Ḥorvat Kenes - Northern Church

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Ḥorvat Kenes

Identification:

Kh. el Kanayis. The Arabic name (Kanais means church) of the place preserved the memory of one or two churches.

Church name:

Northern Church

Dedication:

unknown

Functional Type:

Private estate

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

1,779.00

2,580.00

Location:

Rural

Geographical region:

Western Galilee

Topographical location:

On the northern slope of the hill, inside the borders of the ancient fortified village H. Bata; Beit Kerem valley

Distance from nearest settlement:

In the center of modern Karmiel

Distance from Roman roads:

1.5 km to the south from the main road from Acre to Syria

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Sepphoris

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Commemorative mosaic inscription of Zosys, Clematius and Seneca within tabula ansata, in the intercolumnium of the southern aisle.
2	Commemorative mosaic inscription of Saor the deacon and his son Abudemos, in the intercolumnium of the southern aisle.
3	Commemorative 10-line inscription within a medallion, in the mosaic pavement of the narthex.
4	Commemorative inscription of Abudemos the deacon, in the mosaic pavement of the southern aisle.
5	Invocation of St. Conon in a broken medallion, in the mosaic pavement of the northern portico of the atrium.
6	Commemorative inscription of Illus, in the mosaic pavement in the intercolumnium of the northern aisle.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Aviam	1990s

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Avshalom-Gorni and Aviam	1994

Bibliograpy:

Aviam, M., 1994	111-112, no. 48
Aviam, M. and Avshalom-Gorni, D., 1995
Avshalom-Gorni, D. and Aviam, M., 1996
Aviam, M., 1999
Aviam, M., 2004
Ashkenazi, J. and Aviam, M., 2012	no. 60
Ashkenazi, Y. and Aviam, M., 2014

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Only the lower courses of masonry and mosaic floor were uncovered. The aisles were separated from the nave by two rows of seven columns. The two eastern most columns were attached to the shoulders of the apse. Two pilasters were attached to the western wall of the church. The inscribed apse is flanked by two lockable pastophoria.The atrium, wider than the basilical hall to include the extra width of the annexes, and accessed from the west by a wide staicase, was surrounded by colonnades from all four sides. In these dimensions it should be attributed to the seconf phase. The easternmost portico served as a narthex. In a second stage a tomb to the north of the narthex was covered by mosaics.

In Phase 2, two annexes were attached to the south and northof of the basilica. The southern annex was preserved to its entire length. It consisted of a square compartment in the middle and two rectangular compartments, almost symmetrical, on the eastern and western sides (like in Kursi). The eastern compartment had a small external apse extending out of the eastern wall and containing a baptismal font in a shape of a cross. The northern annex Comprised of a rectangular hall accessed from the western part of the northern aisle. Two pilasters were attached to the walls of this hall, supporting a roofing arch.

The nave was paved with marble and stone red and white tiles of stone and marble, in opus sectile technique; the central courtyard of the atrium was paved with stone ashlars; all the rest spaces had mosaic floors. Six Greek donor's inscriptions were incorporated in the mosaics; one in the narthex, the other five in the intercolumnation of the basilica.

The architectural members include two small Corinthian capitals (probably of the ciborium), fragments of the chancel screen panels, decorated with the knots (lower part of the medallions), limestone panels (probably, from the galleries of the upper storey).

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

The atrium was not preserved in its western part. Its N-S dimension, encompasing the annexes added to the basilica and the north and south in Phase 2, suggest that this too is a Phase 2 feature. It was a peristyle atrium. A wide staircase on the east led to the narthex. The stone pavement was preserved only in the north-east corner of the atrium. Six bases were found scattered around.

A tomb was found below the mosaic floor of the southern portico. A drill was cut through one of the covering stones of the tomb, enabling contact with the tomb by pouring oil. A Greek inscription, partially preserved, was set in the mosaic floor floor of the northern portico.

Narthex:

Three grades led up from the atrium to the narthex. A Greek inscription in a medallion was set in its center, in front of the main entrance. A tomb was found under the mosaic floor of the room on its north. Among the finds in it was a small silver cross.

Façade and entries:

Three entries led in from the narthex.

Lateral walls:

The walls were not very well preserved, but it some places two courses of stones were traceable, with demolition waste between them.

