Bureir (Buriron; Tel Beror) - Church
Church Name, type, function
Site Name:
Bureir (Buriron; Tel Beror)
Identification:
Identified with Talmudic Beror Hayil. Near modern kibbutz of the same name.
Church name:
Church
Functional Type:
Unknown
Church type:
Unknown
Location
Coordinates, ITM system:
166.10
608.95
Coordinates, ICS system:
116.09
1,108.90
Geographical region:
Southern Coastal Plain
Distance from nearest bishop-seat:
ca. 14 km south - southeast of Ascalon.
Distance from Roman roads:
ca. 1 km north of the road between Gaza and Eleutheropolis.
Provincial affiliation:
Palaestina I
Bishopric:
Ascalon
Source of knowledge
Archaeological remains
General description
State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:
Completely collapsed remains of the village mosque, on a moderate elevation. Dense concentration of building stones, lintel fragments, and a threshold (of hard limestone). Some 10 m to the west, in a shallow depression in the ground, a baptismal basin was observed. It was formed in the shape of a cross (outer measurements c. 1 x 1 m), built of cemented fieldstones; the inner surface was plastered in several layers, while the outer was made of modern cement with embedded sherds of black Gaza Ware. Nearby, a monolithic stone (of limestone), also chiseled in a cross form, probably the baptisterium cover. A sounding at this spot revealed a mosaic pavement about 1.3 m below the surface. Some 40 m west of the mosque ruins, three marble columns.
Description
Small finds
Detailed description
Baptism
Loci:
A baptismal basin out of context was observed near the mosque. It was formed in the shape of a cross (outer dimensions ca. 1 x 1 m), built of cemented fieldstones; the inner surface was plastered in several layers, while the outer was made of modern cement with embedded sherds of black Gaza Ware. Nearby, a monolithic stone (of limestone), also chiseled in a cross form. A sounding at this spot revealed a mosaic pavement about 1.3 m below the surface. Some 40 m west of the mosque ruins, three marble columns were found.
Font structure:
Masonry built
External shape:
cruciform
Internal shape:
cruciform
Ben-Pechat type:
4a
Architectural Evolution
| Phase no. | Century |
|---|---|
Phase 1 | Early Christian / Byzantine |
Abandonment | Unknown |