Khirbet Umm Rukba - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet Umm Rukba

Identification:

Hirschfeld suggested identifying the monastery at Kh. Umm Rukhba as the one founded by Euthymius in the Desert of Ziph around 422 CE, as told by Cyril of Scythopolis (Hirschfeld 1990: 13-15, no. 5). This suggestion was brought forward based on the similarity in sound. This identification has been proposed for other sites as well such as Kh. Ein el-Sehyna proposed by Batz (2006).

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Village

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

21,519.00

59,805.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

16,519.00

9,805.00

Geographical region:

Hebron Hills

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Eleutheropolis

Topographical location:

Hills

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 25 km (Eleutheropolis)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 3 km (Caphar Baricha; Bani Na'im); 5 km (Hebron)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 5 km east of the road leading from Jerusalem to the eastern Negev.

Source of knowledge

HideLiterary sources

Text number	Summary
1	Establishment of the monastery near Capharbaricha by the villagers of Aristobulias, ca. AD 422.
2	Euthymius leaves the monastery of Capharbaricha and returns to his own monastery.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Robinson and Smith	1841
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Kochavi	1967-1968
Hirschfeld	1984

Bibliograpy:

Robinson, E. and Smith, E., 1841
Guérin, V., 1868-1880
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883	320-21
Thomsen, P., 1907
Mader, A. E., 1918
Abel, F. M., 1938
Kochavi, M., 1972	19-91
Avi-Yonah, M., 1976
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1984	129-165
Hirschfeld, Y., 1985	243-55 (English summary 73*)
Hirschfeld, Y., 1987	29-30
Hirschfeld, Y., 1990	13-15
Hirschfeld, Y., 1992	69; 108-109
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	254
Di Segni, L., 2005	88
Batz, S., 2006	48-50
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012	237-38

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A massive tower remained to a height of several courses. Stones from the structure were used by the local population for the construction of terraces.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

General description

Enclosing walls:

The remains of a long rectangular structure (25 x 10 m) were surveyed in the center of the site.

Tower/s:

Near the site of the monastery, a tower was surveyed. A wall extended eastwards from the tower. The tower was dated by Batz to the end of the sixth to seventh century.

Churche/s:

A church structure was not located. However, fragments of marble, broken tiles and colored tesserae suggest its existence.

Cave/s:

In the centre of the structure there is a cave, its entrance built of ashlars, this may have served as a crypt. The cave was a natural cavity that had been enlarged by hewing, and a second entrance added. In the northern part of the cave, a pool was hewn in the rock and a niche to its south. Below the niche was a stone engraved with a cross.

Water installations:

At the foot of the slope on which the monastery stood, there is a spring. A reservoir was built adjoining it. The reservoir was roofed with a vault.

Garden:

Agricultural and industrial installations:

A large winepress was surveyed on the slope at the eastern end of the monastery The collecting vat was entirely preserved. The vat is square (2 x 2 m) and 1.7 m deep (6.8 m³ volume). The floor of the vat was paved with a white mosaic. The walls were plastered with a reddish hydraulic plaster. A cross is embossed in its western wall. An oil press was installed in the cave at a later stage.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Dated by the surveyors to the fifth to seventh centuries CE, including Pseudo Sigilata.
Glass	Fragments of glass dated to sixth to eighth centuries.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Tower/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
unknown

Agricultural installations:

oil press\es [=o/p]

wine press\es [=w/p]

Water installations:

Cisterns

Spring

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment

General outline:

The remains consist of a tower, several other structures and a cave, and a winepress.

Dating material:

Based on the pottery and on literary evidence.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Dating material:

The pottery and glass were dated to the late Byzantine and Early Islamic periods.

Phase date

Century:

7th-8th c.

Post conquest history comments:

Like many of the sites in the area, an olive press was installed in the Early Islamic period, replacing viticulture with the production of olive oil as the main source of income. It is not known if the occupants continued as a monastic community or if the population changed.