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Home , Akhmim, Athribis Project, Christianity in Egypt, Kharga Oasis, Naguib Kanawati, Sharuna

Eg y p t i a n Cu l t u r e a n d So c i e t y

Eg y p t i a n Cu l t u r e a n d So c i e t y

s t u d i es i n h o n o u r o f n a g u i b k a n a w a t i

s u p p l é m e n t a u x a n n a l e s d u s e r v i c e d e s a n t i q u i t é s d e l'é g y p t e Ca h i e r No 38

Vo l u m e I

Preface by Za h i Ha w a ss

Edited by Al e x a n d r a Wo o d s An n McFa r l a n e Su s a n n e Bi n d e r

PUBLICATIONS DU CONSEIL SUPRÊME DES ANTIQUITÉS DE L'ÉGYPTE Graphic Designer: Anna-Latifa Mourad.

Director of Printing: Amal Safwat.

Front Cover: Tomb of Remni. Opposite: Saqqara season, 2005. Photos: Effy Alexakis.

(CASAE 38) 2010 © Conseil Suprême des Antiquités de l'Égypte

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other- wise, without the prior written permission of the publisher

Dar al Kuttub Registration No. 2874/2010

ISBN: 978-977-479-845-6

IMPRIMERIE DU CONSEIL SUPRÊME DES ANTIQUITÉS

The abbreviations employed in this work follow those in B. Mathieu, Abréviations des périodiques et collections en usage à l'IFAO (4th ed., , 2003) and G. Müller, H. Balz and G. Krause (eds), Theologische Realenzyklopädie, vol 26: S. M. Schwertner, Abkürzungsverzeichnis (2nd ed., Berlin - New York, 1994).

Presented to

Naguib Kanawati AM FAHA

Professor, , Sydney Member of the Order of Australia Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities

by his Colleagues, Friends, and Students

Co n t e n t s

Vo l u m e I

Pr e f a ce Za h i Ha w a s s xiii

Ac k n o w l e d g e m e n t s xv

Na g u i b Ka n a w a t i : A Li f e i n Eg y p t o l o g y xvii An n McFa r l a n e

Na g u i b Ka n a w a t i : A Bibliography xxvii

Su s a n n e Bi n d e r , The Title 'Scribe of the Offering Table': Some Observations 1

Gi l l i a n Bo w e n , The Spread of in : Archaeological Evidence 15 from Dakhleh and Kharga Oases

Ed w a r d Br o v a r s k i , The Hare and Oryx Nomes in the First Intermediate 31 Period and Early Middle Kingdom

Vi v i e n n e G. Ca l l e n d e r , Writings of the Word from 87

Ma l c o l m Ch o a t , Athanasius, Pachomius, and the 'Letter on Charity and 97 Temperance'

Ro s a l i e Da v i d , Cardiovascular Disease and Diet in 105

Li n d a Ev a n s , Otter or Mongoose? Chewing over the Evidence in Wall Scenes 119

Ro b y n Gi l l a m , From Meir to Quseir el-Amarna and Back Again: The Cusite 131 in SAT and on the Ground

Sa i d G. Go h a r y , The Cult-Chapel of the Fortress Commander Huynefer at 159 Saqqara

Mi c h e l l e Ha m p s o n , 'Experimenting with the New': Innovative Figure Types 165 and Minor Features in Old Kingdom Workshop Scenes

ix Za h i Ha w a s s , The Anubieion 181

To m Hi l l a r d , The God Abandons Antony: Alexandrian Street Theatre in 30b c 201

Co l i n A. Ho p e a n d Ol a f E. Ka p e r , A Governor of Dakhleh Oasis in the 219 Early Middle Kingdom

Ja n a Jo n e s , Some Observations on the Dimensions of Textiles in the Old 247 Kingdom Linen Lists

Ed w i n A. Ju d g e , The Puzzle of Christian Presence in Egypt before 263 Constantine

Le s l e y J. Ki n n e y , Defining the Position of Dancers within Performance 279 Institutions in the Old Kingdom

Au d r a n La b r o u s s e , Huit épouses du roi Pépy Ier 297

Vo l u m e II

Mi r a l La s h i e n , The Transportation of Funerary Furniture in Old Kingdom 1 Tomb Scenes

Li s e Ma n n i c h e , The Cultic Significance of the Sistrum in the Amarna 13 Period

