Sussita - Cathedral

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Sussita

Identification:

In 1885 the Cathedral was identified and surveyed by G. Schumacher.

Church name:

Cathedral

Dedication:

The annexed baptistery is dedicated to Sts. Cosmas and Damianus.

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Annex\es on N & S

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

262,206.00

742,686.00

Location:

Urban

Geographical region:

Golan Heights

Topographical location:

On top of a hill, in the city center.

Distance from nearest settlement:

Inside the city

Distance from Roman roads:

n/a

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Hippos

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Boundary of sacred space of the church, inscribed on the threshold of the central doorway.
2	Marble plate from a chancel screen mentioning Procopius the priest.
3	Fragmentary dated mosaic building inscription in the centre of the baptistery, Jan. 591.
4	Anonymous dedicatory mosaic inscription within a tabula ansata, in front of the southern apse of the baptistery.
5	Fragmentary dated dedicatory and commemorative mosaic building inscription, in front of the northern apse of the baptistery, Jan. 591.
6	Two identical mosaic inscriptions with acclamations, in both smaller apses of the baptistery.
7	Christian graffito on collapsed column.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
G. Schumacher	1885
C. Epstein, M. Nun	1937
A. Kowalewska and M. Eisenberg	2021

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
R. Amiran, M. Dothan, M. Avi-Yonah et al.	1949-1952
C. Epstein	1952-1955
Mr. Ran Abramovitch	2003

History:

In 1937 Claire Epstein and Mendel Nun with members of kibbutz En-Gev surveyed again the site first identified in 1885 by G. Schumacher. In 1949-1952 several archaeological seasons, including urban survey and remapping of the city, were organized under the direction of R. Amiran, M. Dothan, M. Avi-Yonah, A. Schulman, E. Anati, with the participation of C. Epstein, B. Shimron, M. Nun, M. Nestadt on behalf of Israel Department of Antiquities. In 2003 during the fourth archaeological season of the Hippos-Sussita Excavations Season (Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University) the southern aisle of the Cathedral and the northern part of the Baptistery Chapel were exposed again. In 2022 the northern part of an unknown chapel, annexed on the south, was exposed by the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University.

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

During the years 1952-5 the church complex and the annexed basilical baptistery were almost completely uncovered. The dimensions of the mono-apsidal basilica are 22,7x19 m, without the apse and the atruim; the apse - at least, additional 5.5 m in length). The dimensions of the annexed tri-apsidal basilica with a baptismal font are 15x13,4 m, including the apses. The southern aisle of the Cathedral, paved by opus-sectile tiles, was entirely exposed in 2021 season. The 2021 work focused also on entirely uncovering the southern wall, as well as the eastern portico of the church’s atrium.

The most important new information gleaned from the 2021 excavations was the existence of early construction phases of the cathedral.

The excavation of the cathedral’s southern wall revealed that an additional row of rooms lay to the south of the main church area, among them a chapel with a cross-shaped baptismal font. A western room was paved with a well preserved mosaic floor, and an eastern room with an opus sectile floor.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Photo of the Cathedral in 60-70s of the 20th century. After C. Epstein, 1991.

Sussita Cathedral, southern aisle, looking west. Photo M. Eisenberg, Haaretz 3.1.2023

Sussita Cathedral, reconstruction by Yannis Nakas, Haaretz 3.1.2023

Sussita Cathedral, baptismal font in southern annex, photo M. Eisenberg, Haaretz 3.1.2023

Figures

Atrium:

Only the north-western corner was exposed. The entire dimensions are not known.

Façade and entries:

The main basilica has three entries in the western wall: 1,1 m -- 2.2 m --1.1 m wide. Near the threshold of the central entry in the basilica there is an inscription reading: ἐκκλησία.

Lateral walls:

Poorly preserved up to 50-70 cm. Their thickness is ca. 0.80 m. The northern wall of the main basilica is the southern wall of the annexed baptistery. A 0.80 m wide entry led in from the northern aisle.

Nave:

The width of the nave of the central basilica is 8,4 m. The width of the nave of the annexed basilica is 5 m.

