Israeli archaeologists have uncovered skeletons at what they believe was a fifth-century A.D. convent—the first monastic complex to be identified with certainty as a nunnery in the land of Israel. The exact location of the find has not been disclosed because it is located in a military area.
The complex was uncovered during army exercises, and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) was called in to carry out a salvage excavation, as the law requires. Excavations have now been halted by a group of Orthodox Jews, who for religious reasons oppose disturbing gravesites.
“We don’t know whether monks or nuns lived in many of the other monasteries we have found in the past,” Uzi Dahari, the IAA’s deputy director, told BAR. “Here we know for sure that this was a convent because we discovered an inscription honoring the mother superior, written in Greek, as was the custom of the time.”
Dahari said that as many as 20 nuns and novices lived in the convent. “There were also many female skeletons found in an underground crypt,” he added.
The convent remained in use until the eighth century A.D., when Muslims invaded the area. Archaeologists unearthed 8-foot-tall walls and near-intact mosaic floors whose icons had been destroyed by the Muslim invaders and later repaired.
In addition, IAA archaeologists found coins, medallions, simple earthenware, small glass bottles and clay oil lamps. Several pieces of marble were also uncovered, including parts of the church altar, lectern and an ornately decorated baptismal font.
Archaeologists don’t know the name of the convent, said Dahari, but apparently it was dedicated in the name of “Hannah” (or “Anna”)—perhaps referring to one of two Annas revered by early Christians: the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or the aged daughter of Phanuel, a prophetess who prayed in the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Luke 2:36–38, the latter Anna “spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.”
The convent complex included a main building housing a small chapel, a room probably reserved for the mother superior, a library and solitary cells for the nuns. The kitchen, dining room and two other rooms that may have been used as a hostel for pilgrims were separated from the main building by a courtyard, according to Dahari.
The complex also included two wells, an underground storage area, agricultural plots and an olive press, as well as two watchtowers. “The nuns were apparently able to lock the main building for protection at night,” Dahari noted.
Israeli archaeologists have uncovered skeletons at what they believe was a fifth-century A.D. convent—the first monastic complex to be identified with certainty as a nunnery in the land of Israel. The exact location of the find has not been disclosed because it is located in a military area. The complex was uncovered during army exercises, and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) was called in to carry out a salvage excavation, as the law requires. Excavations have now been halted by a group of Orthodox Jews, who for religious reasons oppose disturbing gravesites. “We don’t know whether monks or nuns […]
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