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Minya

Aerial view of Khirbet Minya from the west Aerial view of Khirbet Minya from the west (left) Aerial view of Khirbet Minya looking west

Click on Image for high resolution magnifiable image

Drone photos taken by Jefferson Williams on 11 June 2023



(right) Aerial view of Khirbet Minya looking east

Used with permission from biblewalks.com


Names
Transliterated Name Source Name
Minya
Horvat Minnim Hebrew
Khirbat el-Minya Arabic قصر المنية‎
Ayn Minyat Hisham Arabic
Introduction
Introduction

Minya, located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee ~14 km. north of Tiberias, contains the remains of an Umayyad palace. (Oleg Grabar in Stern et al, 1993). A fragmentary inscription from the reign of one of the two caliphs named Walid (I, 705–715 CE or II, 743–744 CE) indicates that the palace was at least partially constructed by the latter half of the Umayyad caliphate ( Kuhnen et al, 2018). Kuhnen et al (2018) suggest that excavations reveal that construction was probably not complete before it was destroyed by one of the mid 8th century CE earthquakes. Kuhnen et al (2018) also reports partial rebuilding took place during Abassid or Crusader periods and a furnace on the site was in use during Crusader and Mamluk periods.

Identification

Horvat Minnim (Khirbet el-Minya) is located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 14 km (8.5 mi.) north of Tiberias and immediately south of Tel Chinnereth (map reference 2005.2525). It is in the rich Ginnosar Valley, which has probably been occupied since ancient times, as is indicated by the caves along the cliffs to the southwest and by pottery recovered in various places in the plain and along the mountain borders to the north and west.

Attention was attracted to Horvat Minnim in the second half of the nineteenth century, when scholars and pilgrims began to cross Palestine in search of identifiable biblical sites. In the Survey of Western Palestine, conducted by the British Palestine Exploration Fund, Minnim was identified as Capernaum. This interpretation was accepted as often as it was rejected by scholars until the discovery of Capernaum farther north and the excavation of the main part of the site of Minnim.

Excavations

In 1932, excavations at Horvat Minnim were begun by A. E. Mader; they continued for five seasons until 1939, under the successive direction of Mader, A. M. Schneider, and 0. Puttrich-Reignard. The excavations were sponsored by the Gorres-Gesellschaft, the Verein vom Heiligen Lande, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Islamic section of the Berlin Museum. A sounding was made in the western part of the palace by 0. Grabar and J. Perrot in 1959, on behalf of the Horace H. Rackham Fund for Research, University of Michigan. The German archaeologists revealed an almost square (73 by 67 m) building with round corner towers and a semicircular tower in the middle of each wall--except for the eastern wall, where there was a monumental domed gateway. Aside from a single narrow trench, the center of this square was not excavated, on the probably correct assumption that it merely contained a courtyard. Along the exterior walls, the excavation uncovered a mosque, a throne room, and a group of five rooms with mosaic floors with geometric designs. These were all situated on the south side. The north side contained the residential wing. The purpose of the rooms on the east and southwest could not be determined. The west side was left unexcavated for the most part. An inscription found in secondary use, which mentioned the name of the Umayyad Caliph el-Walid I (705-715), dated the palace and the mosque to the Umayyad period.

The sounding made in 1959 established the site's stratigraphy and revealed a second major occupation of Minnim in Mameluke times, when it was a major halt on the caravan route from Egypt to Syria. Later, a khan of the same name was built to the north. The palace area was then occupied by only a few insubstantial houses. The sounding also uncovered a mosaic floor in a large vaulted hall on the west side, indicating the existence of official rooms there, as well as in the southern parts of the palace. Only a few segments of the original floor have been uncovered.

Aerial Views, Plans, and Photos
Aerial Views, Plans, and Photos

Aerial Views

Normal Size

  • Fig. 10 Aerial View of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 10

    Aerial view of Khirbat al-Minya, looking northwest (photo: I. Arad)

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    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Minya in Google Earth
    Minya in Google Earth

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  • Minya on govmap.gov.il
    Minya on govmap.gov.il

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in govmap.gov.il

Magnified

  • Fig. 10 Aerial View of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 10

    Aerial view of Khirbat al-Minya, looking northwest (photo: I. Arad)

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Minya in Google Earth
    Minya in Google Earth

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in Google Earth
  • Minya on govmap.gov.il
    Minya on govmap.gov.il

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in govmap.gov.il

Plans

Normal Size

  • Fig. 11 Ground Plan of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 11

    Ground plan of Khirbat al-Minya, with the original location of the buyut marked in color. The unit marked in red was probably also a bayt, remodeled to accommodate the ramp leading to the upper level (plan: G. Solar).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 1 - Plan of Horvat
    Fig. 1

    Plan

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    Minnim Site from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Fig. 12 Ground Plan of Rooms A-C in
    Fig. 12

    Ground plan of the 1959 excavations showing Rooms (salles) A–C in the western wing of the palace (after Grabar et al. 1960, fig. 5)

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    Cytryn (2016)
    the western wing from Cytryn (2016)

Magnified

  • Fig. 11 Ground Plan of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 11

    Ground plan of Khirbat al-Minya, with the original location of the buyut marked in color. The unit marked in red was probably also a bayt, remodeled to accommodate the ramp leading to the upper level (plan: G. Solar).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 1 - Plan of Horvat
    Fig. 1

    Plan

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    Minnim Site from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Fig. 12 Ground Plan of Rooms A-C in
    Fig. 12

    Ground plan of the 1959 excavations showing Rooms (salles) A–C in the western wing of the palace (after Grabar et al. 1960, fig. 5)

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    the western wing from Cytryn (2016)

Photos

Normal Size

  • Fig. 13 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 13

    The beginning of excavation in Room B, 2005 (photo: K. Cytryn)

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    Cytryn (2016)
    (beginning of excavations) from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 14 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 14

    The end of excavation in Room B, 2005. Dividing wall 4001 and the geometric mosaic of the Umayyad level are totally exposed (photo: K. Cytryn).

