ʻAnab el-Kabir (Khirbet ʻAnab) - Church
Church Name, type, function
Location
Source of knowledge
Archaeological remains
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Guerin | 1860s |
Conder, Kitchener | 1874 |
Petrie | 1880s |
Kochavi | 1967/8 |
Shkolnik, Tarkhanova | 2018 |
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Magen, Peleg, Sharukh | 1997-8 |
16-19 | |
369 | |
General description
Description
Before the atrium was erected in the second phase, the was an open courtyard with the cistern in front of the church. The atrium measures 19.8 X 13.3 m. The atrium was entered from the north through an entrance hall (5 X 4 m). The central courtyard (13.5 X 8.2 m) of the atrium was surrounded from the north, west and south by several service rooms. In the center of the courtyard there is a large water cistern, carved in the bedrock. It was topped by a certain circular construction, which wasn't preserved, except of the borders, marked out by the mosaic floor abutting it. Under the floor of the atrium there is a drainage system that collected water from the roof of the church into the water cistern (D of the mouth 1 m). The channel, which collected the water, terminated in a settling pit of the square shape (0.62x0.65x0.55 m; for filtering of the water), which was connected with the cistern through three ceramic pipes (8 cm in diameter). The courtyard is paved in a crud white mosaic floor. At the eastern part of the atrium, near the entrance to the narthex, a long intact Greek inscription was uncovered, dating the construction of the atrium to 571 or 586 CE. A stone bench (W278; 3.20x0.40 m, 0.40 m high) was built adjoining to the inner side of the courtyard wall W282.
The narthex belongs to the first phase. It measures 13 X 2.8 m. The narthex was entered from the atrium through three arched entrances, 2 m wide each. In the Early Islamic period the two lateral entrances were blocked. Three doorways lead from the narthex to the prayer hall. The central entrance is 1.25 m wide. The two lateral entrances are 0.85 m wide. In the northwest corner of the narthex adjoining the wall W235 there was a five-stepped staircase (W231; 3.10x1.05 m; preserved height of it - 1.11 m; height of each step is ca. 0.20 m) that leaded to a second story, atop the northern wing. The third step was wider and reached 1.25 m, and it had a square depression (6x6 cm) on the eastern edge, intended probably for the wooden railing. Between the central and northern doorways, adjoining to the W223, there was a bench (W249), measuring 2.12x0.38 m, 0.30 m high (its southern edge was higher than the northern; headrest (?)). It was built from limestone ashlars over the mosaic floor and plastered. The narthex floor is paved in white mosaic with a colorful carpet in its center. Near the central entrance to the prayer hall there is a Greek inscription, which dates the construction of the narthex to 556 or 571 CE. At the southern end of the narthex there was a tomb (2x0.48x0.73 m), covered with stone slabs.
All the entrances were asymmetrically located. The main and the only one entrance to the complex from the outside was located in the northern wall of the atrium (W222), opposite the road leading to the church. it was ca. 2.4 m wide. Its threshold and jambs were partially preserved. Into the arched central courtyard of the atrium two entrances led from the north, three entrances led from the west. On the southern side there were no entrances. The courtyard was comprised from three tribelons (tribelon is a wall opened with three arched doorways; rare form of entrances in Israel) on all sides, except of the western. The arches were leaning on two columns (imprints of the bases were preserved) in the center and on two pillars integrated into the walls on the lateral sides. On the southern side there was a stylobate between the columns. Specially important was the tribelon of the eastern side: three arched doorways (2.20-2.45 m wide), disposed between the north and south wall sections (W280, W235; two pillars between them), led from the atrium to the narthex. From the narthex to the domus led three main entrances, to every aisle. The central doorway was 1.25 cm wide, the lateral entrances were 0.85 cm wide. The domus was connected to the northern wing with one entrance. The ancillary doorways were 0.80-0.90 m wide. On some of the thresholds the round sockets for the doors were preserved (diameter 5 cm; depth 5 cm). In the eighth century CE the majority of the doorways were blocked. Only the main of them were still used (one entrance from the outer side, one entrance to the lateral wing of the atrium, one entrance to the narthex and one to the northern wing).
The walls of the first phase are built of ashlars from the outer face and small field stones and mortar from the inner face; coated with plaster. The walls preserved to a height of 1.5 m (in the apse). In comparison with the first phase, the building of the second phase (atrium and northern wing) was more sloppy. The technique is a variation of the rural emplekton: two faces of stones with the fill of small fieldstones and dirt between them. The average width of the later walls is 0.65-0.80 m; preserved to a height from one to three courses (0.30-0.60-0.85 m). The inner surface of the walls was coated with fine plaster. The walls of the northern wing were built from two faces of ashlars and were preserved up to two courses (0.90 m), though the width was larger than in the other parts of the church due to the second story upon them (1 m wide).