Ki m McCo r q u o d a l e , 'Hand in Hand': Reliefs in the Chapel of Mereruka 27 and other Old Kingdom Tombs

Ro b e r t S. Me r r i l l e e s , Two Unusual Late Cypriote Bronze Age Juglets from 35 Egypt in Western Australia and Tatarstan

Ju a n Ca r l o s Mo r e n o Ga r c í a , La gestion des aires marginales: pHw, gs, Tnw, sxt 49 au IIIe millénaire

Ka r o l Myśl i w i e c , The Mysterious Mereris, Sons of Ny-ankh-nefertem 71 (Sixth Dynasty, Saqqara)

Al a n n a No bb s , Phileas, Bishop of Thmouis 93

x Bo y o G. Oc k i n g a , The Memphite Theology - Its Purpose and Date 99

Ma a r t e n J. v e n , A New Statue of an Old Kingdom Vizier from Saqqara 119

Ga y Ro b i n s , Space and Movement in Pre-Amarna Eighteenth Dynasty 129 Theban Tomb Chapels

As h r a f -Al e x a n d r e Sa d e k , Trois pièces de la Collection Égyptienne du 143 Musée des Beaux-Arts de Limoges

Ra m a d a n El-Sa y e d , À propos de sept scarabées au Musée du Caire 151

Mi c h a e l Sc h u l t z , The Biography of the Wife of Kahai: A Biological 163 Reconstruction

Sa m e h Sh a f i k , Disloyalty and Punishment: The Case of Ishfu at Saqqara 181

Ba s i m Sa m i r El-Sh a r k a w y , Sobek at Memphis, Once Again: 191 Further Documents

Ke n n e t h A. Sh e e d y , Scenes from in the Time of 205

Ka r i n N. So w a d a , Forgotten Cemetery F at Abydos and Burial Practices of the 219 Late Old Kingdom

Jo y c e Sw i n t o n , De-Coding Old Kingdom Wall Scenes: Force-Feeding the Hyena 233

El i z a b e t h Th o m p s o n , Scenes of the Tomb Owner Journeying-by-Water: The 247 Motif in Tombs of the Old Kingdom Cemetery of El-Hawawish

Mi r o s l a v Ve r n e r , Mi r o s l a v Bá r t a a n d Zd e n k a Sů v o v á , The Second Renaissance 267 of Abusir

So p h i e Wi n l a w , The Chapel Types Utilised in the Cemetery at Saqqara 281

Al e x a n d r a Wo o d s , A Date for the Tomb of Seneb at : Revisited 301

xi

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA OASES

Gillian Bowen Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History Monash University

The pace of conversion to Christianity in Egypt is a controversial topic with some scholars arguing that by the end of the fourth century about eighty per cent of the population professed Christianity and the others maintaining that the religion did not make significant inroads until the fifth century. This article argues that archaeological evidence for well- established Christian communities in Kharga and Dakhleh Oases in the early fourth century can perhaps be used as a case study for the remainder of the Valley. It concludes that the evidence from the oases supports the argument for a rapid conversion.

It gives me great pleasure to offer this article as a token of gratitude to for his constant support for the teaching of at Monash University.

Scholarship is divided regarding the rapidity with which Christianity spread throughout Egypt. One school of thought argues for a significant rate of conversion, with one scholar suggesting that by the end of the fourth century eighty per cent of the population professed Christianity; the other school maintains that it was a prolonged conversion and that the new religion only made significant inroads in the fifth century.1 Evidence from Dakhleh and Kharga Oases has perhaps swung the pendulum in favour of the former. This paper considers the archaeological evidence from the oases upon which this premise is based and the validity of proposing an early date for the spread of Christianity in Egypt.

Christianity remained an illegal religion throughout the until introduced the Edict of Milan in 313, which gave religious tolerance to all. The illegality of the religion, however, did not prevent it taking hold in Alexandria, where a church and catechetical school are attested circa 190 by which time the See of Alexandria was second only to that of Rome. Alexandria soon produced such notable scholars as the Church Fathers Clement and .2 The spread of Christianity into the Egyptian countryside during the second century is less well documented. What little literary evidence is available comes from Eusebius, who wrote his Ecclesiastical History under Constantine the Great, and Epiphanius of Salamis, writing in the latter half of the fourth century. These late

