14456 - Bethlehem in Galilee; Bethlehem of Zebulun - Basilica

Bethlehem in Galilee; Bethlehem of Zebulun - Basilica

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Bethlehem in Galilee; Bethlehem of Zebulun

Identification:

Some scholars (Oshri 2005) maintain that this Bethlehem, located 13 km to the north-west from Nazareth, was the real place of Christ's birth.

Church name:

Basilica

Functional Type:

Monastic

Dedication:

unknown

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with two annexed chapels

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

217,806.00

737,802.00

Geographical region:

Lower Galilee

Topographical location:

Beit Lahm is situated on two hills south of Nahal Zippori,along the north. edge of the Jezreel Valley and east of Qiryat Tiv‘on, on the south.border of the chalk hills of Alonim-Shefar‘am (120 m a.s.l.)The church was on the western hill of the settlement.

Distance from nearest bishop-seat:

12 km to the south-west from Sepphoris

Distance from nearest settlement:

13 km to the north-west from Nazareth

Distance from Roman roads:

Ca. 5 km from the road connecting Sepphoris and Legio Maximianopolis and ca. 13 km from the road connecting Ptolemais and Legio Maximianopolis

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina II

Bishopric:

Sepphoris

Source of knowledge

Literary sources:

Literary sources

Epigraphy:

Epigraphy

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Guérin	1880
Conder and Kitchener	1881
Dalman	1921
Ovadiah	1965
Raban	ca. 1982

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Ovadiah	1965
Oshri	1992-2003
Dalali-Amos	2011

Bibliograpy:

Guérin, V., 1880
Conder, C. R. and Kitchener, H. H., 1881
Stummer, F., 1930
Ovadiah, A., 1965
Rosenthal, R., 1975
Ovadiah, A. and De Silva, C. G., 1981
Raban, A., 1982
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	83-84
Oshri, A., 1998
Oshri, A., 2000
Bagatti, B., 2001
Michel, V., 2004	Vol. 2, 228-29; Vol. 3, p. 177, Figs. 372-3
Oshri, A., 2005
Oshri, A., 2008

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Ovadiah had excavated its southern part in 1965 (without publishing a plan, extant in IAA archive), and Oshri, some 30 years later, the northern part. This part comprised of the northern part of the northern aisle (which had a polygonal apse on its exterior) and an attached hall to its north. The rest of the church was not exposed, hence its width cannot be determined. Since the part uncovered by Ovadiah was not apsidal, it seems that it was the eastern part of a quadrangular chapel attached on the south, rather than the southern aisle. Hence, the church had two annexes – one on the south; the second – on the north. While the part exposed by Ovadiah, which had a lavish mosaic floor, looks like the eastern part of a quadrangular prothesis chapel, the northern annex had, according to Michel, two sub-phases. In the first it was quadrangular; in the second the eastern wall was replaced by an external apse in which a semi-circular baptismal font was installed. The annex might have served as a baptistery already in the first sub-phase of this annex. The fact that its western, eastern and northern walls were just one stone thick, unlike the northern wall of the basilica, may suggest that it was a later addition. The church was ca. 40 m long, including an atrium. Plenty of architectural members were preserved, including columns and column stumps, bases, parts of the chancel screen (posts and a panel adorned with a cross and a wavy band). On the mosaic floor iron nails were found scattered as well as pieces of a plastered floor which were fallen from the church’s upper galleries.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

30 m wide.

Aisles:

The southern aisle was partially excavated by Ovadiah. The aisle had a lavish mosaic floor and terminated with an apse. Upon the mosaic he found plenty of the chancel screen fragments, roof tiles and a layer of ashes, indicating that the church was destroyed in a fire. Oshri uncovered the northern aisle, 24 m long and its eastern end also terminated in an apse. The said apse was mosaic paved in geometric patterns and in its middle - a fan-like pattern. It seems that the apse was polygonal on its exterior, and likewise the entire church-head. The floor is covered with the decorative mosaic of medallions made of vine trellises that apparently issued from an amphora in the center of the western end of the pavement. The medallions contained depictions of a variety of animals and plant motifs.

Lateral spaces:

Apsidal on both sides. Remains of a stylobate for a screen plate and post preserved in situ near the northern apse, at the eastern end of the aisle, indicate that this part served as an internal Maryrs' Chapel. It was raised by 20cm relateive to the aisle's floor. This suggests a T-shaped bema. A columnette and marble fragments uncovered in the apse might had belonged to the screen or to a secondary table.

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Aisles:

Capital types:

Doric

East end:

External apses, polygonal

Church Head/Chevet:

tri-apsidal

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Lateral Apses Function

Location:

N & S

Northern apse description and function:

The eastern end of the aisle, in front of the apse, was bared by a screen, indicating that this area served as a Martyr's chapel.

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

N apse

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

The eastern end of the aisle, in front of the apse, was bared by a screen, indicating that this area served as a Martyr's chapel.

Upper galleries

Upper galleries:

above both aisles

Attached structures

Att structures photos and planes:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

The part exposed by Ovadiah had a lavish mosaic floor. It looks like the eastern part of a quadrangular prothesis chapel.

Baptistery:

Apsidal chapel

Baptistery description:

A baptismal chapel (13x4.5 m in dimensions) was attached to the church on the north. The semi-circular font (Ben-Pechat type 3a), masonry built, 1.5x1m in dimension and 0.69m deep, was sunken into the floor of the apse. It was lined with stone slabs. Its floor was of white mosaics. Three piers were attached to the northern wall, supporting the hall’s ceiling by three arches. According to V. Michel (2004), the apsidal layout was preceded by a rectangular chapel without an apse. The western, eastern and northern walls of the annexed hall are just one stone thick. In a later stage the eastern wall was dismantled to is lowest course and replaced by a protruding apse, two stones thick, with a fill in between. The earlier wall served as a copping of the semi-circular font installed in the apse. In the first, quadrangular phase the annex might had served as a baptistery as well. Given the fact that its walls were just one-stone thick, it might have been an additional annex.

Architectural Evolution

General outline	Dating material	Iconoclastic evidence	Phase no.	Century	Within century	Subphase A - Century	Subphase B - Century
Tri apsidal church with annexed chapels on the north and south. The fact that the western, eastern and northern walls of the northern annex are just one stone thick may suggest that this was a later addition. According to V. Michel (2004), its apsidal layout was preceded by a rectangular chapel without an apse. In a later stage the eastern wall was dismantled to is lowest course and replaced by a protruding apse, two stones thick, with a fill in between. The earlier wall served as a copping of the semi-circular font installed in the apse. This transformation may differentiate between sub-phases A and B.	The general plan, style of the mosaic floors, numismatic and ceramic finds suggest that the church is to be dated to the sixth century.		Phase 1	6th c.		6th c.	6th c.
	According to Ovadiah and Oshri, traces of ashes over the floor were revealed, attesting thus the destruction of the church during the Persian invasion. But two coins were found in the font, one gold, another silver - a dinar and a dirham from the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil (mid. of the 9th century CE - 847 - 861) attest that part of the building was still in use at that time.	No	Abandonment	7th c.	Early

Post conquest history comments:

The church was destroyed during the Persian conquest of 614 CE, but some parts of the former church (such as the font of the baptistery) were still used in the 9th century. But it is doubtful if the building still served as an active church.

Conclusions:

The Byzantine complex comprises a big church with two annexed chapels on its north and south. In its final stage the northern annex was apsidal and a semi-circular baptismal font was installed in the apse. Adjacent structures, including an inn and an olive-oil press, were attributed to a monastery, but the architectural relations between all these components is not clear. The site was destroyed during the Persian conquest of 614 CE.