Monks and Monasteries in Jordan
From the contemporary literary sources we know of the impressive development of monasticism among the christian population in the Near East and the important role played by the monks in converting to Christianity the Arab tribes of Bilad es Sham. The monastic movement, well attested historically for Egypt, Palestine and Syria, was equally well developed in all its forms in the entire territory of Jordan during the Byzantine and Islamic periods. The Cenobitic way of life is attested in the big monastery of Dayr Siyagha and in the small duyur of the countryside on the outskirts of the villages. The Hermitic way of life in the Laura or hermitages, as in the Judean desert of Palestine, is also well attested. Inscriptions remember particular ways of ascetic life such as Stylite monks and Recluse monks on Mount Nebo.

Chronologically we have the first witnesses of the monastic life in Jordan already in the IV century in the itinerary of Egeria. The reference in the life of Peter the Iberian to a Sketian monk is a precious testimony that possibly indicates the Egyptian origin of the primitive monastic community on Mount Nebo.

Egeria during her journey to the memorial of Moses on mount Nebo, met several ascetic monks who were living in cells near the springs of Moses in the wadi ‘Uyun Musa north of Mount Nebo.

The pilgrim remembers, not only the cells but also a small church in which she prayed. The monks received her with warm hospitality and several of them accompanied her to visit the memorial of Moses on the summit of the mountain. Egeria does not record monks living near the sanctuary. She limits herself in her writing to say that the monks who joined her on her visit to Mount Nebo pointed out to her the memorial place of Moses inside the church and the surrounding biblical localities visible from the main entrance to the church. On the other hand, another pilgrim, in the fifth century, Peter the Iberian bishop of Maioumas in Gaza, twice visited the same sanctuary He records the numerous cells and monks living there during his first visit in the first half of the fifth century. Peter met there a cloistered monk who had come from Skete in Egypt "who had lived in his cell for forty years without going out of the door and without crossing the threshold, an ascetic and prophet, full of the grace of God". Peter asked permission to meet this holy man, from a monk in charge of the church. Moreover he and two of his companions spent a night on mount Nebo as guests of the monks there. Therefore, father Saller writes: "These facts seem to indicate that there was an organized community of monks living at Mount Nebo in the early part of the century." The anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza who travelled in the region in the second half of the sixth century mentions several hermits in the region of the city of Livias at the foot of Mount Nebo and also near the locality of Segor identified on the north eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In the same region, on the eastern bank of the river Jordan the pilgrim visited a cave with seven cells, in which seven maidens lived. These received their meals from others. In the Spiritual Meadow (Pratum Spirituale), a book written in the first half of the VII century, the author John Moscus relates the origin of the Laura of Saphsaphas built at the time of the patriarch Elijah of Jerusalem (496-516), this is the same place visited by the Pilgrim of Piacenza, and is also shown in the Madaba map. Several anecdotes, in this edifying book, refer to monks who crossed the river Jordan from Palestine either on their way to Sinai or to stay there during the period of the Lenten fast. Mentioned in particular are the localities of Besinunte, the Arnon river and the wadi Heidan-Eidoun.

In the Life of St. Stephen of the monastery of St. Saba, a work of the IX century, we find the account of how the holy man was accustomed to going east of the Dead Sea to the caves of the Arnon, and those of St. Lot and St. Aaron up to Zoara south east of the Dead sea.

This is how Sophronius patriarch of Jerusalem describes the roving of the monks in the desert of Jordan during Lent. “In a monastery in Palestine there was a man enlightened for his way of life and for his word…named Zosima. One day a monk told him: For you to be able to know how great are other roads towards salvation…come to the monastery which is near to the River Jordan.

Instantly following him who had just spoken, leaving the monastery in which he had lived since his infancy reaching the Jordan, the most holy of all rivers, having received the blessing of the abbot, the man stayed in that monastery.

This is the rule of this monastery. On the Sunday, that according to tradition, gave the name to the first week of fasting, the divine sacraments were celebrated, as required by the norm. All partook of the life-giving and uncontaminated body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having had, as usual, some food, they all assembled in the oratory. Having bent their knees and made a prayer of supplication, the monks exchanged amongst themselves the embrace of peace, then each one of them, having knelt in public, embraced the abbot, asking for his benediction to have him as cooperator and companion at the start of the fight.