15 GILLIAN BOWEN sources name two Gnostic Christian teachers who were active in the Delta region during the reign of (117–138). Eusebius claims that Basilides of Alexandria 'established schools of impious heresy … in Egypt', and Epiphanius adds that the teacher was active within the nomes of Propontis, and the areas around Sais.3 Basilides' contemporary was Valentinus who, according to Epiphanius, spread his doctrine in the same nomes but also took his message into the .4 Eusebius also preserves letters of Dionysius, who was bishop of Alexandria from 247 to circa 264. Dionysius made direct reference to four Christian communities in Egypt: one in the Arsinoite nome, and the others were in either the Delta or the Fayum, but their precise location is unclear.5

Another source for charting the spread of the religion in the first four centuries is the papyrological evidence. This falls into two categories: literary and documentary. The former comprises biblical and other religious texts; the latter includes a diversity of texts ranging from contracts, wills, tax receipts, and the like, to personal letters, which might contain evidence of a Christian authorship such as names or clerical titles. The problems inherent in attempting to locate Christian communities using literary texts are two-fold: many were either purchased on the antiquities market or were excavated from rubbish dumps in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with the result that they lack a secure context. The second problem is that they can only be dated on palaeographic grounds, which can do little more than place the fragments within a particular century at best. For undated documentary papyri, scholars are similarly reliant upon a palaeographic assessment. Macquarie University has produced a data base of early Christian papyri, which has in excess of four-hundred entries that range in date from the second to the fourth centuries.6 Of these, sixteen fragments belong to the second century but only ten have a known provenance; they derive from , the Arsinoite nome and Karanis in the Fayum. One-hundred-and-sixty can be dated to the third century but around one-third lack a provenance; sites represented include various towns in the Fayum, Oxyrhynchus, , Hermopolis Magna and Thebes. The surviving papyrological evidence, therefore, indicates a concentration of Christian sites in the Fayum and , although the number of documents retrieved is clearly not representative of the quantity produced but the result of chance survival and targeted areas of excavation.

Although documentary and literary sources indicate that in the early fourth century churches were built and founded, the archaeological evidence for such prior to the fifth century is sparse in the Nile Valley.7 This is due to several factors: the early structures were modified and adapted over the centuries to meet the needs of the community and the remains of those earlier buildings were lost; furthermore, the conversion of Egypt to , the growth in population, and the need to maximize the land in the valley for cultivation, resulted in the loss of numerous churches. To compound the problem, early excavators ignored the Christian monuments and focused instead on those of the pharaonic period. There are some

16 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA surviving churches in the Fayum, but these have been dated to the fifth century, at the earliest. Egypt's Western has not been subjected to the intensity of cultivation that the valley has witnessed, and numerous ancient sites remain in the desert, many untouched from the time that they were abandoned. It is in this region that the spread of Christianity has the potential to be charted.

Dakhleh Oasis is one of a series of five oases in Egypt's . It is located about 800 kilometres south-south-west of Cairo and 300 kilometres west of modern . The oasis, which is approximately 60 kilometres east-west by 30 kilometres, north-south, was surveyed by members of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) between 1979 and 1987; during the survey in excess of four-hundred archaeological sites were found dating from the palaeolithic to the Islamic periods.8 These ranged in scale from large villages to a few scattered lithics. In 1986 Ismant el-Kharab, a Roman period village site, was selected for a detailed study.9 The remains of the village were visible above the desert surface with some walls preserved to a height of eight metres. The surface ceramic scatter indicated that the village was occupied from the second to the fourth centuries AD.10 An architectural survey of the site identified the remains of two temples and three churches; the village, therefore, spanned the transitional stage, from the period prior to the demise of the traditional religion to the conversion by the villagers to Christianity.11 A large cemetery with the graves dug uniformly in an east-west direction, in what was known to be typical of Christian burial practices, was identified to the north of the village.12

Excavation carried out in five houses in what is termed Area A, produced large quantities of papyrus, both literary and documentary and written in Greek and Coptic; they identified the ancient name of the village as Kellis and confirmed that the occupants of these residences were Christian.13 Texts indicated that the community comprised what would later be known as conventional living side by side with members of the heretical Christian sect, the Manichaeans.14 By adopting an onomastic approach to the dated documents, it is possible to suggest a Christian presence in the village from the late third century.15 Manichaeans are thought to have arrived at Kellis at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century but do not seem to have been numerically significant until the mid- fourth century.16