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    Cytryn (2016)
    (end of excavations) from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 15 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 15

    Room B, looking west. The Umayyad mosaic to the east of wall 4001 has been destroyed by the two ovens (that on the left no longer extant) of the medieval period (photo: K. Cytryn).

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    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 16 Dead Donkey in Room B
    Fig. 16

    Excavations in Room B, next to the southern wall: remains of a skeleton of a donkey or an equid, crushed by the collapsed vault. The opening on the right is an addition of the medieval period (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    of Khirbat al-Minya from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 18 Room A of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 18

    Excavations in Room A: remains of installations of the medieval layer (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Figure 2 - Collapse debris
    Fig. 2

    Square WES I, looking west.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    in foundation trench south of east gate (Square WES I) from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Figure 4 - Broken roof
    Fig. 4

    Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    tiles found in the fills east of WES from Kuhnen et al (2018)

Magnified

  • Fig. 13 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 13

    The beginning of excavation in Room B, 2005 (photo: K. Cytryn)

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    (beginning of excavations) from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 14 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 14

    The end of excavation in Room B, 2005. Dividing wall 4001 and the geometric mosaic of the Umayyad level are totally exposed (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    (end of excavations) from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 15 Room B of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 15

    Room B, looking west. The Umayyad mosaic to the east of wall 4001 has been destroyed by the two ovens (that on the left no longer extant) of the medieval period (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 16 Dead Donkey in Room B
    Fig. 16

    Excavations in Room B, next to the southern wall: remains of a skeleton of a donkey or an equid, crushed by the collapsed vault. The opening on the right is an addition of the medieval period (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    of Khirbat al-Minya from Cytryn (2016)
  • Fig. 18 Room A of Khirbat al-Minya
    Fig. 18

    Excavations in Room A: remains of installations of the medieval layer (photo: K. Cytryn).

    click on image to open in a new tab

    Cytryn (2016)
    from Cytryn (2016)
  • Figure 2 - Collapse debris
    Fig. 2

    Square WES I, looking west.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    in foundation trench south of east gate (Square WES I) from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Figure 4 - Broken roof
    Fig. 4

    Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    tiles found in the fills east of WES from Kuhnen et al (2018)

Archaeoseismic Chronology
Unfinished Desert Palace Earthquake - mid-8th century CE

Plans and Photos

Plans and Photos

  • Fig. 1 - Plan of Horvat Minnim Site
    Fig. 1

    Plan

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Figure 2 - Collapse debris
    Fig. 2

    Square WES I, looking west.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    in foundation trench south of east gate (Square WES I) from Kuhnen et al (2018)
  • Figure 4 - Broken roof
    Fig. 4

    Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

    Kuhnen et al (2018)
    tiles found in the fills east of WES from Kuhnen et al (2018)

Discussion
Discussion

References
Cytryn (2016)

Introduction

During the past seven years1, three important Umayyad sites on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee have been the focus of archaeological excavations: Tiberias, the provincial capital of Jund al-Urdunn, and the two palatial complexes of Khirbat al-Minya, ca. 13 km north of Tiberias, and Khirbat Kerak/Sinnabra, ca. 9 km south of the city. This article deals with the first two of these sites, where excavations on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem follow a series of earlier projects (in the case of Tiberias, the excavations are being conducted concurrently with works by the Israel Antiquities Authority). Excavations at Khirbat Kerak, focusing on the Islamic layers, were conducted by Tel Aviv University in 20102 following the reappraisal of this site by Donald Whitcomb (University of Chicago) as the Umayyad qasr of Sinnabra3.

The early city centre of Tiberias has been explored by the author since 20094, following earlier work of the 1950s (Bezalel Ravani), 1960s (Adam Druks) and 2004–2006 (Yizhar Hirschfeld)5. Excavations at Khirbat al-Minya were co-directed by Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, Giora Solar (architect/conservator), and by the author in 2005 and 20066.

Despite the sites’ functional differences— Tiberias representing an urban centre of regional importance deriving from its role as the capital of Jund al-Urdunn, while al-Minya was a palatial manor house catering to the Umayyad elite—both have yet much in common, of which some will be discussed in this article.
Footnotes

1 This article was submitted in 2011. Since then work has continued in Tiberias and further developments at the mosque area and surroundings will be reported in a separate article.

2 Greenberg – Tal – Da’adli (forthcoming).

3 Whitcomb 2002.

4 Between 2009 and 2011, the renewed excavations at Tiberias, under the auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have been generously funded by the Van Berchem Foundation, Geneva, the Yizhar Hirschfeld Memorial Fund, Jerusalem (with partial matching from the Amiran Fund of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), the Israel Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence, project no. 1679/09, The Formation of Islamic Society in Palestine, 600–1500), and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Cologne. For some preliminary results, see Cytryn-Silverman 2012.

5 For full references to these excavations, see Cytryn-Silverman 2009, 44–48.

6 Rosen-Ayalon – Cytryn-Silverman – Solar 2005.

Tiberias

Since spring 2009, remains of the congregational mosque have been exposed by the ongoing New Tiberias Excavation Project, adding to the large portion of the hall uncovered in the 1950s. This covered hall was originally thought to have been the Byzantine marketplace of Tiberias’ ancient city centre, and was reinterpreted by the author as the city’s main mosque thanks to its general layout, which corresponds to that of the Great Mosque of Damascus and many other Umayyad mosques of Bilad al-Sham.

