Ma'ale Adumim; Kh. Murassas - Main church - Martyrion

The martyrion (L221; 39) located to the north of the main church (8.4 x 8.2 m) is paved with white mosaic pavements with five carpets of different sizes and ornamentation. In the hall there are two large rectangular carpets in the north, arranged horizontally, the eastern and the western, that occupy most of the floor surface, and three smaller rectangular carpets arranged perpendicularly laid along the southern wall: 1. The north-east carpet (4.81 X 3.43 m) (Magen, 2015, fig. 61) is surrounded by a frame composed of a row of black tesserae (A11), two rows of white, two of black, once of white, and one of black (A1). The carpet field is decorated with a grid of diamonds formed of schematic flowers placed side by side to form diagonal strips (H7). Each of the diamond's sides consists of three flowers facing three more, together forming a crossed interface at the diamond's angle. In the centre of each diamond four flowers face the diamond's side. 2. The north-west carpet (4.74 X 2.82 m) has a border of tow rows of black tesserae, two of white (A2) and one of black (H7), field with a grid of diamonds (D) formed of schematic flower buds. In the centre of each diamond, is an additional diamond that consists of a row of black tesserae that surrounds a row of red, in the centre of which are four white tesserae and a red one (D). 3. The south central carpet (2.28 X 1.5 m) (Magen, 2015, fig. 62) has a border of two rows of white tesserae, two of black and one of white (A1), the carpet field consists of scales (J5), subdivided into square and triangular units by strips of concave red diamonds and elongated black leaves (F). Three strips of concave diamonds divide the carpet into six squares, each further divided by diagonal strips of leaves into four triangles. 4. The south-west carpet (2.06 X 1.82 m) (Magen, 2015, fig. 63) has a border of three coloured rows of white tesserae, two black, two of white, and one of red, with a the central field covered with a rosettes pattern with four oval red leaves surrounded by a black outline (derived from J4): each circle is reduced to four ellipses forming an oblique cross; in each space is a crosslet of five black teserrae. 5. The south-east carpet (1.05 x 1.0 m) (Magen, 2015, fig. 64) has a border of red tesserae (A1) and plain white field with a large composition of four inward-facing flowers (F) shaping a Greek cross in its centre, and four similar flowers (F) in each corner. This carpet, somewhat carelessly executed comparatively to the other four in the hall, was incorporated into the already existing mosaic at a later stage (Magen, 2015, p. 58). It was apparently contemporaneous with the installation of the crypt and of the tombstone over it (Madden, 2014, p. 109). In the mosaic floor east of this carpet, a large round oil lams (31.5 x 11 cm) is depicted that hands from three chains connected by a ring (Magen, 2015, fig. 65) . The lamp's body is of black tesserae, the red tesserae above it apparently represents a flame. The lamp mosaic, like the whole south-east carpet, was incorporates in the original mosaic floor after the crypt's installation. Between the five carpets are single rows of D motifs with the exception of the south-western carpet, which features a row of crosslets. The martyrion served as the burial place of the monastery's abbots and may have functioned as the narthex of phase IIA church. A crypt, hewn into the floor in the southeast of the hall, was covered with a mosaic carpet as well. West of the martyrion are two small rooms (L222 and L223), that were entered from it. The bigger room (L222) (2.4 x 1.63 m) is paved with mosaic floor, preserved in its entirety (Magen, 2015, fig. 66). It is decorated with geometrical and floral motifs. The mosaic border is of diagonally laid white tesserae. The frame consists of two rows of black tesserae, two rows of white, and one of black (A2, A5-A6, A1). The carpet field of of white tesserae, laid in diagonal rows in a herringbone pattern. In the centre of the carpet are two rows, each containing seven buds (F) in black, red and white. The buds are arranged in almost symmetrical order in two facing groups (with eight buds in one group vs six in the other).