12597 - Bethany (Bethania; el 'Azariye) - St. Lazarus (Second Church)

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Bethany (Bethania; el 'Azariye) - St. Lazarus (Second Church)

Church Name, type, function

Site Name: 
Bethany (Bethania; el 'Azariye)
Identification: 
The burial place of Lazarus who was brought back from the dead by Jesus. The site is mentioned by the Bordeaux Pilgrim, Egeria, in Eusebius' Onomasticon and in other Christian sources. As early as the time of Hieronymus, mention was made of a church over the grave of Lazarus and in the late sixth century CE a monastery and a basilica church were noted. (The church mentioned by Hieronymus is the Early Church).
Church name: 
St. Lazarus (Second Church)
Functional Type: 
Monastic
Dedication: 
St. Lazarus
Church type: 
Basilical - Annex\es on the north

Location

Coordinates, ITM system: 
224.40
631.00
Coordinates, ICS system: 
174.40
1,131.00
Geographical region: 
Judean Desert fringes
Topographical location: 
On the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.
Distance from nearest bishop-seat: 
Ca. 2.5 km east of Jerusalem.
Provincial affiliation: 
Palaestina I
Bishopric: 
Jerusalem

Source of knowledge

Literary sources: 
Epigraphy: 

Archaeological remains

Bibliograpy: 
Guérin, V., 1875
Abel, F. M., 1933
Thomsen, P., 1907
Avi-Yonah, M., 1933
Bagatti, B., 1952-1953
Saller, S. J., 1957
Saller, S. J., 1957
Bagatti, B., 1968
Storme, A., 1969
Ovadiah, A., 1970
Wilkinson, J., 1977
Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982
Ovadiah, R. and Ovadiah, A., 1987
Magen, Y. and Finkelstein, I., 1993
Pringle, D., 1993
122-128
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994
Limor, O., 1998
Kloner, A., 2001
Magen, Y. and Kagan, E. D., 2012
Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered: 
The Second Church was built some 12.5 m east of its predecessor, on a more stable foundation. The floor of the Late church was half a meter higher than the floor of the Early Church and between them, there is a fill of stones and columns of the Early Church. The basilical church measured 29 X 19m. It had a narthex, four rectangular piers separated the nave from the two aisles. A 0.8 wide opening was installed in the middle of the northern wall. The church was destroyed in 1950, in order to make place for the new Franciscan church erected in 1954-55. 

Description

Illustrative material: 
Atrium: 

The church was entered through a partly preserved atrium. The tomb of Lazarus was shown on the other side of the atrium. 

Narthex: 

Five pilasters supporting arches delineated the narthex / portico on the west.  

Façade and entries: 

Three openings led to the prayer hall.

Lateral walls: 

The buttresses built on  both sides of the walls (0.9 m thick), might have been later additions. They are not typical of Early Christian architecture with a light wooden roofing. 

Nave: 

The nave is 8.5 m wide, separated from the aisles by two pairs of square pillars resting on stylobates supporting a dome. These might have been a mediaeval roofing. There are no capitals. Two of the central pillars which supported the dome, mentioned by pilgrims, were preserved. The hall's colorful mosaic floor was decorated with geometric patterns and floral decorations.

Aisles: 

The aisles are 4.5 m wide. A 0.8m wide in the middle of the northern wall gave access to a northern annex recognized by a short segment of a wall running north. 

Bema, chancel screen and apse: 

The internal, semicircular apse was 7 m wide and 4 m deep. It was flanked by two lockable pastophoria.

Lateral spaces: 

Square lockable pastophoria. 

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation: 
Facing east
Materials applied (walls): 
Limestone
Atrium: 
Yes
Narthex: 
Yes
Aisles: 
2
Colonnades / Arcades: 
Arcade of pillars
Number of nave columns in a row: 
Total
2
East end: 
Internal apse
Church Head/Chevet: 
monoapsidal with lockable pastophoria (mon-aps II)
Central Apse Category: 
apsidal
Altar remains: 
no remains
Ambo: 
No
Apse elevation: 
Flush with the bema
Synthronon: 
No

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci: 
N & S
Description and function of northern: 
Almost square room measuring 4 X 3.75 m.
Description and function of southern: 
Similar to the northern pastophorium.

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon: 
Simple rectangular room
Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description: 
An elongated chapel (16 X 5 m) abutting against the south side of the atrium, with two entrances: one on the west side and one on the north. The chapel's floor is paved with colored mosaic in geometric patterns and plant motifs.

Architectural Evolution

General outlineDating materialPhase no.CenturyWithin century
Basilical church with an atrium, lockable pastophoria and perhaps also an annexed chapel.

The church is dated to the mid 5th century on the basis of the mosaics style (Saller 1957, 28, 43) and the secondary use of architectural elements from the Early Church.

(The use of buttresses and a central dome may point to a later, mediaeval reconstruction).

Phase 1
5th c.
Mid

No dates are given.

Abandonment
7th c?