Zev Radovan, courtesy Yizhar Hirschfeld

“The ruin of the monastery,” the translation of the Arabic name Khirbet ed-Deir, indicates that this recently discovered site was known to have been a monastic center even though it does not appear in historical sources. Remains include a church, a refectory (dining room) and a courtyard with an arbor above it where monks could rest from their labors—an indication of a more pleasant side to monastic life.