The churches of Kellis were excavated between 1994 and 2001. Two are located on the south-east periphery of the village and the third is in the north-west (Figure 1). From a study of the architecture and the coins retrieved from these churches, the growth in the Christian population at Kellis can be estimated. The earliest church is a domus ecclesia, a pre-existing building converted for Christian worship by adding an apse and side-chambers against the eastern wall (Figure 2, Plate 1). It is a small two-room structure, which could have accommodated a small congregation; the coins found beneath the apse indicate that it was built in the

17 GILLIAN BOWEN opening years of the fourth century.17 The numbers professing Christianity must have increased rapidly because the small church was soon superseded by a large basilica, which was built to its north-east. The coins retrieved from this structure suggest that it was founded during the reign of Constantine the Great. It is estimated that the basilica was capable of holding a congregation of around 200 people. The basilica is a three-aisled structure, oriented east-west with an apse and adjoining pastaphoria (Figure 2, Plate 2). During the latter part of the fourth century, a small two-room church with an eight-room annex was erected on the opposite side of the village (Plate 3). It was built contemporary with, and inside, the north-west corner of a substantial enclosure wall that also enclosed two pre- existing, classical-style, pagan tombs.18 Two east-west burials were located beneath the floor in front of the apse, and excavation in the enclosure to the east of the church revealed a further nine east-west burials; the structure presumably functioned as a cemetery church.19

Excavation has been underway in the northern cemetery (Kellis 2) since 1991 and some seven-hundred graves out of an estimated 3,500–4,000 have been studied (Figure 3). The graves are simple pits, large enough for a single individual and are uniformly oriented east-west; those interred were placed in a supine position with the head to the west, following the Christian expectation that on the day of resurrection, the Son of Man would arrive in the east and the faithful would rise to face him. The bodies were wrapped in linen but were untreated. The burials were largely devoid of grave goods, those found comprise two strings of beads, one glass vessel and some pots; quantities of rosemary were also included with some individuals and numerous potsherds were found in the grave fill.20 Another feature of this cemetery was the number of foetal, neonate, and infant burials that were dispersed in separate graves amongst those of the adults; these account for some thirty per cent of the graves excavated.21 This cemetery is distinct from the pagan cemeteries at Kellis, in its location, type of grave, and the treatment of the interments. The pagan residents were buried in rock-cut tombs, with multiple burials placed on the floor of the tomb without specific direction. All were covered with burial shrouds, several were supplied with cartonnage head, breast, and feet coverings but very few had undergone traditional mummification with the removal of the viscera; the deceased were furnished with grave goods.22 The elite were buried in large mud-brick mausolea but none of the original interments have survived; intrusive burials found in several of the mausolea indicate that these people were buried in the same manner as those in the rock-cut tombs.23 The ceramics and the cartonnage from the pagan cemetery indicate that it was in use from the first to third centuries; no fourth century ceramics have been recovered.24

Cumulative evidence from the site indicates that paganism declined in the early fourth century. Certain areas in the village were abandoned in the third century and there was a move to the central part of the site within close proximity to the churches; it was the houses within this region that produced much of the Christian

18 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA papyri. By the mid-fourth century the temple had ceased to operate and squatters had taken up residence within its walls;25 texts recovered from this squatting activity preserve Christian names.26 The demise in paganism can only be attributed to the conversion of the villagers to Christianity.

Kellis was abandoned in the closing years of the fourth century. The residents vacated the houses in Area A and left behind many of their belongings, including their letters, documents and some of their religious texts. The churches too were abandoned. The latest dated document from the site is a horoscope cast for the year 394; the coins peak in the period 340–360 and there are only four examples of the massive SALVS REIPVBLICAE issue that flooded the currency pool from 388; no fifth century ceramics or coins have been found on the site.27 The ceramics, and the solitary coin, from the Christian cemetery, indicate that its period of use was restricted to the fourth century.28 The estimated 3,500–4,000 interments indicate a sizable Christian population for a small village.

