Heptapegon - The Miracle of the Multiplying of Loaves and Fishes 2- Basilica.

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Heptapegon

Identification:

Heptapegon (Gr.), Et-Tabgha (Arab.), 'En Shev'a (Heb.); all derive from the seven ‎springs in the area. Built at the traditional site of the miracle of the Multiplying of ‎Loaves and Fishes mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. 14: 15-20 and ‎parallels).‎

Church name:

The Miracle of the Multiplying of Loaves and Fishes 2- Basilica.

Dedication:

Miracle of the Multiplying of Loaves and Fishes

Functional Type:

Memorial

Church type:

Transept

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

251.72

753.23

Coordinates, ICS system:

201.72

1,253.20

Location:

Rural

Geographical region:

Sea of Galilee

Distance from nearest settlement:

2 miles south-west of Capharnaum.

Distance from Roman roads:

The church was built next to the road (mentioned by Egeria apud Petrus Diaconus V, 3) leading to Capernaum, adjacent to the Kinnereth seashore.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Tiberias

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Theodosius (TS 2), Cyril of Scythopolis (Vita Sabae 24) and the Piacenza Pilgrim (AP 9), who visited and prayed at Heptapegon viz. the place of the Multiplication, make no mention of any church there, though archaeological evidence makes it clear that at least one church must surely had been there on the site of the present-day Church of the Multiplication.
2	Mention of the basilica (?) ruins at the place of the Feeding of the five thousand, from an itinerary of ca. AD 681-684, composed ca. 698.

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Fragmentary commemorative mosaic inscription of Saouros, in the north transept.
2	Fragmentary commemorative mosaic inscription of a donor, in the apsis in front of the altar.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Karge, Fr.	1911

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Mader, A. E. and Schneider, A. M.	1932
Rosental, R. and Hershkovitz, M.	1979-1980

Bibliograpy:

Mader, A. E. and Schneider, A. M., 1933

Mader, A. E., 1934

Schneider, A. M., 1934

Mader, A. E., 1934

Schneider, A. M., 1937

Crowfoot, J. W., 1941

Schapiro, M. and Avi-Yonah, M., 1960

Avi-Yonah, M., 1964

Loffreda, S., 1970

Ovadiah, A., 1970

Rosenthal, R. and Hershkovitz, M., 1980

Loffreda, S., 1981

Editor, 1982

Avi-Yonah, M. and Negev, A., 1993

Schick, R., 1995

Di Segni, L., 1997

Barkay, G. and Shiler, E., 1999

De Luca, S., 2012

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A transept type church with: an atrium with surrounding rooms, a narthex, a prayer hall, a transept and an inscribed apse with a corridor behind. The dimensions of the trapezoidal-shaped complex are: Length- 56 m. from west to east, width- 24.3 m. on the west and 33 m. on the east. The walls survived to an elevation of 1.45 m., except the south-east section, which did not survive.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Heptapegon churches and springs, De Luca 2012

Atrium:

Slightly trapezoidal in shape, 13X23 m. in dimension. A Cantharus, 5 m. in diameter, is set in the center, above the cistern. Rooms on the west and south, continuing east along the basilica till the transept, are interpreted as hostelry for pilgrims. An external entrance to the complex was found on the western wall, at the second north chamber. Access from the rooms to the atrium seems to have been from the west, though no entrance survived. In a later period a pit, possible silo that can be seen in Schneider's plan, was dug and plastered near the east wall.

Narthex:

3.3 m. wide.The entrance did not survive.

Façade and entries:

Only the entrance leading to the northern aisle, 1.85 m. wide, was entirely preserved. There are two door posts and several bolt-holes, indicating that there were two wings. The width of the opening to the nave was about 3.2 m.

Lateral walls:

The northern boundary wall of the complex, is is offset 7 degrees south relative to the main axis of the basilica, delineating the road to Capernaum which runs against it. The walls survived to an elevation of 1.45 m., except the south-east section, which did not survive.

Nave:

7.9 m. wide, delineated by 5 columns on each side.

Aisles:

3.58 m. wide.

Transept Nave:

The transept was projecting 1.75m to either side. Its nave was flanked by an aisle of 2x2 columns only on the west. The central ones, which retained a triumphal arch, are set in line with the nave colonnades. A pilaster is attached to the northern wall. After the triumphal arch had collapsed (or just about to collapse), seemingly as a result of an earthquake, two columns of smaller diameters were added between the central pair of the columns of the Transept nave, supporting horizontal wooden beems, thus masking the view of the presbytery.

Transept Aisles:

Only one on the west. At the northern part of the aisle two square stones with cavities were set in the floor, presumably holding two small columns that served as legs of a secondary offering tables.

Transept Ends:

Flat.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The Bema is U shaped and raised above the nave. It was first surrounded by a T-shaped chancel screen, which also separates the lateral rooms from the transept, and later by a U-shaped chancel, which only enclosed the bema. A line of stones, running south to north, can be seen cutting the bema: Schneider mentions that the altar is separated from the chancel by a rail, of which only the southern half of the stylobate survives, built across the bema; Rosental refers to a step cutting through the bema, which she believes to have been a mistake in the reconstruction of the mosaics two years after Schneider's excavation. The apse is inscribed, with a narrow corridor to its east, connecting the two lateral rooms. In the apse there are remains of a Synthronon, 1.10 m. wide.

