This mosaic found near Moshav Ness Harim includes a dedicatory inscription in acient Greek. Photo: Daniel Ein Mor / Antiquities Authority
Posted on 03/11/2009 6:02:01 PM PDT by SJackson
A church dating from the Byzantine period (sixth-seventh centuries CE) and paved with beautiful mosaics and a dedicatory inscription has been exposed at an Antiquities Authority excavation at Horvat a-Diri, 5 km. east of Bet Shemesh, in the wake of plans to enlarge the nearby Moshav Ness Harim.
This mosaic found near Moshav Ness Harim includes a dedicatory inscription in acient Greek. Photo: Daniel Ein Mor / Antiquities Authority
"The site was surrounded by a small forest of oak trees and is covered with farming terraces that were cultivated by the residents of Ness Harim. Prior to the excavation, we discerned unusually large quantities of pottery sherds from the Byzantine period and thousands of mosaic tesserae [mosaic cubes] that were scattered across the surface level," said archeologist Daniel Ein Mor, director of the excavation for the authority.
The excavation seems to have revealed the very center of the site, which extends across approximately 15 dunams, or 1.5 hectares, along the slope of a spur that descends toward Nahal Dolev.
During the first season of excavation (November 2008) the church's narthex (the broad entrance at the front of the church's nave) was exposed in which there was a carpet of multicolored mosaics adorned with geometric patterns of intertwined parallelograms separated by flower bud motifs. A complex wine press was partly exposed.
Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the excavation, this mosaic was almost completely destroyed by unidentified vandals.
The mosaic includes a dedicatory inscription written in ancient Greek that was deciphered by Dr. Leah Di Signi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: "O Lord God of Saint Theodorus, protect Antonius and Theodosia the illustres [a title used to distinguish high nobility in the Byzantine period] - Theophylactus and John the priest (or priests). [Remember o Lord] Mary and John who have offe[red - ] in the 6th indiction. Lord, have pity of Stephen."
Various phases that were used after the church was abandoned in the later part of the Byzantine period were discerned elsewhere in the structure. The mosaic floor was completely destroyed in different places and the area inside the church was put to secondary use. Industrial installations that are ascribed to the same phase were found which attest to the functional change the building underwent during the end of the Byzantine period-beginning of the Early Islamic period (seventh century CE).
"We know of other Byzantine churches and sites that are believed to be Byzantine monasteries, which are located in the surrounding region. The excavation at Ness Harim supplements our knowledge about the nature of the Christian-Byzantine settlement in the rural areas between the main cities in this part of the country during the Byzantine period, among them Bet Guvrin, Emmaus and Jerusalem," Ein Mor said.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Vandalized? Gee who would do a thing like that to a historical Christian sight? Uh shoot, doggone if i would hazzard a guess...LOL.
Grrrrr!
Christ Era
4200-4400 if you prefer.
Disgruntled youth.
could it be the A-M-I-S-H?
You know, the Middle Eastern A-M-I-S-H?
Good one, no matter how hard they try, it won't work. BCE can be Before Christ's Era, anything to remind people of the One who divided time, Jesus Christ. They can't get around it.
20 years from now some kid will ask. When did the CE start? How they going to answer that one?
Same here...that would be AD not “common era”.
I do find a comfort in the fact that a farm had sprung up on the area, somehow people being fed reminds one of the way things should be.
But if that gags some folks, then I'd prefer they use the Jewish Calendar ... for honesty's sake.
The recent fad of attempting to deChristianize the Christian calendar is both stupid and dishonest.
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Thanks Peanut Gallery. This is impossible of course, because no one lived anywhere in the Middle East until Moslem Arabs got there. ;') |
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Must be the Joooos again!
I generally do too, other than when someone is forcing the issue, the meaning of AD carries no significance to me and I don't consider it an expression of faith. I've noted those who complain the loudest, often have the least interest in the underlying concept. I'll note that there's been criticism here on FR both for using the Hebrew calendar (the JP does along with the Gregorian) and the hyphenated G-d spelling, since we're an English speaking country. To the extant that CE/BCE is used to "deny" Christianity, which I suspect isn't all that much, thats kind of silly.
I first noticed CE/BCE cropping up just over 20 years ago. At the time, it appeared to be motivated by anti-intellectualism (AD is Latin) and a vague desire to dechristianize the calendar. I note that international engineering journals (see, for example, any publication of the IEEE) use bote SI and SAE units. It seems to me that publications which appeal to both Jews and Christians could likewise use both the Gregorian and Hebrew calendars ... and then label the Gregorian year "AD" without offending anybody.
I’d probably attribute it to a desire to secularize the fields, which isn’t ani-Christian but has the same impact not just for Christianity but all religions. Though I noted I usually use AD, only when there might be some confusion. In this case I’d simply say 5th or 6th century, the time frame being obvious. For those very few who view it as a religious invocation, I’d view their non-use as a matter of respect, but I suspect that’s rare. But it’s a shame when CE/BCE becomes the issue, rather than the Church being excavated.
". I don't agree with such criticism. I also don't agree with the necessity of leaving out the "o". It seems (to me) to border on pecksniffery, but in our profane and coarse culture complaint about "excessive reverence" seems (to me) to be misplaced.
It’s usually misunderstood as a prohibition against writing the name, actually it’s a Commandment against destruction, citation below, my bold. Most Rabbi’s don’t apply the prohibition to the internet, but it’s not physically written to avoid the possibility of destruction of the document, thus the name. In serious publications, prayer book translations and such, you’ll find God, as you will in serious articles. In a casual note likely to be thrown out, G-d would be more appropriate, and some people use in in all instances, including electronic, given the possibility of printing content on paper. Even in that case, the transgression would be that of the reader/printer, not the author.
Deuteronomy 12:3-43. And you shall tear down their altars, smash their monuments, burn their asherim with fire, cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name from that place
4. You shall not do so to the Lord, your God.
BTW, the Chapter/Verse notations are a largely Christian device, now used in most Jewish texts, including Hebrew.
Anyone who is a student of Elohim's Holy Word knows The use of the term AD is an insult to the loving G-d AD is Latin for year of the lord.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
that YHvH who created the universe would be offended
to think that the first 4000 years was rejected.
who created this time-space continuum for us.
I think you're wrong.
As usual.
Good Day.
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