Table Of ContentCHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY
MONASTERY OF MARTYRIUS
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[II]
YITZHAK MAGEN
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY
VOLUME V
MONASTERY OF MARTYRIUS
17
Staff Officer of Archaeology — Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria
Israel Antiquities Authority
Jerusalem 2015
157
23
Editor: Ayelet Hashahar Malka
English Translation: Edward Levin and Jill Harish
English Style: Janet Barshalev
Typesetting, Design and Production: Keterpress Enterprises, Jerusalem
Plates, Maps and Printing by Keterpress Enterprises, Jerusalem
ISBN 978-965-406-256-5
© 2015 Staff Officer of Archaeology — Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
in any form without permission from the publisher.
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This book is dedicated to the memory of my
teacher and friend, Prof. Yoram Tsafrir,
of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
for his long-standing contribution to the
advancement of archaeological research in Israel
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CONTENTS
Preface IX
Abbreviations XI
Chapter One: Historical and Archaeological Background 1
Chapter Two: Construction Phases 13
Chapter Three: Architectural Remains at the Site 35
Chapter Four: Architectural Elements and Stone Objects 223
Chapter Five: Pottery Vessels 263
Chapter Six: Oil Lamps and Lanterns 321
Chapter Seven: Byzantine Glass Vessels and Windowpanes 335
Chapter Eight: Metal Artifacts 357
Chapter Nine: Tiles 377
Chapter Ten: Coin Catalogue 383
Gabriela Bijovsky and Ariel Berman
Bibliography 387
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PREFACE
During the Byzantine period, a new and previously unknown settlement movement developed
and flourished in the Judean Desert and throughout the Land of Israel. Christian monasteries
were established in the Judean Desert, in Jerusalem and its environs, and in many other
parts of the Land of Israel, and were occupied by pilgrims and monks, most of whom came
from the Christian world. Before this period, the Judean Desert was a largely abandoned
region, home to nomadic shepherds who followed their flocks from place to place. The
Bible portrayed the desert in negative terms: wilderness, wasteland, the land of the shadow
of death, etc.
In addition to the nomadic inhabitants known as Saracens, the area was filled with dozens of
monasteries populated by thousands of monks, who were a major element in the flourishing
of Christianity in the Land of Israel. Some of these monks gained important positions in the
Christian religious establishment in Jerusalem and in other places.
The beginnings of monasticism in the Land of Israel are associated with Hilarion of Thabatha
(near Gaza), and Chariton of Iconium, who established monasteries in the first half of the fourth
century CE. The first monks lived mostly in hermitages, in caves and rock shelters. Over time,
monasteries were built, around which the cave-dwelling hermits congregated. This type of
monastery is known as a laura. On Sundays the hermit monks would come to the monastery for
prayer and a meal. Another type of monastery is the coenobium, in which monks lived a full
communal life.
In the fifth and sixth centuries CE, the establishment of monasteries increased dramatically, as
did the number of monks living in the Judean Desert. One of the central figures was Euthymius,
who was born in Melitene, capital of Armenia (present day Malatia, in central Anatolia) and
came to the Holy Land in 406 CE. After years of wandering in the desert, he established a
monastery, named after him, identified with the site of Khan el-Aḥmar, located in present-day
Mishor Adummim.
Cyril of Scythopolis, hagiographer of monastic life in the Judean Desert, tells of two monks
who came to the monastery of Euthymius and became his disciples. One of these was Elias, from
Provincia Arabia, and the other was Martyrius from Cappadocia. After a while, Martyrius left
the monastery and settled in a cave, 4 kilometers to the west, where he established a monastery
named after him. He later served in Jerusalem and was appointed Patriarch; and was replaced as
head of the monastery of Martyrius by the monk Abba Paul.