The prayer hall measures 13.2 X 12.5 m. The inner walls of the prayer hall were coated with fine plaster. Remains of colored plaster suggest that the walls were adorned with frescoes. The nave measures 12.55 X 6 m. It is separated from the aisles by two rows of five columns, standing on square stone platforms. The nave is paved in high quality mosaic carpet (12.30x5.80 m) adorned with complicated guillouches with the inserted into their segments zoomorphic motifs (defaced). In front of the bema, in the easternmost part of the mosaic floor three short Greek inscriptions were laid, devoted to three mosaic masters. One more, much longer and located near by, mentioned the local chorepiskopi and priests.
The northern aisle measures 12.7 X 2.95 m. It is paved with a mosaic floor. The doorway in the western part of the northern wall of the aisle that led to the adjacent chapel is attributed by the excavators to the second phase, but seemingly it was original. In the east, beyond the colorful mosaic carpet, the aisle ended with a step but no wall enclosing a pastophorium was uncovered. Perhaps the area behind the step was enclosed behind a curtain. So it seems that both aisle had dead-ends on the east. At a later stage, a bench was built on the mosaic floor at the end of the aisle, near its end. The southern aisle measures 12.7 X 3.15 m. It is paved with a mosaic floor with floral motifs. Here as well no wall enclosing a pastophorium was uncovered, but the fact that the mosaic carpet doesnot continue, suggest a separate zone, perhapse enclosed behind a curtain. At a later stage, a bench was built on the mosaic floor. In both aisles there were depressions laid with the tesserae for the collecting of the water.
The U-shaped chancel screen measures 6.6 X 3.1 m. It was raised on two steps (0.5 m) above the floor of the nave. The floors of the pastophoria were also raised to the same height, with the steps lying on the same line, as the steps of the central bema area (between the apse and the nave). A passage in the north west corner of the chancel screen suggests that there was an ambo that did not survived. The chancel screen have two lateral openings, which connected the bema with the pastophoria. The front openings haven't preserved. The apse was maximum 5.5 m in diameter (width 0.90 m). It had a horse-shoe shape inside and polygonal outside. Each segment of the polygonal shape (1.20 m) was constructed not with a monolith ashlar, but from several medium sized ashlars, so that this shape was caused not by the technical peculiarities, but by the intentional architectural planning. The walls were built from two ashlar faces and a fill between them. Preserved to a height of three courses (1.30 m). The bema and apse were paved with a colored mosaic that only partially preserved.
Small finds
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
Pottery | The ceramic assemblage dated from the beginning of the 6th century until the Early Islamic period in the 8th century. |
Glass | The assemblage includes bowls, chalices, bottles, lamps and pieces of broken window glass. All the types dated to the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. |
Metal objects | Bronze cross shaped pendant (found in the burial chamber outside the church), rings, segment of chain and iron nails. Derived from the church and burial cave. |
Coins | Three coins were found in the church. The earliest one dating to the reign of Constans I (337-339 CE). Another one dates to the 6th century and the latest one, Post-Reform Umayyad, dating to the 8th century. |
Oil lamps | Intact Abbasid lamp |
Inscription - see under epigraphy | Greek and Syropalestinian inscriptions found in the church on the mosaic floor |
Other | 13 beads were found, mainly in the burial chamber. They were made from glass (round, cylindrical, square, etc.), deriving from the neckless. |
Detailed description
Structure
| Total | Extant in N | Extant in S |
|---|---|---|
10 | 5 | 5 |
Pastophoria
Burial loci
Baptism
Upper galleries
Attached structures
Architectural Evolution
| General outline | Dating material | Iconoclastic evidence | Iconoclastic evidence comments | Phase no. | Century | Within century |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The excavators suggest two stages: in the first, the basilica and the narthex were built and paved. The basilica has an external apse. | 6th c. The mosaic floors and other finds give a 6th c. date of construction, under Justinian. | Phase 1 | 6th c. | First half | ||
In the second phase, the north wing and the atrium were added. The mosaic inscriptions in the nave, narthex and atrium mention mosaicists, clergy and two bishops associated with laying down the mosaics. Bishop John, mentioned in the atrium inscription, seems to be different than the bishop mentioned in the nave inscription (the proper name of whom was not preserved), since the clergy mentioned with both are different. This may indicate that the atrium (and perhaps only its mosaic floor) was built in a later stage. According to another opinion (Patrich 2006, 369), the northern wing is just structurally later than the basilica, not chronologically, so that the annexed chapel and the baptistery are contemporary with the basilica. V. Michel (2004, 18), is also of the opinion that the northern wing is original and was not added in a second stage. | Inscriptions in the nave and the atrium. | Phase 2 | 6th c. | Late | ||
Iconoclastic defacements of the mosaic floor and alterations made in the atrium. | First half of the 8th century. | Phase 3 | 8th c. | First half | ||
The complex was seemingly destroyed in the earthquake of 749. | Abandonment | 8th c. | Mid |
The cistern was connected not only with the basin for filtering of the water, but also with the basin outside the atrium, intended for the collecting of overflow. The cistern was unusually large for the ecclesiastical complex, though such quantity of water could be needed for baptismal fonts (two in the complex). Probably, this church mainly functioned for the baptism (the structure of the baptismal northern gallery is very well developed). The cistern was used even after the church was deserted. In the vicinity of the church a burial locus, a wine and oil press were found.