13059 - Jerusalem (Mount of Olives) - DOMINUS FLEVIT (5-7th centuries)

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Jerusalem (Mount of Olives) - DOMINUS FLEVIT (5-7th centuries)

Church Name, type, function

Site Name: 
Jerusalem (Mount of Olives)
Identification: 
Dominus Flevit commemorates the site of Christ's weeping, predicting the future destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19: 37-43). The tradition is late (not earlier than the Crusaders period). Ovadiah (1970, no. 72), following Bagatti, called it after St. Anna, but Milik had commented that this should rather be the site where Christ was weeping for Jerusalem.
Church name: 
DOMINUS FLEVIT (5-7th centuries)
Functional Type: 
Monastic
Dedication: 
Christ's weeping, predicting the future destruction of Jerusalem.
Church type: 
Chapel - With a secondary chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system: 
223.01
631.70
Coordinates, ICS system: 
173.01
1,131.69
Geographical region: 
Jerusalem Mount of Olives
Topographical location: 
On the western slope of Mount of Olives.
Distance from nearest bishop-seat: 
0.3 km (Jerusalem)
Distance from nearest settlement: 
0.3 km (Jerusalem)
Distance from Roman roads: 
0.2 km from the road connecting Jerusalem with Bethany.
Provincial affiliation: 
Palaestina I
Bishopric: 
Jerusalem

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy: 

Archaeological remains

Excavated site
Excavators: 
NameDate
Bagatti
1955-1956
History: 
The monastery was founded in the Byzantine period, in the 5th or 6th century CE. In 614 CE, following the Persian occupation, it was violently destroyed and abandoned. In the late 7th - early 8th century it was rebuilt following the plan of the early monastery. The plan of the eighth century monastery was apparently similar to that of the earlier one. No major changes were reported by the excavator between the phases. For a description of the monastery see early phase. The monastery was abandoned sometime before the Crusader period but no precise dating has been provided.
Bibliograpy: 
Bagatti, B., 1955-1956
Milik, J. T., 1960
Bagatti, B., 1962
Massara, D., 2013
Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered: 
The monastery, included its chapel and northern oratory (eukterion in the inscription) attached to it in the north, was partially excavated in 1955 by Bagatti. The remains of some walls reached a few courses and the paving mosaics (of the 7th-8th c. chapel and oratory), were well preserved. The eukterion is smaller in dimensions relative to the chapel, but its mosaic floor more elaborate. The late complex reproduced the layout of the earlier monastery, chapel and oratory. The chapel is well preserved. Its measurements are 12.5 X 5.4 m. Part of the southern wall was hewn from the rock, while the upper portion was constructed. The walls are built of unhewn stones with a great deal of cement except of the apse wall that is built of ashlar. The chapel is a part of Dominus Flevit monastery, built at its southeastern corner.

Description

Illustrative material: 
Atrium: 

A central courtyard formed the heart of the monastery, measuring 14.5 x 15 m and surrounded by porticos, evidenced by remains of pilasters surrounding the courtyard. Beneath the courtyard a large cistern was discovered (measurements were not provided). drainage channels were found beneath the paving.

Façade and entries: 

The chapel has one entrance in its western wall. Another doorway, in the middle of the northern wall,

leads to the adjacent oratorium.

Lateral walls: 

The walls are 0.8 m thick. Fragments of mosaic made up of glass cubes found in the apse area proving

that the walls were decorated with mosaics.

Nave: 

The church ( 12.50 x 5.40 m, internal measurements) was a single nave chapel with an apse. The extant mosaic floor was laid in the restoration phase, following the destruction during the Persian invasion. Likewise, seemingly, the bench along the northern wall of the chapel and another one inside the bema area, along the southern wall.

Bema, chancel screen and apse: 

The bema raised one step above the floor of the chapel. It was separated by transverse chancel screen, of which grooved bases and few fragments were preserved. The apse is internal, hemispherical. Its depth is approx. 2.6 m, its width 4 m. In the apse wall a window has been preserved. The altar located inside the apse. Four corner sockets of the altar have preserved, into which the legs of the altar were inserted.

Small finds

Comments, discussion and summary: 

The layout of the 7th-8th c. church preservred that of the 5th-7th c. one.

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation: 
Facing east
Materials applied (walls): 
Limestone
Materials applied (roofing): 
tiles
timber
Atrium: 
Yes
Water cistern: 
No
Narthex: 
No
East end: 
Internal apse
Church Head/Chevet: 
n/a
Bema type: 
Transversal

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci: 
N
Description and function of northern: 
Diakonikon

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon: 
Apsidal chapel
Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description: 
The hall, (8.9 X 3.5 m) annexed to the north, has a niche (0.7 m deep and approx. 1 m wide) in its eastern wall rather than a full-fledged apse. It is identified by an early 8th c. mosaic inscription as an oratory (eukterion). Its mosaic floor, of a geometric layout, is more elaborate than that of the chapel (labeled ekklesia in a mosaic floor there). There are two benches along its northern and southern walls.

Architectural Evolution

General outlinePhase no.CenturyWithin century
The foundation of the monastery is dated to the Byzantine period. The complex was built around a central courtyard and included a chapel, a diakonikon, dwelling cells, a small stable and other elements.
Phase 1
5th-6th c.
The monastery was violently destroyed and abandoned apparently in 614 CE during the Persian occupation.
Abandonment
7th c.
First half
Post Arab conquest history: 
Built anew