so called the Middle Church Complete

ID: 151

Building type: church

Context:

urban/rural

Site:

Inscriptions:

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Description:

In a later phase, a rectangular chancel was appended and furnished with an altar screened by a barrier, a configuration that points to a renovation in the 6th century CE. The altar comprised two marble slabs—one rectangular and one circular—set upon marble columns. Beneath it, archaeologists found a marble reliquary bearing a cross rendered in low relief; fashioned in the manner of a sarcophagus, it enclosed bones from a hand and fingers. In its earlier form, the Middle Church was an oblong, partially sunken hall measuring 19 by 8.5 meters. The plan omitted an apse but incorporated two small chambers at the eastern end. Access was provided through two narrow doorways, with stairways descending along the north and south sides. Bibliography: Al-Bashaireh K., Al Housa A.Q., Provenance of marble elements from the Middle Church at Hayyan Al-Mushrif, Northeast Jordan: a multidisciplinary approach, in: Archaeological and Anthropological Science, 2018.