Dakhla Oasis, Balat
The village of Balat (25°34′ N, 29°16′ E), built at the eastern entrance to the Dakhla Oasis, is situated at the junction of two caravan routes. The desert track of Darb el-Tawil coming from Manfalut, to the north of Assyut, connects there with the Darb el-Ghabari. This second track connected Dakhla with Kharga Oasis, leading to the great Darb el-Arbain route, which took the caravans south to Darfur and the Kordofan. The village of Balat has given its name to an archaeological concession of about 700ha, joining together the urban settlement (40ha) at Ain Asil, and a cemetery at Qila’ el-Dabba, ranging chronologically from the Old Kingdom to the Second Intermediate Period, with a late reoccupation in the Roman Period. The importance of this site is found in the exceptional situation of an Egyptian settlement far from the Nile Valley, and in the fact that this concession offers the unique opportunity to study an urban system of the Old Kingdom in situ.
The urban remains of Ain Asil were uncovered during the winter of 1947, as a result of strong sandstorms. The credit for this discovery belongs to Ahmed Fakhry, who immediately was able to draw a correlation between the site and the necropolis 1.5km away, at Qila’ el-Dabba. Some brief archaeological borings, between 1968 and 1970, preceded two excavations in 1971 and 1972. The excavation concession to the site was taken over by the Institut frangais d’archeologie orientale (IFAO) in Cairo; since 1977, this institution has carried out annual investigations in the oasis.
At Ain Asil, the remains of three phases of the urban settlement have been distinguished, dating between the late 5th/early 6th Dynasties and the First Intermediate Period. Excavation in the southern part of the site revealed the presence of four pottery workshops. Subsequently, the extension of these investigations led to the clearing of an administrative district, perhaps including the governorate of the oasis. The funerary chapels of three governors of the oasis were located. Each has the same basic plan. A wooden porch with two columns leading from a common courtyard formed the entrance. Beyond this, another courtyard led to a naos flanked by two oblong rooms. A stela was discovered in situ in the central building. It contains a copy of a royal decree of Pepi II, which mentions the establishment of a "dwelling of vital strength" (h^t-ki) explicitly confirming the purpose of these constructions, which were surrounded by bakeries. To the east of the chapels was a large administrative complex, built around a courtyard with a porch. It contained a batch of clay tablets inscribed in hieratic, along with fragments of a jar, inscribed with the name of Medunefer, Governor of the Oasis in the reign of Pepi II. The mastaba (mudbrick tomb) of this dignitary has been located in the necropolis.
At Qila’ el-Dabba, the Old Kingdom cemetery includes a field of mastabas surrounded by a large number of smaller secondary burials. The excavation of a sample of these tombs dating to the 6th Dynasty and the First Intermediate Period showed three different types of substructure plans:
1 The simplest burial places are oval subterranean chambers, without any structure. These tombs can be entered by a flight of stairs or a shaft, blocked after the interment.
2 Other burials are in tombs dug into the rock and covered by mudbrick vaults, to which access is provided by a descending staircase.
3 In other places the burial chamber, dug in a trench, takes on the shape of a rectangular room, covered by a Nubian vault topped by rows of arched mudbricks. Access is possible by a descending ramp or a shaft.
In their superstructure, the first two types of tombs sometimes have preserved signs of a small enclosure, back to back with a large mudbrick structure, intended to shelter a funeral stela. The third tomb type, usually having a courtyard with its limits defined by low walls, includes a vaulted chapel built inside a small mudbrick mastaba. The deceased, laid out either north-south or west-east in the small burials, may be lying on or wrapped in mats or put in a wooden coffin. In the 6th Dynasty the funeral equipment consisted of alabaster per fume vases, toilet instruments (copper razors and mirrors), tools (adze blades), ornaments and stamp seals. The burials of the First Intermediate Period usually just show a few provisions put in ceramic jars.
Four mastabas for the Governors of the Oasis (bk$ w(f3t) were known to Ahmed Fakhry; later work by the IFAO has revealed two more. These funerary establishments, numbered I to V from south to north in the necropolis, date to the 6th Dynasty from the reigns of Pepi I and Pepi II. The sequence of these mastabas is as follows: Kom (mound) of Mastaba I (really two tombs):
A mastaba of Decheru (prior to the reign of Pepi I?) b mastaba of Ima-Pepi/Ima-Meryre (reign of Pepi I)
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Mastaba II: mastaba of Ima-Pepi II (reign of Pepi II) |
Mastaba IV: mastaba of Khentikaupepi (6th Dynasty) |
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Mastaba III: mastaba of Khentika (reign of Pepi II) |
Mastaba V: mastaba of Medunefer (reign of Pepi II) |
In superstructure, these dwellings have a quadrilateral shape, defined by mudbrick precinct walls. This surface area is divided into two open courtyards, next to the mudbrick superstructure. The enclosure gate leads into a forecourt, which is usually used for small secondary burial places. An interior courtyard provided space for rituals with obelisk-stelae, offering basins and funeral stelae. The chapels of the mastaba can be recognized by their traditional niched palace fagade decoration.
