8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient Christian Settlement Discovered in Egypt

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said on Saturday that a French-Norwegian archaeological team had discovered a new ancient Christian settlement in the western desert of Egypt, revealing monastic life in the area in the fifth century.

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 in the Bahariya Oasis, the ministry said in a statement.

The complex is comprised of “six sectors containing the ruins of three churches and monks’ cells,” whose “walls bear graffiti and symbols with Coptic connotations,” said Osama Talaat, head of Islamic, Coptic, and Jewish Antiquities at the ministry.

Mission head Victor Ghica said, “19 structures and a church carved into the bedrock” were discovered last year.

The church walls were decorated with “religious inscriptions” and biblical passages in Greek, revealing “the nature of monastic life in the region,” Ghica said, according to the statement.

Bahariya oasis
A picture shows a view of ancient Christian inscriptions on a clay fragment discovered in the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al-Ajouz site in the Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)

It clearly showed that monks were present there since the fifth century AD, he said, adding that the discovery helped understand “the development of buildings and the formation of the first monastic communities” in this region of Egypt.

The remote site, located in the desert southwest of the capital Cairo, was occupied from the fourth to eighth centuries, with a likely peak of activity around the fifth and sixth centuries, according to the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), in charge of the mission.

Previous excavations undertook in 2009 and 2013 shed light on subjects including “the production and preservation of wine as well as the husbandry of animals” in a monastic context, according to the IFAO.

A picture shows a view of ancient Christian rock inscriptions in Greek, discovered in the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al-Ajouz site in the Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of ancient Christian rock inscriptions in Greek, discovered in the Tal Ganoub Qasr Al-Ajouz site in the Western Desert Bahariya Oasis. (AFP)

Cairo has announced several major new archaeological discoveries in recent months with the hopes of spurring tourism, a sector that has suffered multiple blows, from a 2011 uprising to the coronavirus pandemic.

Also last month, an Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission working near Alexandria said it had discovered mummies from around 2,000 years ago bearing golden-tongued amulets.

In January, Egypt unveiled ancient treasures found at the Saqqara archaeological site south of Cairo, including sarcophagi over 3,000 years old, in a discovery that “rewrites history,” according to famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

It seems that Egypt will continue to surprise us with its historical richness.

Related Articles

How Evolutionary Biology Is Reshaping Our Understanding of the New Testament: The Case of the Missing ‘Son of God

5 August 2025

5 August 2025

In the remote wilderness of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, a forgotten room revealed one of the most significant biblical manuscript discoveries...

Traces of the Battle of Thymbra: Two Lydian Soldier Skeletons and A Helmet Found in the Ancient City of Sardis

13 August 2024

13 August 2024

During the archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Sardes, the capital of the Lydian Kingdom in western Türkiye, traces...

Medieval Weapon Chest Found on Sunken Medieval Flagship Gribshunden

20 April 2024

20 April 2024

An extensive exploration of the wreck of the royal flagship Gribshunden has unearthed a trove of new findings: new insights...

Archeologists Discover Two Sphinxes measure 26 feet in length in Egyptian Ruins

21 January 2022

21 January 2022

Archeologists have discovered the remains of two huge sphinx statues, each measuring 26 feet in length, at the funerary temple...

A center on the Anatolian Mesopotamian trade route; Tavsanli Mound

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Excavations at Tavşanlı mound, which is known to be the first settlement in Western Anatolia during the Bronze Age, continue....

Archaeologists Uncovered a Tile Workshop From the First Century in Corsica

3 December 2024

3 December 2024

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) excavations on the east coast of Corsica have uncovered...

Egyptian archaeologists found 110 ancient tombs in the Nile Delta

28 April 2021

28 April 2021

The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced Tuesday that Egyptian archaeologists had discovered 110 burial tombs on the Nile Delta dating...

Culinary Habits of Ancient Maltese

24 February 2021

24 February 2021

Pottery shards found at the ancient settlement were analyzed for fragments of organic residue and protein. The culinary habits of...

A 1,700-year-old trident discovered in Assos ancient city in Türkiye

10 October 2023

10 October 2023

An iron trident, believed to be used for fishing, dating to the 3rd or 4th century A.D. has been discovered...

Oldest footprints of pre-humans identified in Crete

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

Six million-year-old fossilized footprints on the island show the human foot had begun to develop. The oldest known footprints of...

An 8,200-year-old temple structure found in Çatalhöyük

6 September 2022

6 September 2022

An 8,200-year-old temple structure was found during the 30th excavation season of the excavations at Çatalhöyük, one of the first...

Oman discovers fort dating back to the 5th century in North Al Batinah

12 March 2022

12 March 2022

A fort dating back to the 5th century has been discovered at Oman’s Al Fulaij archaeological site in North Al...

40.000-Year-Old Mammoth Bones Discovered in a Wine Cellar in Austria

25 May 2024

25 May 2024

A winemaker has discovered mammoth bones up to 30,000 to 40,000 years old in a wine cellar in Lower Austria. ...

Sixth-Century Sword Unearthed in Anglo-Saxon Cemetery near Canterbury, England

28 December 2024

28 December 2024

A spectacular sixth-century sword has been unearthed in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in southeast England, and archaeologists say it is in...

Luxurious Feather Beds of Iron Age Warriors

27 March 2021

27 March 2021

According to a new study, two warriors from the 7th century in Sweden were buried in graves where they were...