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7 - The Refectory and the Kitchen in the Early Byzantine Monastery of Tell Bi’a (Syria): The Egyptian and Palestinian Connections

from II. - Production and Consumption of Food and Material Goods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2023

By
Gábor Kalla
Edited by
Louise Blanke  and
Jennifer Cromwell
Louise Blanke
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Jennifer Cromwell
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
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Summary

German excavations carried out between 1980 and 1995 in Tall Bi’a (Raqqa, Syria) uncovered the remains of a unique Syrian orthodox monastery on the top of the central hill above the Bronze Age city of Tuttul. The building complex is unique in that, although it is of inexpensive mudbrick, three of the rooms are decorated with carefully executed mosaic floors with figural decoration. Two of these mosaics have Syriac inscriptions that date the construction of the building (509 AD) and the renovation of parts of it (595 AD). The complex can be identified as the monastery of Mar Zakkai. This chapter focuses on the economic life of the monastery and describes it as a household unit. The starting point is the well-preserved refectory, the large kitchen, and the storerooms. The refectory is equipped with circular benches, unique in Syria, parallels of which are known only from Egypt.

Keywords

ByzantinemonasteryMar ZakkaiSyrian orthodoxhouseholdrefectorykitchenstorage
Type
Chapter
Information
Monastic Economies in Late Antique Egypt and Palestine , pp. 181 - 211
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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