ZIPH - Church
Church Name, type, function
Site Name:
ZIPH
Identification:
Tell Ziph; Tell Zif; Tell ez-Zîf; Tall Zīf; Tell Zīf.
The tell is identified with the biblical site of Ziph (Josh. 15:55; II Chron. 11:8). It became a venerated site during the Byzantine period. The Early-Byzantine village is mentioned in Eusebius' Onomasticon (On. 92:19) and the church is mentioned by Cyril of Scythopolis (Life of Euthymius 11-12, 22; Di Segni 2005: 87-88). See: Thomsen 1907: 64; Abel 1933-38 II: 490; Avi-Yonah 1976: 104; TIR: 262 (in the latter two, Tell Zif is identified with the adjacent ruin of Kh. Zif (Kh. Abu el-Hammam); Di Segni 2005a: 88.
In the medieval tradition (Bar Salibi and the anonymous compilers of Synaxaries (Arabic Synaxary: see Bagatti, Euntes Docete 30, 1977, 261) the Ziph was identified also as the place where John the Baptist spent his adolescence.
Church name:
Church
Functional Type:
Parochial
Dedication:
Unknown
Church type:
Basilical
Location
Coordinates, ITM system:
21,283.00
59,818.00
Coordinates, ICS system:
16,283.00
9,818.00
Geographical region:
Hebron Hills
Topographical location:
On the western slope of ancient tell
Distance from nearest settlement:
5.5 km southeast of Hebron
Distance from Roman roads:
On the ancient road junction of Hebron, Bani Na'im-Caphar Baricha, Kh. el-Karmil-Chermela
Provincial affiliation:
Palaestina I
Bishopric:
Eleutheropolis
Source of knowledge
Literary sources:
Literary sources
Archaeological remains
Surveyed site
Surveyors:
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
Robinson and Smith | 1841 |
Guerin | 1860s |
Palmer | 1860-70 |
Tristam | 1880s |
Conder and Kitchener | 1880s |
Mader | 1910s |
Alt | 1920s |
Corbo | Jan.14, 1946 |
Kochavi | 1967/8 |
Avi-Yonah | 1980 |
Schwartz | 1986 |
Reeg | 1980s |
Safrai | 1990s |
Y. Baruch | 1993-5 |
H. Shkolnik, V. Bowlin, B. Bowlin, S. Tarkhanova | 2017/8 |
Excavated site
Excavators:
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
H. Shkolnik, on behalf of Civil Administration | March 2018 |
History:
Between the years 420 and 428, as Cyril of Scythopolis had written in Life of St. Euthymius, the saint moved into the desert of Zif, to visit the caves where King David has been living after he was expelled by Saul. After Euthymius had committed the miracle on the son of the peasant from Aristobulias, the dwellers of Zif came in search of him. Among them were also Manicheans, whom the saint converted into the Orthodoxy.
Bibliograpy:
General description
State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:
Tel Zif, most probably, was inhabited by Jews till the fourth century at least. Yuval Baruch wrote that the church was found during his survey in 1993-5 on the western slope of tell. It contained the apse from the eastern side, built in a nicely carved ashlars (two coarse of stone maximum) and covered with the delicate white plaster from the inner side. Baruch supposed it to be a central apse, though the general dimensions and proportions of the church, visible comparatively well, show that it was rather a lateral (north) apse of the triapsidal church, than a central one. To the north from this apse Baruch had reported the cave, which he identified as a crypt. The entrance to the cave was decorated with three arched stones, adorned with relief Maltese cross. In 2017-18 the surveys were conducted on the spot, directed by Haim Shkolnik, assisted by Brad Bowlin, Veronica Bowlin, Svetlana Tarkhanova. Few sones of the northern apse were reopened, densely covered with bushes and grass. The arched stones of the so called crypt were not in situ anymore. The topsoil contained potsherds, tesserae of different tints (including white, red, brown, gray, black). In the north-west part of the church chips from recently destroyed marble details were revealed during the survey in 2018 (Shkolnik, Ramon, Tarkhanova). After the surveys, it became possible to organize short salvage excavations in the church, mainly in the eastern side and partially in the western. The excavations directed by Haim Shkolnik had revealed the northern apse. The voussoir stones, that were considered the lower course of the apse, actually turned up to be the upper one, with several more courses below, more than 2 m high. While the results of the excavations are not published yet, it is only possible to note, that the apse, buitl with the fine ashlars of limestone, was inserted (built-in) into the "pastophorium", hewn in the bedrock. Two members of the shafts were found: one from the main colonnades, the other apparently belonged to the galleries (reused in the Early Islamic domestic building). Also the door/window lintel, decorated with the cross, was revealed. The floors of the apse were reveted with fine tiles of mizzi akhmar stone (no parallels). In front of the apse two stones with the rough center and dressed margins were found. Their rough central parts were adorned with small triangular incisions or herringbone pattern, bearing exclusively decorative character. Probably, earlier than the church (Hellenistic spolia?). Also the members of the liturgical furniture were revealed, including fine perforated chancel screen panel. In the western part of the church, in the anticipated narthex, the mosaic inscription with the donor's name was found.
