Preliminary report on the excavations at Khirbat Al-Badiyya, 1998

The report presents the preliminary results of the excavation work conducted at Khirbat al-Badiyya site in 1998. Several churches were uncovered during the excavation: the first, yielded a badly conserved floor, and some surviving parts in the south aisle show a geometric motif of interlaced circles, repeated four times and forming a large cross set within a narrow border depicting birds and fruit. The nave was decorated with a panel with an inscription in Greek surrounded by a frame of medallions and repeated rosettes with birds, grapes and decorative patterns. The second church, constructed on the northern side of the first church, has equal proportions though its pavement is completely destroyed. A chapel was also added to the east side of the first church and was decorated with geometric designs consisting of crosses and concentric circles. In the 2005 season, an excavation was conducted in the area of Ras ad-Dayr in Khirbat al-Badiyya to the south-east. The discovered church featured a rectangular presbyterium and was dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Its mosaic pavement displays a frame of guilloche, with rows of large diamonds alternated with squares that contain geometric motifs, animals, birds and flowers.