Lateral spaces:

Two lockable rooms, connected by the corridor which runs beyond the apse. They were separated by a grill of four wooden posts from the transept, which were removed in a later phase.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Fragment of a pithus; Fragment of a red clay dish that is possibly dated to the fourth century and many fragments of domestic pottery dating from the fourth to sixth century, such as pans and pear-shaped amphoras.
Other	Several basalt artifacts were found: the lower stone of an olive press and a press was found in the northern lateral room; a part of a wall pilaster and a block with a stopper were found embodied, possible secondary use, in the stone wall of the entrance to the west of the atrium.
Glass	Fragments of glass were found: bases, rims and a white glass handle. A piece of a lamp was found in the space behind the apse. Cubes of glass mosaic were found in the area of the presbytery.
Coins	Bronze: one dated to 565/66 CE; the other to 574/75 CE
Oil lamps	Found near the apse dated to the late 6th or beginning of the 7th century.
Inscription - see under epigraphy	A Jewish burial stele made of basalt, with an inscription mentioning the name Joseph was incorporated in the pavement of the western entrance to the atrium.

Small finds illustrative material:

Di Segni, L. and Tsafrir, Y., The Onomasticon of Iudaea, Palaestina and Arabia in the Greek and Latin Sources. Vol. II: A, Jerusalem, 2018.

Comments, discussion and summary:

All the small finds described were found in Schneider's excavation, besides the inscription which was found by Karge.

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Basalt

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
5

Capital types:

Corinthian

Transept Ends:

Flat.

Transept aisles

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with lockable pastophoria (mon-aps II)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

T shaped with three openings

Bema type text:

See General Description for discussion regarding the chancel and the line of stones build north to south across the bema.

Elevation of Bema above nave:

1 step up

Altar remains:

imprints

Altar type:

Marble, table like

Secondary table/s

Altar location:

On the apse cord

Secondary tables:

A possible offering table might of been placed in the northern part of the transept aisle.

Ambo:

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

grades

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Synthronon description:

Remains of a 1.1 m. wide, graded bench attached to the apse wall.

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

N & S

Description and function of northern:

A lockable room that extend east beyond the apse and is connected to the southern room by a corridor.

Description and function of southern:

Resembles the northern one; its southern part was not preserved.

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

under altar

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

A block of undressed limestone is found between the imprints of the altar legs. The stone was not part of the bedrock. A cavity with iron remains indicated that a metal cross was once fixed into it and it bears traces of being deliberately chipped. It appears to be the sacred stone mentioned by Egeria apud Petrus Diaconus - the mensa domini on which, according to tradition, Christ placed the loaves and fishes. It seems that the stone was originally placed in the primitive chapel that preceded the basilica, and only part of it was placed in the basilica, under its altar.

Burial loci

Burials loci:

A cist tomb was found below the mosaic floor next to the altar. Its legs oriented east. It seems to be a late intrusion.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

The mosaic paved basilica was built in the 5th c. on top of the primitive chapel.

Dating material:

Schneider dates its erection by the style of the mosaics, to the last decades of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century. Ovadiah and Avi Yonah prefer (on similar grounds- resemblance to the mosaics of the Great Palace of Constantinople), a date in the middle of the fifth century. Likewise Talgam. Pottery found sealed under the atrium floor in the 1979-80 excavation confirmed the dating.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Mid

General outline:

Repairs were made to the mosaic of the transept and nave; the stones containing the cavities of the rails west of the lateral spaces were filled in and covered with coarse mosaic tesserae. The triumphal arch of the transept was supported by two middle columns, adorned with capitals which carried horizontal wooden beams. In the narthex- two square stones in the west of its north wing set on top of the mosaic suggest secondary tables. Near the east wall of the atrium a pit (silo?) has been dug and roughly plastered (but this may be a post-church structure).

Dating material:

Dated by the mosaic inscription in the bema, next to the altar, to the second half of the 6th century (Di Segni, 1997). Another inscription of a similar date was found in the transept, near the railings of the lateral rooms.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Second half

General outline:

Only the hostelry rooms, in which an oil press was installed and the northern section of the narthex were still in use at the early days of the Arab period, but not for long. According to Arculf 24, 1-3, visiting there in 670, "There are no signs of buildings there, apart from a few stone columns lying at the edge of the small spring from which, it is said, the people drank on the day when they were hungry, and the Lord refreshed them with that wonderful banquet (tr. Wilkinson, p. 108). The Comm. de Casis Dei of 808 (ed. McCormick 2011, 38-39), mentions a monastery with 10 monks at the site of the Miracle of the Multiplication. It is also addressed by Epiph. mon., Enarr. Syr. 32. But given the fact that at Arculf's time the basilica was already in ruins, and no remains of a later monastery was uncovered at the site, it seems that only a small monastery around the atrium survived, or that the tradition had moved somewhat north, to the adjacent monastery at the foot of the hill on which the concentric church of the Beatitude / Sermon on the Mount is built today. For the Early Christian monastery see in the monasteries section of the Corpus.

Dating material:

According to the finds it appears that the church was abandoned or destroyed prior to the Arab period, possibly in the Persian or Islamic conquests (Schenider, 1934; Avi Yonah, 1993). Schick maintains that there is no evidence for assigning a specific date or cause for the destruction indicated by Arculf (Schick, 1995).

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

First half

Effects of the Persian Invasion:

Destroyed

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned