Lot sanctuary

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Lot sanctuary, basilica, nave with a 7-cornered base of the ambo , left aisle with entrance to the Lot's cave
Mosaic from the Diaconion of the Lot Sanctuary in the museum at the lowest point on earth
cistern

The Lot Sanctuary is an early Byzantine memorial for Lot , the nephew of Abraham , who found refuge with his daughters in the mountains after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ( Gen. 19.30  EU ). The remains of the pilgrimage site with cave, church, guest rooms and monk cells are located east of the Dead Sea near the museum at the lowest point on earth in Jordan .

history

When Christian pilgrims increasingly moved to the Holy Land in the third and fourth centuries AD, it was important for them to find suitable places of remembrance for biblical events. A cave in the Jordanian mountains above the Dead Sea has since been revered as the "Cave of Lot". Century built over with a church. On the Madaba map , created around the year 560, the “place of St. Lot” is recorded with an image of the church.

Research and conservation

As part of a surface survey in 1986, the archaeologist Burton MacDonald discovered the remains of a monastery and named them Deir 'Ain' Abata (monastery at the Abata spring) after the nearby spring . Further preliminary investigations led to the assumption that it could be the Lot sanctuary, which has been sought after for a long time and is known from the Madaba card. From 1988 to 1996 Konstantinos D. Politis directed the excavations with the support of the British Museum . Finds of inscriptions in the basilica confirm the veneration of Lot at this point. Since 1993, the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has been promoting the restoration and securing of the site, as well as tourism development.

description

The small three-aisled basilica stands on a narrow surface cut into the mountainside . Three apses have been preserved , the northern one providing access to the cave. The portal is decorated with rosettes and crosses, behind which a narrow passage leads down into the cave. The main nave is separated from the side aisles by four columns. The sanctuary is raised by two steps, on which the foundations of the Bema barriers still lie. Three seating steps are walled into the curve of the main apse. The narthex may have slid down the slope, but its dimensions can be reconstructed.

Several mosaics have been found in the church indicating renovation dates 572/573, 606 and 691. The last one dates back to Umayyad times , an era when Christians and Muslims lived in peace in the region. Even after the monastery was closed, the veneration for Lot continued at this point into the Abbasid period , as is proven by finds from the cave.

The cave has also been explored in deeper layers, with both Nabataean and Middle and Early Bronze Age pottery being found. The finds indicate an old place of worship whose tradition was resumed by the Christians.

There is a large cistern south of the basilica. On the northern side, the refectory adjoins a large oven, then the rooms for pilgrims and the monks' cells.

literature

  • Konstantinos D. Politis: Sanctuary of Lot at Deir 'Ain' Abata. American Center of Oriental Research, Amman 2012, ISBN 978-9957-557-04-1 ( online ).
  • Konstantinos D. Politis: The Monastery of Aghios Lot at Deir 'Ain' Abata in Jordan. In: Falko Daim , Jörg Drauschke (Hrsg.): Byzanz - The Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. Verlag des Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseums, Mainz 2010, pp. 155–180 ( PDF with many photos and drawings ).
  • Konstantinos D. Politis: The Sanctuary of Agios Lot, the City of Zoara and the Zared River. In: Michele Piccirillo, Eugenio Alliata (ed.): The Madaba Map Centenary 1897–1997: Traveling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Amman, 7. – 9. April 1997. Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem 1999, pp. 225-227 ( online ).
  • Frank Rainer Scheck: Jordan. Peoples and cultures between the Jordan and the Red Sea. 5th edition. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2010. ISBN 3-7701-3979-8 . P. 153 ( Google Books )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dieter Vieweger : Archeology of the Biblical World. Gütersloh 2012, ISBN 9783579081311 , pp. 107–111.
  2. ↑ Konstantinos D. Politis: The Conservation and Heritage Management of the Sanctuary of Lot at Dayr 'Ayn' Abata. In: Studies in the History and Archeology of Jordan. Volume 10, 2009, pp. 259-268 ( PDF ).

Web links

Commons : Lot Sanctuary  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 31 ° 2 ′ 48.5 "  N , 35 ° 30 ′ 9.7"  E