Archaeological Research
13 Temple A
Temple A is located in quad D3 (see map below for building designated with 13) and measures 49.94 m long and33.86 m wide. There is compelling evidence at the site that later Christianity used it for religious function based on the added structures inside the built form, which are similar to ancient Christian architecture.
1. Plan of Temple A
Temple A is surrounded by many low grades built forms 15 of them. It is not clear whether these low grade built forms were built during the Christian era or in earlier times. Deriving from the artifact associations, these low-grade residences yielded quite elaborate craft specialization evidence. Some of these artifacts include: gold chains for bishops with inscriptions on them, goldsmithing tools, coin minting and numerous serving utensils and other mundane items.
Based on our field work that document the large stairs traces, it appears the southern part was main entrance to Temple A (see the lover picture on the right), while the northern stairs may have been used to access the base floor and two subsequent rooms attached to the eastern and western end in the northern part of the building (see picture above). Two other stairs are also noted on the eastern end and western end within Temple A, the former most likely for the pulpit and the latter for back choir or perhaps for other functions. These may include seating important members or devotees, such as monks.
The altar is a later addition adjusted by adding walls. Both the pulpit and the choir have running stairs pegged in one column and the sidewalls. The choir is supported by two rows of columns, two each, transversed by wooden beams.
A similarly constructed layout can be observed for the pulpit, except, instead of columns, walls are used. The supporting walls are most likely later additions during Christian era. The data is scarce to successfully identify the pre-Christian architectural layout. Thus, it is impossible to determine the previous layout and what early Christianity added or modified. Archaeologists in the future may be able to make this determination in the future when more data from field work are collected.