Kellis is not the only site in Dakhleh, which attests a Christian population in the fourth century. A small church, built within a possible monastic community, and dated to the fourth century on numismatic evidence, is located at Ain el-Gedida, some 10 kilometres west of Ismant el-Kharab.29 In 2007 staff from the Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History, Monash University, were granted a permit to survey and test a church and associated buildings at Deir Abu Metta, in the central west of the oasis (Plate 4). The site was initially surveyed and tested by members of the DOP in 1979. To the immediate west of the church is a large tower-like structure which probably served as the keep of a monastic complex (Figure 4). East-west burials were found against the north wall of the church. Ceramics and coins retrieved from the test excavations in both 1979 and 2007 attest yet another thriving Christian community during the fourth century.30 The temple site of Mut el-Kharab, ancient Mothis, capital of the oasis, is currently being excavated under the direction of Colin Hope of Monash University.31 Mothis was thought to be the seat of a bishop32 and although the church is no longer extant, an inscription found in 198133 is ecclesiastical in nature. Architectural fragments, which may well have come from a church, have been retrieved from Mut el-Kharab.34 A small Christian village, and an adjoining cemetery of 45 graves, is known at Muzzawaka, in western Dakhleh.35 In the 2007 season, the Monash team carried out a survey and test of the cemetery; the ceramics and coins retrieved from the site during the DOP survey indicate occupation in the fourth and fifth centuries.36 The DOP survey identified at least nine other Christian cemeteries in the western part of the oasis.37 At Qasr the remains of what appear to be a church are located beneath an old but no date can be established for this structure. Other sites in Dakhleh which must have had early Christian communities are Amheida (ancient Trimithis) and Teneida, where the DOP survey identified a temple converted into a church.

19 GILLIAN BOWEN

Kharga Oasis, 175 kilometres east of Dakhleh, also attests a substantial Christian presence in the fourth century. Textual evidence places Christians in Hibis, the capital, by the mid-third century,38 while at Dush (ancient Kysis) in the extreme south Christians were amongst the guild of necrotaphs attested there in the late third to early fourth centuries.39 Members of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO) have located a Christian cemetery at Dush a short distance from the pagan necropolis, but only one tomb has been excavated. It is dated to the late fourth century on numismatic evidence.40 It contained seven pit burials, cut in the typical east-west fashion; Françoise Dunand reports that there are many tombs of the same type in this Christian cemetery but no further information is available.41

At Shams el-Din, in central Kharga, a small church dating to the reign of Constantine was excavated by the IFAO in 197642 and a church dating to the late fourth century has been identified at Dush.43 Herbert Winlock reports that the temple of Hibis was abandoned and a church erected in the portico soon after. He suggests that this modification might have taken place as early as the first half of the fourth century.44

Perhaps the best attestation to the strength and the wealth of the early Christian community in is the necropolis of el-Bagawat, which served the population of Hibis and perhaps those in the neighbouring village of Ain el-Turba. Excavation at el-Bagawat was undertaken by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the first decade of the twentieth century but has not been published in full.45 There are around 263 mud-brick mausolea in the necropolis, ranging from small, single- chamber tombs to large, multi-chambered complexes, several of which have elaborately decorated tomb chapels.46 The area between the tombs is filled with hundreds of pit graves which were packed closely together.47 The excavators report that the bodies in the pit graves 'were placed in the same position as in the large tombs with chapels – extended on the back, head to the west, the hands at the sides or over the pelvis, and similarly wrapped.'48 The necropolis dates from the early fourth century, as can be shown by the number of new coins dating to the reign of Constantine the Great that were found in the graves.49

Although the presence of substantial Christian communities in Dakhleh and Kharga oases during the fourth century does not in itself prove that Christianity made rapid in-roads into Egypt by that time, the probable manner in which the residents of these oasis towns were converted should be considered. Documents from Kellis indicate that the residents were in constant contact with their relatives and spiritual brethren in the Nile Valley, in particular Antinoöpolis in Middle Egypt,50 and it is perhaps from here that they came into contact with Christian missionaries. Antinoöpolis, together with Hermopolis Magna on the opposite bank of the Nile, were major cities in the Thebaid province and the seat of the praeses;51 they are known to have supported large Christian communities in the fifth century. By 325, two bishops are recorded at Antinoöpolis and one at Hermopolis Magna.52

20 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA

Excavations by the Frenchman Albert Gayet in the cemeteries of Antinoöpolis in the late nineteenth century produced numerous bodies, many of which were Christian, but his excavation techniques and subsequent recording were such that they are without a context and poorly dated.53 Some of the shrouds taken from the bodies have since been the focus of intensive study, which has shown that they date from either the late third or very early fourth centuries.54 The shrouds belonged to wealthy women who, in death, identified as Christians.55 The archaeological evidence complements the testimony of the Christian papyri from the site, which date to the third century.