Excavation of four of these mastabas (Ib, II, III and V) revealed important differences in construction. Two distinct architectural programs are attested; the building technique of the substructures varies from a complex with several burial chambers (type I) to a single sepulcher (type II). In the first case (type I, mastabas Ib and III), the substructures were entirely built in the open air by carrying out a vast excavation; at the bottom, retaining walls were built to create the structure. The burial chamber and access to it were built inside the space confined by this protective wall. Once these foundation works were completed, earth mounds covered these substructures. From then on, access was only through the burial shafts. The second building technique (type II, mastabas II and V) used a more economical method requiring less displacement of the soil. One or even two rectangular shafts were dug in the clay soil. These shafts were linked to each other by tunnels at their lowest level. The tomb chamber, with one antechamber and two storerooms, was then built in stone and mudbrick within these galleries.
Figure 21 Qila’ el-Dabba, Balat, Dakhla Oasis: mastaba tomb of Ima-Pepi I, courtyard
The dimensions and fittings of Old Kingdom mastabas generally diminish between the reigns of Pepi I and Pepi II. Such is the case at Balat as well, notably in comparing the tombs of Ima-Pepi I (Pepi I) and Medunefer (Pepi II). The absence of a serdab (statue chamber) in the Balat tombs follows the practice of Old Kingdom private tombs after the second half of the 6th Dynasty. Furthermore, the evidence of an onomastic alternation between Ima-Pepi and Ima-Meryre points to a contemporary of Pepi I as the owner of mastaba Ib. The mention of the first jubilee (heb-sed) of Neferkare (one of the names of Pepi II) on an alabaster vase from Medunefer’s tomb places mastaba V in the reign of Pepi II. A limestone group statue of Ima-Pepi I and his wife Lady Isut was deposited in the burial chamber of their tomb. Also notable is the in situ discovery of one of the oldest renderings of the Coffin Texts (aside from Gardiner’s Papyrus IV) appearing on the coffin of Governor Medunefer, a contemporary of Pepi II. One should also mention the polychrome funeral scenes, painted on the walls of Khentika’s burial chamber (Mastaba III), and the variety of the stone vessels from Ima-Pepi II’s mastaba (MastabaII).
Overall, the above data indicate that Balat was an important Old Kingdom administrative site. This evidence makes it possible to estimate the intensity of the exchange between the central government in Memphis and a remote administrative district such as Dakhla. It is evident not only that such a situation survived the hazards of the First Intermediate Period, but that Balat existed as the center of an administrative district through the Middle Kingdom and into the Second Intermediate Period. Evidence of this has been found in the excavations undertaken in the southern part of the necropolis, with the discovery of a decorated tomb inscribed from the period of the Intef nomarchs of Thebes.
Figure 22 Qila’ el-Dabba, Balat, Dakhla Oasis: mastaba tomb of Ima-Pepi I, substructures
Dakhla Oasis, Dynastic and Roman sites
The Dakhla Oasis is the largest of Egypt’s great western oases. The present Oasis basin, some 75km east-west and a maximum of 25km north-south, has been continuously inhabited throughout the historical period. The area lies some 600km southwest of Cairo and is centered on 25°30′ N and 29°00′ E. The Oasis floor is a rich clay plain, lacustrine in origin, interrupted in places by outcrops of the Nubia sandstone formation. Abrupt northern and eastern boundaries are formed by a Cretaceous limestone escarpment, up to 500m high. As of 1992, there was an expanding population of 70,000 living in small communities. The capital, Mut, is centrally situated at the southernmost point of the Oasis. The economic foundation of the Dakhla Oasis community is in agriculture; there are no mineral or other resources. The climate is hyperarid and all agricultural and domestic water needs are supplied by artesian pressure from subterranean aquefers through springs and wells.
The Dakhla Oasis first came into modern European knowledge with the arrival of the British explorer Sir Archibald Edmondstone in 1819. The first extensive description of the archaeological remains in Dakhla was made by H.E.Winlock of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, from a journey made there in 1908, when he noted and recorded the standing ruins of the Oasis. Little further notice was taken of the region until the late 1960s, when Dr Ahmed Fakhry discovered the large Old Kingdom town and mastaba tombs in the vicinity of Balat. Since 1977, the Institut frangais d’archeologie orientale has been engaged in the major excavations of the Balat complex. Since 1978, the Dakhleh Oasis Project has been making a regional study of the entire Oasis as a microcosm of eastern Saharan cultural and environmental evolution since the mid-Pleistocene.
The earliest indications of ancient Egyptians having been in contact with the Dakhla Oasis region are a few finds of Early Dynastic period ceramics, some in isolation, some from Sheikh Muftah sites. The occurrences do not, however, really indicate more than just a casual or occasional contact. It is not until late in the Old Kingdom that there is evidence of major activity by the pharaonic Egyptians in the Oasis.