Thus , throwing open the doors of the monastery and singing in unison: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?, they went out.

Each one nourished himself at will. As a matter of fact one took with him water according to his body’s needs, another figs, another palm tree dates, yet another vegetables which had previously been immersed in water, another nothing except his body and the clothes he was wearing. In the desert they ate herbs that grew there. Besides each one set his own rules. One rule that was not to be transgressed was that no one was to know how his companion was fasting or how he survived.

Having crossed the River Jordan, they all went their separate ways, no one went with his companion, considering the desert as though it were a city. Moreover if any one of them saw another moving in his direction, the first quickly took to another direction: he would then live for himself and for God. Thus, having done all the fasting, they would return to the monastery before the live-giving day of the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Thus Zosima crossed the Jordan river, and crossed the desert observing the rule. At night he rested a bit, sitting on the ground taking some sleep wherever it was that he found himself. At dawn he walked briskly because he wished to get further into the desert hoping to find some abbé who lived there and who could edify him, he continued walking as if hurrying towards someone he knew”.

Moreover in the same Life of Saint Stephen mention is made of the abbot Cosmas superior of the monastery of Quweismeh near Amman.

In the list of the Monophysite abbots of Arabia, who in 570 wrote a letter to Ja'qob Burde'ana, we find the name Dayr Fidayn, which can be identified with the monastery of el-Fedeyn near Mafraq, recently excavated below the Umayyad castle found there.

In the Arabic sources for the pre-prophetic period of Mohammed, several monasteries are mentioned: with Deir el Busra in Arabia, one reads of Dayr al-Ba'iq and Dayr Mayfa'ah, which can be identified with Qasr al Ba'iq in the north of Jordan and with Umm al-Rasas south of Madaba. These monasteries are mentioned in relation with the monk Bahira. During the same period literary sources record several monks of Transjordanian origin such as: Abba Stephen the Moabite, Abba John the Moabite, Abba John of Petra, Abba Athenogenes who later became the bishop of Petra; and Abba Martyrius from Jerash.

Archaeologically, the first hermitage of Jordan was identified in 1812 by Burckhardt at Dayr er-Riyashi where wadi Heidan meets wadi Mujib.

The number since then has considerably increased as a result of the ongoing exploration and excavations in the Jordanian territory. Frs. Bagatti and Saller published in 1949 the first list of monasteries and hermitages discovered up to that time while they were in the process of excavating the big monastery which developed in the Byzantine epoch around the sanctuary of Mount Nebo.

In the surveys carried out, the monastic edifices which can be easily identified are the rupestrian or semi-rupestrian hermitages in the wadis where the monks came in search of the solitude necessary for their life of prayer. These hermitages also provided the right atmosphere for the ascetic life-style of the monks. The presence of such hermitages is attested in the big wadis such as wadi Yarmuk, wadi Yabis, wadi Kufrinja, wadi Shu'aib, wadi Zerqa Ma'in, wadi Mujib, wadi Hasa, and in the minor valleys like wadi Afra in the south, wadi al-Malih and wadi Defali near Kerak, Qasr et-Tuba on the Lisan, wadi 'Uyun Musa at Mount Nebo, wadi Jabara near es-Salt, wadi Kharrar near er-Rameh, wadi al-Habis, wadi Zahar, wadi Jeri'ah and wadi Emzerib in the north. At least one hermitage was identified in the desert at Kilwa. Arabic topology has preserved the memory of the existence and of the functioning of such caves like ‘Arak er Ruhban in the wadi Emzerib, or El Habis in the wadi El Malik near Kerak and the ed-Dayr of Petra.

The same Arabic toponymy knows the Dayr or monastery which reached the dimensions of a big Coenobion like Dayr Siyagha on Mount Nebo, and others of smaller dimensions like Dayr Ma‘in, Dayr Al-Kenisah at Khirbat el Mukhayyat, or the monastery of the Theothokos near the spring of ‘Ayn Kenisah in the valley south of Mount Nebo.

Archaeological excavations have led to a sufficient analysis of various typologies of monastic edifices in the region, which can be grouped under three major types:

(1) The big coenobion, like Dayr Siyagha, which up to now is the only large monastery found in Jordan.

(2) The small dayr near a village which remains primarily agricultural.

