Jerusalem underwent heavy demographic growth during the Byzantine Period, a phenomena that lead not only to higher population densities within the city's walls and the lengthening of the walls to encompass the residences of
the new population in the area of the City of David and Mount Zion, but also to intense settlement of the area surrounding the city, connecting it with numerous communities to Bethlehem to the south and with the Judean Desert to the east.

Both written sources and the many excavations and surveys conducted in the belt around the city (especiallyto the north of the city and on the Mount of Olives), provide clear evidence of numerous monasteries that occupied this region. Some were connected to the commemoration of specific holy sites (Monastery of the Virgin Mary; St. Stephen; Eleona; Ascension; Bet Phage; Qatisma; Monastery of the Cross etc.), while others performed other functions such as farming and as hospices in addition to their religious duties (Mt. Scopus; Jabal Rom; Bir el-Qatt etc.). Again the sources and the excavations display the many communities from the early Christian world represented in these monasteries in Jerusalem's hinterland (Greeks; Armenians; Georgians; Syrians and Egyptians).

Beyond the monastic world, the same area was home to many farms, which provide fresh agricultural produce to the city, many concentrating on viticulture and oliculture (Qalandia; Ras Abu Ma'aruf; Shuaft). These sites have been one of the main features of salvage excavations in Jerusalem during the past two decades.

This lecture will concentrate on the types of settlement in the hinterland of Jerusalem, their distribution and function. Examples from recent excavations will be shown for illustration.