Tell Umm el-ʿAmr

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Tell Umm el-ʿAmr (also: Tell Umm Amer , Khirbet Umm al-Tutt ; Arabic تل أم عامر, DMG Tall Umm ʿĀmir ) is an archaeological site in the Gaza Strip , which was entered on the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage by the Permanent Delegation of Palestine in 2012 . The Hilarion Monastery, which was located here, was one of the earliest monasteries in Palestine and in the late antique and Byzantine times one of the largest monastery complexes in the Levant.

location

Tell Umm el-ʿAmr is located in a dune landscape south of the mouth of the Wadi Ghazzeh in the area of ​​the Al Nusairat refugee camp, about 8.5 km south of Gaza City . The distance to the Mediterranean coast is 300–700 m. In the east and south-east there are palm groves that form a border with the neighboring town of Deir al-Balah . The archaeological site covers an area of ​​around 14,000 m 2 .

history

The place was first settled in late antiquity. He is named Tabatha on the mosaic map of Madaba . It was badly damaged by an earthquake in the 7th century; In early Islamic times, the residents gave up the place and removed stones as building material.

Excavations uncovered the remains of a Byzantine monastery believed to be the founding of the Hilarion of Gaza . The Byzantine Church saw at least five construction phases. Here was a chapel and the tomb of Hilarion. There were also small residential buildings, probably the monks' cellars . A thermal bath ( frigidarium , tepidarium , caldarium ) and a guest house ( Xenodocheion ) show that the monastery had become a destination for Christian pilgrimage tourism in Byzantine times.

Tell Umm el-ʿAmr is the only archaeological site that is freely accessible to the people of the Gaza Strip. The place is therefore often visited by school classes.

However, the proximity of the residential area also poses a threat to the archaeological site: garbage is dumped here; New buildings move right up to the excavation site. Another Byzantine church was discovered during construction in 2016. “The finds included parts of marble columns with ornate Corinthian capitals and a foundation stone with a Greek symbol for Christ. 15 objects were excavated and carelessly placed next to the road. No further excavations took place. Archaeologists were not involved. The church and its history were simply thrown away while money flowed into the coffers of the de facto government of Gaza. ”(Abdalhadi Alijla)

Building description

The monks' settlement developed around two poles: in the south the church center, in the north an ensemble of buildings around the bathing facilities and the hostel. The church complex with mosaics and a large crypt forms a square measuring 80 × 90 m. The bathing and accommodation complex covers an area of ​​78 × 80 m. The pilgrims' hostel, along with the attached kitchen, was apparently used as a caravanserai in early Islamic times . The fact that a monastery complex had a bath house was not so unusual; you can compare Kursi in Galilee or the bath in Salamis (Cyprus) in the vicinity of the Campanopetra basilica.

Justification of the outstanding universal meaning

To justify the outstanding universal importance of the ancient site according to the criteria for UNESCO World Heritage , the following is cited:

  • The Hilarion Monastery has a special meaning in the history of early monasticism. Located on a trade route, the monastery had a cosmopolitan character (criterion ii).
  • As one of the earliest monasteries in Palestine, the Hilarion monastery also stands for the Christianization of the region (criterion iii).
  • The archaeological site can be directly related to the biography of Hilarion, which Jerome wrote (criterion vi).

Web links

literature

  • René Elter, Ayman Hassoune: Le complexe du bain du monastère de Saint Hilarion à Umm el-'Amr, première synthèse architecturale . In: Syria 85 (2008), pp. 129–144. ( PDF )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rania Filfil Almbaid: Gaza: The missing tourism assets . In: Rami K. Isaac, C. Michael Hall, Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (eds.): The Politics and Power of Tourism in Palestine . Routledge, London / New York 2016, pp. 137–148, here p. 144.
  2. ^ A b René Elter, Ayman Hassoune: Le complexe du bain du monastère de Saint Hilarion à Umm el-'Amr, première synthèse architecturale , 2008.
  3. ↑ Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom: Gazan Monasticism: Balancing Archeology and Historiography. In: David K. Pettegrew, William R. Caraher, Thomas W. Davis (Eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archeology . Oxford University Press, New York 2019, pp. 155f.
  4. ^ World Monuments Fund: Raising Awareness of Cultural Heritage in Palestine: Conference in Paris Focuses on St. Hilarion (March 28, 2012) .
  5. ↑ Abdalhadi Alijla: The Dwindling Legacy of the Palestinians . In: Qantara.de .

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