Israeli Soldiers Accidentally Discover Byzantine Convent While Training, Again
Horbat
Hani may be named for the childless Hannah in the Bible, and this
female-oriented early Christian complex in central Israel may be where
she was buried, archaeologists suggest
The mosaic floor of the 1,500-year-old convent rediscovered by soldiers in a military zone near Shoham, central Israel.Credit: Idan Yunish / Israel Antiquities Authority Ruth Schuster
Such
is Israel: littered with precious antiquities wherever you go. Build a
road, plan a new neighborhood or just fire whatever the Israeli soldiers
fired during training in the foothills east of Shoham in 2019, and
chances are antiquities will come to light – in this case for the second
time, the Israel Antiquities Authority explained on Monday.
The
accidentally resurrected antiquity in question is a Byzantine nunnery
in central Israel, dating to about 1,500 years ago, called Horbat Hani,
or Buri el Hanaya.
Bits of its ruins were first discovered in 2002 when the army was building a road there for its own purposes, says Issy Kornfeld, director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA. A salvage excavation promptly ensued and the archaeologists discovered an early Christian religious structure – but not the usual church and monastery. No, this was a church and a convent, he explains. -
It
is not the only female-oriented early Christian complex in Israel. A
magnificent Byzantine basilica unearthed in Ashdod by the sea had female
ministers, archaeologists reported in 2021.
At
Horbat Hani (aka Horvat Hani), among the original finds were dedicatory
inscriptions to an abbess; a tower; structures that seem to have been
the nuns’ equivalent of hermit cells; signs of economic activity –
production of wine and olive oil; and a subterranean burial complex. But
only for women and children, it seems. No men.
The
preponderance of evidence led the archaeologists to conclude that it
had been a nunnery and, based on the local name of Buri el Hanaya, that
it commemorated the name of the biblical Hannah. She was one of the two
wives of Elkanah, the other being the fruitful Peninnah. Mortified at
being childless and reportedly pestered severely by Peninnah – “And her
rival vexed her sore, to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her
womb” (1 Samuel 1:6) – Hannah prays and vows, if she has a son, to
dedicate him to the service of God and never to cut his hair.
And
she did have a son, who would be Samuel: “And when she had weaned him,
she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal,
and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in
Shilo” (1 Samuel 1:24).
This
twice-revealed nunnery is where Hannah had been buried, and the name of
the local Arab village preserves her memory, IAA archaeologist Dr.
Eitan Klein postulates.
“In
the original excavation, two buildings were uncovered – one of which
was a church paved with a colorful mosaic depicting faunal and vegetal
scenes, an entrance hall, the nuns’ dormitories, hermit cells, a tower
with rooms and a crypt, an underground burial complex. The other
building included a kitchen, a refectory [dining hall] and an inn for
pilgrims,” says Kornfeld.
And
then the site was covered up with earth for the sake of its
preservation, as is done in archaeological sites that are not conserved
and developed for public view; and the army continued to train. And the
site was largely forgotten, at least by the military, it seems. The IAA
did not forget and from time to time would inspect the spot.
And
such is army training life: in 2019, the site was accidentally partly
uncovered again, this time by a blast. Oops. A “small area” of the
ancient convent was damaged, the IAA reported.
And
thus was born the initiative to “leverage” the incident, involve
soldiers in re-excavation and cleanup, explain the concepts involved in
environmental conservation, teach them about the heritage and the
history of the Land of Israel and, in short, make a community project
out of the whole thing and teach them about responsibility, explains
Kornfeld – including, presumably, where to aim things during training.
So
it came to pass that over the last month, several dozen soldiers
engaged in re-excavating the Byzantine convent of Horbat Hani, in the
framework of a educational project initiated together with the IAA: “The
Nature Defense Forces Project: Officers Take Responsibility for the
Environment.”
Asked
if the site hadn’t been known before the first time the Israeli army
damaged it in 2002, Kornfeld says that historic archaeological surveys
from the time of the British mandate (before independence in 1948) did
reveal “something there,” but they didn’t know what and one can’t
excavate every intriguing site in Israel. “We only discovered the
substance of the site after the first accident,” he says.
As
seems to have been quite usual, the convent continued to operate after
the Muslim conquest, but its fortunes apparently worsened – as did the
economies of other Christian institutions in the Holy Land at the time.
“During the Islamic period, the monasteries slowly declined,” Kornfeld
says. “There was less demand for their wine, perhaps; and fewer
pilgrims. Finally, it was abandoned in the late eighth century. Yet the
local Muslim villages continued to bury women there, because of the
sacred tradition of women there.”
What
now? Is it to be re-covered, again, until hit by a mortar maybe? In
fact, most of the precious mosaics have been covered up again with soil,
for their protection.
The
IAA says it does plan to make the site more accessible, starting with
soldiers – say, bringing groups of trainees there once or twice a month
for educational purposes and while about it – since this is what army
day trips are like – to help clean up and maintain the place.
“Right
now it’s still in a firing zone,” Kornfeld acknowledges. But in the
future, with the cooperation of the army, he hopes to make it accessible
to the general public. Meanwhile, members of the public can visit the
parts of the church mosaic that remain partially visible, with the
advance permission of the IDF Central Command, at phone number
02-530-5042.
For images:
https://www.haaretz.com/archae...
|