Excavation of 5th-century Christian ruins in the western desert of Egypt

Christian relics, believed to have been built around the 5th century, have been excavated in the western desert of Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Relics announced on the 13th (local time) that the French and Norwegian archaeological excavation team had unearthed the ruins of Christian churches and monasteries at the Tal Ganub Qasr al-Aguz ruins in the Bahariya oasis.

In the site, which is divided into six districts, three church buildings and a building where monks lived were found.

The excavation team estimated the construction period of this Christian site to be around the 4th to 7th centuries.

The walls of the building, made by carving out bedrock (solid rock covered in the soil) and stacking basalt and earthen bricks, were decorated with Coptic-related characters and symbols, the Ministry of Tourism and Relics explained.

Victor train, who led the excavation, explained that “19 structures were excavated by excavating bedrock,” and “the walls of the church were marked with religious texts and Bible passages in Greek.”

He added that the excavated remains confirmed that there were Christian monks in Egypt from around the 5th century, and that it is helpful in understanding the form of the monk community at the time.

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