17959 - Ramat Beth Shemesh - Church of the Glorious Martyr

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Ramat Beth Shemesh

Identification:

Labelled after the Glorious Martyr mentioned in a Greek inscription in the atrium. It was suggested (Storchan 2021) that the martyr is Holy Zacharias - a church depicted on the Madaba map and mentioned by various pilgrims. But this is a farfetched proposal: Personages of the Old Testament are not called “martyrs” — not to speak of “glorious martyrs”. Several martyrs are called “glorious” in inscriptions (e.g. Sergius and Stephanus, just to mention the most popular, with scores of churches in our region and hundreds in the Near and Middle East) (L.D.S.).

Church name:

Church of the Glorious Martyr

Functional Type:

Pilgrims' church

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

199,098.00

622,802.00

Geographical region:

Shephelah

Topographical location:

In a narrow valley deliniated by two hills. Adjacent to it on the east is Bir Haj al-Khalil (Abraham's Well).

Distance from nearest settlement:

Ca. 15 miles SW of Jerusalem; near the village of Beit Nattif.

Distance from Roman roads:

ca. 1.5-2 km to the north from the road connected Jerusalem and Beth Govrin

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Bishopric:

Eleutheropolis

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy:

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Dated dedicatory building inscription of Malchus, priest and abbot, at the centre of the mosaic pavement of the courtyard, August 543.
2	Dated building inscription of Theodore the bishop and John, priest and abbot, within tabula ansata in the mosaic pavement of the chapel, April 583.
3	Christian acclamation within a tiny tabula ansata at the centre of the mosaic pavement of the bema of the chapel.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
B. Storchan, IAA, salvage excavations	2017-2020

Bibliograpy:

Storchan, B. , 2021

Di Segni, L., 2021

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A large, mosaic paved, mono-apsidal basilica with a narthex and an atrium. The domus was divided into a nave and two aisles by two colonnades of six columns on plinths. On the east, behind the church-head, a large mosaic paved hall was added in the third stage, serving as a baptistery. The eastern portico of the atrium served as a narthex. An elaborate vaulted crypt, accessed from the nave by two vaulted staircases, was instaled under the raised bema. An iron upright grill was set between two staircases that ascended to the bema, permiting direct view of the crypt from the nave. A quadrangular chapel, accessed from the narthex, was attached to the basilica on the south.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Figures

Atrium:

Large atrium, 15x29 m in dimensions was comprised of central open court and anfilades of rooms along its three sides. The eastern portico served as a narthex. A Greek inscription dated to Aug. 543 CE, was set in the center of the white mosaic floor of the atrium, dating the second, major phase of this complex.

Narthex:

Eastern portico of atrium was converted into the narthex. The entrance to the southern annexed chapel was set at its southern end. Another opening, in the southern wall led outside, and an openning on the northern wall led to the antechamber of the northern annex. On the east benches were installed between the three openings leading to the basilica.

Façade and entries:

Three openings with benches in-between were installed in the facade.

Lateral walls:

The walls were comprised of two facets of stones: the outer facet was built of large stones, flat from the outer side and left unworked on the inner side. The inner facet was laid with smaller stones and covered with the plaster (frescoed).

Nave:

Ca. 17x6.5m in dimensions. Mosaic paved.

Aisles:

Six columns, set on plinths, separated the aisles (ca. 17 x 3.1) from the nave. The eastern columns were of marble; the western one - of limestone drums.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

Due to the underlying crypt, the bema, U-shaped, was 5 stairs elevated above the nave, two staircases on its north and south leading up. A vertical iron grill set in-between let direct view of the crypt from the nave. A single synthronon bench was built against the apse, along its inner perimeter .

Lateral spaces:

Two openings flanking the apse led to a mosaic-paved hall that was built in the third phase on the east of the church-head, serving as a baptistery.

Crypt: See in the Detailed Description, crypt

Small finds

Small finds:

Category	Description
Oil lamps	Hundreds of Abbasid lamps were found in the crypt.
Oil lamps	Bronze lamps were found.
Metal objects	Window metal grid with broken glass panes were revealed.
Inscription - see under epigraphy

Small finds illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Atrium:

Yes

Water cistern:

Yes

Narthex:

Yes

Aisles:

2

Colonnades / Arcades:

Colonnade

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total	Extant in N	Extant in S
6	4	4

Capital types:

Corinthian

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with open lateral rooms or spaces (mon-aps I)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Bema type text:

Elevated more than usual; accessed from the nave by two staircases, on the north and south.