The covered hall is 78 m wide and 26 m long (fig. 2: in orange). The full length of the mosque, including the courtyard and portico, is 90 m. Thus, its total area is only very slightly smaller than that of the White Mosque of Ramla, the capital of Jund Filastın (84 by 93 m, including post-Umayyad alterations). Today we are able to trace at least four phases of Tiberias’ Friday Mosque.

Phase 1 (fig. 2: in green) seems to be datable to the 7th century AD, making it the first mosque erected in Tiberias. It was probably constructed soon after the city’s conquest in 635 AD by Shurahbıl ibn Hasana. Al-Bala¯ dhurı (d. ca. 892 AD) mentions that after Tiberias had surrendered to the Arabs, ibn Hasana chose the location for the construction of a mosque7.

Our reconstruction of this mosque, still a work in progress, follows the many coarse column foundations excavated between and beneath the stylobates of the later monumental mosque (Phase 2) of the 8th century AD (fig. 3). It is also based on the finding of a northwest-southeast wall in squares N-20 (W972) and N-21 (W971) (figs. 3–4), which runs parallel to a second wall on the west (W105) found at a distance of ca. 9.5 m of the shops of the cardo by Ravani in the 1950s (fig. 5; cf. fig. 3). The reconstruction also assumes that the builders of the first mosque re-used remains of a massive wall (W300; figs. 2 [in red], 3, 5) of the Roman period (2nd–3rd centuries AD), excavated by Ravani and re-examined by Hirschfeld in 2004. Accordingly, the structure is a hypostyle hall measuring ca. 21 m in length by 48 m in width.

The foundations are conglomerates of fieldstones in a hard greyish mortar (fig. 6) thrown into pits which were dug in an artificial fill that leveled the area above the remains of the Roman period8. The foundations vary in depth, implying that the columns above them were of different heights.

A shallow plastered pool, interpreted by Hirschfeld and Galor9 as a ‘fish-pond’ on the basis of the cooking pots inserted into its low walls that could have served for breeding fish, abuts the back of a shop and underlies the Phase 2 mosque (fig. 5). One of the pots (no longer extant) was of a type datable to the 7th–8th centuries AD10, hinting that this pool was in use concurrently with the Phase 1 mosque. The floor related to this phase could not be clearly discerned, though during our fifth season in 2011, we found some fragments of a plaster layer (#M2.369, M2.373 and #M2.374) in square N-21 (Area M2), which rose onto the eastern wall of the mosque and was also detected in the baulks (fig. 7).

However, the level of this floor is very low in relation to some of the column foundations. Moreover, it is much lower than a small trace of small pebbles found in the section of square M-21 (fig. 6), which may well relate to this phase (the use of small pebbles taken from the Sea of Galilee for paving is well attested in the courtyard of the mosque throughout its various phases)11. The extent of the courtyard facing this first mosque is not clear, though it was certainly smaller than that of Phase 2. In fact, structures apparently related to the late 6th–early 7th centuries AD were found underlying the courtyard of the Phase 2 mosque north of its cistern, thus revealing that this area was beyond the limits of the mosque in Phase 1.

In Phase 2 (fig. 2: in orange), the mosque expanded not only northwards but also to the west and east. On the west, the mosque now abutted the shops of the cardo, cutting and burying the ‘fish-pond’ mentioned above (fig. 5). On the east, it expanded over pre- or early Islamic constructions, whose layout is not totally clear, due to a modern path that crosses the area, which prevents us from fully exposing the structures (fig. 4). Still, east of this path, we have been able to expose a hall underneath the south-eastern edge of the monumental mosque of Phase 2, cut by both the mosque’s southern stylobate and its southern (qibla) wall. This hall consisted of a rectangular room (10 × 8 m) crossed east-west by a central arch supported by two engaged pillars. The room’s floor was entirely covered by a geometric mosaic made from large tesserae (ca. 2 × 1.7–2 cm). Some of the motifs are unique, and the composition and style place the workmanship in the 7th century AD12. The walls were covered with frescoes, some of which were found in situ in our fourth season in 2010. The entrance is located in the north-eastern corner, thereby ruling out a physical connection to the Phase 1 mosque. Nevertheless, the proximity of the two and the uniqueness of the mosaic suggest a special role, which remains to be identified for this building.

The new Phase 2 mosque at Tiberias replaced the earlier simple hypostyle building with a monumental one whose ground plan and decoration imparted a virtually Damascene atmosphere to the city. To achieve such splendour, the architects preferred deep stylobates to the former rustic conglomerates as foundations for pillars. These stylobates were sunk quite deep into the ground, a building technique not unlike that used for the erection of the Umayyad buildings in Jerusalem—deep trenches filled with a very hard greyish mortar mixed with pebbles13. Re-used late Roman Jewish tomb doors were laid over the northern and southern stylobates as bases for the pillars, while limestone slabs were used as bases for the southernmost one (figs. 3, 8)14.

This new mosque followed the prototype of Damascus: three aisles parallel to the qibla wall, a tall, wide transept crossing the building, and a portico surrounding three sides of the courtyard. Like various other Umayyad mosques, Tiberias’ Phase 2 has a central rounded niche (the mihra¯b) that protrudes from the wall. In addition, it had at least one underground cistern (ca. 7.5 × 17 m), which was found within the limits of the courtyard.