(3) The hermitage or Laura, basically rupestrian or semi-rupestrian

1. Dayr Siyagha reached its maximum extension during the sixth century. The monastery dominated by the memorial of Moses presents itself as a complex of different yet inter-related sectors composed of several rooms that give upon a central courtyard. The sectors seem to have each a special function: community rooms in the atrium of the basilica, and living quarters or cells in the southern sector. From the archaeological research in hand it results that the monastery developed from monastic units more or less isolated and situated on the top or on the slopes of the mountain. Recently we have excavated one such unit on the western slope, which we have named the hermitage of the abbot Procapis, which name is based on an inscription we found. The monks obtained, or rather hewed, their living rooms from the rock of the mountain making use of additional walling or masonry. The hermitage is formed of a paved courtyard on the south which had a water cistern underneath. A corridor connected the courtyard with a large mosaiced room which was also the centre of the complex, this too having a cistern in one corner.

Probably when the three nave basilica built in honour of Moses was completed in 597, the monastery was reduced to the area of the atrium and the southern sector the other sectors, to the north, east and west having been abandoned.

The archaeological research carried out, extended to the ecclesiastical edifices in the valleys around mount Nebo has enabled us to arrive at the historical conclusion, well foreseen by Fr. Saller in the 1940’s. i.e. the superior of the main monastery had jurisdiction also over the monks living in the valleys where the monastery might have had its orchards and vegetable gardens.

2. On Mount Nebo itself we have two examples of the small Dayr: Dayr al-Kenisah on the east bank of wadi ‘Afrit and the Dayr of ‘Ayn Kenisah to the south of the mountain. Both have been excavated.

At ‘Ayn al-Kanisah, the rooms of the small monastery on the isolated hill east of the spring, extend to the north and south of the chapel which is located in the centre with a courtyard paved with mosaic in the west to a lower height, where we find a cistern for the collection of rain water. The chapel paved with mosaic has an apse and a service room to the north in the vicinity of the façade.

Historically the most important elements of the mosaic of the Theothokos chapel at ‘Ayn Kanisah are certainly the inscriptions in the two medallions, which furnish us with remarkable historical data regarding the monastic life in the territory of the province of Arabia.

The first inscription on the eastern head of the carpet forms part of the original composition dating from the second half of the VI century: “In the beginning we give glory to God. Amen. With the prayers of your saints, give, O Lord, reward to the most holy Cyrus, (son) of Abraham, the Hegumenos and Archmandrite of the whole desert, and give reward to the most loved by God, Abba Longinus the stylite, and to Abba John.”

The second inscription in the vicinity of the door, forms part of the rectangular panel added to the original mosaic in the eighth century: “By the providence of God was rebuilt this venerable monastery of the Holy Theothokos, at the time of Job, bishop of the (Christians of) Madaba, and of George the recluse. The 15th indiction of the year 627 (AD 762).”

Through an entrance on the right of the staircase leading to the chapel, one descended to a vaulted tomb in which two burial places have been uncovered.

The new high date (762 AD) obtained from the mosaic in the chapel of the Theothokos at ‘Ayn Kanisah constitutes another precious historical testimony for the vitality of the monastic presence in the surrounding valleys and on the top of Mount Nebo.

The rooms of the small dayr of al-Kanisah at al-Mukhayyat are adapted according to the terraces of the mountain. On the highest point to the south there is the chapel. The other rooms follow along the levels of the mountain towards the north with a cave running underneath which was used as a store. To the south of the chapel on a higher point was found hewn in the rock a vine press, often found near such agricultural monasteries, like the one at Zay al-Gharbi near es-Salt. It is to be noted that a similar vine press, the best preserved of its kind has been discovered south-west of the chapel forming part of a monastic complex at Khirbet el-Kursi-Amman.

The characteristic note of this type of dayr, is its location outside the village in the vicinity of the agricultural plots of land out of which the monks could make a living. The best positioned in this respect was the dayr outside the village of El Khattabiyeh, where an inscription in the mosaic floor of the church refers to the tomb of the holy fathers, i.e. the monks living in the nearby monastery.

