Al - Qalāyā, Egypt | An Archaeological Mission Discovered a Fifth - Century Building with Living and Reception Areas

An Egyptian Archaeological mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities discovered a fifth - century building with living and reception in Al - Qalāyā site, the second - largest monastic cluster in the history of Christianity in the Beheira Governorate, a major agricultural region in Lower Egypt, located in the Nile Delta west of the Rosetta Branch.

The building would have functioned as a guest house during the early days of Coptic Monasticism,  a foundational Christian movement characterized by severe asceticism, total withdrawal from worldly life, and continuous prayer. originating in the Egyptian desert during the 3rd century AD.

According to Sada - el - Balad a news website and satellite television channel headquartered in Giza, the find, made as part of excavations that began in 2023, provides valuable information of the evolution of early monastic architecture in Egypt.

The complex features 13 rooms for housing: individual and collective cells for monks, teaching spaces, reception areas for visitors, as well as service facilities such as a kitchen and warehouses.

A large room with stone benches decorated with plant motifs and a prayer space with an apse and limestone cross stand out, reflecting the functional and religious development of the structure that boasts wall paintings and archaeological remains offering detailed insight into the life and architecture of the fith -  century in North Africa.

Among the finds are mural paintings with monastic figures, ornamental motifs in red, white and black colours, symbolic representations such as gazelles surrounded by plant decorations, marble columns, bases, ceramics, fragments with Coptic inscriptions, animal remains and shells, all elements that offer a detailed vision of the daily and artistic life of the time.

Likewise, a piece of limestone with a funerary inscription that mentions “Apa Kir, son of Shemouda”, was found, evidencing the continuity of the use of the site during the height of monastic life in the region.

Experts note that Al - Qalāyā constitutes one of the largest monastic centres in the history of Christianity and that this discovery provides relevant key insights into the development of early Coptic art and architecture, with the site often seeing its peak acrtivity in the 5^th and 6th centuries.

Link

https://tvbrics.com/es/news/descubren-en-egipto-un-edificio-del-siglo-v-con-reas-de-vivienda-y-recepci-n/