The Church at Baḥan (Kh. Kafr Sibb) in ʿEmek-Ḥefer

In 1953, an archaeological excavation was conducted on the hill near Tell Baḥan by the late Jacob Ory on behalf of the Israel Department of Antiquities. At the foot of the hill extends a wide agricultural landscape, including the remains of terraces and winepresses. On the hill itself, the remains of a basilica-type church were uncovered. Presented here for the first time is a precise plan of the church, which includes a narthex, annex rooms flanking the north and south aisles, agricultural installations, and a western courtyard. The church was constructed as a single unit, and all its parts were decorated with mosaic floors: vine scrolls with various motifs adorned the nave, while geometric patterns embellished the other spaces. Five Greek inscriptions were discovered in the church: four in the nave and one in the central room of the adjoining southern annex. The brothers Porphyrios and Markos, mentioned in inscription 2, were most likely the artists responsible for the mosaics. Although the church is relatively isolated within its agricultural surroundings, it is situated along the Roman road connecting Caesarea with Neapolis. This strategic location, together with insights from a new reading of the inscriptions, suggests that the building functioned as a roadside church, offering travelers and pilgrims shelter, rest, food, and water. At the same time, Priest Julian— mentioned in Inscriptions 1, 3, and 5 as the individual responsible for the construction of the church, “built [the church] from the foundations”—was appointed by the church to oversee the economic and organizational management of the estate, which belonged to the church, while also attending to the religious and spiritual needs of the community that worked there and Christian believers of the region. The style of the vine branches, grape clusters, and winding tendrils in the nave corresponds to mosaic floors of the mid to late sixth century CE. A re-examination of the inscriptions supports this dating: both palaeography and morphology indicate a date in the second third of the sixth century CE. The iconoclastic destruction of the animals once depicted within the vine-scroll carpet of the nave suggests that the church was still in use during the early eighth century CE. Over its long period of use, the building underwent several renovations.