A Glorious Church for a Mysterious Martyr

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It may seem that, more often than not, construction in Israel leads to remarkable ancient discoveries. Beginning in 2017, the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted a series of rescue excavations, prior to the expansion of modern Beit Shemesh, and uncovered an elaborate and important Byzantine church: the Church of the Glorious Martyr.

The church is located approximately 15 miles southwest of Jerusalem in the heart of the Judean Hills, an area known for several biblical events, including Samson’s birth between Zorah and Eshtaol, David and Goliath’s battle in the Elah Valley, and the Ark of the Covenant’s miraculous return to the Israelites. In recent years, archaeological excavations in the region have uncovered important remains from biblical times at the Canaanite city of Tel Jarmuth and the ancient Israelite settlement of Khirbet Qeiyafa (possibly biblical Shaarayim).^a

During the Byzantine period (fourth–seventh centuries C.E.), the Judean Hills were dominated by an expansive network of Christian 031032monasteries. Usually these monastic complexes feature a mix of agricultural installations, domestic quarters, and religious buildings, such as a chapel or, rarely, an elaborate church. Some of the region’s monasteries were established along ancient roadways and provided essential services to traveling pilgrims.

The Church of the Glorious Martyr, which takes its name from a dedicatory inscription found at the site, is unique, for it was a pilgrimage site built in honor of a martyr whose identity remains unknown. Yet a close look at the available archaeological and historical evidence may shed light on the possible identity of this mysterious martyr.

The Church of the Glorious Martyr was built nestled in a narrow valley outside Khirbet Beit Nattif, the region’s largest village during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The location of the church, outside the village limits, indicates that it was not built primarily to serve the local Christian population but, only a mile off the main road, would have been a conveniently located pilgrimage attraction. Excavation identified three major construction stages: its beginnings as a small crypt chapel in the fifth century C.E., its transformation into a large complex in the mid-sixth century, and further expansion under imperial patronage in the late sixth century. The church remained active in the following centuries, reaching its pinnacle during the Umayyad period (seventh century C.E.), undistributed by cataclysmic events that occurred in other parts of the Holy Land, such as earthquakes, Samaritan revolts, or conflicts with the Sasanian empire. With the arrival of Islam to the region, the demographics and religious makeup of the local population changed, causing a gradual cessation of Christian pilgrimage and leading to the eventual abandonment of the Church of the Glorious Martyr during the Abbasid period (ninth–tenth centuries C.E.).

In its earliest phase, the Church of the Glorious Martyr consisted of a simple, modest chapel inside a cave chamber that may have functioned in previous periods as a burial cave. Although identification of this phase is severely limited due to later architectural additions, we found a mosaic floor below and thus predating the walls of the later vaulted crypt. The mosaic was 033decorated with a simple black round wreath, which probably marked the center of the chapel during this stage. Interestingly, the dating of the early chapel to the fifth century C.E. corresponds to a period in which numerous tombs of biblical figures are said to have been rediscovered in the region, such as that of St. Stephen (the first Christian martyr), Zechariah, Micah, and Habakkuk.

Over time the subterranean crypt chapel became increasingly popular with local Christians and pilgrims traveling from Jerusalem or Bethlehem to the port of Alexandria via Eleutheropolis (Beit Guvrin). To accommodate the masses, a large complex was constructed during the mid-sixth century C.E. with a large open courtyard (atrium) surrounded by auxiliary rooms, a forecourt (narthex), and a basilical church over the cave chapel. The walls of the complex were built with locally quarried limestone ashlars that were wonderfully preserved, in some cases still standing more than 5 feet tall. The courtyard of the complex was rather large, measuring 43 by 51 feet, and paved with a white mosaic floor. In the center of the floor, a Greek dedicatory inscription describes the construction of the complex in 542 C.E. by the church’s priest, Malchos, to commemorate a “glorious martyr.” The inscription also details that marble panels (revetment) and bronze gates were donated and installed in the crypt martyrium (see sidebar).

The basilical church consisted of two aisles (each 48 by 10 ft) and a central nave (48 by 18 ft) delineated by two rows of pillars, six in each row. The eastern pillars of the basilica were made of marble, while the western pillars were fashioned of limestone column drums. The bema (the raised altar platform at the front of the church) stood above a barrel vault built over the crypt martyrium and was accessed from the nave by two pairs of stairs. Like most Byzantine churches, the bema was separated from the sanctuary by imported marble chancel screens and posts. During the excavation, we found several chancel screen fragments, including an elaborate lattice screen with an interlaced pattern of open and closed crosses. Positioned atop the bema, the lattice screen enabled the gathered worshipers an unobstructed view of the rituals performed by priests at the altar.