The Umayyad mosque in Tiberias revealed to us that some of the central mosques of Bilad al-Sham followed a hierarchical standard, Damascus (and perhaps also Jerusalem)15 being the largest and most monumental, followed by the capitals of the ajnad (Tiberias and Ramla) and by the regional centres, such as Jarash (38.9 by 45 m)16. The overall size of the mosque at Jarash, for example, is a quarter of that of Tiberias. The mosque of the large enclosure at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqı (38 by 48.5 m), erected during Hisham b. ‘Abd al-Malik’s reign according to an inscription found in a secondary context on one of the pillars at the mosque17, is slightly longer than that of Jarash, but in general conforms to similar proportions. In addition, the mosque at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqı shares its intercolumniation rate with Tiberias, raising the possibility they were built around the same time18. Finally, even the mosque at Khirbat al-Minya (ca. 15 by 22 m) seems to conform to this proposed hierarchy, its length being a fourth of that of Tiberias’ and its breadth a fifth, resulting in a total area one twentieth of that of the congregational mosque in Tiberias19.

Phase 3 of Tiberias’ mosque (fig. 2: in dark blue) seems to have followed the earthquake of 749 AD20. Its builders were apparently eager to erect the mosque as soon as possible and hence returned to the construction technique of the first mosque—a new series of rustic conglomerate foundations which bore columns of various heights laid right in the middle of the central and southern aisles, in addition to those built against the stylobates.

In Phase 4 of the building (fig. 2: in turquoise), apparently towards the 10th century if to follow al-Muqaddası’s description21, the monumentality of Tiberias’ Friday Mosque appears to have been re-established as it returned to the three-aisled plan of Phase 2. Its latest use has been dated by a billon of Caliph al-Mustansir Billah found in square M-21 in the disturbed fill under the latest floor. The plaster floor, which was laid over a layer of cobblestones, displayed at this square a clear crack opened by an earthquake (fig. 3)22. This seems to be the one which caused the mosque to collapse in 1068, burying under the collapsed rubble and broken roof-tiles many fragments of brass chains and of glass mosque-lamps that were once suspended from the ceiling23.

It is not clear what happened to the mosque after the earthquake of 1068. The troubled 11th century24 apparently left Tiberias without a stable infrastructure that could initiate a rebuilding of the mosque, as had happened after 749 AD when the city served as the provincial capital. We do know that settlement in this area of Tiberias, below Mount Berenice and near the city centre, continued in some form. In 1998, excavations by Hirschfeld and Gutfeld at the sewage treatment plant25 uncovered three pithoi filled with brass objects, most from the 11th century, as well as a hoard of 85 coins, 59 of which were anonymous folles with the effigy of Christ on the obverse and the inscription “Jesus Christ, King of Kings” on the reverse, the latest dated to the reign of Michael VII Ducas (Parapinakes), 1071–107826.

However, the decision to erect the Crusader fortifications north of the old city centre, at the location of the modern city, provides further evidence for the abandonment of the mosque and its surroundings, which became a quarry for building material.

After a while, though, the grounds of the mosque became the location of an altogether different activity: judging by the many sugar bowls, molasses jars and amphoras found in a building complex erected in the north-western corner of the former mosque (Area M1-nw), this area seems to have catered in some way to the sugar industry during the 12th–13th centuries (fig. 9). Although no presses, mills, water basins or ovens have yet been found in a secure context in Area M1, remains of a round oven built of stone and full of ash, sugar bowls and molasses were excavated to the south of the apse of the Byzantine building by Hirschfeld in 1993, near the modern road and not far from our excavations27.

A Crusader document from 1182 brings life to our finds: it deals with a demand for sugar produced by the Hospitallers in Tiberias for the general needs of their Hospital in Jerusalem28.
Footnotes

7 De Goeje 1866, 115–116.

8 It is still not clear how this area functioned in the course of the Byzantine period. Byzantine remains have been found all over the area: in the bathhouse to the south, best attested by its mosaics; in the monumental apsidal building immediately to the east, excavated by Hirschfeld; and to the north, where the monumental church is located (fig. 1).

In the mosque area the ‘Byzantine’ finds are mostly related to the transitional period of the late 6th–7th centuries AD, with the exception of the many 4th–6th centuries AD minimas collected mainly from the artificial fill of the mosque (these minimas are being studied by G. Bijovsky of the Israel Antiquities Authority). In our partial excavation of one of the shops abutting the mosque from the west (locus M1.134, square G/H-24, Area M west), finds of the early Roman period abound (large amounts of pottery sherds, many possibly restorable pieces of fresco, tesserae, etc.) immediately under those of the 8th–9th centuries AD.

9 Hirschfeld – Galor 2007, 215, where it is dated to the 3rd century AD.

10 Stacey 2004, 123 fig. 5.32.4. Unfortunately, these cooking pots have since been removed by looters, preventing proper documentation apart from the field photographs.

11 The use of pebbles in the mosque in Tiberias reminds us of al-Muqaddası¯’s words: “The mosque is large and fine, and stands in the marketplace; its floor is laid in pebbles, and the building rests on pillars of joined stone”, de Goeje 1906, 161; Collins 1994, 148.

12 Miller 2011, ii, 115–119 (F1: I–VI).

13 Ben-Dov 1973. A study of the construction techniques in use at the mosque of Tiberias is under way by the author. Mortars are being studied by Haifa MA student Mr. Meidad Schor, under the supervision of Dr. R. Lyn, Prof. A. Tsatskin and the author.

14 Despite this assessment, previously presented in Cytryn-Silverman 2009, 54, there is still a possibility that these spolia were inserted as bases for pillars in the fourth and latest stage of the mosque, when the builders returned it to the layout of Phase 2 (fig. 2). This is hinted at by what seems to be the repairing of the stylobate in some of the areas. The tomb doors have been studied by Mr. P. Betzer of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as part of his MA thesis, “The Necropolis of Tiberias during the Roman and Byzantine Periods”, 2013.