In this context we must mention that there still remains the problem of identification of the small ecclesiastical complexes excavated to date on the acropolis of Khirbet el Mukhayyat, at ‘Uyun Musa and at Ma‘in These complexes are composed of a three nave church of minor dimensions with some adjoining rooms. Possibly, they are only small votive churches built by wealthy benefactors, sometimes for funerary purposes and served by a priest who looked after the Christians of the neighbourhood.

3. More characteristic are the hermitages, of the so called Palestinian laura type. prevalent in the wadis. Two of such hermitages have been recently discovered and studied, namely the hermitages of wadi Afra and that of Al Mu'allaqah in the wadi Gabara west of ‘Iraq el Amir. Both rupestrian hermitages have as characteristic patterns a chapel and a water cistern. Normally the walls have cross inscriptions and graffiti carved on them. The main inscription on the wall of the hermitage in the wadi Afra records the Abbot John, a title that refers to a larger monastic community present in the neighbourhood. In the hermitage of ‘Ayn Qattara in the wadi Zerka Ma‘in we find, close to the spring, a room hewn in an isolated rock with a stairway to reach the main door on the northern wall. The interior of the cave is square in shape. There are two windows on the western wall and a small bed carved out on the eastern wall. From the positioning of this room it is clear that the monk living therein had the duty of watching over the spring and the surrounding gardens as well as guarding the entrance to the small monastery which lay hidden inside the wadi.

The examination of the tower of Umm el-Rasas, which is still standing 14 metres high north of the ruins of the city, yielded the following conclusions. The tower is of the Byzantine epoch. It is built at the centre of a square courtyard with a water cistern at its base and a small church nearby. At its very top the tower had a domed room with no stairway leading to it. This means that it was not a watch tower to forewarn the approach of marauding bedouins. It was more probably the tower of a stilite monk living the special ascetic way of life, well attested in Syria where it originated with St. Simon the Stilite. The fact that this way of life spread rapidly through the entire middle-east in the V century and continued into the medieval period is also very well documented. The first evidence of this ascetic way of life in Jordan, comes from an inscription in the chapel of the Theothokos in the ‘Ayn al-Kanisah valley on Mount Nebo, where the monk Abba Longinos the Stylite is mentioned.

The major part of the documentation pertaining to the monks in Jordan comes from the excavations at Mount Nebo where, as we have already seen, a large monastic community was living since the IV century. In the inscriptions found in the basilica and in other rooms of the Dayr Siyagha, along with the generic reference to clerics and monks in the funerary inscriptions, clear reference is made to the Abbots of the monastery who were also priests. Abbots Procapis and Robebos are given the title "our father", a title normally used for the bishop of the diocese as can be read in the inscription of Madaba. At the village of Khirbet el Mukhayyat-Nebo, in the mosaic of the upper chapel dedicated to the priest John, a monk by the name Julianus is recorded among the benefactors. In the upper mosaic in the church of Kaianos in the wadi ‘Uyun Musa, the more unusual term “monazonto", the solitary, is used to describe the monk Casiseos. From an inscription in the church of St. Stephen at Umm el-Rasas, we know of one Kaiyum monk and priest of Phisga, possibly the superior of Dayr Siyagha - Mount Nebo referred to as "Phisga" in the Bible. This Kaiyum had contributed towards the decoration of the church of St.Stephen at Umm er-Rasas.

In Madaba a monk named John undertook the paving with mosaics of a chapel on the north wall of the church of the Apostles. A possible Abbot Thomas is recorded in the inscription found in the village of Mecaberos-Mukawer. In the mosaic of the church discovered outside the village of Khatthabiyah an inscription records the tomb of the holy father Eustratius, Magnus and others. From these we know that churches forming part of a monastic complex were used for funerary purposes. Perhaps the monks were buried in the underground grottos. The name of one Abbot John is recorded in the hermitage of Wadi Afra. The names of the monks Kyriacos, John and Cosmas are recorded in an inscription in the church of "Holy Sofia" in the northern village of Rihab. The Aramaic Christo-Palestinian inscriptions found in the lower mosaic of the church of Kaianos in the ‘Uyun Musa valley and in the lower church of Quweismeh south of Amman have a liturgical monastic character. Therefore Zobeos, Makedos, Habiba, John, Abdaraitou and Stephen who are referred to as "brothers" in the inscription of Quweismeh, could be the names of the members of the monastic community living there in the Umayyad period.

© Michele Piccirillo
SBF