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The Architectural Heritage of the Cities of the Decapolis in the Byzantine Churches of Transjordan

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The Architectural Heritage of the Cities of the Decapolis in the Byzantine Churches of Transjordan ARAM, 23 (2011) 383-424. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.23.0.2959666 THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF THE CITIES OF THE DECAPOLIS IN THE BYZANTINE CHURCHES OF TRANSJORDAN Dr. LIHI HABAS (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Archaeological finds in the Byzantine churches of Transjordan attest to dense and prosperous settlement in the territories of Provincia Arabia and Palaestina Secunda and Tertia. The finds raise a number of questions that focus on the continuity of settlement, architecture and art from the Roman period and the innovations of the Byzantine period. In this article I will discuss the influence of the tradition of the cities of the Decapolis on the construction of churches in Transjordan, as expressed in the distinctive architectural program, use of building materials (local versus imported materials), paving technique (opus sec- tile), and architectural elements in secondary use (columns, capitals and paving stones).1 ARCHITECTURAL UNITS: PORTICOES, ATRIA AND CENTRALIZED CHURCHES In the framework of an architectural and art-historical study focusing on Christian religious structures of the Byzantine and Umayyad periods (fourth to eighth centuries), 252 buildings were examined. They included 181 churches (basilicas, centralized churches and hall churches) and 71 chapels. These impres- sive numbers testify to the social and economic prosperity of the Christian com- munity in Transjordan, as reflected in the inscriptions included in the mosaic pavements. The study also examined the extent of the influence of the cities of the Decapolis on the planning of particular architectural units in the churches; in other words, whether it is possible to isolate certain architectural units or church plans that occur exclusively or in high frequencies in cities that had previously belonged to the Decapolis, or in large villages along major routes like the Via Nova Traiana that had served as Roman military camps, in contrast to other settlements that contain churches. 1 I am most grateful to the late Prof. Michele Piccirillo (SBF), Dr. Patricia M. Bikai and Dr. Barbara A. Porter (ACOR), and Dr. Karel Vriezen (University of Utrecht) for their generous cooperation and for supplying photographs. 94097_ARAM_23_19_Habas.indd 383 11/02/13 08:27 384 THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF THE CITIES OF THE DECAPOLIS PORTICOES An analysis of all the churches of Transjordan revealed the existence of porticoes in only 18 churches. The portico is in the west façade and rarely in the north or south façade. It consists of three to ten columns and in some cases is preceded by a staircase. In Palaestina Secunda, porticoes were discovered in two cities of the Decapolis: in the basilica of Umm al-‘Amad (Area D) (sixth or seventh century) at Abila (Fig. 1a-c)2 and in the Octagonal Church (first half of the sixth century) at Gadara (Umm Qays).3 In Provincia Arabia, porticoes are common in the entrances of churches in large villages of the eastern Hawran. At Umm al-Jimal, of the 14 churches sur- veyed at the site, seven hall churches and basilicas have porticoes: the Church of Masechos, the Southeast Church, the East Church, the Cathedral (556/7), the West Church, the Church of Klaudianos and the Church of Numerianos. Among them, we will note that the church of Klaudianos has, in addition to the portico in the west façade, an opening with a distyle portico in the north façade; both porticoes were approached by a flight of three stairs. At the Church of Numerianos (Fig. 2a-c) there was a very elaborate portico: the columns of the first storey were crowned by Doric capitals and those of the second storey by Ionic capitals, and the whole structure was capped by a Syrian pediment.4 Umm al-Jimal was an important Roman road station along the Via Nova Traiana and in the fourth and fifth centuries it became a military station of the Limes Arabi- cus. It was gradually transformed from a military station to a town of civilians whose main livelihood was agriculture.5 Throughout the town, building stones and architectural sculpture originating in structures of the Roman period were put to secondary use.6 In other sites of the eastern Hawran, porticoes are seen at the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus (489) at Umm al-Surab and the monastic church at Umm al-Quttayn.7 At Gerasa, a city of the Decapolis, several churches have porticoes. Among them we must mention the Church of the Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs (464/5) (Fig. 3a-b), where a portico of ten columns welcomed those approaching the church from the west; according to Schumacher there was another portico on 2 Mare 1990: 470-472; 1991: 212-213, Plan on p. 214; 1994: 367-369, Fig. 5; 1996: 264; 1997: 306-308, Fig. 4; 1999: 453-454; Winter 1992: 361-365, Figs. 3, 5; Piccirillo 1993: 332. 