15 On the possible inspiration of Damascus’ plan in Jerusalem’s Umayyad mosque, in its turn influenced by remains of the Herodian stoa, see Grafman – Rosen-Ayalon 1999.

16 Cytryn-Silverman 2009, 49–53.

17 The inscription, seen on one of the mosque’s pillars by J.-B. L. J. Rousseau at the beginning of the 19th century and no longer extant, was in secondary context, probably brought there during a reconstruction of the mosque. In their “City in the Desert”, O. Grabar, R. Holod, J. Knustad and W. Trousdale (Grabar et al. 1978, i: 191) support Ch. Clermont-Ganneau’s reading of the second word in the fourth line as madı¯na, and not as ma¯dhana as suggested by R. Dussaud. The former reading suggests that the inscription may originally have been set on the outer walls, or in one of the gates. In any case, since the excavators believe the reconstruction plan followed that of the original (Grabar et al. 1978, i: 46), the dating is still relevant: “Has ordered the construction (lit. making) of this madı¯nah the servant of God Hishâm, Commander of the Faithful, and this was done by the people of Homs under the direction of Sulaymân ibn ʿUbayd. In the year [one hundred and] ten A.H. (728–729 AD)” (Grabar et al. 1978, 191).

18 Cytryn-Silverman 2009, fig. 15b.

19 For an earlier assessment of the relationship between the mosques at Tiberias and Minya, see Cytryn-Silverman 2009, 49 fig. 14.

20 Tsafrir – Foerster 1992, 231–235.

21 See above, footnote 11, where the passage refers to pillars of joined stones but no columns.

22 Cytryn-Silverman 2012, figs. 6–7.

23 Some chain fragments were found during our work (for one such example see Cytryn-Silverman 2012, fig. 5). For the long portions of chains found by Ravani and by Hirschfeld, see Lester – Hirschfeld 2006, 145–158.

24 Gil 1997, 377–418 § 566–609.

25 Hirschfeld – Gutfeld 2008.

26 Bijovsky 2008.

27 Hirschfeld 1997, 40, where these finds are dated to the 13th–15th centuries, though they are most probably also of the 12th–13th centuries, as in our excavations.

28 Stern 1999, 31, quoting Amar 2000, 308–309.

Khirbat al-Minya

In the case of Khirbat al-Minya, the second Umayyad site under discussion in this article, I shall start from the level that was buried under a deep fill and supplanted by constructions of the Mamluk or Ottoman periods29.

At some time in the late 13th century or the 14th century, a devastating fire put an end to the thriving sugar production that had been established during the Crusader period (12th century) within the premises of the old Umayyad palace. The evidence for sugar production was already apparent before our excavations, as pointed out by Edna Stern in her MA thesis on sugar production in Palestine30. There are remains of a press in the north-eastern room of the palace, another press was outside near the entrance to the mosque, and a large brick oven stood in the south-eastern corner of the courtyard near the mosque, while a water channel connected it to an opening at the bottom of the building’s southern wall. For many years, fragments of sugar bowls and molasses jars remained unidentified among the finds of the German expeditions31 and the Joint Expedition of 195932, and were put in context only when studies of sugar production began to emerge33.

During the Hebrew University of Jerusalem excavations in 2005 and 2006, our work focused mainly on the western side of the palace, apart from conservation work and re-exposure of some features excavated in the 1930s.

The conservation work was aimed mainly at preserving the mosaics and reinforcing some walls and the fragmentary dome of the western wing, but also at clearing the dense thorny vegetation that covered the northern wing and the intrusive trees threatening the exposed structures in the east. The three towers in the west were also exposed. This clearance work also allowed architect and conservator G. Solar to re-examine the plan that he prepared for the Getty Conservation Institute (2001) and suggest that the original plan of the palace was composed of six (or perhaps seven?) domestic units (fig. 11) in addition to the basilical hall, the mosque, and the room between them. This assessment takes into consideration not only the finds of our excavations but also the fact that the two niche-like spaces facing the mosque were originally a pair of rooms belonging to a bayt immediately to the north. The change in plan may have taken place following the insertion of the ramp leading to the roof (or to an upper unit over the eastern wing of the palace, as suggested by Markus Ritter34), as it seems that the walls of these rooms, together with an additional wall reinforcing the outer wall, served as support35.

In the west, two rooms partially exposed by the Joint Expedition in 1959 (fig. 12) were excavated down to their Umayyad phase. We started at the level where the Joint Expedition stopped, i.e. at the massive collapse of the barrel vault that covered Room B (fig. 13)36. The Joint Expedition had penetrated this collapse through a few small probes (loci 222, 228 and 229) that confirmed the presence of the original Umayyad mosaics, the remains of which were totally uncovered during our work (fig. 14).

This elongated room, using the space of what were formerly two small units of one of the Umayyad buyut, with two sealed doors on the north and a later opening broken through on the south, contained several installations: two ovens dug into the ground and lined with lime and a basalt sarcophagus used as a water basin (fig. 15).

Once we started lifting the collapsed vault, we found that its inner lime coating covered parts of a no longer articulated skeleton of an equid. The animal lay on an ashy surface, apparently resulting from a fire that broke out at the complex (fig. 16).

The ovens and surrounding fills were found filled with fragments of sugar bowls (fig. 17) and molasses jars, which may thus have been out of use by the time of the building’s collapse.

After digging down to the original Umayyad level, we exposed the remains of the partition wall that once separated the two rooms (W4001; fig. 14). The mosaic floor of the western unit was found almost complete, apart from an area where the loose tesserae exposed the make-up of pebbles. In the east, the mosaic was destroyed when the ovens of the medieval period were dug through it.

