Christian Settlements and Monasteries in the Northern Judaean Shephelah and the Western Samaria Hills during the Byzantine Period

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Land of Israel in the Byzantine Period: General Background

Monasticism in the Byzantine Period: General Introduction

Types of Monasticism and Monasteries

Architectural Traits of the Monasteries: Structure and Layout

Monastic Life

Previous research

Chapter 2: The Sites

Introduction to the sites

Presentation and Description of the Sites

The Naḥal Ḥadera area

 The Baḥan Area

The Sebaste Area

Antipatris and its Area/From Antipatris to Diospolis

The Modiʻin Area/From Diospolis to Jerusalem

From Lydda to Jaffa and Ashdod

Ashdod and Surroundings

The Qiryat Gat Area

The Emmaus/Nicopolis area

Zakharia

Chapter 3: The Nature of the Sites and Their Distribution

The Spatial Distribution of the Sites

Defining Settlement Types and Monasteries

A Comparison of the Distribution of Sites in Different Areas of the Holy Land

Chapter 4: Discussion and Conclusions

Relations Between Monasteries and Neighbouring Settlements

The Impact of Historical Events on the Geographical Distribution of Monasteries

Criteria for Identifying a Monastery

Selected Sites that Could be Monasteries

References

About the Author

Ayelet Dayan received her B.Sc. in Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, and Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, from Tel-Aviv University. Her MA focused on Classical Archaeology, with a thesis on architectural items from Eleutheropolis. She has been working at the Israel Antiquities Authority since 2008; She is currently the head of archaeological research department and director of the integrative program. In 2015 she received her Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University.