13726 - Chaspin; Khisfin - The Western church

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Chaspin; Khisfin

Identification:

Ḥaspin. A Syrian village built on the remains of a Byzantine one. Identified with Casphor/Casphon, known from the time of Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 5:2, 26, 36; II Macc. 12, 13 (Χασφω)) or as Hisfiya, a Jewish village in the administrative region of Hippos-Susita, which is mentioned in Baraita de-Teḥumin, Tosefta, Shevi'it 4:10). It is also mentioned in Rehov synagogue inscription (the Halakhic inscr. of Rehov, 1.10) and in Talmud (TJ Demai 22d). The absence of the Hellenistic pottery speak against the identification with Casphor/Casphon (in contrast with Tell edh-Dhahab, located about 1.5 km to the south-east of the site). Historical Haspin might have moved to a new location during the Roman period. This was the village of origin of Maximus the Confessor (late 6th c.).

Church name:

The Western church

Functional Type:

Monastic

Dedication:

Church of Georgius

Church type:

Basilical - Free standing basilica

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

277.00

751.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

227.00

1,251.00

Geographical region:

Golan Heights

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Source of knowledge

Literary sources:

Literary sources

Epigraphy:

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dedicatory inscription of Georgius within a rombus in the mosaic pavement of the southern aisle.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Schumacher	1884
Syrian Archaeological Authorities (?)	1943-1967
Gutman, Urman, Barlev, Ben-Ari	1967

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Ben-Ari, M., Urman, D and Bar-Lev, S.	1972

History:

In the Syriac vita of Maximus the Confessor it was mentioned that he was born to a family of a Samaritan father and a Persian slave of a Jew of Tiberias. The two moved to Haspin at the beginning of the end of the 6th c. CE (Vita Max. Conf. (syr.) 1, 2, 3, 5 (AB 91 [1973], p. 314). Arab sources also mentioned Haspin as a settlement in the vicinity of Damascus (el-Ya'aqubi, 9th century CE) or on the road to Damascus (Yaqut, 13th century CE).

Bibliograpy:

Schumacher, G., 1886	264-6
Schumacher, G., 1888	184-6
Dalman, G. , 1908
Urman, D., 1975‎	458-459
Tzaferis, V. and Bar-Lev, S., 1976
Ovadiah, A. and De Silva, C. G., 1981
Ovadiah, R. and Ovadiah, A., 1987	no.97
Kedar, B. Z. , 1988
Ma'oz, Z. U., 1993
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994
Schick, R., 1995
Di Segni, L., 1997
Froumin, R. ‎, 2011
Michel, A., 2019	159

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Only the bema and parts of the southern aisles with its apse and the beginning of two lines of columns and mosaic floor remains were uncovered. A doorway in the southern wall leads to courtyard in the south, surrounded by rooms. The rest is reconstructed. Dimensions: 20.5X14.2 m. A dedicatory inscription of Georgius was uncovered in the mosaic pavement of the southern aisle.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Figures

Lateral walls:

Made of stone curved on both sides with core of stone and white mortar.

Nave:

Divided from the aisles by 6 columns. 6.6 m. wide. Most of the mosaic floor was destroyed.

Aisles:

In the southern aisle, 2.8m wide, a mosaic floor 7m long was uncovered. The mosaic is decorated with plants and birds which suffered iconoclastic damage. In the middle of the mosaic is a dedicatory inscription of Georgius was uncoveredan.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The apse is 4,25 m. wide and about 6.2 m. deep. The apse is raised higher then the bema which is located in the nave. The bema was reached through two steps. The upper step has groves for a chancel. The bema and apse were decorated with mosaics.

Lateral spaces:

The southern apse is 1.85 m. wide and 1.4 m. deep. A raised platform was built in it.

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Inscription - see under epigraphy	In the middle of the southern aisle a Greek inscription of seven lines was found. The inscription mentions the name "Georgius".
Other	According to Ma'oz (NEAEHL 1993: 586) some finds from Chispin are presented in the National Museum of Damascus: "a silver bowl, an elephant-shaped bronze juglet, a bronze figurine of Venus, bronze surgical instruments, an incense shovel, and several glass vessels, including bowls and trays of millefiori glass and light opaque glass amphoriskoi and juglets, gold earrings (ring bearing a disk), pearl pendants, ivory boxes (with three Graces on a pyramidal lid or Venus, Eros, and two animals)". SOm eof these finds might be of the ecclesiastical origin.

Detailed description

Structure

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

East end:

External apses, round

Church Head/Chevet:

tri-apsidal

Architectural Evolution

Dating material	Iconoclastic evidence	Iconoclastic evidence comments	Phase no.	Century
Based on the style of the mosaic.			Phase 1	5th c.
Was still in use in the 6th and 7th c.	Yes	The birds were defaced by iconoclastic damage.	Phase 2	6th-7th c.
Based on the pottery, the settlement came to an end in the seventh century. The iconoclastic damage shows the church survived untill at least the begininnig of the 8th century.			Abandonment	8th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Still in use

Post conquest history comments:

At least until the iconoclastic damage and possibly later.

Conclusions:

Three stages of construction were identified as well as repairs, but no details were provided.