The residents of Dakhleh and Kharga did not determine the architecture of their churches but followed a pre-determined plan that conformed to the development of the liturgy. This in itself assumes that there were earlier churches in Egypt from which the plan derived. Nor did these oasis communities develop a uniform burial practice; the direction must have come from a major centre for Christianity in the Valley, and ultimately from a central authority outside of Egypt. This uniformity of funerary practice is demonstrated by early Christian cemeteries in Britain, in particular the fourth century cemetery at Poundbury, Dorset, England, which comprises some 4,000 pit graves and mirrors that of Kellis.56

Unless there is further exploration of potential Christian sites in the Fayum, the Eastern Desert, Bahriyah Oasis and sites beyond the cultivation in southern Egypt, it is unlikely that our knowledge of the pace of the Christianization of Egypt will be expanded. Further excavation of the sites of Deir Abu Metta and Mut in Dakhleh Oasis, will not allow us to chart the spread of the religion further but it does have the potential to add considerably to our knowledge of the development of church and monastic architecture, as well as Christian burial practices.

1 See R. S. Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton, 1993), 281 for the former and A. K. Bowman, Egypt After the (London, 1986), 192 and D. Frankfurter, Religion in (Princeton, 1998), 265-84 for the latter. 2 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, V.11 for Clement, VI.2−3 for Origen and for the importance of the See of Alexandria in general. 3 HE IV.7.3; Epiphanius, Panarion, 24. 4 Panarion, 31. 5 HE VII.11. 6 I am grateful to Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, for providing me with a copy of the document list. 7 The foundation of a fourth century church has been identified at the Pachomian at Pbow (Faw Qibi); at Antinoöpolis, the excavators have dated the church in the south cemetery to the fourth century. See P. Grossmann, Christliche Architektur in Ägypten (Leiden, 2002), 148-49, 151-52; J. S. McKenzie, The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt (Newhaven / London, 2007), 271. The foundations of a monastic complex at Al-

21 GILLIAN BOWEN

Kom al-Ahmar and Dair Abu Fana have been dated to the fourth century. See B. Huber, 'Al-Kom al-Ahmar / Sharuna: Different archaeological contexts – different textiles?' in S. Schrenk (ed.), Textiles in Situ (Riggisberg, 2006), 57-68, at 59 and H. Buschhausen et al., 'Ausgrabungen von Dair Abu Fana in Ägypten im Jahr 1990', Ägypten und Levante IV, (1994), 95-144. The small church at Herakleopolis Magna has been assigned to the late fourth or early fifth century. See McKenzie, The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, 266. 8 A. J. Mills, 'Introduction', in C. S. Churcher and A. J. Mills (eds), Reports from the Survey of the Dakhleh Oasis Western Desert of Egypt 1977−1987 (Oxford, 1999), ix-xii. The survey of prehistoric sites is on-going. 9 Colin A. Hope, now of Monash University, was appointed to direct the excavations at the site. Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab have been funded by two large ARC grants: one awarded to C. A. Hope and R. G. Jenkins, and the other to C. A. Hope and I. Gardner. Excavation of the east churches was funded by Monash University small grants awarded to G. E. Bowen and C. A. Hope. Further funding was made available by the Egyptology Society of Victoria and Australians Studying Abroad. 10 C. A. Hope, 'Three Seasons of Excavation at Ismant el-Gharab in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt', Mediterranean Archaeology 1 (1988), 160-78. 11 J. E. Knudstad and R. A. Frey, 'Kellis: the architectural survey of the Romano-Byzantine town at Ismant el-Kharab', in C. S. Churcher and A. J. Mills (eds), Reports from the Survey of the Dakhleh Oasis 1977−1987, 189-214. 12 M. Birrell, 'Excavations in the Cemeteries of Ismant el-Kharab', in C. A. Hope and A. J. Mills (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project. Preliminary Reports on the 1992−1993 and 1993−1994 Field Seasons (Oxford, 1999), 29-41. 13 C. A. Hope, 'Dakhleh Oasis Project: Report on the 1987 Excavations at Ismant el-Gharab', JSSEA XVI (1986), 74-91; C. A. Hope, 'The Dakhleh Oasis Project: Ismant el-Kharab 1988−1990', JSSEA XVII (1987), 157-76; C. A. Hope, O. E. Kaper, G. E. Bowen and S. F. Patten, 'Dakhleh Oasis Project: Ismant el-Kharab 1991−92', JSSEA XIX (1989), 1-26; K. A. Worp, Greek Papyri from Kellis: 1 (Oxford, 1995), passim; I. Gardner, Kellis Literary Texts, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1996), passim; I. Gardner, A. Alcock and W.-P. Funk, Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1999), passim; I. Gardner, Kellis Literary Texts, vol. 2 (Oxford: 2007), passim. 14 Gardner, Kellis Literary Texts 1, passim; Gardner et al., Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis 1, passim. 15 G. E. Bowen, 'Some Observations on Christian Burial Practices at Kellis', in G. E. Bowen and C. A. Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 3. Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (Oxford, 2003), 167-82. 16 I. Gardner, Kellis Literary Texts, 2, 4. 17 Bowen, in Bowen and Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 3, 153-65. 18 G. E. Bowen, 'The Fourth-Century Churches at Ismant el-Kharab', in C. A. Hope and G. E. Bowen (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project. Preliminary Reports on the 1994−1995 to 1998−1999 Field Seasons (Oxford, 2002), 65-85. 19 C. A. Hope, 'The Excavations at Ismant el-Kharab from 2000 to 2002', in Bowen and Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 3, 241-52; Bowen, in Bowen and Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 3, 175-77. 20 Birrell, in Hope and Mills (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project Preliminary Reports 1992–1993 and 1993−1994, 39-41; G. E. Bowen, 'Early Christian Burial Practices at Kellis, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt', The Artefact 26 (2003), 77-87. 21 Bowen, in Bowen and Hope (eds), The Oasis Papers 3, 178.

