Deir Samaan

Deir Samaan (Arabic: دير سمعان, lit. 'Monastery of Samaan') is one of the largest Byzantine agricultural farms in Samaria and is located in Leshem, West Bank, Palestine. The site which has been impressively preserved dates back to the Roman period. The farm, which was established on the side of the main road at the time, includes many agricultural facilities, including houses, sheds, water cisterns, storage ponds and more. Despite the site's name, no monks are known to have been active there, and it seems that the name was intended to emphasize the farm's Christian ownership.

Location and dating

The ruins of Deir Samaan lay at the top of a rugged spur at a height of 360 meters. Its location was chosen mainly due to its strategic importance, overlooking the weakest point of the main roads in western Samaria: the road from Migdal Afek to Nablus and the road between the villages of Azon, Seniria, Mesha and Lubun. It was, therefore, apparently used as an observation point, supply and deterrence in times of war. The earliest phase of the farm is from the Roman period, at the beginning of the second century AD. From this period, a trestle shed and a weaving house survived. In the Byzantine period, probably in the sixth century, the farm was greatly expanded, and most of the findings on the site are from this period. It seems that the farm was destroyed and abandoned following the Arab occupation, with the decline of the grapevine industry in the Land of Israel due to the Muslim ban on drinking wine. It is possible that the large hall covered in a barrel vault in the north of the farm should be dated to this period, as it is different in style from the other buildings.

Reasons for establishing the farm

Prof. Yoel Elitzur and Haim Ben David, state in their article "Deir and Neveh and Place Names of the Deir-X Type in the Land of Israel", hypothesize that the ruins of Deir Samaan were built by the Byzantines as a response to the Samaritan rebellions in the sixth century against Christian rule. They see the ruins of Deir Samaan as part of a row of agricultural farms along the west-east axis, which were all established on the southwestern slopes of Samaria to serve as a defensive border line between the northern area where the Samaritans operated, and the southern area where the Christians operated. Elitzur and Ben David located 28 sites throughout Samaria whose names begin with the word 'Dir', but only in those in southern Samaria, such as the Deir Sammen ruin, were Christian decorations and objects preserved, such as crosses and baptismal basins. This indicates, in their opinion, the deliberate destruction of Christian symbols in northern Samaria by the Samaritans, something that was stopped at the agricultural farms line.

Findings

The ruins of Deir Samaan are a huge complex, consisting of many houses and rooms, which are connected to each other by narrow streets. The farm is surrounded by a large limestone wall, which has a large breach in the southern part from which indicated from where the Arabs entered when they conquered the place

Church

In the center of the farm is a large, square basilica church, the dimensions of which reach almost 40 by 40 meters. In the past, the church was crossed by two rows of columns, which divided it into a central hall and two citras. Most of the columns are now thrown on the mosaic floor, which was largely preserved, in a manner that suggests deliberate destruction by the occupiers of the place. In the eastern wall of the church, the southern apse was preserved out of three. The threshold stone and part of the walls that surrounded the church were also beautifully preserved.

Agricultural facilities

The earliest agricultural facilities on the site are, as mentioned, a trestle shed (10 x 13 meters) and a Roman-era textile house, located in the eastern part of the farm. Not far from there, at a later stage, another textile mill was built using screw press technology. The most elaborate canvas house on the farm, probably built later, lies southwest of the church, within a series of rooms. From this cloth house, three round and complete stepping stones remain, which teach about a large yield of olive oil.

Water reservoirs

Deir Samaan is far from natural water sources and springs, so there are quite a few reservoirs of various sizes scattered around it. In the northern part of the farm, the stone slab roof of one of the pits has been beautifully preserved, and its drainage system is still working. In this pit i clear water can be found most of the year and it reaches a depth of several meters. A little further north, outside the farm, hewn storage ponds were discovered for storing rainwater.

Additional findings

The farm is very rich with stylized stone decorations of vegetal reliefs and crosses on them. It seems that these decorations were placed in the frames and walls of the farm, to indicate the Christian religion of its owner. Among other things, you can also find baptismal basins and Christian ritual vessels, as well as a relief of a sundial, which is fixed in the huge winepress in the north of the farm.

Gallery

Panoramic view of some of the ruins.
Pits.

References