‘En Suweinit (Wadi Suweinit, el-ʿAleiliyat) Complete

Description

En Suweinit (also Wadi Suweinit, el-ʿAleiliyat) preserves the remains of a large Judean Desert laura. The complex has been identified with the community founded by Firminus, a disciple of Sabas, circa 515 CE. This attribution, based on Cyril of Scythopolis (V. Sab. 16), was proposed by Legrange in 1895. Archaeological and textual indicators place the main phase of occupation in the sixth century and the opening decades of the seventh; abandonment followed in the Early Islamic period. In subsequent times the caves saw pastoral reuse. Topographically, Wadi Suweinit flows into Wadi el Kilt from the north. East of the village of Muchmâs (biblical Mikhmas) it contracts into a narrow gorge with precipitous cliffs of hard limestone and dolomite, honeycombed with caves. These cavities functioned as refuges for Jews during the late Second Temple era and the Bar Kokhba revolt before their adaptation for monastic purposes. The monastic installation is extensive, with at least forty cells recorded and associated features spread over a wide area. The earliest elements recognized as belonging to the laura were the caves called el-ʿAleiliyat in the steep central section of the wadi; later surveys added further sectors. The nucleus of the settlement occupies the rim of the northern cliff, where caves, a cistern, fields, terracing, and a church cluster together. Internal circulation was provided by a network of paths linking peripheral cells to this core. At the center lay a modest courtyard bordered by the chapel, living quarters, and a cistern. On the western side of the complex rises a well-built tower known as el-Maqtara, measuring 8.6 x 9.4 m; indentations at its entrance show that it could be secured by a door, and the interior was partitioned into rooms. Ecclesiastical buildings include a principal chapel on the eastern side, 17 x 7 m in plan, which may have carried a second story. A second, small and well-preserved chapel stands near the spring of 'Ein Suweinit; this structure (8.5 x 8 m) has a white mosaic pavement and bears a Syriac inscription naming the priest Silas. Residential remains are numerous. Around the church complex lie approximately twenty cells, averaging 4 x 6 m, spaced at roughly 45 m intervals. A further twenty cells extend eastward on both flanks of the wadi. Some dwellings occupy natural caves, and three “hanging caves” with built structures beneath them are located in the central sector of the laura. Burial evidence consists of two cave tombs. One, about 1 km east of the core, contains broad, deep chambers and a small chapel. The other, roughly 2.5 km from the nucleus and situated among the cells, yielded a fragment of a stone chancel screen, suggesting the presence of a funerary chapel. Water management relied primarily on cisterns: most cells possess individual tanks, complemented by an additional cistern in the core zone. Small garden plots occur adjacent to many cells. Agricultural terraces line the southern bank of Wadi Suweinit for approximately 2.5 km, reflecting the cultivation that supported the community. Map source: Hirschfeld 1992, fig. 29.