Khallat ed- Danabiya; Khallet Danabiya - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khallat ed- Danabiya; Khallet Danabiya

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Laura

Monastery category:

Desert

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

23,070.00

644,470.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

18,070.00

14,470.00

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

A long spur on the fringes of the Judean desert, and dispersed over the cliffs of Wadi Makkuk

Soils:

Rocky limestone

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 20 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 5 km south of the road connecting the Samarian hills with Jericho.

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Goldfuss and Golani	1982-1984
Hirschfeld and Riklin	1993

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Goldfuss	1984
Hirschfeld and Riklin	1993

Bibliograpy:

Goldfus, H., 1984	38-9
Goldfus, H. , 1987	45-6
Goldfus, H. and Cahana, M., 1988	92-7
Goldfus, H., 1990	227-44
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990
Goldfus, H. and Golani, A., 1993	267-338
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	166
Hirschfeld, Y. and Riklin, S. , 2002	5-19
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	267

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The site is one of the largest laurae in the Judean Desert. It was thoroughly surveyed and the cave church has been excavated. The laura is built on two levels, at least forty cells were identified, scattered over an area of 300,000 m².

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Khallat ed-Danabiya, the cave church (Goldfus 1990: 233, Fig. 9).

Khallat ed-Danabiya- A rock-cut channel (Goldfus 1990: 230, Fig. 6).

Khallat ed-Danabiya- Inscribed crosses on the rock (Goldfus 1990: 229, Fig. 3-4).

Figures

Map of Khallat ed-Danabiya (Goldfus 1990: 227, Fig. 1a).

Khallat ed-Danabiya, Dwelling units with storerooms, cisterns and a garden plot (Goldfus 1990: 232, Fig 8).

General description

Paths:

A central path connected the caves. In some places, rock cut steps connected the various levels of the complex.

Gate/s:

Traces of walls, southeast of the enclosure that allowed access to the church, may indicated the existence of a gate house.

Churche/s:

On the lower part of the upper terrace, where the slope is more moderate, remains of walls could be traced. These indicated that this area may have held the core of the laura and its communal buildings. The cave church: the cave (25 x 9 m) is orientated east-west with an opening to the south. It consists of a main prayer hall, a diakonikon (or a small chapel), an apse and a burial complex underneath its floor. The main hall of the church has an apse cut into its east end, three large niches in its northern wall and a hewn bench (0.5 m high, 0.25- 0.30 m wide). Remains of a mosaic pavement were found in eight sections of the main hall. The hall had been completely covered by the mosaic as is indicated by the large amount of tesserae scattered about and some attached to the northern wall in several locations.

Dwellings:

At least forty monastic cells were identified. The monastery was spread over two levels, both of which contained monastic cells, some constructed and others in caves or rock shelters. On the lower level, at least eight caves and rock shelters show signs of occupation. They range in size from 1 x 2 m to 20 x 40 m. The caves were adapted for living by the cutting of windows, niches for storage, benches and seats, grooves for inserting shelves and traces of exterior masonry for closing entrances. In some, rows of sockets were hewn in the outer rock, probably for the purpose of inserting wooden beams for further construction. The surveyors found two crosses cut into the rock in two places, confirming the identification as a Christian site. several constructed cells were found on the slope of the upper level. Due to the steep slope, the outer walls of the structures did not survive. Therefore, the exact plan of these units could not be defined. Generally, they consist of a dwelling unit, a store-house, water cisterns and an adjoining garden plot.

Burials:

Two burial complexes were located within the monastery precinct. One was cut into a natural cave beneath the floor of the church. In the excavation of the church, two burial compartments were found, each 2 x 1.5 m. The compartments were separated by a partition of fieldstones and the walls were plastered. A number of skeletons were found in this burial. A second burial was found to the south of the church. The entrance was located on a rock-platform about five meters southwest of the cave church. The burial cave is 2.5 m high and 5.25 m wide. Four burial benches were separated from each other by low partitions of fieldstones coated with plaster. Base on its limited size, this location, according to the excavator, probably served to bury the leaders of the community. The burial beneath the church could accommodate many more burials and may have served the rest of the community.

Storage facilities:

Many of the individual cells had their own storage facilities (see above: Dwellings).

Cave/s:

On the lower level, at least eight caves and rock shelters show signs of occupation. The church, too, was located in a cave. In the western wall of the church cave, a small natural cave, accessible by ladder or rope, may have been the cave in which the founder of the monastery first settled. The walls of the cave were plastered and its floor was paved with a white mosaic preserved only in the northwestern part and along the walls. Signs of hewing on the rock wall outside the cave suggest that some structure had existed there, either to enlarge the floor surface of the cave or to enable people to climb to it.

Water installations:

A small seasonal spring is located some 600 m from the monastery’s center. A network of shallow channels, hewn along the path and steps on the lower level, fed the water cisterns at this level. Some of the cisterns on the lower level are totally hewn and show no signs of plaster while others are partially hewn and partially built of mortared fieldstone walls with a coating of reddish plaster. The cisterns on the upper level are larger and built rather than hewn, often with a vaulted or bell shaped roof. The cisterns were built in pairs and fed by channels. One cistern in each pair served as a settling pool for silt and stones. Two high relief plaster crosses were found on the inner wall of one of the main reservoirs. The size of the cisterns on both levels vary from 1-2 m³ to 20-80 m³. (the map shows a total of 11 cisterns). The church had its own water supply system consisting of a number of cisterns of various sizes, the largest of which is located in the eastern entrance to the cave. A "hanging" cistern is located to the southwest of the church. A rock hewn channel carried water into this bell-shaped cistern and the excess was allowed to flow to a second cistern just below.

Garden:

Small agricultural plots were identified near some of the cells.

Small finds

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
600,000	Large

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Gate/s:

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
cave	Diakonikon

Baptismal font

Dwelling type:

cells

caves

Storage facilities – warehouses

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Built paths

Garden

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Spring

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

200

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

Initial settlement at the site is suggested to have been in the second half of the fourth century. This might have involved the settling of the founder in the cave, possibly accompanied by some disciples.

Dating material:

Pottery

Phase date

Century:

4th c.

Within century:

Second half

General outline:

The monastery flourished in the fifth and sixth centuries CE.

Dating material:

Based on parallels drawn from other Judean Desert monasteries, the excavator based the dating of the main existence stage of the monastery to the fifth and sixth centuries CE

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

General outline:

The excavators of the cave church did not report finds indicating an occupation later than the Byzantine period. It can be surmised at this point, until further investigations shows otherwise, that the monastery was abandoned sometime in the first half of the seventh century CE.

Phase date

Century:

7th c?

Within century:

First half

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned