Khirbet esh-Shubeika - ST. SERGIUS

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Monastery name, type, category

Site Name:

Khirbet esh-Shubeika

Identification:

Variant names: Khirbet el-Shubeika

Monastery name:

ST. SERGIUS

Monastery type:

Cenobium

Monastery category:

Village

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

216,340.00

769,052.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

166,328.00

269,049.00

Geographical region:

Western Galilee

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Ptolemais

Topographical location:

On the lower western slopes of the Western Galilee.

Soils:

limestone and terra rosa

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

ca. 14 km (Acco-Ptolomais)

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 5 km east of the coastal road.

Source of knowledge

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Bronze oil lamp engraved with dedicatory inscription of Chaleipas to Saint Sabas.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Guérin	1868-1869
Conder and Kitchener	1871-1877
Frankel	1986

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Avshalom-Gorni and Tacher	1991
Tacher and Syon	1993

Bibliograpy:

Avshalom-Gorni, D., Tacher, A. and Tzaferis, V., 2001	347-52
Avshalom-Gorni, D., Tacher, A., Syon, D., Gorin-Rosen, Y. and Katsnelson, N., 2002	219-349 (English summary 186-87)
Tzaferis, V., 2003	83-86
Di Segni, L., 2016	185-98

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

State of certainty:

Uncertain / Questionable

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Remains of several rooms were unearthed, arranged in two rows with an alley between them, oriented east-west. Two tombs were also excavated and an oil press. Walls remained to a height of 0.5-1 m. A second excavation revealed the remains of a church.

Illustrative material:

Illustrative-material-14/06/15

Figures

kh. el-Shubeika- plan of the excavated area

General description

Enclosing walls:

Enclosing walls were not located, possibly due to the limited scope of the excavation. Apparently the gaps, that had existed prior to the establishment of the monastery, were blocked up to create a tight complex of structures with the alley, possibly serving as a courtyard, between the two rows.

Churche/s:

The church is located in the southern part of the site. In the excavation, five phases were discerned. It was not possible to verify the exact dimensions of the church but it was assumed by the excavator that they were at least 15 x 15 m. Only a narrow part of the central apse, the bema and the nave were uncovered. In the final stage, the bema was expanded more than 1 m. into the nave. A dated inscription has been deciphered as belonging to the eighth century, evidence for the rebuilding of the church during the Early Islamic period.

Burials:

Two burial caves were excavated, one containing human bones.

Water installations:

Two bell shaped cisterns were found. No estimate of the storage capacity was given by the excavator.

Agricultural and industrial installations:

Two crushing stones and weights of a screw type olive press, dated to the late Byzantine period were found in the excavation. Two top millstones (one of basalt the other of Kurkar [coastal sandstone]), dated to the late Byzantine period, were found in a courtyard. A wine press was found in the center of the complex. The collection vat was carefully constructed, paved and tiled with a white mosaic.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy
Pottery	A large assemblage of pottery : bowls; casseroles; cooking pots; lids; amphorae; jars; jugs
Oil lamps	Three intact lamps and 53 fragments (28 of which could not be identified) of various types.
Jewelry	A jade amulet with an Arabic inscription, dated to the 8th- 9th century CE.
Metal objects	Scissors; Iron nails; iron needles; bronze stand for a lamp; a complete bronze lamp bearing an inscription; bronze buckels; bronze spoons; bronze cohl stick; bronze bell;
Stone vessels	A marble bowl; basalt mortar

Detailed description

Dimensions:

Size class
Large

Structure

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Components

Courtyard/s

Monastery church:

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

Dwelling type:

cells

Number of stories:

Tombs type:

Burial chamber

Agricultural installations:

oil press\es [=o/p]

wine press\es [=w/p]

Water installations:

Channels

Inscribed crosses

Architectural evolution

Phase 1
Abandonment
Phase 2
Abandonment

Phase name (as published):

Phase I

General outline:

The site, apparently from the late fifth or early sixth century CE was constructed as a row of structures along an alley. It is not clear if in this phase the site was already a monastery or simply a village.

Dating material:

The finds in the settlement were dated typologically to the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. It was suggested by the excavators that the settlement had been abandoned at some point in the first half of the seventh century CE, following the Persian occupation, and resettled shortly after. A paucity of finds prevents the precise dating of the various phases of the church.

Phase date

Century:

5th-6th c.

Within century:

Mid

Iconoclastic evidence

Iconoclastic evidence:

General outline:

The site was abandoned following the Persian occupation.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Within century:

Early

Phase name (as published):

Phase II (Early Islamic)

General outline:

The only phase that can be verified as having a monastic association is dated to the eighth century CE, based on a dated inscription found in the church (dated to 785/6 CE). In this phase, the site had been resettled after a short settlement gap and structural changes were made to the existing structures of the earlier phases. The streets of the earlier phase were blocked and were divided into internal spaces by the construction of walls and blocking of doorways. The drainage channels of the earlier phase were put out of use as well. The church to the south was repaired and the dated inscription inserted into the mosaic of the northern aisle. The association between the church and the settlement is not certain.

Dating material:

The one anchor date is the inscription in the northern aisle of the church dated to 785/6 CE. It may be prudent to suggest that the monastery was not founded earlier than this phase.

Phase date

Century:

8th c.

Within century:

Second half

General outline:

It is clear that the church and monastery continued to function in the eighth century CE. It was probably abandoned not long after.

Phase date

Century:

8th-9th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Modified

Post conquest history comments:

The site at Khirbet el-Shubeika continued to function well into the Early Isalmic period as a Christian settlement, attested to by the church with a dedicatory inscription. The church was destroyed sometime in the late eighth or early ninth century in a conflagration. No such evidence is found in the settlement to the north which was probably abandoned after the church had burned down.

Conclusions:

The nature of the settlement is not clear. A monastic context is made clear by the dated inscription with the mention of the abbot but the whereabouts of the monastic complex have not been established with certainty. Di Segni notes that there is no evidence that the church belonged to a monastery in its early phase. The archaeological data shows that at the end of the eighth or the early ninth century the church was managed by an abbot, who stood at the head of a team of monks but the church continued to serve the lay community (Di Segni 2016: 188*).