Una nuova chiesa nel villaggio di Massuh – Madaba

Abstract

On the site of Khirbat Massuh, a ridge more than 800 metres high, located 10 km north from Madaba, 3 km east from Hesban, in Jordan a first church was digged in the center of the ancient village, active from fifth (see the article in Hommage Noël Duval) through second half of seventh century (see the report in Liber Annuus, 33, 1983, 335-346). Recently, a second church has been brought to light, northwards, while two cemeteries complete for the moment the archaeological map of the site. Below is the report of this northern church of Khirbat Massuh. It was built in the shape of a monoapsidal basilica, its main distinctive feature being the considerable heighthening of its raised presbyterium (nearly half a metre) and its lateral extension. Little remains of the architectural structure, except the bases of columns of the central nave which sustained the roof. The hypothetic reconstruction of the perimetral walls is made possible by following the borderline of the mosaic pavement. Some liturgical fittings have been found, especially the custody of a reliquary. There is evidence for modifications in the structure which supported the vault and repairs in the mosaics. The latter are badly mutilated in the central nave, but for the most part preserved in the aisles. This pavement consists of refined mosaics associated in a multifarious program and very accurately executed. The main dedicatory inscription which we could expect has disappeared in the destruction of the mosaics in the central nave, but there remains at the edge of the left aisle near the step of the service room a dedicatory inscription in greek inside a tabula ansata by a donor named Epiphanios. Most probably the destruction of faces and animated figures in the mosaics should not be related to iconophobia, but rather to a late reuse of the building for private housing, after its desertion as a church between end of seventh - first half of eighth century. The description of the church is followed by the publication of the ceramic finds and fragments of stone liturgical fittings.