Ḥorvat Hanot - Church

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Ḥorvat Hanot

Church name:

Church

Dedication:

According to Christian tradition recorded by pilgrims, the site was the burial place of Goliath mentioned by Antoninus of Placentia (ch.31; 570 CE). This is presumably marked by an artificial heap of stones 7m high and 9m in diameter seen at the site.

Functional Type:

Pilgrims' church

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

204.53

624.38

Coordinates, ICS system:

154.53

1,124.40

Location:

Rural

Geographical region:

Judean Hills

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

15 miles from both Jerusalem and Eleutheropolis.

Distance from Roman roads:

Located by the side of the Roman road between Jerusalem and Eleutheropolis (Beth Govrin).

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Eleutheropolis

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Long two-line building inscription of Theodore, priest and hegumen, in the mosaic pavement in front of the bema.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Guerin	1863
Weiss, Zissu and Solimani	1990's

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Shenhav	1985-86
Radashkovsky	Nov. 2015, March 2016

Bibliograpy:

Shenhav, E., 1986
Shenhav, E., 1998
Shenhav, E., 2003
Di Segni, L., 2003
Weiss, D., Zissu, B. and Solimany, G., 2004	Site no. 129
Radashkovsky, I, 2020
Storchan, B. and Albag, R., 2021

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

In the 1985-86 excavations a W-E hall delineated on the north and south by two late thick walls and on the east by a much thinner wall were uncovered. The hall was decorated by two mosaic carpets and a 3 lines long Greek inscription. Another mosaic paved hall was partially uncovered 2m to the north. Storchan and Albag (2021) suggested that this was a monoapsidal church with a hall attached on the north. The western carpet of the prayer hall is earlier than the eastern one, and the Greek inscription, set at its eastern edge, seems to be still later (written partially on the edge of the carpet), or contemporary with it. The building inscription (see under Epigraphy), dated epigraphically to the end of the 6th century (April 594), or early in the 7th century (April 609), seems to denote a late refurbishing of a pre-existing church. It was suggested that the northern hall was the diakonikon mentioned in the inscription (or a baptistery). In the 2015 and 2016 seasons an area immediately beyond the late, eastern wall was excavated. A subterranean burial chamber (2.4x2.6m; 1.4m high), accessed by two sets of four stairs descending from east to west was uncovered there. It might had held a coffin, or two troughs. According to Storchan and Albag it was accessed from the outside, from the east of the apse. One of the stone slabs that had covered the narrow staircase leading to the crypt was still preserved in situ. The tomb was located in a N-S hall roofed by two arches.

An entrance with a threshold in the south marks the entrance from the bema to the southern aisle, where traces of a mosaic floor were also discerned. Storchan and Albag suggested to trace in one of the photos the course of the apse (mentioned as well in the inscription), The central location of the crypt in the eastern part of the building suggest that we have to do here with a memorial chapel and that the church was a pilgrims church, as is suggested by the Arabic name of the site - Khirbet el Khan.

In the 1990's surveys several cisterns, a vast winepress and other installation as well as a rock-cut pool were recorded. The winepress was excavated in the 2015-2016 seasons. The fact that the church was a component of a larger architectural complex that includes the winepress suggest a monastery that also served as a road station. A building located to the north of the chapel might had served as a hospice (see sitemap)

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Aerial view of church and winpress, HA 132

Burial crypt and piers supporting roofing arches, looking west, HA 132

Mosaic floors of the nave, Plan and reconstruction, Storchan and Albag, LA 71 (2021)

Figures

Plan of Church, the crypt to its east and the winepress to its north, HA 132

Burial crypt, cross-section, looking north, HA 132

Plan and reconstruction, Storchan and Albag, LA 71 (2021)

Lateral walls:

The Byzantine walls flanking the nave from the north and from the south were incorporated into the later, Ayyubid, structure.

Nave:

4.9m wide. Two mosaic carpets decorating the nave were uncovered. At the eastern edge of the eastern carpet, presumably in front of the bema with the underlying crypt, a 3 lines long Greek inscription was found. It mentions several architectural components: a prostheke, an apse (konche), a diakonikon, and the refurbishing in paintings and revetment of the end wall of the presbitery. The prostheke may refer to the underground tomb (theke), rather than to the nave.

