Bayt Nattif / Bayt Lettif / Beit Nattif / Bet Nativ / Bethletepha / Betholetepha / Horbat Bet Natif
Image copyright © Israel Antiquities Authority, 2021
PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
Results: 2 records
view of church exterior in context
Scene Description: the font appears located in the east end of the church, in the room east of the round apse
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Israel Antiquities Authority, 2021
Image Source: digital photograph in Hadashot Arkheologiyot / Excavations and Surveys in Israel (Israel Antiquities Authority ISSN 1565-5334), Volume 133 Year 2021 [https://hadashot-esi.org.il/Images//8028-13a.jpg] [accessed 4 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - upper view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Israel Antiquities Authority, 2021
Image Source: digital photograph in Hadashot Arkheologiyot / Excavations and Surveys in Israel (Israel Antiquities Authority ISSN 1565-5334), Volume 133 Year 2021 [https://hadashot-esi.org.il/Images//8028-17a.jpg] [accessed 4 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
FontID: 24856HOR
Church/Chapel: Church of the Glorious Martyr
Church Location: [excavation site] Bet Shemesh, Jerusalem District, Israel
Country Name: Israel
Location: Jerusalem
Directions to Site: The excavation site in Horbat Bet Natif is located S of Ramat Bet Shemesh and N of the Ela Valley and Kibbutz Netiv Ha-Lamed He; Bayt Nattif is located about 25-30 km WSW of Jerusalem, midway on the ancient Roman road between Beit Guvrin and Jerusalem, and 21 km NW of Hebron [access via local road 375]
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Century and Period: 6th century, Early Christian
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pol Herman for bringing this font to our attention and for his help in documenting it
Church Notes: The church complex was built on the northern side of the Nahal Nativ streambed; included a late-5thC chapel; expanded mid-6thC; re-built late-6thC; abandoned 9th-10thC
The excavation of the archaeological site at Horbat Bet Natif, near Ramat Bet Shemesh was reported [preliminary report] by its director, Benyamin Storchan in Hadashot Arkheologiyot / Excavations and Surveys in Israel (Israel Antiquities Authority ISSN 1565-5334), Volume 133 Year 2021 [https://hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_eng.aspx?print=all&id=26068&mag_id=133] [accessed 4 August 2023]. This report describes an excavation in Area C: "opened in the valley north of the Be’er Nativ well (Bir el-Haj Khalil; Dagan 2010:295, Site 370.4) and east of the Area A eastern hill (see Fig. 2). A massive church complex—the Church of the Glorious Martyr—and the nearby well were excavated (Storchan 2021)." In that area, the report notes: "A monolithic baptismal font made of calcite flowstone (Fig. 17), a mineral formed in karstic caves, was uncovered here, indicating that the room served as a baptismal chapel. The baptismal font was moved from its original position in the Abbasid period." [cf. ImagesArea for the cited illustration]
COORDINATES
Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal:
Israel,
UTM: 36R 689030 3508051
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone, calcite flowstone
Font Shape: cruciform
Basin Interior Shape: quatrefoiled
Basin Exterior Shape: cruciform
Drainage Notes: no lining