3 Wagner-Lux and Vriezen 1980: 157-161, Plan on p. 159; Wagner-Lux et al. 1993: Fig. 3; Vriezen 1992: 371-373, Figs. 3, 5-6; Vriezen et al. 2001: 541-542, Figs. 6-8; Piccirillo 1993: 328, Fig. 694. 4 Butler 1913: 176-177, 182-183, 187-194, Ills. 149-152, 158-159, 166-167, 171. 5 Alt 1936: 92-111; Vries 1985: 249-256; 1993: 451-454; Piccirillo 1993: 316. 6 Butler 1913: 171-173; Corbett 1957: 41. 7 Butler 1909: 94-99, 139-141, Ills. 78, 120-121; King 1983: 112-126, 133-136, Fig. 1; King et al. 1988: 40, 73, Figs. 3-4. 94097_ARAM_23_19_Habas.indd 384 11/02/13 08:27 L. HABAS 385 the south.8 Other churches with porticoes are the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (540?)9 and the Church of Bishop Isaiah (559).10 In the region of Philadelphia, a four-columned portico was uncovered in the Church of St. George at Darat al-Funun; the columns and Corinthian capitals of the church came from an earlier Roman building.11 A portico also welcomed visitors to the North Church at Esbus.12 If we compare the frequency of porticoes at two sites with numerous churches in Provincia Arabia (Gerasa and Umm al-Rasas) we see that at the latter site, of 12 churches and four chapels, only two have a portico: the arched portico in the Church of Edicola in the Complex of St. Stephen and the portico on the south side of the Church of St. Paul.13 We have seen that porticoes occur in churches of different types: hall churches, basilicas and centralized churches. Most of them are in large towns such as Abila, Gadara, Gerasa and Philadelphia that had previously belonged to the Decapolis, or in large villages in the eastern Hawran like Umm al-Jimal, Umm al-Surab and Umm al-Quttayn. In these towns and villages there was a Roman architectural tradition and an abundance of architectural elements put to second- ary use in the churches. For the sake of comparison, in other sites of Provincia Arabia, porticoes do not appear in large villages like Khirbat al-Samra, Rihab, the area of Mt. Nebo and Madaba, nor were porticoes built in the territories of Palaestina Prima and Tertia east of the Jordan. COURTYARDS AND ATRIA A courtyard or atrium is an important and common architectural element in the churches of Transjordan. Up to now, 32 churches with an atrium on the west have been identified. In the context of this study, I examined atria of churches in large towns that had belonged to the Decapolis, in the hope of find- ing and defining architectural characteristics which are exclusive to these towns and rare or absent in the atria of churches in other sites. 8 Schumacher’s statement is quoted by Crowfoot 1931: 30-33, Plan 5; 1938: 191-192, 256- 260, Plans XLI-XLII, Pl. LXXVIII; Browning 1982: 96, Fig. 37; Piccirillo 1993: 285, Figs. 533- 534. 9 Crowfoot 1931: 28-29, Pl. XI:b; 1938: 182, 251-254, Plan XXXIX, Pl. LI:b; Browning 1982: 205-207, Fig. 133; Piccirillo 1993: 292, Figs. 554, 556. 10 Clark 1986: 303-307, Fig. 2; Piccirillo 1993: 294. 11 Conder 1889: 56, Fig. on p. 56; Bagatti 1973: 272-277, Fig. 3:3; Bikai et al. 1994: 402- 404, 406, Figs. 1-2. 12 Lawlor 1980: 98-100, 105, Fig. 4; Piccirillo 1993: 250, Fig. 427. 13 Piccirillo 1994: 78-82; 1995: 513-514; 1996: 410-411, 413; 1997: 377-382, 393-394, Fig. 1, Pianta I; Abela and Acconci 1997: 485-486, Fig. 1; Abela and Pappalardo 1998: 545-546, Fig. 2; Baumann 1999: 139. 94097_ARAM_23_19_Habas.indd 385 11/02/13 08:27 386 THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF THE CITIES OF THE DECAPOLIS Several churches in cities of the Decapolis have a splendid atrium sur- rounded by a colonnade with high-quality paving, the eastern colonnade lead- ing to the three entrances to the nave and aisles of the church.14 Such atria were found at Pella, in the Cathedral (Fig. 4a-c), the West Church (Fig. 5a-b) and the East Church. In all of them the paving of the eastern colonnade is of high quality; in the latter the entrance to the nave is marked by a special pattern and a hexagonal pool is sunk in the center of the atrium.15 Similarly, at the Upper Church at Gadara (Umm Qays) the eastern colonnade of the atrium is accentuated by a paving of opus sectile, while the rest of the paving is basalt. In the Octagonal Church in the city (Fig. 6a-b), the atrium is unusu- ally located to the north of the church, which could be entered by one of three entrances in the north façade.
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