Aisles:

Storchan and Albag observed the bases of five piers to the south of the nave, and three to its north separating it from the two aisles that did not survived. The intercolumniation is 1.5m. According to them the aisles were dead-end.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

According to the reconstruction of Storchan and Albag, the burial crypt accessed from the outside, was located beneath the bema. A well cut corner of ashlars located farther to the east of the apse may mark the north-western corner of an elaborate entrance to the crypt. This corner is attached to the eastern pier of a northern roofing arch. The bottom course of two other piers were still preserved on either side of the western wall of this space. These piers carried two arches that had supported a flat roof. No remains of a chancel screen were preserved. Several architectural members (bases and pilaster capitals) of a small order, might had belonged to a canopy that had adorned the altar and the underlying crypt.

The elevation of the single slab serving as a roof of the staircase leading down to the crypt, and that of the sill of the southern room, mark the elevation of the bema floor, being, of course, higher than the level of the mosaic floor to its west. A mosaic patch at an higher elevation indicates that the bema was mosaic paved.

On the NW two square stones, seemingly for supporting two legs of an ambo were incorporated in the mosaic floor.

Lateral spaces:

According to Storchan and Albag the aisles were dead-end, so there were no pastophoria.

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Aisles:

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
5

East end:

External apse, round

Church Head/Chevet:

single opening flanking the apse (mon-aps V )

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped

Altar remains:

no remains

Ciborium:

A pier cap and a base of a small order might had belonged to the ciborium set above the altar and the underlying burial crypt.

Ambo:

Yes

Ambo remains:

legs

Ambo description:

Two stones, serving seemingly to support the legs of an ambo, were incorporated in the mosaic floor near the NW corner of the bema.

Ambo location:

Ambo materials:

Lime stone

Ambo placement:

On the Mosaic floor

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

Description and function of southern:

An threshold of an opening leading to a mosaic-paved southern room (partially preserved), might have served as the diakonikon mentioned in the Greek inscription.

Pastophoria photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Crypt

Accessibility and description:

Located under the bema, it was accessed through an east-west descending staircase of 8 stairs arranged in two sets of 4. The burial chamber is 2.4x2.6m in dimensions and 1.4m high. It might have held a coffin at its center, but no remains were uncovered.

Function:

Burial crypt.

Crypt photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Crypt and surrounding area. looking west, Radashkovsky, HA 132 (2020)

Burial loci

Burials loci:

In the crypt, under the bema.

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

A diakonikon might have been the partially preserved mosaic paved room uncovered to the north of the chapel, or the southern room to the south of the bema. (The term "prostheke" - an annex - mentioned in the inscription could have likewise referred to one of these spaces.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

The western mosaic panel of the prayer hall of the chapel should be attributed to this phase, as well as the crypt under the bema.

Dating material:

6th century, acording to the patterns of the western carpet. In any case, this phase predate the eastern mosaic carpet and the Greek inscription on its eastern edge mark the second phase of refurbishing.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Iconoclastic evidence comments:

The animal and bird figures in the medallions of the western carpet as well as in the scuta pattern of the eastern carpet were defaced and repaired with the same tesserae replaced at random.

General outline:

The eastern carpet and the Greek inscription set at its eastern edge, in front of the bema, mark this phase. The inscription might even been later than the carpet, since its third line was set over the edge of the carpet.

Dating material:

The inscription, dated according to the indiction and the month, and according to its paleography, is attributed to April 609 CE, rather than April 594 (Di Segni 2003). The diakonikon, mentioned in the inscription, is also of this phase.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Early

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Dating material:

Iconoclastic activity evident in the mosaic floors of the prayer hall, indicates that the church continued to be in use until after the first quarter of the 8th c. It was abandoned thereafter. Perhaps in the later part of the 8th c. The almost absolute lack of the finds from the Byzantine period led the excavators to suggest that the church was abandoned before the earthquake of 749, which destroyed the building. In the Ayyubid and Mameluke periods the site served as a road station (Khan).

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Mid

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

Yes

Conclusions:

The burial crypt under the bema suggests that the structure served as a memorial chapel. It is not known for whom. An artificial heap of stones 7m high recorded at the site might had marked the burial place of Goliath, who was killed by David in the Ella Valley, farther down along the road leading from Jerusalem to Eleutheropolis. According to Di Segni (2003), the site might have served as a road station with a chapel in which monks from a nearby monastery were officiating. The abbot, recorded in the inscription, was also the priest of this chapel. But the fact that the chapel is one component of a larger architectural complex, including an elaborate wine-press, a pool and other installation uncovered at the site, may suggest that it was a monastery after all.