Khirbet Beit Sila - ST. THEODORE

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Beit Sila

Identification:

The monastery is not known from the sources. An inscription identified the church as the church of St. Theodore. It may be assumed that this was also the name of the monastery.

Monastery name:

ST. THEODORE

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Former ruin

Source of sacredness:

Sacred Objects

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

21,483.00

64,280.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

16,483.00

14,280.00

Geographical region:

Southern and Western Samaria

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

On the western slope of Nahal Modi'im.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 18 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 1 km north of the road connecting Lod-Diospolis with Jerusalem.

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Finkelstein, Lederman and Bunimovitz	1981-1985
Magen and Finkelstein	1993

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Batz	1997

Bibliograpy:

Magen, Y. and Finkelstein, I., 1993
Finkelstein, I., Bunimvitz, S. and Lederman, Z., 1997	332, 334
Batz, S., 2002	39-54
Batz, S., 2004	113-19
Magen, Y., 2008	257-343
Batz, S., 2012	373-408
Di Segni, L., 2012	409-416
Di Segni, L., 2016	185-198

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

Batz (2012), who excavated the site did not suggest that it had served as a monastery. However, this suggestion was made (Magen and Kagan 2012 I: 260-262, no. 127), probably based on the adjoining structures located to the north and west of the church. The adjoining structures do in fact suggest that this was a monastery. A kitchen and possible refectory, and a second story over this annex seem to point in that direction. Di Segni points out that the inscriptions indicate that the complex was privately built by a priest and his family (Di Segni 2016: 189*). To this one may add that the tomb, holding three troughs, looks more like a family vault than a monastic burial ground. Among the finds were two reliquaries which may indicate a cult of saints and relics.

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The church and other structures were in a good state of preservation.The mosaic pavements of the church were almost perfectly preserved. The walls in some places reached several courses.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Khirbet Beit Sila- general plan (Magen and Kagan 2012 I: 261).

General description

Courtyards:

An atrium was located in front of the church. It had been paved with stone slabs.

Churche/s:

The church, a basilica, was established in an earlier, second temple period structure. The church (19.2 x 11.5 m) also included an atrium and a narthex. A baptistery was found north of the prayer hall and another room stood to the south. The nave and aisles were paved in mosaics bearing simple geometric designs. The apse was paved with a mosaic bearing floral and bird motifs. A marble slab with an inscription and a marble reliquary were found in the church. A bituminous chalk ambo was also uncovered. The floor of the nave bore two inscriptions, one in a Tabula Ansata was located just in front of the chancel. The roof of the church was supported by arcades.

Refectory:

A large hall (12.50 x 6.50 m) adjoined the structure located northwest of the church. The hall was entered from the atrium. An installation refered to as "a kind of stone table" was found in the west of the room. Although not specified by the excavator, the location of the room could suggest that it served as a refectory.

Burials:

A burial chamber was constructed northwest of the church. The roof of the chamber was vaulted and the chamber itself was trapezoid. The chamber contained three burial troughs constructed of stone slabs in secondary use. Remains of eight burials were found.

Kitchen:

In the northeast of a structure located northwest of the church, remains of stoves and a large amount of pottery including cooking vessels indicate that the room served as a kitchen.

Water installations:

A cistern (7.20 x 4.20 x 2.50 m, with a capacity of 75 m³) was found east of the church.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Cooking and other household vessels, dated to the fifth through the beginning of the seventh century CE.
Glass	Fragments of glass window panes; lamps and vessels dated to sixth - seventh centuries CE.
Metal objects	A hook for a metal chain was found inserted at the center of a chancel screen post; A piece of metal inserted in the upper part of a post- possibly a cross shaped ornament; a cruciform pendant found in the burial chamber; a silver mirror plaque.
Coins	Ten coins were found. The earliest dating to Antiochus III (223-187 BCE), the latest dated to the Ayyubid period.
Stone vessels	A stone liturgical bowl and a fragment of another.
Other	Two reliquaries, one of limestone the other of marble.

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
875	Small

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

Components

Enclosing wall

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
basilical	Diakonikon	Khirbet Beit Sila - St. Theodor	Ground floor

Baptismal font

Refectory

Kitchen

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Water installations:

Cisterns

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Phase II

General outline:

The complex was constructed in a public building dating to the Second Temple period, making use of the old architecture. It consisted of a basilical church and adjoining structures.

Dating material:

Pottery and other finds.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

Subphases

Subphase A Date

6th c.

General outline:

Second half of the seventh century CE following the Arab conquest.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Second half

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned

Post conquest history comments:

The structures were used in the Early Islamic and Ayyubid periods. The state of preservation indicates that willful destruction did not take place. Changes were made in the narthex and some burials suggested to have been those of nomads (based on the careless manner of burial) were dug in the atrium's vicinity. The building was used up to the Ayyubid period.