Khirbet Deir Shabab esh-Shamaliyya - Monastery (?)

Vertical tabs

Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Deir Shabab esh-Shamaliyya

Monastery name:

Monastery (?)

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

22,370.00

64,890.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

17,370.00

14,890.00

Geographical region:

Samaria Desert Fringes

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

The site is located on the slope of a hill.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 17 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca.1 Km (a village identified in the Byzantine period as Biblical Bethel)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 1.2 km from the ancient road connecting Jerusalem with Shechem-Neapolis.

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Kochavi	1967-1968
Finkelstein, Lederman and Bunimovitz	1981-1985
Magen and Finkelstein	1993

Bibliograpy:

Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1882	332
Kochavi, M. and Ovadiah, R., 1972	178
Bagatti, B., 1979
Magen, Y. and Finkelstein, I., 1993
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	111
Finkelstein, I., Bunimvitz, S. and Lederman, Z., 1997	II: 523-25
Bagatti, B., 2002	148-49
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	240

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

The SWP suggested that the site might be that of a monastery and tThe archive of the British mandate mentioned it as such but the evidence is not sufficient to confirm this identification.

State of certainty:

Uncertain / Questionable

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Surveys revealed remains identified as a monastery and a church. Fallen columns and a lintel bearing a tabula ansata were noted. A round baptismal font with a rounded cruciform basin was also found.

General description

Churche/s:

A church structure was not identified. Fallen columns and a baptismal font indicate its existence.

Water installations:

Rock cut cisterns were observed in the vicinity by SWP.

Small finds

Comments, discussion and summary:

There is not enough evidence to positively identify the site as a monastery.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location

Baptismal font

Water installations:

Cisterns

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

Phase date

Century:

Early Christian / Byzantine

Phase date

Century:

Unknown