Sussita - Martyrion of Theodoros; Southwest Church (SWC)

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Sussita

Identification:

Known also as 'The Burnt Church' and 'The Martyrion of Theodorus'.

Church name:

Martyrion of Theodoros; Southwest Church (SWC)

Dedication:

Theodorus of Amasia

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

262.25

742.66

Coordinates, ICS system:

212.25

1,242.70

Location:

Urban

Geographical region:

Golan Heights

Topographical location:

On the western slopes of the Golan heights, in the western part of the city and to the south of the Decumanus Maximus.

Distance from nearest settlement:

Inside the city of Hippos (Susita)

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Sussita

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	A four lines inscription in the western part of the nave, commemorating four people.
2	Offering of Urania and Theodoros (619 0of the Pompeian era = October 555 – August 556 AD).
3	Offering of the Bishop Megas for his brothers (556–557 AD).
4	Three-line dedicatory mosaic inscription of Simonius the priest, at entrance of presbytery.
5	Six-line mosaic inscription of fathers Theodorus and Petrus, in the middle of the northern aisle.
6	Nine-line mosaic building inscription of bishop Megas, in the centre of the nave.
7	A six lines offering inscription in a tabula ansata of the elder Simoniuos, a goldsmith, near the main entrance to the nave.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Segal and Eisenberg	2010's
Eisenberg and Kowalewska	2020, 2022

History:

The church was constructed in the second half of the 5th – early 6th century. The mosaic floor is from the first half of the 6th century. The blocking and reordering of the church’s spaces belong to the third quarter of the 6th century. The roof of the church burned and collapsed not later than the early 7th century, creating a thick layer of ash that covered the entire mosaic floor, preserving it well. The church’s destruction might be connected to the Persian invasion of 614 CE. Add to bibliography: Staab, G. and Eisenberg, M., "Two Mosaic Inscriptions from the Martyrion of Theodoros at Hippos above the Sea of Galilee and a summary of all Seven Inscriptions", ZPE no. 230 (2024): 127-135. Eisenberg, M., Staab, G. and Kowalewska, A., "The Martyrion of Theodoros at Hippos above the Sea of Galilee", BZ no. 118(1) (2025): 103–140, Plates I–XXII.

Bibliograpy:

Segal, A. , 2005

Staab, G. and Eisenberg, M., 2020

Staab, G., Kowalewska, A. and Eisenberg, , 2022

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The church (15x10 m (inner dimensions, was entirely exposed, including the eastern portico οn the west, and an annexed chapel to the south. All are mosaic paved. Another room, open to the portico, was exposed to the west of the annexed chapel. The apse is flanked on the north by a lockable pastophorium.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Aerial view, indicating the location of the inscriptions, Staab et alii 2022, Fig. 1

Sussita, Burnt Church, Gil Eliahu, Haaretz 3.1.2023

Figures

Susita, SWC, Plan 1. From: Segal, 2005: p. 161, Fig.7.

Susita, NEC, Plan, ZPE 230_2024, with location of inscriptions

Atrium:

As for July 2022, only an eastern portico, serving as a narthex, was uncovered. Mosaic paved, with a Greek inscription in a medallion. It seems that no atrium has ever existed.

Narthex:

No closed narthex; an open portico served as a narthex.

Façade and entries:

Three entrances symmetrically aranged on the western wall of the church. Preserved to a hight of several courses. Another opening led from the portico to the western room of the southern wing.

Lateral walls:

Quite well preserved; plastered. An opening in the southern wall led to the attached chapel. A second opening in the northern wall, is preserved, blocked, to its full height.

Nave:

The church (13 m x 9. 50 m) is divided by two rows of columns, three in each row, into a nave 5 m. wide and two aisles, each 2.50 m. wide. Well preserved mosaic pavement. A thick layer of ashes of the roofing beams protected the mosaic flor from farther destruction.

Aisles:

Mosaic paved.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

A semicircular apse that is 4 m. wide, preserved to its spring course. It is protruding, external. The bema was about 0.40 m. higher than the nave. Parts of a chancel screen are preserved on the west. In the center of the bema, at a distance of 2 m. from the chancel screens, a reliquary of pink stone, having three compartments, was found fixed into the mosaic floor. It resembles one of the reliquaries of the NW church.

Lateral spaces:

A door preserved to its lintel at the end of the northern aisle led to a pastophorium. The southern aisle had a dead-end on its east.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	The pottery found in the burnt layers above the mosaic floor of the nave dated to the end of the Byzantine period. Also, many fragments of roof tiles were found scattered in numerous quantities within the ‎perimeter of the building. ‎
Metal objects	Nails of various sizes were also discovered here, and indicate once more that the roof was constructed of wood.

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Basalt

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
3

Capital types:

Ionic

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

single opening flanking the apse (mon-aps V )

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar remains:

foundations

Altar reliquiarium type:

Depression in the floor

Altar location:

On the apse cord

Ambo:

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

Description and function of northern:

A single pastophorium was flanking the apse to its north. Its opening was preserved to its full height, including the lintel. Its shape is askew on the east. It is attributed to the original phase of the church.

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

under altar

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

In the center of the bema, at a distance of 2 m. from the chancel screens, a reliquary was found fixed into the mosaic floor. The reliquary, of three compartments, was made of soft limestone of orange-red color. It had a rectangular shape and measured 0.40 x 0.50 m. It protruded about 0.20 m. above the mosaic floor of the apse. It resembles in shape and stone one of the reliquaries of the southern martyrion of the NW church.

Attached structures

Annex/es on the south:

An annexed chapel was uncovered in the 2022 excavations season. It is connected by an opening to the southern aisle. Two columns near the lateral walls were retaining its ceiling. Another room, accessed only from the portico, was installed to its west. This wing is attributed to the original phase of the church.

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

A mosaic paved chapel annexed on the south was partially exposed in 2022. Its eastern part was not exposed yet. At a certain point of time two columns were erected over the mosaic floor to the east of the entrance, seemingly to retain the ceiling. A second floor is suggested by numeroise tesserae in the fill, The walls and the columns, plastered, are preserved to an elevation of ca. 2m. An intact offertory inscription in a medallion was preserved to the east of the entrance to the chapel. Its function is not known yet. It could have served as a prothesis chapel.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Abandonment

General outline:

Basilical church with a single pastophorium to the north of the apse (mon-aps V with a pastophorium). An opening in the northern wall was blocked at a certain stage. The pastophorium, the southern wing as well as the portico on the west, are all attributed to the original phase of the church (Eisenberg et ali, BZ 2025).

Dating material:

It seems that the church was built in the second half of the 5th c., or the beginning of the 6th, had only plastered floors.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

General outline:

According to stylistic considerations, the mosaic floors were laid in the 1st half of the 6th c.

Dating material:

Style of the mosaic floors.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

First half

General outline:

Opening in the northern aisle was blocked. Seemingly at that stage the two columns were erected in the southern chapel, near its lateral walls, in order to retain its ceiling.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

General outline:

The church was destroyed by fire probably as a result of the Persian invasion of 614 CE.

Dating material:

A thick layer of ashes and burnt beams covered the floor.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Early

Effects of the Persian Invasion:

Destroyed