Trench H

LOCATION:
DIMENSIONS: ca. 6.5 x 11 m
EXCAVATED: 1999
INTERPRETATION: larger part of the entrance porch (narthex) of the church and a part of the courtyard in front of the church

DESCRIPTION: the excavations exposed more than two-third of the length of the narthex. The mosaic floor in the narthex, which features hunting scences, is dated stylistically to the early 6th century A.D. The mosaic was substantially damaged by later iconoclastic activities but the overall design is still readable. There are three water channels which pass under the mosaic floor from the western part of the church into the cistern, one with capstones over the trough and a large settling tank. Several secondary structures (walls, enclosures) found on the pavement of the courtyard, belong to the latest phases of occupation of the monastic complex.

FINDS: Nabataean ceramics (1st century A.D.), ceramics dated to the 4th-6th and possibly 7th centuries A.D., coins.