A similar sequence was found in Room A in 2006 (fig. 18). This elongated room was apparently used by a blacksmith, who was probably in charge of producing and repairing the factory’s metal equipment. Metal slags, a lead ingot, fragments of metal vessels (fig. 19) and remains of the furnace were found over deposits that covered the Umayyad level. Unfortunately, on this side the damage to the original mosaic was much more massive than in Room B and only a few rows of the mosaic’s margin had survived (fig. 20).

By digging Room B to the level of the Umayyad mosaic, we were able not only to reveal two further examples of intricate geometric compositions, but also to uncover some pottery finds relating to the latest use of the palace as a manor house for the surrounding agricultural lands. Although the ‘Buff Ware’ sherds, lamps, and glazed fragments solely allow for a rough dating between the 9th and 11th centuries, we learn from the literary sources that the building was certainly still active in the 10th century. Abu ʿAlı al-Husayn b. Ahmad b. Rustum al-Madharaı, responsible for the taxes (kharaj) in Egypt on behalf of Caliph al-Muqtadir (from 919 AD onwards) had a dayʿa (country estate) named Munyat Hisham near Tiberias, most probably Khirbat al-Minya37.

Recent OSL analysis of a burnt layer in the courtyard area38 points to an even later date—the 11th century—for the abandonment of the site prior to its transformation into a sugar manufacturing plant.
Footnotes

29 There are few data on this building level (see below, footnote 33 and Mader 1933, Abb. XV). It should be noted that according to the Ottoman Defter (tax register) of 1005/1596–1597, Minya (recorded as Mına) was a village (qariya), then part of liwa’ Safad and of Nahiya Jıra. It numbered 110 heads of families and two bachelors (all Muslims), producing wheat, barley and vegetables/fruit, and owning beehives, water buffaloes and 60 water mills, with revenues endowed to the Madrasa Zahiriya in Jerusalem (Hütteroth – Abdulfattah 1977, 176 P24). Nevertheless, the income of the village was in fact endowed to Madrasa al-Taziya in Bab al-Silsila Street, as already pointed out in Burgoyne 1987, 411 n. 19. The waqfiyya of this Mamluk madrasa, established by Amır Sayf al-Dın Taz (d. 762/1361), one of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qalawun’s mamluks and a prominent amır under the subsequent rulers, establishes as waqf the entire income of the village of Minya in Safad district which one assumes being the site under discussion, the entire income of a shop together with the baker’s oven in the said village, and also that of its mill (Burgoyne 1987, 401; from Defter no. 602, dated 990/1582, not yet examined by the author). This means that the village was an active source of income during the mid-14th century, continuing into at least the 16th century, if not later. This implies that the building remains comprising the upper layer at Khirbat al-Minya—assuming that they were an integral part of the village with a similar name—could also be representative of the Mamluk period, an issue that will be further pursued in future archaeological interventions.

30 Stern 1999, 84–86.

31 Mentioned in Bloch 2006, 53. See also in this volume pp. 151–152.

32 Grabar et al. 1960, 238–239, pl. 30, 15–19.

33 Among the many relevant publications, see Wartburg 1983; Galloway 1989; Jones et al. 2000, 523–534; Photos-Jones et al. 2002, 591–614; and more recently Peled 2009. See also the short survey, Strange-Burke 2004, for the main readings on the subject.

34 Personal communication, August 2011.

35 I would like to thank the conservator A. Hillman of the Israel Antiquities Authority for pointing out this arrangement.

36 The Joint Expedition concentrated on the western wing of the palace (Salles A–C), where they started by clearing remains of the latest settlement. In Room C they identified this level as belonging to any time from the 16th century onwards (Grabar et al. 1960, 230). In Room B the excavations penetrated the deposits under these late buildings, uncovering a collapsed vault.

37 Gil 1997, 137 § 235.

38 Erez Hassul, MA student of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Earth Sciences, is researching the seismology of the region of Minya. Amongst others, he presented his OSL results at an international conference at Ein Boqeq in 2014 (“The Contribution of Unique Destruction Layers to Archeoseismic Studies – Khirbet al-Minya as a Case Study”). Hassul’s results are in line with our conclusions regarding the end of Phase 4 of the mosque in Tiberias, dated by al-Mustansir’s billon (see above). It is worth mentioning that a skeleton of a middle-aged man who was caught by this sudden fire was exposed in the section of the courtyard of Minya in 2005. I would like to thank the late anthropologist Mario Chech, curator emeritus at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, for examining the remains.

Conclusion

The history of Tiberias and Minya is clearly interconnected, as the latter was part of Tiberias’ hinterland during the early Islamic period, and an important sugar production centre during the Middle Ages. In fact, sugar production in southern Bilad al-Sham may have started even before the Crusader period, as finds at Kabri in the western Galilee39, and apparently also from Tiberias40, seem to imply. This is also suggested by the famous passage in al-Muqaddası’s geographical treatise41:

“It is said of the people of Tiberias that for two months they dance, for two more months they glut; for two months they flail about, and for two more months they go naked; for two months they pipe, and for two more months they wallow. The explanation of this is that they dance from the number of fleas, then glut themselves with the lotus fruit; they slap about the hornets with fly-swatters, to drive them from their meat and fruits; then they go naked from the intense heat; they suck the sugarcane; and then they must wade through their muddy streets (…).”

