19591 - el-Bassa; BEZETH - Chapel (?)

Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

el-Bassa; BEZETH

Church name:

Chapel (?)

Functional Type:

Unknown

Church type:

Unknown

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

1,633.00

2,762.00

Coordinates, ICS system:

2,133.00

7,762.00

Geographical region:

Western Galilee

Topographical location:

In the southern industrial zone of Shlomi. In the western outskirts of the ruined Arab village el-Bassa, below the Muslim cemetery.

Bishopric:

Tyre

Source of knowledge

Epigraphy:

HideEpigraphy

Text number	Summary
1	Six-line fragmentary dated mosaic building inscription of Maroutha the priest (?), found during a salvage excavation in the southern industrial zone of Shelomi, from an unidentified religious building perhaps belonging to the same monastic complex, 567/568 (?).
2	Plaque of white marble with an imperial grant of asylum to an oratory of the prophet Zacharias, found on two separate occasions in the village of el-Bassa, from a ghost church perhaps belonging to the same monastic complex, late 6th cent.

Archaeological remains

Surveyed site

Surveyors:

Name	Date
Van de Velde	1851-52
Tristram	1865
Guérin	1880

Excavated site

Excavators:

Name	Date
Tahan	2001

History:

Bezeth was a Jewish town. The Arab village el-Bassa, destroyed in 1948, was mostly Christian. The present town of Shlomi was built nearby.

Bibliograpy:

Van de Velde, C. W. M., 1854	254
Tristram, H. B., 1866
Guérin, V., 1880	II, 152-153
Tsafrir, Y., Di Segni, L. and Green, J., 1994	89
Frankel, R., Getzov, N. , Aviam, M. and Degani, A., 2001	17, sites 81, 82, 153; 114-116
Bagatti, B., 2001	153-155
Tahan, H. and Syon, D., 2010

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

A mosaic paved chamber with a 6 lines long dated Greek inscription in a rectangular frame, dated to 567/8 CE and identifying it as a holy place.The cross at the beginning of the inscription indicates that it is Christian. The axiality of the inscription differs than that of the mosaic carpet and the eastern wall of the chamber. Its identity as a chapel is possible, but not certain. Another Greek inscription, mentioning an oratory of the prophet Zacharias was found in the Arab village in the 19th c. (See under Epigraphy). Another Greek inscription, on a reliquary lid, was also found the Arab village, but its archaeological context is unknown.

Description

Small finds

Architectural Evolution

Phase name (as published)	General outline	Dating material	Phase no.	Century	Within century
Stratum 2	As in the General Description.	The Greek mosaic inscription is dated to 567/8 CE. A coin of Justinus II of 573/4. 6th-7th c. pottery.	Phase 1	6th c.	Second half
		Samall amount of pottery of the 6th-7th c.	Abandonment	7th c.