. The chancel floor was not preserved.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Oil lamps	Fragments of multiple wick hole Beit Nattif oil lamp were discovered under the floor of the late church. This oil lamp is dated to the 4th to 5th centuries CE.
Coins	About twenty coins from the 4th - 5th centuries were found in the fill between the Early and the Late churches. The latest coin dated to the time of Arcadius (395 - 408 CE). A coin from the time of Justin II (574/5 CE) was found on the floor of the atrium.

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
5

Capital types:

Corinthian

East end:

External apse, polygonal

Church Head/Chevet:

dead end aisles (mon-aps III)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar remains:

legs

Altar type:

Stone, table-like

Ambo:

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Attached structures

Annex/es on the north:

Two rooms, of smaller dimensions, were annexed to the basilica on the north. The western one (3.7 X 2.3 m) could be accessed from the northern aisle and from the eastern portico of the atrium through an ante-chamber (2.3 X 1.4 m in dimensions). It is not clear how the eastern room (4.2 X 2.3 m) was accessed, since its walls were destroyed down to the foundations and the floor bedding. Pottery dated to the 4th or fifth c. was found underneath, indicating that the annex might have been a later addition. . The atrium was flanked on north by two more, elongated service rooms. They were installed over the northern narthex of the Early Basilica. Each was accessed by an earlier opening that was narrowed and got a new sill. The bolting direction was inversed.

Annex/es on the south:

The southern side of the atrium also had an annex. It was disturbed by the maqam. See also Prothesis chapel, below.

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

A quadrangular chapel is attached to the basilica on the south. It measures 9.7 X 5.3 m and had a fine mosaic floor. Seemingly it served as a prothesis chapel / diakonikon. Its sill of entrance from the southern aisle is preserved low in the northern wall of the maqam.

Baptistery:

Tripartite

Baptistery description:

The detached baptistery of the Early Basilica had continued to serve the Late one, with several modifications. A wide entrance from the street was installed in the eastern wall and to its front - a courtyard of stone pavement 5.50x11.30m in dimensions. At some later date a square room was added in the SE corner. The baptistery continued to serve into the Umayyad period.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Basilical church with a single apse, dead end aisles, an atrium and a chapel attached on the south.

Dating material:

The church was constructed in the early 6th century and continue in use until the 8th century. The dating based on the ceramic assemblages found under the church floors and the decorative style of the mosaic floors.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

All the zoomorphic depictions on the prayer's hall mosaic were defaced and than repaired with white tesserae or with floral motifs.

General outline:

According to the archaeological finds, the church remained in use until the 8th century. The repair of iconoclasm suggests that the church was still in use during the first half of this century. It seems that the church was abandoned and destroyed in the mid-8th century and a makam was built above it.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Mid

Post Arab conquest history:

Modified