Saadon

Transliterated Name	Source	Name
Saadon
Horvat Sa'adon	Hebrew
Khirbet as-Sa'adi	Arabic	كهيربيت اسءسا'ادي
Sudanon	Greek	σuδανον
Sa'adu or Sa'adat	Nabataean

Introduction

Horvat Sa'adon, a Byzantine era village in the Negev, was located on a secondary route connecting Rehovot-in-the-Negev with Shivta (Erickson-Gini et. al., 2018). It may have been visited by the Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza. Looting of the site in modern times may have obscured some archaeoseismic evidence.

Maps, Aerial Views, Plans, and Photos

Maps

Fig. 1 - Location Map from

Fig. 1

Map showing the location of Horvat Sa’adon with ancient road network

Erickson-Gini (2018)

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Fig. 2a - Area Map from

Fig. 2a

The hinterland surrounding the site, near wadi Saʻadon showing the location of [pigeon-raising] structures A–C

(after Hirschfeld 2006: fig 2)

Tepper et al. (2018)

Tepper et al. (2018)
Fig. 2 - Area Map from

Fig. 2

Map showing the location of Sa'aadon and its surroundings

Hirschfeld (2006)

Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 3 - Area Map from

Fig. 3

Area Map

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Aerial Views

Fig. 2 - Aerial View from

Fig. 2

Aerial View of Horbat Sa'adon, looking west

Erickson-Gini (2018a)

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
Fig. 2 - Aerial View from

Fig. 2

Aerial view of Horvat Sa’adon and Nahal Sa’adon facing west

(Image: G. Fitoussi, Israel Antiquities Authority).

Erickson-Gini (2018)

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Saadon in Google Earth

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

Saadon on govmap.gov.il

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

Plans

Normal Size

Fig. 8 - Site Plan from

Fig. 8

Plan of Sa'adon with numbered dwelling units (1-51)

Hirschfeld (2006)

Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 14 - Plan and cross-section

Fig. 8

Plan and cross-section of the south-western church

Hirschfeld (2006)

of the south-western church Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 11 - Plan of the church

Fig. 11

Plan of the church

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Fig. 33 - Plan and cross-section

Fig. 33

Plan and cross section of winepress

Hirschfeld (2006)

of the winepress from Hirschfeld (2006)

Magnified

Fig. 8 - Site Plan from

Fig. 8

Plan of Sa'adon with numbered dwelling units (1-51)

Hirschfeld (2006)

Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 14 - Plan and cross-section

Fig. 8

Plan and cross-section of the south-western church

Hirschfeld (2006)

of the south-western church Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 11 - Plan of the church

Fig. 11

Plan of the church

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Fig. 33 - Plan and cross-section

Fig. 33

Plan and cross section of winepress

Hirschfeld (2006)

of the winepress from Hirschfeld (2006)

Photos

Fig. 16 - Prayer niche

Fig. 16

Prayer niche in the eastern part of the south-western church, view to the east

Hirschfeld (2006)

in the eastern part of the south-western church from Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 18 - Prayer niche

Fig. 18

Prayer niche with place for reliquary casket, view to the east

JW: Note vertical fracture

Hirschfeld (2006)

(closeup) in the eastern part of the south-western church from Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 13 - Part of a painted

Fig. 13

Part of a painted stone uncovered in front of the northern arched 'prayer' niche.

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

stone uncovered in front of the northern arched 'prayer' niche from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Fig. 13 - Part of a painted

Fig. 13

Painted decoration on a stone

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)

stone uncovered in front of the northern arched 'prayer' niche from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
Fig. 12 - The southern wall

Fig. 12

The southern wall of the church, the square pillar and a blockage wall between them, looking southwest

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)

of the church, the square pillar and a blockage wall between them from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
Fig. 24 - Repairs on

Fig. 24

Repairs on the northern wall of the church, looking north

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)

the northern wall of the church from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
Fig. 21 - Tilted Wall

Fig. 21

Typical wall of a dwelling house (no. 22) in Sa'adon

JW: Wall is tilted

Hirschfeld (2006)

of House 22 from Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 22 - One of the

Fig. 22

[One of the] two types of retaining walls characterizing construction at Sa'adon

Hirschfeld (2006)

two types of retaining walls characterizing construction at Sa'adon from Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 23 - The other

Fig. 23

[One of the] two types of retaining walls characterizing construction at Sa'adon

Hirschfeld (2006)

type of retaining wall characterizing construction at Sa'adon from Hirschfeld (2006)
Fig. 32 - The winepress

Fig. 32

The winepress, view to the north

Hirschfeld (2006)

from Hirschfeld (2006)