This humorous description of the people of Tiberias from 985 AD informs us that sugarcane was one of the agricultural products of the region during the Ikhshıdid–early Fatimid periods. Could it have been grown at the early Islamic estate at Minya? As sugarcane and sugar production seem to have been introduced to Greater Syria during the Umayyad period, most possibly by settlers from Persia, this possibility should not be ruled out42. We hope that future multidisciplinary work at the site and in its surrounding landscape will grant an assessment of this possibility.
Footnotes

39 Smithline 2004, 5*.

40 See Stacey 2004, 99 fig. 5.14.12 for a probable sugar mold dated to the early 11th century, though R. Evyasaf, of the Department of Landscape Architecture, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, has suggested (personal communication) the use of similarly perforated vessels as flower pots, a possibility that should be further pursued.

41 Al-Muqaddasī 1906, 148.

42 Amar 2000, 303.

Notes by JW

Kuhnen et al (2018) reports that excavations indicate that the palace was not completely finished before it was damaged by an earthquake which they presume to have struck in the mid 8th century CE. Square WES I, excavated at the corner between the eastern curtain wall and the southern gate tower, contained evidence of collapse.

The foundation trench was filled with debris that contained fragments of limestone ashlars mixed with basalt boulders (L123; Fig. 3). This fill yielded pottery from the Early Islamic period, with some later intrusions. The white limestone masonry of the eastern wall and the gate tower rose above a bottom course of large basalt ashlars—the method used for the construction of all the four curtain walls of the palace. It was therefore concluded that the protruding gate complex formed part of the original architectural plan. However, reused architectural elements seen in the upper courses of the gate indicate partial reconstruction in a later building phase. The fill alongside the eastern curtain wall contained numerous broken roof tiles (Figs. 2 and 4). They were made of crudely mixed clay with organic temper, and were lightly burnt. The tiles may indicate that the roof of the eastern wing, which collapsed in an earthquake apparently dated to 749 CE, was rebuilt in medieval times.

Archaeoseismic Effects
Unfinished Desert Palace Earthquake - mid-8th century CE

Effect(s) Location Image(s) Description
Collapsed Walls Square WES I - foundation trench just south of east gate
Fig. 1

Plan

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 2

Square WES I, looking west.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Kuhnen et al (2018) reports the presence of fragments of limestone ashlars mixed with basalt boulders in the foundation trench in Square WES I, which was excavated at the corner between the eastern curtain wall and the southern gate tower.
Collapsed Roof fill alongside the eastern curtain wall
Fig. 1

Plan

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 2

Square WES I, looking west.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 4

Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
The fill alongside the eastern curtain wall contained numerous broken roof tiles (Figs. 2 and 4). They were made of crudely mixed clay with organic temper, and were lightly burnt. The tiles may indicate that the roof of the eastern wing, which collapsed in an earthquake apparently dated to 749 CE, was rebuilt in medieval times. - Kuhnen et al (2018)

Archaeoseismic Deformation Maps
Unfinished Desert Palace Earthquake - mid-8th century CE

Deformation Map

click on image to open in a new tab

Modified by JW from Fig. 1 of Kuhnen et al (2018)

Archaeoseismic Intensity Estimates
Unfinished Desert Palace Earthquake - mid-8th century CE

Effect(s) Location Image(s) Description Intensity
Collapsed Walls Square WES I - foundation trench just south of east gate
Fig. 1

Plan

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 2

Square WES I, looking west.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 4

Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Kuhnen et al (2018) reports the presence of fragments of limestone ashlars mixed with basalt boulders in the foundation trench in Square WES I, which was excavated at the corner between the eastern curtain wall and the southern gate tower. VIII+
Collapsed Roof suggesting displaced walls fill alongside the eastern curtain wall
Fig. 1

Plan

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 2

Square WES I, looking west.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
Fig. 4

Roof tiles found in the fills east of WES.

Kuhnen et al (2018)
The fill alongside the eastern curtain wall contained numerous broken roof tiles (Figs. 2 and 4). They were made of crudely mixed clay with organic temper, and were lightly burnt. The tiles may indicate that the roof of the eastern wing, which collapsed in an earthquake apparently dated to 749 CE, was rebuilt in medieval times. - Kuhnen et al (2018) VII+
The archeoseismic evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VIII (8) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224).

Notes and Further Reading
References

Articles and Books

Bacharach, J. L. (1996). "Marwanid Umayyad Building Activities: Speculations on Patronage." Muqarnas 13: 27-44.

Cinamon G. 2012. Huqoq Beach. HA-ESI 124.

Cytryn, K. (2016). Tiberias and Khirbat al-Minya: Two long-lived Umayyad sites on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, in H.-P. Kühnen (Ed.), Khirbat al-Minya: Der Umayyadenpalast am See Genezareth, Orient-Archäologie 36, Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, pp. 111–129.

Hassol, E. (2015) Archaeological destruction layers and their contribution to archaeomagnetism, Archaeoseismology and chrono-stratigraphy Dissertation in Hebrew

Kuhnen, Hans-Peter, Pines, Miriam, and Tal, Oren, 2018, Horbat Minnim Preliminary report, Hadashot Arkheologiyot Volume 130 Year 2018

Kuhnen H.P. and Bloch F. 2014. Kalifenzeit am See Genezareth: Der Palast von Khirbat al-Minya / The age of the Caliphs at the Sea of Galilee. The Palace of Khirbat al-Minya. Mainz.

Kuhnen H.P. 2016a. Dated Evidence of Landscape Change around Khirbat al-Minya between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic Periods – Archaeological Contributions to a Field Survey in Geoarchaeology. In H.P. Kuhnen ed. Khirbat al-Minya: Der Umayyadenpalast am See Genezareth (Orient-Archäologie 36). Rahden. Pp. 23–55.

