The chronology of Julianos Church, Umm el-Jimal, Jordan: AMS radiocarbon dates of its synthronon

Abstract

An ongoing long debate on the chronology of Julianos Church, Umm el-Jimal, northeast Jordan, started in the early 20th century. It was claimed to be the earliest dated church (ad 344) by an inscription not found in situ. After five decades, it was proven that the inscription was mistakenly associated to the church, and ‘after the start of the fifth century ad’ was suggested as a new date. It is still argued that this new date is an early one, and the church might have been built in the late fifth to early sixth century ad when compared to the dated churches of sites surrounding Umm el-Jimal. This research aims to reconstruct the chronology of Julianos Church by AMS radiocarbon dating organic inclusions collected from mortar samples from the pavement, the coats of the tiers of the bench and the steps of the throne of the synthronon. The AMS radiocarbon dates agree with the archaeological data in that Julianos Church was renovated after its good-quality initial construction. Hence, the last decades of the sixth century ad (565–607) are interpreted to be the most probable date for the renovation of the synthronon, while the fifth century ad, probably the second half (465–507 ad), might be the construction date of the old mosaic floor (i.e., the church).