prayer hall Complete

ID: 185

Building type: chapel

Context:

monastery

Site:

Inscriptions:

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Description:

Situated in the eastern sector of the complex, the chapel measures 11.5 × 5.5 m, excluding the chancel and apse. The chancel is set on a higher level and, together with the inner apse, measures 7.4 × 4 m. A portico on the west side functioned as a narthex, and an additional doorway was opened in the northern wall. The prayer hall is paved in white tesserae, with a polychrome central “carpet” featuring a populated vine motif. Benches were set above the mosaic floor along both sides of the space. The pavement is organized into two panels executed solely in red, black, and white. The eastern panel (3.15 × 2.70 m) bears a fish-scale design, each scale centered by a bud; the motif is oriented toward the western field (Figs. 44–45). The western panel (4.00 × 2.70 m) is adorned with an amphora from which vines spring; only the upper part of the amphora survives. On either side of the vessel stand two confronting peacocks. Above them, in a second tier, four animals are shown: two heraldic horned quadrupeds—probably ibex—flank the vine stem, accompanied by birds. A depiction of a bird walking along the frame of the ibex “carpet” was completely erased; it had been placed on the same side, moving along the border. The composition culminates in a pair of lions supporting a medallion that encloses a bird of prey. Such an image—two lions lifting a roundel containing a standing raptor—is almost unknown in mosaic pavements; the closest parallel appears to be at Peter in Gallicantu on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. On stylistic and compositional grounds, the chapel mosaic is best assigned to the second half of the fifth century and the early sixth century CE. Repairs are visible in five distinct areas of the floor, but they do not seem to be connected with the wave of iconoclastic damage following the decree of Yazid II in 721. No systematic restoration program is evident; selected decorative elements were damaged and subsequently patched. Bibliography: - Di Segni, L., “Greek Inscriptions from the Monastery at Khirbet el-Qaṣr,” in: Christians and Christianity IV: Churches and Monasteries in Judea, edited by Carmin, N., Jerusalem, 2012: 299–302. - Magen, Y., Har-Even, B. and Sharukh, I., “A Roman Tower and a Byzantine Monastery at Khirbet El-Qasr,” in: Christians and Christianity IV — Churches and Monasteries in Judea, edited by Carmin, N., Jerusalem, 2012: 247–298. - Kloner, A. and Hirschfeld, Y., “Khirbet el-Qasr — A Byzantine Fort with an Olive Press in the Judean Desert,” in: Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, Michael Avi-Yonah Memorial Volume, Jerusalem, 1987: 132–141.