13005 - CASTELLION; Khirbet el Mird - Chapel - Chapel

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

CASTELLION; Khirbet el Mird - Chapel

Identification:

Meaning of the Arabic name: "The Lofty Place". Identified with Hyrcania of the second temple period.

Church name:

Chapel

Functional Type:

Monastic

Church type:

Chapel - With an annexed room

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

234.73

625.13

Coordinates, ICS system:

187.72

1,125.15

Geographical region:

Judean Desert

Topographical location:

On top of a mountain.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Jerusalem

Source of knowledge

Literary sources:

HideLiterary sources

CASTELLION; Khirbet el Mird - Chapel - Chapel

Source:

Cyr. Scyth., Vita Sabae

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

Paragraph:

27

Translation:

When the days of fasting came to an end, (Sabas) went back to his Laura and after having celebrated the festival of Easter, he took some fathers, went to the Castellion and began to clear the place and build cells with the-material that was found there. During the clearing they discovered a large living room under the debris, made with wonderful stones. They dug it out and set it in order, then Sabas made it into a church and from that moment he set his mind on making the place into a coenobium - and this was done by and by.

(transl. Leah Di Segni)

Summary:

Mention of the church built by Sabas during the foundation of the monastery of Castellion, AD 492.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Conder, C. R., and Kitchener, R. E.	1877
Mader, A. E.	1913-1928
Meshel, Z.	1973
Patrich, J.	1981-1982

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
de Langhe, R.	1953
Allegro, J.	1960

Bibliograpy:

Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1883

Mader, A. E., 1929

Milik, J. T., 1961

Wright, G. R. H., 1961

Ovadiah, A., 1970

Cohen, R., 1970

Ovadiah, A. and de Silva, C. G., 1982

Ben-Pechat, M., 1990

Hirschfeld, Y., 1990

Patrich, J., 1993

Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994

Patrich, J., 1994

Schick, R., 1995

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A chapel, missing part of the apse, built on the north east corner of the monastery. A rectangular chamber and a large courtyard on the south; a second rectangular courtyard on the west, connects the chapel to the monastery. Dimensions of the chapel: 14X5.5 m (Ovadiah 1970) or 16X5.5 m. (Patrich 1994). Built on top of the Herodian fortress.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Façade and entries:

One entrance in the west wall, leading to the monastery, and one in the middle of the south wall leading to the courtyard.

Lateral walls:

0.7-0.8 m. wide. 2 piers, 4 m. apart, attached to the north and south walls.

Nave:

Appears to have arches supporting the roof, a style characteristic to the Hauran and Negev.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

Only the side walls of the semicircular apse survived. Approx. 3.4 m. deep.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Papyrii	Papyri dated to 8th -10th century was discovered at the site.
Oil lamps	An oil lamp with an inscription and a cross.
Pottery	Byzantine.
Other	Sundial was found by Mader (1929), location not mentioned.

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

East end:

External apse, round

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

elsewhere

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

A lid of a reliquary box was found in the chapel in the 1920's.

Baptism

Baptism photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Loci:

During cleaning of the chapel in the 1920's a square font was found laid in the courtyard. Dimensions: 1 m. wide on its outer part and 0.57 m. wide on the inside (carved diagonally). 0.65 m. high yet 0.32 deep.

Font structure:

Monolithic

External shape:

circular

Internal shape:

circular

Ben-Pechat type:

7a

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Simple rectangular room

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

A rectangular room, covered in a mosaic floor, located south of the chapel might have used as a Diakonikon. The entrance to the room is through the southern courtyard.

Architectural Evolution

Dating material	Phase no.	Century	Within century
According to Cyrillus of Scythopolis (Vita Sabae 27; 28; 33; 58) the monastery was built by St. Sabas at 492 A.D.	Phase 1	5th c.	Late
Papyri found at the site dated to the 8th-9th, perhaps even 10th century suggest that it was occupied until then. A 14th century icon with an inscription that was found in a burial cave in of the monastery, now kept in Mar Saba, indictes some sort of presence at the site at that post-Crusaders time.	Abandonment	10th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use

Post conquest history comments:

Mentioned in texts of the 8th century and the papyri found at the site attest to it's continued occupation after the conquest.