Researchers in past centuries identified Kh. el-Muraṣṣaṣ with the monastery of Martyrius,
mentioned in the sources, because of their similar sounding names and its proximity to Khan
el-Aḥmar. The excavations indeed revealed an inscription on a splendid reddish-colored
tombstone: “Tomb of Paul, priest and archimandrite.” In the Life of Euthymius by Cyril of
Scythopolis, Paul is named as having headed the monastery of Martyrius. Thus the researchers’
assumption that Kh. el-Muraṣṣaṣ is the monastery of Martyrius was proven unequivocally.
Towards the end of the 1970s, when the town of Maʿale Adummim was being planned, a
regional survey was performed and Kh. el-Muraṣṣaṣ was documented. My predecessor was
unable to gauge the size and importance of the site and its potential for tourism, and could
not stand up to the town’s developers and planners. He allowed them to surround the site with
massive buildings, some with windows just a few meters from the refectory, in which one of the
most splendid mosaics was found; and thus the fate of the site was sealed.
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Instead of being a tourist gem in a flourishing town, the site has become an architectural
sore in the urban landscape. Dense construction around the site and the absence of appropriate
parking areas have seriously impacted excavations, preservation, and the ability to develop the
site for tourism. Despite the difficulties, we began lengthy excavations in 1981 until 1985, and
over the years carried out preservation and restoration, and opened the site to the general public.
Today the site is maintained by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Unfortunately, as a result
of massive building around the site, many remains were damaged, particularly the agricultural
areas from the Early Islamic period.
Many people helped with this project, but the passage of time—an entire generation—
has almost certainly resulted in entities and people who took part being overlooked and not
mentioned here, for which I apologize.
First of all, I would like to thank the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria; and the
Israel Antiquities Authority and its director, Mr. Israel Hasson, and Mr. Beni Harpaz, the Chief
Financial Officer. I would also like to thank Silvia Krapiwko, as well as the entire staff of
the Israel Antiquities Authority for its daily assistance and support to the Judea and Samaria
Publications unit. Thanks: to the Maʿale Adummim Municipality, and in particular to the
mayor, Mr. Beni Kashriel, for his assistance in developing the tourist sites within the town—
the monastery of Martyrius, the monastery of Euthymius, and the Good Samaritan Museum; to
the Ministry of Housing and Construction; to Yahel Engineers Project Initiation Ltd.; and to the
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and curator Dudi Mevorach.
I would like to thank those who helped with the excavations, restoration of the site, processing
the material, and publication: the late Uri Dinur, Dr. Haim Goldfus, Dr. Lev Arie Kapitaikin,
Dorit Kirschner, Gavri Banai, Hananya Hizmi, Muhamad Nasser (Abu Issa), Seif el-Din
Hadad, Abed Aziz Rejub, Felix Portnov, Pavel Gertopsky, Tanya Slutsky, Anna Tsypin, Miriam
Manukian, Leen Ritmeyer and Evi Gassner. Thanks to: Zeev Radovan, Shlomi Ammami,
ʾ
Assaf Peretz, Ronny Ben Haim, Lior Shapira, and Avraham Hay, who were responsible for
photography; Yael Gorin-Rosen for her assistance with the glass report; Dr. Gabriela Bijovsky
and Ariel Berman for identification of the coins; and to Tania Cohen, Dorit Gutreich, and Alina
Pikovsky-Yoffe, who assisted with preparation of the material finds for publication.
I would also like to express special appreciation to Prof. Rina Talgam, who helped research
the mosaics, and to Dr. Leah Di Segni, who read the Greek inscriptions; and also to Keter
Enterprises, especially Asaf Ben-Or and Tal Zeidani, and to the English style editor, Janet
Barshalev.
To conclude, special thanks to: Baruch Yuzefovsky, who helped with the excavations and the
publication of the archaeological finds; Netta Mitki, who helped with the editing; Yoav Tzionit,
senior curator of the Staff Office for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria, without whom this
publication would not have come into being; and to the editor of this book, Ayelet Hashahar
Malka, who, with endless persistence, steadfastness, and untiring hard work, has succeeded in
bringing this difficult and complex book to publication.
May they all be blessed.
Dr. Yitzhak Magen
Head of Judea and Samaria Publications
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