\u201cFlee to the mountains\u201d (Gn 19:17) was what the angels told Lot and his family. This is a view of the region where the Monastery of Lot\u2019s Cave is located. At the southeastern corner of the Dead Sea, the mountains of Moab and Edom loom to the east of the Cities of the Plain. The Monastery is situated 7 km (4 mi) northeast of the modern town of Safi, believed to be ancient Zoar. Lot left Sodom for Zoar first, and then to the cave in the mountain (Gn 19:23, 30).<\/b><\/p>\n
Konstantinos Politis, of the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities of the British Museum in London, excavated a Byzantine church in the Edomite mountains on the shore of the southern Ghor of the Dead Sea from 1988 through 1996. He concluded that it is the site of the Sanctuary of Holy Lot identified on the sixth century AD mosaic floor map at Madaba in Jordan. It was constructed in front of a cave with evidence of occupation from the Early Bronze Age, the general period of Abraham and Lot<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The site is located at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea (map reference: E 197.9; N 052.77) on a steep mountain slope overlooking the modem town of Safi (Biblical Zoar). It is accurately depicted as the Sanctuary of Agios<\/i> (= \u201cSaint\u201d in Greek) Lot next to Zoara<\/i> on the Madaba map.<\/p>\n
The existence of Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata (= \u201cmonastery at the abbot\u2019s spring\u201d in Arabic) was first officially reported in 1986, by B. MacDonald during his survey of the area. The following year the author began a systematic survey of the site and in 1988 he started an excavation project supported by the British Museum which continued until 1996.<\/p>\n
The Sanctuary of Agios Lot consists of a Byzantine monastic complex with a number of hermits\u2019 cells above it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSanctuary of Holy L[ot]\u201d is the inscription above the monastery depicted in the mountains of Edom on the Madaba mosaic map. Churches and monasteries are identified on the map by red roofs.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 12:3 (Summer 1999) p. 88<\/p>\n
Aerial view of the Monastery of Lot\u2019s Cave. The Chapel with its three apses facing east can be seen in the center. The main apse with the chancel and nave is in the middle, while the left apse serves as the doorway to the cave. More than just a church, the complex is a full monastery including a refectory, a hostel for pilgrims, a large water reservoir and communal burial chamber. The entire complex sits precariously on the steep western slope of the mountains of Edom.<\/b><\/p>\n
Early Bronze Age pottery (above) found at the base of the cave, suggesting it was inhabited about the time of Lot. One of two inscriptions (upper right) which mentions the name of Lot. Ceramic Byzantine lamps (right) found in the Monastery of Lot\u2019s Cave.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 12:3 (Summer 1999) p. 89<\/p>\n
The focal point is a triple-apsed basilical church built around a natural cave which early Christians believed was where Lot and his daughters took refuge after the destruction of Sodom (Gn 19). It is flanked to the south by a large reservoir and to the north by a refectory with an oven, a pilgrim\u2019s hostel and a communal burial chamber. The church is adorned by mosaic floor pavements inscribed in Byzantine Greek and dated to April AD 606 and May AD 691. Two other Greek inscriptions on stone that invoke Agios<\/i> Lot, confirm the Christian identification of the site as Lot\u2019s Sanctuary.<\/p>\n
The bulk of the material finds date to the early Byzantine period (fifth-seventh centuries AD) and are associated with the church and monastery. The presence of Nabataean pottery (first century BC-first century AD) account for the earliest occupation and may relate to the foundation of the settlement. Furthermore, Middle Bronze Age II (2000\u20131500 BC) and Early Bronze Age I (3000 BC) burials in the cave and around the monastery allude to the area of \u2018Ain \u2018Abata as being a sacred one even in pre-Christian times. The final occupation of the site was during the early Abbasid Caliphate (late eighth to ninth centuries AD) which would indicate a continued veneration of Lot in the vicinity by Christians and Muslims alike.<\/p>\n
The final report on the excavations is planned to be published by British Museum Publications by the author sometime in 1999. Since 1993, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan has been sponsoring restorations of the site under the direction of the author.<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
Politis, K.D.<\/b><\/p>\n
1998 Excavations and Restorations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata 1996. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 42.<\/p>\n
1997 Excavations and Restorations at Dayr \u2018Ayn \u2019Abātā 1995. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 41:341\u201350.<\/p>\n
1995 Excavations and Restorations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata 1994. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 39:477\u2013491.<\/p>\n
1993 The 1992 Season of Excavations and the 1993 Season of Restorations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 37: 503\u2013520.<\/p>\n
1993 Une Decorverte Ettonnante: Le Sanctuaire de Lot. Le Monde de la Bible<\/i> 83 (Juillet-Aout): 36-37.<\/p>\n
1992 Excavations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata 1991. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 36:281\u2013290.<\/p>\n
1992 Excavating Lot\u2019s Sanctuary in Jordan. Minerva<\/i> 3.4: 6\u20139.<\/p>\n
1990 Excavations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata 1990. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 34: 377\u2013387.<\/p>\n
1989 Excavations at Deir \u2018Ain \u2018Abata 1988. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan<\/i> 33: 227\u2013233, 404\u2013406.<\/p>\n
Plan of the basilica church in the Monastery of Lot\u2019s Cave. The structure is constructed of stone blocks and most floors are paved with mosaics. The central apse, chancel and nave are flanked on each side by a row of stone pillars. The cave is entered through the left apse.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 12:3 (Summer 1999) p. 90<\/p>\n
Students from The Master\u2019s College, IBEX (Israel Bible Extension), are excavating the monastery at Khirbet el-Maqatir under the direction of faculty members Todd Bolen, Randy Cook and Bill Schlegel.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cFlee to the mountains\u201d (Gn 19:17) was what the angels told Lot and his family. This is a view of the region where the Monastery of Lot\u2019s Cave is located. At the southeastern corner of the Dead Sea, the mountains of Moab and Edom loom to the east of the Cities of the Plain. The … Continue reading “JORDAN”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}