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We found the mosaic pavements of the basilica in a meager state of preservation. Each of the side aisles was decorated with a scale pattern, each scale encompassing a single floret. The majority of the nave was decorated with a geometric design consisting of interlocking rhombi forming both round and octagonal medallions, a common pattern in sixth-century churches. The preserved medallions had been defaced by iconoclasts in antiquity, replacing the zoomorphic forms with random tesserae to blur the original design. Preserved areas show that some of the medallions included various birds and, in one case, a bird perched in a cage. Although the western section of the nave carpet was not preserved, a separate carpet with a geometric design of interlocking circles was found near the bema.

The redesigned crypt of the Glorious Martyr was intentionally positioned below the bema, allowing for a connection between the altar table above and the relics below. The altered crypt consisted of a rectangular barrel-vaulted hall (measuring 16 by 8 ft) which could be accessed via two vaulted staircases to the north and south. The vaults of both the main hall and the northern stairway were completely preserved, while the vault of the southern stairway was partially collapsed. During excavations we noticed that the walls and vaults in the main hall and stairways were dotted with bands of small holes used for attaching marble revetment slabs. In some holes, we even found the marble wedges and iron rods that held the slabs in place. In the eastern portion of the crypt, we found remains of a window that had been blocked with stones in a later phase to accommodate the expansion of the church. Below the window, we uncovered remains of a rectangular niche and a plastered platform which probably supported a marble reliquary. A narrow channel carved into the floor near the niche suggests that the relics were separated from the rest of the crypt by a marble screen. We also found a single fragment of a marble reliquary lid.

Early churches in the Holy Land were often consecrated with relics, which sometimes became an attraction drawing large numbers 035of pilgrims. To adequately accommodate the masses, architectural adaptations were developed to direct and enable crowd movement. At the Church of the Glorious Martyr, the internally accessible crypt featured separate entrance and exit stairways allowing the worshipers to descend and experience relics firsthand without causing crowding or disruption to the church’s regular services. A similar setup was installed during the reign of Justinian (sixth century C.E.) at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and is still functioning.

During the late sixth century C.E., the Church of the Glorious Martyr underwent an additional construction phase which saw the rebuilding of the compound’s eastern façade and the addition of a side chapel south of the basilica. The chapel, composed of a rectangular sanctuary (30 036by 15 ft) and bema (13 by 15 ft), allowed an additional Eucharist ceremony to take place each day, an essential feature for a pilgrimage site. The sanctuary’s elaborate and well-preserved mosaic floors were decorated with a palmette-patterned border enclosing large asymmetrical leaves with alternating registers of geometric symbols and pomegranates. At the eastern end of the mosaic, just before the step to the bema, we uncovered a Greek dedicatory inscription set within a tabula ansata frame. The inscription details that the Byzantine emperor Flavius Tiberius funded the church’s expansion. Imperial patronage of church building in the Holy Land began with the earliest Constantinian churches—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of the Nativity, Eleona Church, and Mamre (in Hebron)—and later included numerous works by 037Emperor Justinian, most notably the Nea Church in Jerusalem.

The bema’s floor mosaic was decorated with a rectangular panel featuring an amphora at each corner and a central floral wreath. The wreath encircled an aquila (eagle) wearing a crescent-shaped pendant, the symbol of the empire, with wings spread overhead. Just above the wings, a short inscription reads in Greek, ΧC ΝΙΚΑ (“Christ conquers”), hinting at messianic victory over death. To the east of the frame, we found four holes, indicating that the altar table legs had been installed near the back wall.

In addition to the chapel, the church compound was extended to the east by a baptistery, accessed via the basilica’s side rooms. Excavation uncovered a remarkable monolithic, cruciform-shaped baptismal font (though found in secondary context). The font was made from beautiful calcite flowstone, which forms in karstic caves and was used to craft luxury items and furnishings.

Immediately south of the Church of the Glorious Martyr complex, an old well shaft, known locally as Bir el-Haj Khalil (or Be’er Nativ in modern Hebrew), piqued our curiosity. Appearing in historical maps of the region, the well was used into the Ottoman period (16th–early 20th centuries C.E.). Our excavation around the well shaft revealed that it was, in fact, contemporaneous with the church and included a small reservoir with a mosaic floor and a large collection pool. The pool’s massive walls and outstanding craftsmanship suggest that the well was constructed to be a freestanding monument—an attraction in itself for visiting pilgrims.

