Phase name (as published):
General outline:
Atrium and narthex:A change was done to the internal arrangement of the atrium and narthex. The pilasters supporting the portico around the atrium have been damaged and walls were built in their place. The quality of construction is inferior to the Byzantine. The entrance to the church now leads into a long narrow corridor, the south wing, with a floor of crushed chalk, lower than the byzantine floor. On the eastern part of the southern wing are two rooms; the eastern one is built outside of the original atrium and no entrance to the room can be identified (the lack of entrance might indicate an entrance from above, which would attest to the existence of a second story). The eastern and southern walls of the western room were buttressed from the interior by a 0.7 thick addition (a tethering stone was found in the south-western corner, in the wall. and a stone lid was found on the floor). On the west of the southern wing there is an opening leading to a western wing which is not well preserved. A square room can be identified in the south-west corner of the atrium with a floor made of flat field stones.
In the north east corner of the remaining atrium three walls were interconnected creating a rectangular room with a narrow opening in the north-west. The wall between the narthex and the atrium was destroyed in the earthquake, and the foundation of that wall was used to construct the eastern wall of the room.
In the southern part of the destroyed narthex an impressive square tower with thick walls was built with an entrance way through the north. A stone bench was built near the entrance way. The southern entrance way to the prayer hall was kept. The tower may have been used as a bell tower or for defense, yet no finds were found to indicate one or the other.
A bench was built against the west wall of the prayer hall from the outside.
Prayer hall: Changes were made in the inner walls; the western wall of the prayer hall was reinforced with the use of stones taken from the debris, including parts of the marble screen, of the church after 749. The entrances leading into the aisles were reduced. The west entrance from the hall to the north wing was also reduced in size. The aisles are still separated by Two rows of Columns pairs. The pair of columns are the original columns of the church, reused in order to create two smaller columns. The outer columns are composed of two drums, with the upper drum smaller in diameter, the inner columns consists of a long drum with a separate base and capital. Between the columns were arches which were built of well-dressed ashlars arranged symmetrically, only one arch remained in the northern row. In a later time, yet still in the Abbasid period, the spaces between the columns were blocked to create poorly built walls, separating the prayer hall to several rooms. Two rooms were built in the west of each aisle. In the eastern part of the nave, opposite the bema, was enclosed by three of these walls, with an entrance from the west with two engaged pilasters. A section of the wall decoration was preserved. The wall was covered in a double layer of plaster, red paint and incisions of crosses. Stone benches were found on both parts of the nave. The walls create a defined architectural space, possibly used as a chapel. Above the anchor stone a wall of an altar table was discovered. In the debris above the bema were found roof tiles and 15 unique arch sections that might indicate of an arch built at the entrance to the central apse.
The northern wing: Several changes were found in the rooms; a south- west corner bench was constructed in the middle room. a storage pit was found in the eastern room. the entrance way into the western room was reduced by blocking with stones in secondary use and leaving a gap large enough to crawl through.