22 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA

22 Birrell, in Hope and Mills (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project Preliminary Reports 1992–1993 and 1993–1994, 29-38. 23 Hope, in The Oasis Papers 3, 252-84. The intrusive burials were buried in coffins or in shallow pit graves. 24 C. A. Hope, 'Observations on the Dating of the Occupation at Ismant el-Kharab', in C. A. Marlow and A. J. Mills (eds), The Oasis Papers. Proceedings of the First International Symposium of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (Oxford, 2001), 43-59, at 56. A. Schweitzer, 'Les parures de cartonnage des momies d'une nécropole d'Ismant el-Kharab', in C. A. Hope and G. E. Bowen (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project Preliminary Reports on the 1994−1995 to 1998−1999 Field Seasons (Oxford, 2002), 269-76. 25 C. A. Hope, 'Excavations in the Settlement of Ismant el-Kharab in 1995-1999', in C. A. Hope and G. E. Bowen (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project. Preliminary Reports on the 1994−1995 to 1998−1999 Field Seasons (Oxford, 2002), 167-208, at 197. 26 K. A. Worp, Greek Ostraka from Kellis (Oxford, 2004), passim. 27 Hope, in Hope and Bowen (eds), Dakhleh Oasis Project 1994−1995 to 1998−1999 (Oxford, 2002), 157-208, at 205-06; G. E. Bowen, 'Coins as tools for dating: problems and some possible solutions', in O. E. Kaper and F. Leemhaus (eds) Oasis Papers 4 and 5. Proceedings of the 4th and 5th Conferences of the Dakhleh Oasis Project (Oxford, in press). 28 The ceramics excavated from the cemetery are studied annually by C. A. Hope; they await publication. 29 A. J. Mills, 'Report on the Fourth Season of the Survey (October 1981 – January 1982)', JSSEA XII (1982), 93-101. K. Bayumi, 'Excavations at `Ain Gadida in the Dakhleh Oasis', in O. E. Kaper (ed.), Life on the Fringe (Leiden, 1998), 55-62. The structure is currently being excavated by an American team under the direction of Roger Bagnall. 30 A. J. Mills, 'The Dakhleh Oasis Project Report on the Third Season, of Survey September – December, 1980', JSSEA XI (1981), 185. G. E. Bowen, 'The Church of Deir Abu Metta and a Christian Cemetery in Dakhleh Oasis: a brief report', BACE 19 (2008), 7-16. The 2007 survey was funded by Australians Studying Abroad and Monash University research funds. 31 Excavations at Mut el-Kharab are funded by Australians Studying Abroad and Monash University research funds. 32 R. S. Bagnall, The Kellis Agricultural Account Book (Oxford, 1997), 81. 33 Mills, JSSEA XI (1981), 188, plate XIIb. 34 The architectural fragments have not been published. 35 A. J. Mills, 'Dakhleh Oasis Project: Report on the First Season of Survey (October – December 1978)', JSSEA IX (1979), 181-83. 36 Bowen, BACE 19 (2008), 11-12. Colin A. Hope has studied the ceramics and I have identified the coins; these await publication. 37 A. J. Mills, 'Dakhleh Oasis Project: Report on the Second Season of Survey, September – December 1979', JSSEA X (1980), 273-75; JSSEA XI (1981), 182-90; JSSEA XII (1982), 97-101. 38 A Christian amphodarch drew up a list of wells in the Hibis region in 246/9. See P. J. Parsons, 'The Wells of Hibis', JEA 57 (1971), 165-80. 39 A. Deissmann, The Epistle of Psenosiris (London, 1902). 40 F. Dunand, 'Between tradition and innovation: Egyptian funerary practices in late antiquity', in R. S. Bagnall, (ed.), Egypt in the Byzantine World (Cambridge, 2007), 163- 84, at 169. 41 Dunand, in Egypt in the Byzantine World, 167, 174. 42 G. Wagner, Les Oases d'Égypte (Cairo, 1987), 358.