Phasing

Southwestern Church

from Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a) and Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Phase	Start Date (c. CE)	End Date (c. CE)	Comments
1	5th- early 6th	mid 7th	Comments The church appears to have been constructed in the Middle Byzantine period possibly as a monastery church. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) Well-preserved, hard limestone flooring slabs were found throughout the nave, but the floor of the bema, where an altar table and the chancel screen would have stood, was largely robbed out in antiquity. A square column found c. 1.1 m north of the southern wall of the church (Fig. 12) seems to have belonged to a row of columns which ran along the southern side of the nave. Pieces of painted plaster and stone, as well as larger, flat stones with painted decorations in black, red, white, green and yellow, were found in the area of the bema, near the eastern wall (Figs. 13–16). These are of rather good workmanship and seem to belong to the earlier phase of the church. Numerous architectural elements, which probably belonged to the first stage of construction, but were later robbed from their original location, were found discarded in the church: one chancel column, carved from local limestone, was found in an undisturbed area in the nave; another limestone chancel column was discarded by the looters south of the church (Fig. 17); two carved limestone chancel screens (Figs. 18–20)—one of which was broken, but an engraving of a running gazelle and a cross could still be discerned (Figs. 19, 20)—were discovered near the eastern opening (width 1.2 m) in the southern wall; a single round stone column drum (Figs. 21, 22), which may have originated in a room or atrium south of the southern wall, was also revealed in front of this opening; and a decorated door-post base (Fig. 23) was discarded by looters inside the nave. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
2	mid 7th	8th	Comments The church was heavily damaged and subsequently repaired in the mid-7th century CE and continued to be used for several years in the Umayyad period (mid-7th— 8th centuries CE) - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) Phase 2 represents repairs in the church following damage which was apparently caused by an earthquake. These seem to include stonework repairs in the northern wall of the church, along the bema (Fig. 24); blockage of the western of the two openings in the southern wall; and possibly the perforation of one of the stones in the doorframe of the eastern opening (Fig. 25). The simple, whitish yellow plaster, still adhering to large parts of the eastern and southern walls (Fig. 26), is of a much lower workmanship quality compared to the painted plaster and stone, and thus seems to also belong to Phase 2, when the church was repaired. The 1.1 m width space between the square column, still standing along the southern side of the nave, and the southern wall was blocked with a wall built of stones and covered with the same whitish yellow plaster (see Fig. 12). This blockage effectively reduced the size of the church in Phase 2. An external addition which seems as a revetment was built during this phase against the outer face of the northern wall of the church; it was discerned at the western end of the wall (Fig. 27) but was not excavated. Revetments of this type, supporting the walls of buildings, were found throughout the site, including the structure immediately east of the church (Fig. 28), and around the Northern and Western churches at nearby Rehovot-in-the-Negev (Tsafrir 1988:77). - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)
3	early 8th	early 8th	Comments The church was abandoned sometime in the Early Islamic period, probably in the early 8th century CE. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) noted that some time during the Umayyad period, this church, and possibly the entire town, was abandoned as attested by the Arabic graffiti and inscriptions on the walls of the abandoned church. After the church was abandoned, architectural elements were dismantled and robbed from their original location. In the area of the bema, most of the floor was removed, and the chancel screen and columns were dismantled. Charcoal graffiti were written on the walls of the church. These include Arabic inscriptions and several figures (Figs. 26, 29): traces of Arabic writing and a depiction of a horse and rider on the whitish yellow plaster of the apse; the inscription “Allah” on a whitish yellow plaster surface (Fig. 30) at the bottom of a probe opened along the outer face of the southern wall, where robbers had dug a trench; and faint traces of Arabic script on one of the carved chancel screens (Fig. 31). These graffiti are most probably contemporaneous with the Kufic Arabic script of the eighth–ninth centuries CE documented in the church in a previous excavation (Hirschfeld 2006:25–27). - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)

Phase 2 Earthquake - mid-7th century CE

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) reports that the [Southwestern] church was heavily damaged and subsequently repaired in the mid-7th century CE and continued to be used for several years in the Umayyad period (mid-7th - 8th centuries CE).

Phase 2 Earthquake - mid-7th century CE

Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) noted that walls aligned in a WNW direction were damaged.