Aisles:

Both basilicas have two aisles. The width of the aisles of the cathera is 3.5 m; they have dead-ends on the east. The width of the aisles of the annexed basilica is 3 m.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The main basilica has a single hemispherical apse. It is narrower than the nave (6.8 m wide) and not deep (4 m deep). A high synthronon with 6 steps (the last one is wider than the rest), was built along the apse. The bema is U-shaped with openings to both aisles in its eastern ends. It is one step higher than the nave and extends across the width of the nave and the adjacent intercolumnia.

The annexed basilical baptistery is tri-apsidal. The central apse horse-shoe in shape, is 4.6 m wide and 3 m deep. The lateral apses are 2.4-2.7 m wide and 2 m deep.

Lateral spaces:

The aisles of the cathedral are deads-end.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category
Coins

Comments, discussion and summary:

Cathedral is one of the biggest churches in the Galilee and Golan. Surely it is the most embellished one. The unique architectural feature is the annexed tri-apsidal basilica, which function as a baptistery.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Basalt

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total	Extant in S	Extant in N
9	3	9

Capital types:

Corinthian

East end:

External apse, round

Church Head/Chevet:

dead end aisles (mon-aps III)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Altar remains:

no remains

Altar reliquiarium type:

No altar reliquiarium

Ambo:

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

grades

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Synthronon description:

Synthronon is constructed of limestone blocks, while the walls are built of basalt. It is 6 steps high; the lower 5 steps are narrow (ca. 0.22 m), the higher one is 1.1 m wide.

Baptism

Font structure:

Masonry built

Internal shape:

cruciform

Ben-Pechat type:

Attached structures

Att structures photos and planes:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Annex/es on the north:

A tri-apsidal basilical baptistery.

Annex/es on the south:

The 2021 excavations along the cathedral’s southern wall revealed that an additional row of rooms lay to the south of the main church area, belonging to a chapel with a cross-shaped baptismal font. A western room was paved with a well preserved mosaic floor, and an eastern room had an opus sectile floor.

Secondary basilica:

Apsidal

Secondary basilica description:

Tri-apsidal baptismal basilica. See below under "Baptistery".

Baptistery:

Basilical

Baptistery description:

Basilical in shape and abutting the cathedral on its north, with an interconnecting doorway. Tri-apsidal. Each of the two colonnades have three columns. The capitals are Corinthian. The font is located in the center of the main apse. It is sunk, coated with pinkish plaster. Circular on the outside and cruciform on the inside. The walls are curved (width 1.16 m; depth 0.47 m). An additional baptismal font, built of bricks, was uncovered in 2021 in a chapel annexed to the Chathedral on the south.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

The most important new information gleaned from the 2021 excavations was the existence of the early construction phases of the cathedral. No date was so far provided. Seemingly it should be dated to the 5th or 6th c.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Phase name (as published):

General outline:

591

Dating material:

A mosaic inscription in the attached baptistery is dated to 654 according to the Pompeian era of the city, equivalent to 591 CE. But the baptistery seems to be a later addition to the cathedral, as its floor is considerably higher than the floor of the basilica. Hence, the basilica can be several decades earlier.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Late

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

The image of the dolphin at the rear side of the chancel panel was defaced, probably, by Christians before reusing ti in the church.

Phase name (as published):

General outline:

The church was destroyed, most probably, by an earthquake, as all the columns were toppled in an identical direction (north-east -- south-west in axis). It is assumed that this was the earthquake of 749, but no finds were published to ascertain this assumption.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Mid

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

Chancel screen panel has a defaced dolphin at the rear side. Most probably, it was Christian iconoclasm, for the adaptation of the plate for the church.

Post Arab conquest history:

Unmodified

Schumacher, G., 1886
Epstein, C. and Shimron, B. , 1949
Epstein, C. and Shimron, B., 1950
Epstein, C. and Shimron, B., 1951
Anati, E., 1957
Shulman, A., 1957
Avi-Yonah, M., 1957
Avi-Yonah, M., 1957
Epstein, C., 1970
Ovadiah, A., 1970
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982
Epstein, C. and Tzaferis, V., 1991
Epstein, C., 1993
Bagatti, B., 2001
Segal, A., 2003
Segal, A., 2007
Łajtar, A., 2013
Michel, A., 2019	167-168.
Kowalewska, A. and Eisenberg, M., 2023