Bawit

Fragment of a mural from Bawit
A representation of Christ

Bawit (French: Baouît) is an archaeological site located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Asyut, near the village of Dashlout, in Egypt. It covers an area of 40 hectares (99 acres), and houses a cemetery and the ruins of the Hermopolite Monastery of Apa Apollo founded by Saint Apollo in the late 4th century. The structures on this site are relatively well preserved, and demonstrate different aspects of a monastic complex of Middle Egypt.

History

The Apa Apolla monastery is a Coptic monastery founded c. 385/390 and had about 500 monks.[1] The sixth and seventh centuries were a period of prosperity for this monastery, which then hosted a community of women, under the patronage of St. Rachel.[2] A fresco found at the monastery depicting St. Rachel dates to the sixth century.[3] After the Islamic invasion, the monastery declined, and was abandoned around the tenth century.

Excavation

In early 1901, a survey of the site and surrounding areas was made by Jean Clédat, who was based at the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo. Continuing into 1902, Clédat was assisted by Émile Gaston Chassinat and Charles Palanque.[4] Clédat found hermitages he called "chapels" that contained Coptic art. His colleagues discovered two churches, today simply called North and South Church, with stone and wood carvings that were removed to the Coptic Museum in Cairo and the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Numerous sculptures and paintings were unearthed during the excavations.[5] The papyrologist Jean Maspero (1885–1915) resumed excavations in 1913, discovering a common room with several entrances. In 1976, then 1984 and 1985, the Supreme Council of Antiquities resumed excavations and added to the collections of the Coptic Museum. Since then, excavations have continued under various organizations.

References

  1. ↑ Badawy, Alexander (1978). Coptic art and archaeology: the art of the Christian Egyptians from the late antique to the Middle Ages. MIT Press. p. 500. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Mikhail, Magad S. A.; Moussa, Mark (30 April 2009). Christianity and monasticism in Wadi al-Natrun: essays from the 2002 international symposium of the Saint Mark Foundation and the Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-977-416-260-2. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. ↑ Melville, Gert; Müller, Anne (January 2012). Female 'vita Religiosa' Between Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages: Structures, Developments and Spatial Contexts. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 41. ISBN 978-3-643-90124-8. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  4. ↑ New York Public Library; Richard James Horatio Gottheil (1925). Ancient Egypt: sources of information in the New York public library. The New York public library. p. 5. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Gabra, Gawdat; Vivian, Tim (2002). Coptic Monasteries: Egypt's Monastic Art and Architecture. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 116–18. ISBN 978-977-424-691-3. Retrieved 26 March 2012.

Further reading

Coordinates: 27°33′00″N 30°43′15″E / 27.5500°N 30.7208°E / 27.5500; 30.7208

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