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Observation
Damage to prayer niche	Northern Prayer Niche in Southwestern Church Fig. 8 Plan and cross-section of the south-western church Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 16 Prayer niche in the eastern part of the south-western church, view to the east Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 18 Prayer niche with place for reliquary casket, view to the east JW: Note vertical fracture Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 13 Part of a painted stone uncovered in front of the northern arched 'prayer' niche. Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	A partially destroyed northern prayer niche - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Displaced Walls surmised from Repairs	N Wall of Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 24 Repairs on the northern wall of the church, looking north Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)	Structural damage and repairs were revealed along the north wall of the church. The damage and subsequent repairs can be attributed to earthquake damage possibly in the mid-7th century CE. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Displaced Walls surmised from revetment (support) wall	NW corner of Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)		The upper section of a revetment (support) wall testifying to repairs an the exterior surface exists along the northwest corner of the church. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Displaced Walls surmised from blockage	S Wall Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 12 The southern wall of the church, the square pillar and a blockage wall between them, looking southwest Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)	In the second phase of occupation, the space between the square column and the southern wall was blocked and the blockage appears to have extended north of the column as well. ... The blockage of the space between the square column and the southern wall points to a contraction in the space of the church following the earthquake that required repairs in the northern wall. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Wall Damage	S Wall in Western extension of the Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)		Excavation in the western extension of the church revealed damage to the southern wall that was apparently left partially unrepaired. However the pavement in the nave survived in situ. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)
Broken wine press	NE bank of Nahal Sa'adon Fig. 2 Map showing the location of Sa'aadon and its surroundings Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 33 Plan and cross section of winepress Hirschfeld (2006)	Fig. 32 The winepress, view to the north Hirschfeld (2006)	The `wine-press' hewn along the bedrock shelf on the northeast bank of Nahal Sa'adon was apparently broken by the same seismic event. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Phase 2 Earthquake - mid-7th century CE

Modified by JW from Fig. 11 of Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Deformation Map

modified by JW from Fig. 11 of Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)

Phase 2 Earthquake - mid-7th century CE

Earthquake Archeological Effects chart

Earthquake Archeological Effects (EAE)

Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Observation	Intensity
Damage to prayer niche	Northern Prayer Niche in Southwestern Church Fig. 8 Plan and cross-section of the south-western church Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 16 Prayer niche in the eastern part of the south-western church, view to the east Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 18 Prayer niche with place for reliquary casket, view to the east JW: Note vertical fracture Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 13 Part of a painted stone uncovered in front of the northern arched 'prayer' niche. Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	A partially destroyed northern prayer niche - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	VII+
Displaced Walls surmised from Repairs	N Wall of Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 24 Repairs on the northern wall of the church, looking north Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)	Structural damage and repairs were revealed along the north wall of the church. The damage and subsequent repairs can be attributed to earthquake damage possibly in the mid-7th century CE. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	VII+
Displaced Walls surmised from revetment (support) wall	NW corner of Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)		The upper section of a revetment (support) wall testifying to repairs an the exterior surface exists along the northwest corner of the church. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	VII+
Displaced Walls surmised from blockage	S Wall Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	Fig. 12 The southern wall of the church, the square pillar and a blockage wall between them, looking southwest Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018a)	In the second phase of occupation, the space between the square column and the southern wall was blocked and the blockage appears to have extended north of the column as well. ... The blockage of the space between the square column and the southern wall points to a contraction in the space of the church following the earthquake that required repairs in the northern wall. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	VII+
Wall Damage	S Wall in Western extension of the Southwestern Church Fig. 11 Plan of the church Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)		Excavation in the western extension of the church revealed damage to the southern wall that was apparently left partially unrepaired. However the pavement in the nave survived in situ. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	VII+ ?
Broken wine press	NE bank of Nahal Sa'adon Fig. 2 Map showing the location of Sa'aadon and its surroundings Hirschfeld (2006) Fig. 33 Plan and cross section of winepress Hirschfeld (2006)	Fig. 32 The winepress, view to the north Hirschfeld (2006)	The `wine-press' hewn along the bedrock shelf on the northeast bank of Nahal Sa'adon was apparently broken by the same seismic event. - Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018)	?

The archeoseismic evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VII (7) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224). Erickson-Gini et. al. (2018) noted that walls aligned in a WNW direction were damaged - something which is evident in the Deformation Map.

References

Articles and Books

Erickson-Gini, T. et. al. (2018a). Horvat Sa'adon - Preliminary Report Hadashot Arkheologiyot v. 130

Erickson-Gini, T. et. al. (2018). Horvat Sa'adon - Excavations in the Roman Tomb and Byzantine Church. London, The Society.

Hirschfeld, Y. 2006. Settlement of the Negev in the Byzantine period in light of the survey at Horvat Saʻadon. Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 24: 7–49.

Tepper, Y., et al. (2018). "Pigeon-raising and sustainable agriculture at the fringe of the desert: a view from the Byzantine village of Sa‘adon, Negev, Israel." Levant 50.

Websites

Drone flyover of Horvat Sa'adon at BibleWalks.com youtube channel