Deir Qeruh church: the nave with the door at its western end Deir Qeruh (, '

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Qeruḥ'; ) is a ruined

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-period village in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

, located within an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, the

Gamla nature reserve Gamla nature reserve is a nature reserve and archaeological site located in the center of the Golan Heights, about 20 km south to the Israeli settlement of Katzrin. It adjoins the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve. The nature reserve The ...

. Gamla Nature Reserve
at the

Israel Nature and Parks Authority The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (, ; ) is an Israeli government organization that manages nature reserves and national parks in Israel, the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank. The organization was founded in April 1998, merging two o ...

site. Accessed July 12, 21018. The village was located near

Gamla Gamla (, the camel), also Gamala, was an ancient Jewish town on the Golan Heights. Believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars, it transitioned into a predominantly Jewish settlement that came under Hasmonean rul ...

, a much older fortified town. Deir Qeruh was founded in the 4th century CE, and a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and monastery were built there in the 6th century. Deir Qeruḥ
at Creighton University website. Accessed July 2018. The village was abandoned in the mid-7th century following the

Arab conquest The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabia that expanded rapidly un ...

, and inhabited again during the 13th and 14th centuries, in the

Mamluk period The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled medieval Egypt, Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military c ...

. A modern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n village rose at the site in the 20th century, and was again abandoned after the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, when it came under Israeli control. Explanatory sign
of the

Monastery and Church of Saint George

The north-eastern part of the village is the best preserved, and includes a monastery centered around a church, founded in the 6th century and dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, who is mentioned on the lintel at the church entrance. The church has a square apse — a feature known from ancient Syria and Jordan, but not present in churches west of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

. After the abandonment of Deir Qeruh in the seventh century and the later resettlement of the site, the monastic complex was used for other purposes. Deir Qeruh, remains of a house

External links

Deir Qeruḥ
at Creighton University website: 360° photos with 3D option (taken in 2006), interactive plan of the monastery, short explanatory text. Accessed July 2018.
Photos of village ruins
*Photo of the church interior

from south aisle *

Bibliography

* Ma'oz, Zvi Uri: ''Deir Qeruh'', 1983, in "Hadashot Arkheologiyot - Excavations and Surveys in Israel" 2: 23–25,

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...

. Bibliographies for Theology
, Kripke Center at

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

. Accessed 12 July 2018 * Ma'oz, Zvi Uri: ''Deir Qeruh'', 1993, pp. 348–49 in "The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land", 4 volumes,

Ephraim Stern Ephraim Stern ('';'' January 15, 1934 – March 23, 2018) was an Israeli archaeologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialized in the archaeology of ancient Israel and Judah and Phoenicia,

(ed.), New York: Simon & Schuster; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society & Carta.

References

{{reflist Golan Heights