The last phase of the Church of the Glorious Martyr is dated to the ninth–tenth centuries C.E. during the rule of the Abbasid caliphate, who overthrew the Umayyad rulers and moved the capital to Baghdad, thereby setting the stage for the Islamic Golden Age. During this period, only minimal architectural modifications were made to the church complex; however, many doorways and internal passageways were sealed and blocked. We found pottery and glass fragments throughout the site—with evidence of hoarding in multiple rooms. For example, one room we excavated included several storage bins, one of which contained more than 800 fragments from various glass vessels. This hoard is one of the largest glass assemblages to have been uncovered in Israel and may have been stored as a repository or cullet for recycling.

During its final phase, the church began to decline and lost much of its grandeur. Nearly all the marble slabs from the crypt were removed, leaving only small patches of plaster and bare stone walls. Close inspection identified traces of graffiti, including a drawing of a fish that may allude to continued Christian worship at the site. Excavation within the crypt revealed an unparalleled ceramic assemblage, dominated by more than 50 complete Abbasid-period oil lamps with charred nozzles. The lamps were likely lit as part of votive rituals venerating the church’s 038“glorious martyr” during the early Islamic period (seventh–ninth centuries C.E.). Lamp lighting was a common ritual in ancient shrines and churches and is still regularly practiced by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, alike.

During the final phase, many of the church’s internal doorways were deliberately blocked with large stones, suggesting that the site was abandoned with a hope to return one day. By the time the church was abandoned in the tenth century, the local Christian population had declined dramatically, and significantly fewer Christians from the West were making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The site fell into disrepair, walls collapsed, and many stones were removed, probably to be reused elsewhere.

Based on what our excavations have revealed, there is no doubt that the church was a glorious structure, but who was the mysterious martyr remembered and revered within its cavernous crypt?

The Byzantine period saw a rise in Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, in turn, a rise of large churches, associated with biblical sites or relics of early Christian martyrs. Over time, pilgrim routes became standardized, with pilgrims routinely referencing the same or similar routes in their accounts. In the Judean Hills, the attractions along the route became formalized as well, with stops at Samson’s well, Mount Buzana (associated with Goliath’s tomb), the tombs of Micah and Habakkuk, and the shrine of Zechariah.

The tomb of Zechariah was discovered in the fifth century C.E. after its location was prophetically revealed to a proprietor from Beth Zechariah. The shrine, as depicted on the famous sixth-century Madaba Map, is located just outside the village of Beth Zachariah, near Sokho in the Elah Valley. Curiously, Zechariah’s name is still attached to the region, with a modern Jewish settlement called Zechariah (built at the site of an Arab village of the same name) only 2.5 miles from the Church of the Glorious Martyr.

Byzantine pilgrim itineraries describe the shrine of Zechariah in more detail than any other site in the region, but they rarely agree on 039the exact identity of the Zechariah for whom the shrine was built. Zechariah was a common name in the Bible, the most famous examples being the high priest Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24), the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah (Zechariah 1), and Zechariah, father of John the Baptist (Luke 1). Upon discovery, the tomb was identified with Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, who was put to death in the Temple courtyard by order of King Joash and later mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 11:51). Confusion about this biblical reference stems from a separate—but near identical—account recorded in the Gospel of Matthew describing Zechariah, son of Berechiah, as “murdered between the Temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35).

In any case, during the sixth century C.E., the shrine was visited by the Piacenza Pilgrim who claims that the church marked the place where the martyred Zechariah was killed and buried, thereby ruling out any figure put to death in Jerusalem. As such, it cannot be ruled out that the site may have been dedicated to an early Christian martyr named Zechariah, whose original identity and importance were simply lost and confused over the years. This is perhaps suggested by the account of Pilgrim Willibald who, upon visiting the site in the eighth century, seems to have been disappointed to learn that the shrine was not connected with the father of John the Baptist but rather to some other figure.

The Piacenza Pilgrim describes that nearby the church there were wells dug by the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 26). It is possible that the Bir el-Haj Khalil well south of the Church of the Glorious Martyr may be associated with one of these wells, for the name Khalil, meaning “friend” in Arabic, is a common byname for Abraham. The well may have developed as a secondary attraction that served to authenticate the site’s biblical association for pilgrims.

Although the Church of the Glorious Martyr is located near to where both the pilgrim itineraries and the Madaba Map place the shrine of Zechariah, no clear connection can be made. We do remain hopeful, however, that with the ongoing study of the thousands of artifacts uncovered during the excavations, new and important clues will reveal the true identity of the mysterious Glorious Martyr.

Step inside a glorious church and an archaeological mystery. The Israel Antiquities Authority has uncovered a magnificent Byzantine church dedicated to the “glorious martyr.” Although this martyr isn’t named, historical texts reveal possible identifications. Then tour a complete digital reconstruction of the church—prepared by archaeologists and digital specialists.