Jerusalem (Mount of Olives) - Eleona

Vertical tabs

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Jerusalem (Mount of Olives)

Identification:

The church was built over a crypt or a cave where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus taught his disciples.

Church name:

Eleona

Functional Type:

Memorial

Church type:

Basilical - Annex\es on the south

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

223.30

631.72

Coordinates, ICS system:

173.30

1,131.70

Location:

Para-urban

Geographical region:

Jerusalem Mount of Olives

Topographical location:

Mount of Olives

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Constantine and his mother Helena order the building of a church in a mystic cave on Mount Olivet, AD 327/8.
2	Mention of the basicila built by command of Constantine on Mount Olivet where the Lord taught his apostles, from an itinerary of ca. AD 333.
3	Epiphany at the Eleona on the Mount of Olives, from an itinerary of AD 381-384.
4	Easter season at the Eleona.
5	Encaenia at the Eleona.
6	Mention of the large church built over the cave where the Lord taught his disciples, presumably from a passage lost in the MS of It. Eg., as recorded in guidebook compiled AD 1137.
7	An oratory called "Aposteleion" is built on Mount Olivet by Melania the Younger ca. AD 432, from a life written in the 5th cent.
8	Mention of the church sited at the spot where Christ addressed his disciples on Mount Olivet, from a mid-5th cent. literary description of the Holy Land.
9	Mention of the cave "of the disciples" on Mount Olivet, from an itinerary of ca. AD 518-530.
10	Mention of the church built on the spot where the Lord addressed his disciples on Mount Olivet, from an itinerary of ca. AD 681-684, composed ca. 698.
11	Concise paraphrase of Adamnan, from a geographical work compiled AD 702-703.
12	Confused mention of the "Place of Teaching" on Mount Olivet, from an 8th cent. guidebook for pilgrims.
13	Inventory of monks and priest at the church on Mount Olivet where Christ taught his disciples, from an official report ordered in AD 808.

Archaeological remains

Bibliograpy:

Vincent, L. H., 1910
Vincent, L. H., 1911
Dunkel, A., 1911
Crè, L., 1911
Reil, J., 1912
Burtin, R., 1914
Vincent, L. H. and Abel, F. M., 1914
Weigand, E., 1923	212-220
Crowfoot, J. W., 1941
Vincent, L. H., 1957
Bagatti, B., 1962
Bagatti, B., 1968
Ovadiah, A., 1970
Avi-Yonah, M., 1970
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982
Bieberstein, K. and Bloedhorn, H., 1994	286-192
Schick, R., 1995	350-351
Michel, V., 2004	Vol. 2, 112-114, Vol. 3, 108-109, figs. 191-194.
Sebag, D. and Nagar, Y., 2007

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Poorly preserved. A mono-apsidal basilica 30.5 X 19 m., in dimensions, with an atrium and a baptismal unit annexed on the south. The crypt under the raised bema is identified as the cave were Christ was teaching his disciples.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Atrium:

In front of the church there is a rectangular atrium with a portico in front, 19 X 3.5 m. in dimension, with six columns at its façade. Two staircases lead from north and south to a raised balcony located in front of the portico. Three entrances lead from the portico to a peristyle atrium, 25 X 19 m. in dimensions, with a water cistern at its center.

Narthex:

No narthex.

Façade and entries:

Three doorways lead in to the basilica from the atrium.

Lateral walls:

Long sections of them were looted. Where laid in deep tranches.

Nave:

11m wide. Two rows of six columns separated it from the aisles.

Aisles:

The width of each aisle was 4 m. Two staicases in their eastern ends led down to the crypt.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

According to Vincent, the apse was external, polygonal. It is 4.5 m. deep and 9 m. wide. According to Wiegand (1923) and Avi-Yonah (EAEHL), the church-head was rectangular on the outside. Likewise according to V. Michel, who suggests the existence of two rooms flanking the apse.

Two staircases lead from the nave up to the elevated sanctuary.

Lateral spaces:

According to the plan published by Vincent and Abel (Jm. Nouvelle, Vol. 2, p. 356, fig. 154)), the northern aisle might had been ended in a room on the east. V. Michel considered (following Wiegand 1923) the existence of two rooms flanking the apse, recognizing that at the absence of hard evidence, this cannot be determined.

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
6

East end:

External apse, polygonal

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with open lateral rooms or spaces (mon-aps I)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Bema type text:

Two staircases lead from the nave to the bema and apse.

Elevation of Bema above nave:

Ambo:

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

N & S

Description and function of northern:

According to Wiegand (1923), the internal apse was flanked by two pastophoria, while according to the more prevalent plan by Vincent, the apse was polygonal on the outside and a pastophorium might have been existing only on the north. At the absence of clear finds, this issue cannot be determined.

Crypt

Accessibility and description:

Under the bema there is a cave, reached by two staircases from the aisles, on both sides of the sanctuary. It is 7m long and 4.5m wide, with a semi-circular apse 3m in diameter on the east. Many fragmentary screen plates and columnets were uncovered therein. To its west there is a kokhim burial cave, typical to the Second Temple period.

Baptism

Baptism photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Loci:

Attached to the church on the south. See below.

Font structure:

Masonry built

External shape:

rectangular

Internal shape:

rectangular

Ben-Pechat type:

Attached structures

Baptistery:

Simple rectangular room

Baptistery description:

Two quadrangular rooms were annexed to the church on the south. The western one is recognized only by the borders of its mosaic floor. Seemingly it was accessed from the eastern portico of the atrium, and a second opening, in its eastern wall, connected it to the eastern room, in which a rectangular baptismal basin, 1x0.72m in dimension was preserved. The basin was surrounded by a mosaic floor. Fine stucco fragments and delicate mosaics (seemingly wall mosaics) were uncovered in it. An opening was identified in the southern wall of this room. The basin is partially rock-cut and partially masonry built. It is attributed by Vincent (1957) to the end of the 4th c. or early 5th c.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

Eleona is a basilical, memorial church, built over a crypt or a cave where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus taught his disciples.

Dating material:

According to Eusebius the church was built on order of Emperor Constantine, on the initiative of his wife Helena. Also, mentioned by the Bordeaux pilgrim (333 CE).

The baptistery annexed on the south is attributed by Vincent (1957) to the end of the 4th c. or early 5th c. This is marked here as subphase A.

Phase date

Century:

4th c.

Within century:

First half

Subphases

Subphase A Date

5th c.

Early

General outline:

According to Eutychius of Alexandria (Annales, 119 [text]; 99 [trans.]), the church was destroyed by the Persians in 614. However, shortly thereafter it is mentioned by Sophronius (Anacreontica XIX, 9-12), Adomnan (I, 25), Epiphanius the Monk, the Georgian Calendar and the Commemoratorium de casis Dei 1, 18 (ed. McCormick, p. 206-207). In addition, it is not mentioned among the churches restored by Modestus. Bieberstein and Bloedhorn 1994, III: 286, suggested that it was rather destroyed in a 9th c. unrest (either that of the years 809-814, or that of 871), so that in the days of Eutychius it was in ruins, as he says.

Dating material:

Literary sources.

Phase date

Century:

9th c.

Post conquest history comments:

According to Eutychius of Alexandria (Annales, 119 [text]; 99 [trans.]), the church was destroyed by the Persians in 614. But the fact that it is mentioned in several later literary sources, casts doubt about it, but in his days (d. 940), it was already in ruins.

Conclusions:

Seemingly destroyed in the late 9th or early 10th c.