Archaeologists unearth Christian ruins in Egypt that reveal details about 'monastic life'

A Norwegian French archaeological mission working at Egypt’s mountainous south of Al-Agouz Palace on Saturday excavated the remains of a Christian church that existed between the 4th and 7th century AD. The excavators also found ancient monastery walls engraved with Coptic connotations, symbols and orthodox writing from the bible. In an official online update, Egypt's ministry of tourism and antiquities informed that the team of archaeologists discovered 19 rock carved chambers and a church that "maintains its own structure and holds walls with writings in yellow containing religious phrases from the Greek Bible". The finding of the mud-brick building in Bahariya Oasis reveals the nature of monastic life and the style of their settlement in the region during the 5th century, the ministry said. 

A number of structures, designed in basalt stone and white bricks, were dug out in at least six areas, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Archaeology Osama Talaat said. "The mission unearthed several buildings made of basalt, others carved into the bedrock and some made of mud bricks during its third excavation campaign at the Tal Ganoub Qasr al-Agouz site," the ministry further stated. The ruins of the walls discovered were divided into six sectors, which carried religious graffiti with a Christian connotation. Mission head Victor Ghica informed that the archaeologists made similar excavations of 19 structures that were embedded in the bedrock, last year. The findings are crucial for the archaeologists as it helped them understand that the monastic communities had settled in the desert located southwest of the capital Cairo around the 5th century. 

“The Church carried religious inscriptions and biblical passages in Greek, revealing the nature of monastic life in the region,” Ghica said in a statement.

Ancient brewery unearthed

Earlier, similarly, American and Egyptian team of archaeologists had unearthed what could be the world’s oldest known beer factory in Egypt.  The ancient brewery was unearthed in Abydos, an ancient burial ground located in the desert west of the Nile River. Egypt’s ministry of tourism and antiquities informed in a statement  that Abydos is “a  burial site of the civilizations earliest kings” and is believed to have played an important role in the Egyptians’ religious lives.