Nave:

Opus sectile paved by red and white stone and marble tiles; this floor was partially damaged when the bema was widened.

Aisles:

Both aisles were mosaic paved. That of the northern aisle was repaved in Phase 2. Two raws of seven columns separated the aisles from the nave.

Greek inscriptions mentioning donors were set in the intercolumnations.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The apse was inscribed between two pastophoria into the straight eastern wall of the basilica. It was partially carved in the bedrock, partially built with ashlars; badly preserved. The area of the bema was widened once or twice. The first bema, including its grill, extended over the full width of the nave and it was one and a half intercolumnation long. One stepped rise contained slots and sockets for the chancel screen panels and posts. In the center of the western edge the passageway was built. In the second phase the bema was extended up to the third intercolumnation (including it). The additional space was framed by 12 colonnettes (pairs flanking the entrance on the west, four on either lateral side - northern and southern of the bema). Between them the panels were fixed. This screen cause damage to the opus sectile floor of the nave. It is attributed to Phase 2.

Lateral spaces:

Tow rectangular rooms.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy	Greek inscriptions on the mosaic floors
Metal objects	A small silver cross was found in one of the tombs.

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

Atrium:

Yes

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total	Extant in S	Extant in N
14	7	7

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with lockable pastophoria (mon-aps II)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

Phoenician type

Elevation of Bema above nave:

1 step up

Altar remains:

no remains

Ciborium:

Two small Corinthian capitals were identified by Aviam as remains of the ciborium colonnettes.

Burial loci

Burials loci:

While the church was still in use, three tombs were built under the floors. One of them was installed in the southern wing of the atrium and covered with stone slabs. In one of them a hole was pierced, probably, for the pouring of liquid. Badly preserved skeletons were found in the tomb, as well as broken glass vessels. The second tomb was installed under the floor of the northern part of the narthex; it was also covered with the slabs. It contained burial goods: broken glass vessels, a silver cross, metal jewelry as well as human bones. When the narthex was rebuilt and covered with a mosaic floor, the tomb was also covered with it. The third tomb was located in the northern room of the church. The tomb was found with the cover, but inside it jars of different sizes and human bones were found. Most probably, it served in a secondary used as a small storage place after the church went out of use.

Burials loci photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Upper galleries

Upper galleries:

above both aisles

Galleries description:

Fragments of the mosaic floor and balustrade panels suggests its existence. Three stairs in the north seem to have led to the galleries.

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

On the north a mosaic paved rectangular hall mosaic paved with floral motives was attached in the second phase, serving, so it seems, as a prothesis chapel. A trough tomb was cut through the mosaic floor in some later time next to its northern wall, somewhat to the west of the hall.

Baptistery:

Apsidal chapel

Baptistery description:

A baptismal chapel with a cruciform baptismal font in its apse was attached on the south in the second phase, and to its west two more rooms, one paved with mosaic vine trellis. The arrangement resembles that of the southern annex in Kursi.

Burial room or chapel:

Quadrangular chapel

Burial room or chapel description:

A rectangular room on the north of the narthex contained a simple cist tomb under its mosaic floor. A second tomb was uncovered in the southern portico of the atrium. A drill cut through one of its covering stones, enabled pouring of oil. A third, simple cist tomb was cut in a later stage in the prothesis chapel on the north.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

Monoapsidal basilical church with an internal apse flanked by two pastophoria.

Dating material:

The small finds and the mosaics point to the 6th c.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Phase name (as published):

Byzantine

General outline:

The nave and the northern aisle were repaved; the bema was widened; a baptismal chapel with a cruciform baptismal font in its apse was attached on the south and to its west another room with mosaic vine trellis. On the north a mosaic paved rectangular hall mosaic paved with floral motives was attached, serving, so it seems, as a prothesis chapel. A trough tomb was cut through the mosaic floor in some later time next to its northern wall, somewhat to the west.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Late

Dating material:

Deserted seemingly due to the Persian invasion.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Early

Effects of the Persian Invasion:

Deserted

Post conquest history comments:

The tomb in the prothesis chapel on the north was reused for a certain domestic purposes after the church ceased to function as such. As most of the churches of this part of Galilee, H. Kenes might be destroyed in the Persian invasion in 614 CE.