Archaeological Park 2
Western section: the Burnt Palace with two wings, the Martyrs' Church (al-Khadir), and remains of a paved courtyard and Roman street.
For an optimal view of our website, please rotate your tablet horizontally.
Dated to the 6th century, the basilica of 32 x 16 m had three doors on the facade. The bases and columns, as well as the capitals and the steps of the synthronon [semicircular bench in the apse for the clergy], are re-used from older Roman buildings. Two rows of ten columns and two pilasters each separate the central nave, tapering to the east, from the side naves. The presbyterium, which is two steps higher than the nave and enclosed by a chancel screen, extends into the nave as far as the third pair of columns.
The mosaic had already been damaged in earlier times and suffered further damage during the excavation. In spite of iconoclastic mutilation of the mosaic floor which was repaired by filling the holes with lime mortar, the decoration is still legible in its general outlines and in many of its motifs.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Western section: the Burnt Palace with two wings, the Martyrs' Church (al-Khadir), and remains of a paved courtyard and Roman street.
From Medieval Greek = icon / to break
Rejection or destruction of religious images or sacred objects.
During the Byzantine Empire the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Eastern Church. A widespread destruction of images and persecution of image veneration supporters took place. The first phase lasted from 730-787.
In Jordan, human and animal images were deliberately destroyed in the mosaics of a considerable number of Byzantine churches. This occurred not because the images were venerated, but rather because of the objection to any depiction of living beings.
The area of modern Jordan, previously part of the Byzantine Empire, became integrated into the Umayyad Empire (the first Muslim dynasty) in the early 7th century. For this reason some attribute the iconoclastic activities to an edict issued by the Umayyad caliph Yazid II (720-724). But its authenticity is questioned, and it is not mentioned in any early Arabic sources.
Often destruction and repair were done simultaneously: the plucked out tesserae were carefully reinserted as pixelated blurs, which indicates a procedure done by the local Christian communities themselves. Therefore, it is likely that the defacement of living beings was a consequence of the socio-religious environment of those communities, and the continued polemics, and persistent criticism from different groups (incl. Muslims, Jews and Christian groups) during that time.