11976 - Elusa (Ḥaluza) - Cathedral

Elusa (Ḥaluza) - Cathedral

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Elusa (Ḥaluza)

Church name:

Cathedral

Functional Type:

Parochial

Dedication:

St. Sergius (?)

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

167,184.00

556,052.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

117,117.33

1,056,011.35

Geographical region:

Central Negev

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina III

Bishopric:

Elusa

Source of knowledge

Literary sources:

Literary sources

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Negev	1973

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Negev	1980
Arubas, Goldfus	1998, 2000

Bibliograpy:

Negev, A., 1981
Negev, A., 1989
Negev, A., 1993
Goldfus, H., Arubas, B. and Bowes, K., 2000
Patrich, J., 2006
Michel, A., 2019	175-176

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

The well preserved church is the largest in the Negev. The external measurements of the basilica were 17.7 X 39.45 m, but the chapels that flanked the building on the north and south (not excavated) almost doubled its width.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Atrium:

The atrium was 29.6 X 32.8 m. It was surrounded by four colonnades. The eastern portico, 6.21 m wide, was wider than the other three and three steps higher, creating an elevated approach to the three entrances to the basilica. There probably was a well or a fountain in the middle of the atrium, which is indicated by a round depression.

Façade and entries:

Three entrances led from the atrium into the basilica. The central one was almost 3 m wide.

Nave:

The nave was 7.27 m wide. It was separated from the aisles by two rows of ten columns.

Aisles:

The aisles were of unequal width, the southern one being 4.5 m and the northern one 4.35 m.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The bema of the first phase, U-shaped, was 30 cm lower than the bema of the second phase. The bema is T-shaped, raised two steps above the nave (three steps in the central part). It penetrated two bays into the nave. The wings were just one step higher than the aisles. In phase 1 the church was monoapsidal, with two pastophoria flanking the central apse. In phase 2 the church had three internal, semicircular apses. The central one was 5.65 m wide and 2.47 m deep. The lateral apses were smaller. In the middle of the central apse was located a seven stepped structure that is 2.47 m long. This was a stone substructure of the bishop's wooden throne. The 2 X 2.55 m masonry altar was located in the back side of the bema, in front of the bishop's throne. The hexagonal ambo is at the northwestern corner of the bema. The ambo, altar, bema, seven-stepped base and the ashlar walls of the apses were all covered with Proconessian gray marble.

Lateral spaces:

In Phase 1 the apse was flanked by two pastophoria. A cupboard was install in each room, near a rear corner, in the walls delineating the apse. These were transform in Phase 2 to lateral apses, converting the mono-asidal church to tri-apsidal.

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

timber

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Colonnades / Arcades:

Arcade of columns

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
10

Capital types:

Corinthian

East end:

Internal apses

Church Head/Chevet:

tri-apsidal

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

T shaped with three openings

Elevation of Bema above nave:

2 steps up

Altar remains:

base plate

Altar type:

Composite, table like (stone and marble)

Altar reliquiarium type:

No altar reliquiarium

Altar location:

On the apse cord

Secondary tables:

In phase 1 a four legged small altar table was placed at the eastern part of southern pastophorium. To phase 2 belongs a broken colonnette, which probably supported a small altar table, that was found on the floor of the southern apse. The colonnette and table were of marble. The altar table was originally located in the middle of the southern apse, behind a chancel screen.

Ambo:

Yes

Ambo remains:

base plate

Ambo location:

Ambo materials:

Marble

Ambo placement:

On an hexagonal slab

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

indications on the floor

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

N & S

Description and function of northern:

In phase 1 the apse was flanked by two rectangular pastophoria. The northern measured approx. 4.1 X 4.9 m.

Description and function of southern:

The southern measured about 4.35 X 4.5 m. It used for the cult of relics.

Lateral Apses Function

Location:

N & S

Northern apse description and function:

The northern apse was 3.58 m wide and 2.25 m deep replaced an earlier pastophorium. A small room, 2.00x1.90m in dimensions, with an opening to the north, was left behind the apse, to its east. The apse was reveted in marble.

Southern apse description and function:

The southern apse was 3.82 m wide and 2.33 m deep replaced an earlier pastophorium. It used for the cult of relics. The apse was reveted in marble.

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

S apse

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

In the debris around the southern apse were found three fragments of a limestone box that was most probably a reliquary.

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

The basilica is flanked from the north and south by two wings. The southern one might have been a chapel.

Architectural Evolution

General outline	Dating material	Iconoclastic evidence	Phase no.	Century	Within century
In this phase the church was a monoapsidal basilica with a rectangular pastophoria on either side of the apse.	Negev (1989, p. 135-142) was dating the first phase to 400-450, Goldfus et al. (2000) had no data to date this phase.		Phase 1	5th c.	First half
Tri-apsidal phase.	Goldfus et al. (2000, p.339) assigned this phase to the mid 5th and early 6th c, Negev (1989, p. 135-142) was dating it to ca. 500 CE.		Phase 2	5th c.	Late
In the beginning of the 8th century the church was stripped of its marble revetments and columns and was abandoned.		No	Abandonment	8th c.	Early

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned