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THE CHURCH OF ST. SERGIUS OF NITL
A CENTRE OF THE CHRISTIAN ARABS
IN THE STEPPE AT THE DOORS OF MADABA - JORDAN
In 502, at the time of Emperor Anastasius, the group of the Banu Ghassan and the roman empire of the east signed a treaty, successively reconfirmed at the time of Justin and Justinian, with which the christianised Bedouin tribes were entrusted with the defence of the immense territory which extended to the Euphrates river, border with the Persian empire. The weakening of the christianised Bedouin tribes at the time of emperor Mauritius, towards the end of the century, made possible the Persian invasion of Syria-Palestine in 613. This was an anticipation of the definitive loss of the southern provinces to the invading Islamic armies in 636 who found unguarded the southern flank of the boundary.
The exploration of the ruins at Umm al-Rasas in the steppe of Madaba, identified with the fortified suburb of Kastron Mefaa, begun by the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Summer 1986 and of which the twelfth archaeological campaign has just come to an end, is bringing to light one of the Christian Arab centres of the diocese still active during the Islamic period.
An ecclesiastical complex of unusual characteristics is coming to light at Nitl, a village of the steppe 10km from Madaba on the road to Umm al-Rasas. The inscriptions give us the name of the saint for whom the church was dedicated: Saint Sergius, the martyred soldier during the persecution of Deocletian and whose tomb was particularly venerated at the sanctuary church of the Holy Cross at Resapha on the eastern limes by the nomad Christian Arabs.
The apse remains
The vast complex is made up of two large parallel single-nave churches covered by arches and stone slabs. The two churches communicate through a door open on the inner common wall. Each church is related to its own service rooms (diakonikon) built externally on the south and north walls of the complex. A narthex on the facade enabled access from both churches to the apsed chapel added on the south wall of the complex.
In all probability the entrance to the ecclesiastical complex was through the monumental door, the threshold of which was brought to light on the south side of the paved western courtyard.
It is also probable that a large staircase, at the centre of the east side, enabled access from the courtyard to the narthex on the churches' facade.
The entire complex was built of stone; from the perimeter walls to the slabbed roof. Rectangular squared off blocks of stone coming from Roman monuments present in the area were partially reused in the construction of the external walls.
The church with the mosaic floor
Material stripped from the tower, built in Roman times, partly still existing to the west of the complex could also have been reused. In the same manner material from other edifices built with the same technical characteristics, found in the nearby localities of Umm al-Walid and Dulaylah might also have been used.
The moulded springers and carved cornices, used in the churches, could be from the monuments at Umm al-Walid where similar elements still survive. The same could also be true for some capitals amongst which one decorated with a motif of flowers and ovules recovered during the excavations of the South Church.
© Michele Piccirillo SBF
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