Shelomi - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Shelomi

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Isolated in the countryside

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

213,444.00

776,000.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

163,441.00

127,600.00

Geographical region:

Western Galilee

Bishopric:

Tyre

Topographical location:

On the northwestern slope of the hill of modern Shelomi.

Soils:

Limestone and terra rosa.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

17 km (Ptolomais)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 10 km from the road connecting Acco-Ptolomais with Tyre

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dated building inscription within a medallion set in the mosaic floor of a monastic farm (?), 610/11.

Archaeological remains

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
C. Dauphin	1976-1977

Bibliograpy:

Dauphin, C. M., 1993	43-48
Dauphin, C. M. and Kingsley, S. A., 2003	61-74
Aviam, M., 2002	168-218

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Discussion:

The question of the site's identification as a monastery has been debated. According to Dauphin, who excavated the site, it is not a monastery, as a church has not been found. Dauphin's view is that the site served as a farm that belonged to a monastery, perhaps worked by lay people. This assertion has been contested by Aviam (2002), who identified the site as a monastery. Hirschfeld, too, regarded the site as a monastery, suggesting that the church may have been located on the second story (Hirschfeld 1997: 69, note 143). Two points should be considered: the first - only the northeastern part of the complex was excavated. It cannot be ruled out that the part that remained un-excavated contained the church. The second has to do with the style of the mosaic pavement: It is elaborate and well executed. Such a mosaic would have required a fairly large expenditure. If this was not a monastery proper and only a farm worked perhaps by hired hands, why invest such funds in decorating? If, on the other hand, the residents who worked the farm were monks belonging to a mother house located elsewhere, the farm should very well be counted as a monastery.

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The northeastern part of the complex was excavated. Two courtyards, cisterns, rooms and tombs were unearthed. The walls remained to a height of 1-2 courses and one mosaic pavement was mostly preserved.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Shelomi- plan of the site (Dauphin 1993: 43)

Shelomi- the mosaic pavement (Dauphin and Kingsly 2003)

General description

Courtyards:

A courtyard (courtyard 1) is located on the western side of the excavated are, bounded on its northern and eastern sides by rooms. A second courtyard (courtyard 2) was constructed in the third phase of the monastery.

Tower/s:

Northeast of courtyard 1, a room was suggested by the excavator to have been a watchtower.

Churche/s:

Although a church was not located, large amounts of colored tesserae were found in the rubble indicating a second story which may have housed a church.

Burials:

An underground chamber sealed by four stone slabs served as a burial. It contained the remains of 18 humans: male, female and children. Burial offerings were also found in the tomb.

Storage facilities:

A storeroom was found in the eastern part of a divided room belonging to the second phase of the monastery. The room contained numerous fragments of storage jars in parallel rows.

Stable:

A large quantity of vegetal remains that point to animal fodder indicate that large farm animals were kept on the site.

Water installations:

A cistern was located in courtyard 1. A second cistern was located on the seam between courtyard 1 and courtyard 2.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

Agricultural installations were not found. However, agricultural implements attest to the site's function as a farm (see small finds)

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Oil lamps	26 Late ByzantineLamps. One Early Islamic lamp.
Metal objects	Iron rod for measuring; door hinges; parts of door latches; two latches of boxes and chests; a sickle; a knife; a pitchfork. Bronze lamp chain.
Other	Vegetal matter: wheat; barley; olive kernels; grape pips; seeds of wild plants, wild grasses and legumes.
Bones	Remains of 18 humans: male, female and children.
Glass	Window panes; glass vessels from burial
Other	Roof tiles.

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Shelomi- artifacts found in the excavation (Dauphin 2003: 66)

Figures

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Total area (sqm)	Size class
500	Small

Components

Enclosing wall

Tower/s

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
No traces

Stable

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Agricultural installations:

animal pens [=a/p]

Water installations:

Cisterns

Water capacity (minimal) (cubic m):

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Phase A

General outline:

A courtyard surrounded by rooms. The courtyard was paved with a coarse white mosaic. The lower floor of the room east of the courtyard and its southern wall belong to this phase. Only two courses of stones remain of northern wall of this room. Its floor was plaster. The two rooms to the south of this room formed a single unit.

Dating material:

Based on the pottery and a coin of Anastasius (498-518 C.E.) this phase was dated to the late fifth- early sixth century CE.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Phase name (as published):

Phase B

General outline:

This is a continuation of phase A with some changes. The room east of the courtyard was paved in a polychrome mosaic with a geometric pattern. The workmanship is of a high quality in black, grey, pink, wine-red, orange, yellow, ochre and brown, the background is white. The northern wall was plastered. The southern unit of phase A was divided into two rooms by a north-south wall. Only two courses of this wall remain. A storeroom was found in the eastern part of this divided room. A mosaic pavement was laid in the western of the two rooms. At the end of this phase the structure suffered destruction and a fierce conflagration possibly as a result of the Persian occupation.

Dating material:

An inscription in the mosaic dated to 610 C.E.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Phase name (as published):

Phase C

General outline:

The northern part of the complex was abandoned and occupation was concentrated in the southern part. A southern wing was constructed consisting of a courtyard, paved with a crude white mosaic and containing a cistern 5 m deep. A trapezoid room of crudely made walls was built east of the courtyard, using boulders and earth with a plaster floor. The new structures were oriented towards the southeast.

Dating material:

Signs of the conflagration that destroyed the structures of the first phase are not visible, therefor this part postdates the destruction. A Syro-Palestinian inscription at the joining point of the two courtyards dates the reoccupation of the site to the eighth century. A large number (26) of late Byzantine and 1 Arab oil lamps confirms this.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Mid

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Phase name (as published):

Phase D

General outline:

Minor changes were made such as the thickening of walls.

Dating material:

Architectural

Phase date

Century:

8th-9th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Dating material:

Based on the finds and the Syro-Palestinian inscription, the site was occupied in the eighth century. The date when it ceased to serve in a monastic capacity is unknown.

Phase date

Century:

Unknown

Post Arab conquest history:

Repaired

Post conquest history comments:

Arab and Crusader pottery indicate a later occupation of the site.