Kuhnen H.P. 2016b. Denkmal der Glaubensgeschichte: Der frühislamische Kalifenpalast von Khirbat al Minya (Israel). Archäologie in Deutschland 2016 (1):14–19.

Ritter et al (2016) Umayyad foundation inscriptions and the inscription of al-Walīd from Khirbat al-Minya: text, usage, visual form in H.P. Kuhnen ed. Khirbat al-Minya: Der Umayyadenpalast am See Genezareth (Orient-Archäologie 36). Rahden. Pp. 111–130.

Excavation Reports

Kuhnen, H.-P. (2016). Khirbat al-Minya: Der Umayyadenpalast am See Genezareth, VML, Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH.

Websites

academia.edu page for Hans Peter Kuhnen

academia.edu page for Katia Cytryn-Silverman (aka Katia Cytryn)

webpage for Dr. Katia Cytryn-Silverman at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem

Minya at biblewalks.com

Minya at archnet.org

Bibliography from Stern et. al. (1993 v.3)

A. E. Mader, QDAP 2 (1933), 188-189

0. Puttrich-Reignard, Paliistinahefte des Deutschen Vereins vom Heiligen Lande (1939), 17-20

id., QDAP 8 (1939), 159-160

9 (1942), 209-210, 217

A.M. Schneider, ibid. 6 (1938), 215-217

7 (1938), 49-51

id., Annates archeologiques de Syrie 2 (1952), 23-45, with additional bibliography on theworkofGerman archaeologists

0. Grabar (et al.), IEJ 10 (1960), 226-243; id., RB 67 (1960), 387-388

K. A. C. Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture i/2, Oxford, 1969, 381-389.

Bibliography from Stern et. al. (2008)

The Getty Conservation Institute and The Israeli Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, Khirbet Minya/Horvat Minnim Management Planning Assessment Report, Jerusalem 2001 (unpublished)

J. Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church, rev. ed., Princeton, NJ 1992

M. Spaer, Journal of Glass Studies 34 (1992), 44–62

R. Schick, NEA 61 (1998), 74–108

H. Dudman, Galilee Revisited: with Mary Magdalene and 20 Other Immortals in Search of Jesus, Jerusalem 2000

M. Rosen-Ayalon, Art et archéologie islamiques en Palestine (Islamiques), Paris 2002, 43–45

id. (& K. Cytryn-Silverman), IEJ 55 (2005), 216–219

J. Neguer, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 6/3–4 (2004), 247–258.

Wikipedia pages

Khirbat al-Minya

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Qasr

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al-Walid I

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Surveys
Archaeoseismic Surveys

Maps and Plans

Maps and Plans

Effect Image(s) Location Description
Tilted Wall Verticality Check
Verticality Check for tilted south wall of Area B1

View from the west

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Tilt Measurement (4.1°)
Tilt Measurement (4.1°) for tilted south wall of Area B1

Yellow lines and box aligned with tilt

View from the west

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Azimuth Measurement (257°)
Azimuth Measurement (257°) for tilted south walls of Areas B1 and B2

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
South Wall of Area B1 JW: Parts of this wall tilt to the south.
Tilted Wall and Shifted Ashlars Tilted south wall and shifted ashlars
Tilted south wall and shifted ashlars in Area B1

View from the west

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
South Wall of Area B1 JW: Tilting is pronounced higher up in the wall where moment stresses would be higher.
Tilted Wall and Shifted Ashlars Tilted south wall and shifted ashlars
Tilted south wall and shifted ashlars in Area B2

View from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
South Wall of Area B2 JW: This part of the south wall has a pronounced bulge (not photographed) which may have a seismic origin. Alternatively, if this wall was repurposed as a retaining wall at some time in its history, the bulge could be explained by subsurface soil pressure.
Tilted Wall and Shifted Ashlars Tilted north wall and shifted ashlars
Tilted north wall and shifted ashlars in Areas B1 and B2

View from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
North Wall of Areas B1 and B2 JW: Some parts of the north Wall of Areas B1 and B2 are tilted to the south while some parts of the south wall of Areas B1 and B2 are tilted to the north and to the south. Shifted Ashlars can be observed in both the north and south walls.
Shifted and tilted Ashlar Shifted Ashlar
Shifted Ashlar at bottom of photo on inner South wall of fortress

oblique view from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Azimuth Measurement (264°)
Azimuth Measurement (264°) for inner South wall of fortress

View from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Inner South wall of fortress JW: Ashlar at the bottom center is shifted and tilted. The basalt stone that used to be at its base is missing and the basalt stone to the right is rotated
Parted Ashlars above shifted Ashlar Parted Ashlars above shifted Ashlar
Parted Ashlars above shifted Ashlar on inner South wall of fortress

View from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023

Shifted Ashlar
Shifted Ashlar on inner South wall of fortress

Oblique view from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Inner South wall of fortress JW: This part of the structure appears to have bulged - parting the joints between the ashlars above the shifted and tilted ashlar. The fractures and broken corners in the lower left of the "Shifted Ashlar" photo may be related to this deformation.
Through-going joints Through-going joints
Through-going joints on inner South wall of fortress

View from the east

Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Inner South wall of fortress JW: Joints passing through 2 or more adjacent stones can indicate high levels of local intensity as the fracture has to overcome the stress shadow between the ashlars (e.g. see Korjenkov and Mazor, 1999:197-198)
Displaced Wall Displaced Wall
Displaced exterior east fortress wall south of the Main gate

View from the the northeast and above

Drone Photo by Jefferson Williams - 11 June 2023
Exterior east fortress wall south of the Main gate JW: Displaced Wall along with some fracturing. Could be due to soil pressure if this wall acted as a retaining wall at some time in its history

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