23 GILLIAN BOWEN

43 C. Bonnet, 'L'Église du Village de Douch', in M. Reddé, P. Ballet, A. Lemaire and C. Bonnet (eds), Kysis. Fouilles de l'Ifao à Douch oasis de Kharga (1985–1990) (Cairo, 2004), 75-86. 44 H. Winlock, The Temple of Hibis in el-Khargeh Oasis (New York, 1941), 48. 45 A. Lythgoe, 'The Egyptian Expedition', BMMA III:5 (1908), 84-86; A. Lythgoe, 'The Oasis of Kharga', BMMA III:11 (1908), 203-08; W. Hauser, 'The Egyptian Expedition 1930–1931', BMMA 27 (1932), 38-40. 46 A. Fakhry, The Necropolis of el-Bagawat in Kharga Oasis (Cairo, 1951). 47 Lythgoe, BMMA III:11, 203. 48 Lythgoe, BMMA III:11, 207. 49 C. K. Wilkinson, 'Early Christian Paintings in the Oasis of Khargeh', BMMA 23 (1928), 29-36, at 36. 50 Worp, Greek Papyri from Kellis, 184-88, 199-201. 51 R. S. Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton: 1993), 64. 52 K. A. Worp, 'A Checklist of Bishops in Byzantine Egypt (A.D. 325 – c.750)', ZPE 100 (1994), 283-318. 53 F. Calament, La Révélation d'Antinoé par Albert Gayet. histoire, archéologie, muséographie (Cairo, 2005). 54 S. Walker, Ancient Faces Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt (London, 2000), 34-36. 55 There are four shrouds in total. Two are in the Louvre, one in the Vatican Museum and the other in the Benaki Museum, Athens. The women hold a crux ansata in their left hand and/or raise their right hand in a gesture of prayer. See K. Parlasca, Ritratti di Mummie, II (Rome, 1977), nos. 416, 418, 419, 420. 56 C. Thomas, The Early Christian Archaeology of North Britain (London, 1971), 48-90; D. E. Farwell and T. I. Molleson, Poundbury. The cemeteries, vol. 2., (Dorchester, 1993).

24 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA

FIGURE 1. Kellis: Plan of the west section of the site. Drawing James Knudstad with additions by Barry Rowney.

25 GILLIAN BOWEN

FIGURE 2. Kellis: Plan of the East Churches. Drawing James Knudstad with additions by Barry Rowney.

FIGURE 4. Deir Abu Metta: The church and surrounding buildings. Drawing James Knudstad with additions by Wendy Dolling, Colin A. Hope and Anna Stevens (prepared by Bruce Parr).

26 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA

FIGURE 3. Kellis: Plan of the main Christian cemetery. Drawing Lana Williams.

27 GILLIAN BOWEN

PLATE 1. Kellis: The domus ecclesia, looking east into the apse and side chambers. Photograph Colin A. Hope.

PLATE 2. Kellis: The basilica church, looking south-west. Photograph Colin A. Hope.

28 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DAKHLEH AND KHARGA

PLATE 3. Kellis: The west cemetery church looking south-east. Photograph Colin A. Hope.

PLATE 4. Deir Abu Metta: The church, looking south-west. Photograph Colin A. Hope.

29