Heptapegon - The Miracle of the Multiplying of Loaves and Fishes 2- Basilica.
Church Name, type, function
Location
Source of knowledge
Archaeological remains
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Karge, Fr. | 1911 |
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Mader, A. E. and Schneider, A. M. | 1932 |
Rosental, R. and Hershkovitz, M. | 1979-1980 |
General description
Description
Slightly trapezoidal in shape, 13X23 m. in dimension. A Cantharus, 5 m. in diameter, is set in the center, above the cistern. Rooms on the west and south, continuing east along the basilica till the transept, are interpreted as hostelry for pilgrims. An external entrance to the complex was found on the western wall, at the second north chamber. Access from the rooms to the atrium seems to have been from the west, though no entrance survived. In a later period a pit, possible silo that can be seen in Schneider's plan, was dug and plastered near the east wall.
3.3 m. wide.The entrance did not survive.
Only the entrance leading to the northern aisle, 1.85 m. wide, was entirely preserved. There are two door posts and several bolt-holes, indicating that there were two wings. The width of the opening to the nave was about 3.2 m.
The northern boundary wall of the complex, is is offset 7 degrees south relative to the main axis of the basilica, delineating the road to Capernaum which runs against it. The walls survived to an elevation of 1.45 m., except the south-east section, which did not survive.
7.9 m. wide, delineated by 5 columns on each side.
3.58 m. wide.
Flat.
The Bema is U shaped and raised above the nave. It was first surrounded by a T-shaped chancel screen, which also separates the lateral rooms from the transept, and later by a U-shaped chancel, which only enclosed the bema. A line of stones, running south to north, can be seen cutting the bema: Schneider mentions that the altar is separated from the chancel by a rail, of which only the southern half of the stylobate survives, built across the bema; Rosental refers to a step cutting through the bema, which she believes to have been a mistake in the reconstruction of the mosaics two years after Schneider's excavation. The apse is inscribed, with a narrow corridor to its east, connecting the two lateral rooms. In the apse there are remains of a Synthronon, 1.10 m. wide.
Two lockable rooms, connected by the corridor which runs beyond the apse. They were separated by a grill of four wooden posts from the transept, which were removed in a later phase.
Small finds
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
Pottery | Fragment of a pithus; Fragment of a red clay dish that is possibly dated to the fourth century and many fragments of domestic pottery dating from the fourth to sixth century, such as pans and pear-shaped amphoras. |
Other | Several basalt artifacts were found: the lower stone of an olive press and a press was found in the northern lateral room; a part of a wall pilaster and a block with a stopper were found embodied, possible secondary use, in the stone wall of the entrance to the west of the atrium. |
Glass | Fragments of glass were found: bases, rims and a white glass handle. A piece of a lamp was found in the space behind the apse.
Cubes of glass mosaic were found in the area of the presbytery. |
Coins | Bronze: one dated to 565/66 CE; the other to 574/75 CE |
Oil lamps | Found near the apse dated to the late 6th or beginning of the 7th century. |
Inscription - see under epigraphy | A Jewish burial stele made of basalt, with an inscription mentioning the name Joseph was incorporated in the pavement of the western entrance to the atrium. |
Detailed description
Structure
| Total |
|---|
5 |
The transept was projecting 1.75m to either side. Its nave was flanked by an aisle of 2x2 columns only on the west. The central ones, which retained a triumphal arch, are set in line with the nave colonnades. A pilaster is attached to the northern wall. After the triumphal arch had collapsed (or just about to collapse), seemingly as a result of an earthquake, two columns of smaller diameters were added between the central pair of the columns of the Transept nave, supporting horizontal wooden beems, thus masking the view of the presbytery.
Only one on the west. At the northern part of the aisle two square stones with cavities were set in the floor, presumably holding two small columns that served as legs of a secondary offering tables.
Pastophoria
Cult of relics
Burial loci
Architectural Evolution
| General outline | Dating material | Phase no. | Century | Within century |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The mosaic paved basilica was built in the 5th c. on top of the primitive chapel. | Schneider dates its erection by the style of the mosaics, to the last decades of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century. Ovadiah and Avi Yonah prefer (on similar grounds- resemblance to the mosaics of the Great Palace of Constantinople), a date in the middle of the fifth century. Likewise Talgam. Pottery found sealed under the atrium floor in the 1979-80 excavation confirmed the dating. | Phase 1 | 5th c. | Mid |
Repairs were made to the mosaic of the transept and nave; the stones containing the cavities of the rails west of the lateral spaces were filled in and covered with coarse mosaic tesserae. The triumphal arch of the transept was supported by two middle columns, adorned with capitals which carried horizontal wooden beams.
In the narthex- two square stones in the west of its north wing set on top of the mosaic suggest secondary tables.
Near the east wall of the atrium a pit (silo?) has been dug and roughly plastered (but this may be a post-church structure). | Dated by the mosaic inscription in the bema, next to the altar, to the second half of the 6th century (Di Segni, 1997). Another inscription of a similar date was found in the transept, near the railings of the lateral rooms. | Phase 2 | 6th c. | Second half |
Only the hostelry rooms, in which an oil press was installed and the northern section of the narthex were still in use at the early days of the Arab period, but not for long. According to Arculf 24, 1-3, visiting there in 670, "There are no signs of buildings there, apart from a few stone columns lying at the edge of the small spring from which, it is said, the people drank on the day when they were hungry, and the Lord refreshed them with that wonderful banquet (tr. Wilkinson, p. 108). The Comm. de Casis Dei of 808 (ed. McCormick 2011, 38-39), mentions a monastery with 10 monks at the site of the Miracle of the Multiplication. It is also addressed by Epiph. mon., Enarr. Syr. 32. But given the fact that at Arculf's time the basilica was already in ruins, and no remains of a later monastery was uncovered at the site, it seems that only a small monastery around the atrium survived, or that the tradition had moved somewhat north, to the adjacent monastery at the foot of the hill on which the concentric church of the Beatitude / Sermon on the Mount is built today. For the Early Christian monastery see in the monasteries section of the Corpus. | According to the finds it appears that the church was abandoned or destroyed prior to the Arab period, possibly in the Persian or Islamic conquests (Schenider, 1934; Avi Yonah, 1993). Schick maintains that there is no evidence for assigning a specific date or cause for the destruction indicated by Arculf (Schick, 1995). | Abandonment | 7th c. | First half |
All the small finds described were found in Schneider's excavation, besides the inscription which was found by Karge.