Jerusalem- (YMCA extra-mural) - Monastery

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Jerusalem- (YMCA extra-mural)

Identification:

The monastery is attributed to the Georgian community, based on an inscription mentioning a Georgian bishop.

Monastery name:

Monastery

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Para Urban

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

131,467.00

631,294.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

171,069.00

131,293.00

Geographical region:

Jerusalem (extra-mural)

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Topographical location:

The site is on level ground.

Soils:

Limestone and terra rosa.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 0.5 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from nearest settlement:

ca. 0.5 km (Jerusalem)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 0.5 km east of the road leading to Bethlehem

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Funerary inscription of Samuel, bishop of the Iberians, on a slab of limestone found among the debris.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Kloner, A.	2001

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Iliffe	1932

Bibliograpy:

Iliffe, J. H., 1934	70-80
Stern, E., 1993
Kloner, A., 2001	no. 400
Schick, R., 1995	343
Tchekhanovets, Y., 2016	109-14
Tchekhanovets, Y., 2017	427-48
Tchekhanovets Y., 2018	156-169

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Archaeologicaly definitive

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The site was excavated in 1932 and only partially uncovered. It consisted of several rooms paved with mosaics and a plastered cistern. The state of preservation was poor and only meager parts of the suggested monastery were uncovered. The room to the north was apparently paved in stone slabs found in a poor state of preservation. The walls were of undressed stone (rubble) except for an outlying section which was ashlar built.

The monastic complex consists of a large cemeterial church and meager remains of rooms located to its west, a wine press, an oil press and a cistern. A Greek inscription uncovered in tomb W marks the tombstone of Samuel, bishop of the Iberian, namely - the Georgians.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

YMCA- a cross in the cistern (Ilffe 1935).

Figures

Plan of the YMCA complex (Iliffe 1935: 71).

General description

Courtyards:

A courtyard paved with a mosaic was uncovered near the cemetery, it had been built over a tomb. This may have been the central courtyard of the monastery.

Churche/s:

A large, monoapsidal basilica (37.5 x 30 m) with a wide nave and two aisles. The order and location of the numerous rock-cut tombs therein, suggest that it was a hypaethral cemeterial church, with a nave open to the sky (basilica discoperta).

Burials:

The complex was built in close association with two cemeteries, an early Byzantine and a late Byzantine one. Rock cut tombs were found to the northeast of the site. The excavators surmised that this was the cemetery of the monastery. A tombstone near tomb W bears an inscription that mentions the bishop of the Iberians - a Georgian community. A venerated tomb was located in front of the apse, possibly partially beneath the altar.

Water installations:

The cistern, in the southeastern part of the structure, was dated to the byzantine period. It was plastered and had a flight of stairs descending into it. Clay drainage pipes and a settling pool were identified.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

A winepress with a treading floor paved in a white mosaic and a square, plastered collecting vat. Additional vats covered by treading floors to the south. Remains of an oil press were also found.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Pottery	Storage jars
Glass	A spindle shaped glass flask; fragments of other glass vessels found in the cistern.
Oil lamps	Lamps with diagonal raised line decorations, one decorated with a cross.
Coins	Unknown, now lost.
Other	Tiles- some stamped with an eight spoked wheel.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

Components

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

Church type	Diakonikon	Link to church section	Church location
basilical			Ground floor

Tombs type:

Cist tomb

Agricultural installations:

oil press\es [=o/p]

wine press\es [=w/p]

Water installations:

Cisterns

Channels

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Early Byzantine cemetery

General outline:

The cemetery was dated to the early Byzantine period. According to the excavators, the monastery was founded in the late fifth century CE.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

Within century:

Late

General outline:

A courtyard was constructed over an earlier tomb and probably the rest of the monastery structures were built at this time. A second, later cemetery was initiated, possibly connected with the monastery.

Phase date

Century:

6th-7th c.

General outline:

According to Iliffe, the monastery continued in use for some time in the Early Islamic period.

Dating material:

Two eighth century Umayyad coins were found in only loosely sealed tombs.

Phase date

Century:

7th-8th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use

Post conquest history comments:

The evidence for the continued existence of the monastery (if indeed it was one) is flimsy at best, based on a coin found in "a loosely sealed tomb" in the words of the excavator.