Elevation of Bema above nave:

more

Altar remains:

no remains

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Synthronon:

Yes

Synthronon remains:

grades

Synthronon location:

Against the apse

Synthronon description:

Single bench installed along the perimeter of the apse.

Crypt

Accessibility and description:

The crypt, vaulted, located under the bema. The upper part of the vault was partially open to the prayer hall, being blocked by an iron grill. It was accessed from the northern and southern ends of the nave via two parallel vaulted stairways, located on the front side of the bema, thus enabling convenient circulation of pilgrims in and out. The walls of the crypt and the descending passages were lined by marble plates. A window, later blocked, was installed in the eastern wall. A rectangular niche underneath might had held a reliquary (a lid fragment of which was found at the site).

Function:

Pilgrims crypt. Apparently it contained the relics of the Glorious Martyr.

Crypt photos and plans:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Cult of relics

Cult of relics loci:

crypt

Reliquiaries: shapes and contents:

A rectangular niche underneath the window installed in the eastern wall of the crypt might had held a reliquary (lid fragment of which was found at the site).

Baptism

Loci:

Monolith baptismal font, carved from one piece of calcite block (originating in a quarry located not too far away, to the NE of Beth Shemesh). The inner space is quadrifoil; the outer cruciform, resembling Ben-Pechat 9b, but not exact. The font was originally set in the center of a mosaic-paved hall installed in Phase 3 to the east of the church-head, accessed from both aisles. In a later stage the monolithic font was shifted, set against a later wall built across the southern part of the hall.

Font structure:

Monolithic

External shape:

cruciform

Internal shape:

quadrifoil

Ben-Pechat type:

9b

Attached structures

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon:

Quadrangular chapel

Prothesis chapel / Diakonikon description:

Mosaic paved, well preserved, attached on the south, accessed from the narthex. A Greek inscription dates the re-pavement to April 583, a short time after the deceased emperor Tiberius (578-Aug. 582), mentioned in it.

Sacristy / skeuophylakion:

Simple rectangular room

Sacristy / skeuophylakion description:

The rectangular room located to the east of the annexed southern chapel, with an ante-chamber accessed from the southern aisle, may be identified as a sacristy / skeuophylakion. Another elongated hall, extending the entire length of the basilica and annexed to it on the north, with openings on its western and eastern ends, might had served as an elongated corridor roofed by arches, rather than an elongated warehouse.

Architectural Evolution

Phase name (as published)	General outline	Dating material	Iconoclastic evidence	Iconoclastic evidence comments	Phase no.	Century	Within century	Subphase A - Century	Subphase A - Within century
Stage 1	Remains of a mosaic floor in the crypt, under its walls, suggest that the first phase, dated to the 5th c., was just a simple underground crypt that might had served for burial.				Phase 1	5th c.
Stage 2	In this phase the basilical complex was erected with the vaulted crypt replacing the primitive one. In addition, the complex included an atrium, a narthex, an annexed chapel on the south and a roofed corridor annexed on the north.	A completely preserved Greek inscription found in the center of the atrium date the construction of the complex dedicated to the Glorious Martyr to August 543 CE.	Yes		Phase 2	6th c.	Mid
Stage 3	The chapel attached to the basilica on the south was repaved.	A greek inscription mentioning emperor Tiberius II Constantine (574- Aug. 582 CE), set shortly after his death, is dated to April 583.	Yes	Evidence of iconoclastic evidence that may be attributed to the early 8th c. were encountered in the nave carpet that had depicted birds. Interestingly, the southern chapel mosaics were not affected.	Phase 3	6th c.	Late	8th c.	Early
	Following the Muslim conquest, as the flow of pilgrims decreased and likewise the size of the Christian population, the complex started to deteriorate. Various openings were blocked, suggesting deterioration of security. But Christians continued to frequent the crypt, as is indicated by a cache of some 50 intact clay oil lamps with charred nozzles, dated to the Abbasid period 9th -10th c.), uncovered in the crypt.	Pottery; oil lamps.			Abandonment	10th c.