Description
Illustrative material:
Atrium:
unknown
Narthex:
unknown
Façade and entries:
unknown
Bema, chancel screen and apse:
The remains of the lateral (northern) apse were revealed. It was built from monumental voussoir stones, from which six-seven courses were revealed.
Small finds
Small finds:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
Glass | Window panes. Byzantine. |
Glass | Hanging lanterns. Byzantine. |
Oil lamps | Ceramic and glass oil lamps. Bronze holders and wicks. Byzantine. |
Coins | In the church plenty of coins were found, dating to the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th centuries, epitomizing long term of use. |
Small finds illustrative material:
Detailed description
Structure
Orientation:
Facing east
Materials applied (walls):
Limestone
Materials applied (roofing):
tiles
Water cistern:
Yes
Narthex:
Yes
Aisles:
2
Capital types:
Corinthian
East end:
Internal apses
Church Head/Chevet:
tri-apsidal
Altar remains:
no remains
Crypt
Accessibility and description:
There is a cave on the northern side of the basilica, accessed from the northern aisle, near the northern apse. It was referred to as a crypt, in spite of the fact that it is not located under the church, but on its north. The entrance to the cave was through a built arch the keystone of which was decorated with a carved Maltese cross.
Function:
Unknown.
Crypt photos and plans:
Architectural Evolution
| Phase name (as published) | General outline | Phase no. | Century |
|---|---|---|---|
Byzantine | According to the architectural style of the church, mainly its marvelously built triapsidal eastern head, it could be built not earlier than in the late 5th century - beginning of the 6 century CE. Such architectural quality of the triapsidal churches became possible only after the church of St. Simeon in Qalat Seman (580s). | Phase 1 | 5th-6th c. |
Early Islamic | Abandoned allegedly after the Persian conquest in 614. In the 8th century partially rebuilt for the domestic purposes (in the northern aisle). | Abandonment | 7th-8th c. |
Post Arab conquest history:
Modified
Post conquest history comments:
According to Haim Shkolnik, the church was abandoned in the 7th century. The new population used its galleries as warehouse/storage for provision. In the 8th century after the church was collapsed and burnt, it was reused for the domestic purposes.
Conclusions:
The tell has a deep Biblical prehistory with layers from the Bronze age till Iron. In Hellenistic and Roman periods tell was densely populated, what is epitomized by the numismatic and pottery data, as well as by several Roman tombs (excavated by Baruch in 1997). From the Byzantine period only the church is observed so far, though from the historical sources we know about the existence of the village also. Probably, the church was still used during the Early Islamic period, but not for liturgical purposes.
The technical and style features of the apse and its architectural decoration epitomize the highest quality level, ever found in Judean ecclesiatical buildings. Most probably, it venerated the important locus sanctus of the Early Byzantine period. By the theory of Haim Shkolnik, the "crypt" to the north from the northern apse was a room, easily reached from the aisle. It could be that very cave, in which St. Euthimius remembered King David, hiding from Saul. In the vicinity of the church (to south-west) a large subterranean wine-press was found, with the crushing stones and weights scattered in the cave, epitomizing the production of the wine, probably, for the pilgrims. In the same place two barrel-vaulted cisterns were found.