At the Oasis entry point of the direct route from the Nile, in the vicinity of present-day Balat, there is a large settlement site, Ain Asil, which dates to the late Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period. Also in the vicinity are extensive burial grounds which include five substantial mastaba tombs of the Egyptian governors of the oasis during the reigns of Pepi II and his immediate predecessors.
The Ain Asil town was not, however, the only settlement of the period in the Dakhla Oasis. There are archaeological traces and eroded remains of some twenty other Old Kingdom sites scattered across the Oasis. There is a concentration of these sites in western Dakhla, in the vicinity of el-Qasr. Several cemeteries attest to the strength of the Egyptian cultural content of the settlements, while habitation sites, albeit terribly eroded, show the settled and essentially domestic nature of the occupation. One of the settlements in western Dakhla is nearly as extensive in area as Ain Asil, although not so well preserved. It is important because it interfingers with a site of the Sheikh Muftah culture and is indicative of the relationship between the indigenous Dakhlans and the migrant pharaonic Egyptians. Apparently, this was a peaceful relationship with evidence for trade in lithic tools and ceramics. That there was close and frequent contact with the Nile Valley can be seen in a variety of small objects that were imported from the Nile Valley, but might best be exemplified by the ceramics of the period in the Oasis. The shapes and manufacturing technology allow them to be precisely placed with the range of ceramics from the Nile Valley sites, while clay analysis shows that all were locally manufactured in the Dakhla Oasis. This is supported by the discovery of a number of sites where pottery kilns are present.
The evidence is not strong for the remaining two millennia of pharaonic history in the Dakhla Oasis, although it does seem that there was always some Egyptian population there. There are a number of small sites, variously dated, that give support to this; but the best information comes from sites at ‘Ein Tirghi, a cemetery with dated material from the Second Intermediate Period onward, and from the cemeteries at Ain Asil, which seem to include material from the Old Kingdom down into the 18th Dynasty. Mut el-Kharab is a large temple enclosure, apparently a cult center of Seth, where potsherds from virtually all major periods, from the Old Kingdom down to the Byzantine, have been recovered from surface inspection. The site at Mut is merely the religious center of what must have been the most extensive town in the ancient Oasis, but which has been lost under the modern settlement. Inscriptional evidence from stelae gives datings of the 22nd and 25th Dynasties. Although the extensive ruins on the surface are primarily Roman in date, Egyptian Antiquities Organization excavations have recently uncovered massive walls of an earlier period.
The evidence from the Oasis is vital to our understanding of its function within the Egyptian sphere. Apart from very occasional references to administration of the oases, there is virtually no information from the Nile Valley. From the Oasis itself there are stelae from the temple at Mut, and also administrative documents from Ain Asil that show that the community was officially seen as part of "Egypt." Certainly, there was always an Egyptian population in the Oasis, but perhaps it was an area of banishment, or served some other similar kind of function for the rulers in the Nile Valley.
It is only from the decades just before the birth of Christ that the Dakhla Oasis becomes fully occupied. From the first five centuries AD there are almost 250 sites: isolated farmsteads, three large towns, major irrigation works, industrial sites, over twenty temples, cemeteries and all the range of settlement that one might expect to see in a self-sufficient agricultural community. With the increase in economic importance of Egypt within the Roman world, Dakhla must have been seen as a potentially rich source of produce and migration of farmers was encouraged. It seems that finally whatever available farmland was present was actually utilized and the Dakhla population produced more than its subsistence requirements.
Texts, recovered in the excavations at Kellis, together with organic finds in the debris of farmhouses and houses, as well as remnants on the surface in various places across the Oasis, give us a clear picture of the agriculture of the period. Cereals were a major crop, of course, but there was also oil and wine production, and a variety of vegetables and herbs, fruits, including figs, dates, peaches and pomegranates, and honey all were being produced. Domestic animals included pigeons, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and dogs. In the region of Deir el-Haggar there are massive aqueducts leading northwards out of spring mounds toward field system which closely resemble those still in use in the Oasis. A scene in the tomb of Pady-Osiris at el-Muzzawaka shows some of the products of the Oasis, including dates, barley, grapes, olives, dom-palm nuts and flowers. Housing for migrant farmers was constructed to a set pattern: two vaulted rooms at ground level and a pigeon loft above, all enclosed within a surrounding wall. These "colombarium" farmhouses occur singly and in villages of up to half a dozen. There are three large towns of the period in the Oasis: Trimithis, now called Amheida, Mouthis, the capital, now called Mut, and Kellis, now called Ismant el-Kharab.
Two main types of temple were built during the Graeco-Roman period in the Oasis. The first is of mudbrick construction and consists of three or four axially placed rooms, and is generally only about 25m in length. Entered through a pylon at the east end, the rooms are successively smaller, ending in the sanctuary, where there is a brick altar. None of these temples preserves any decoration intact, although one, which has been badly ruined, bears a considerable number of fragments of painted plaster in the debris. The second type of temple, of which there are at least seven, is built of local sandstone and generally bears carved decoration. Again, these temples are not large, being less than 30m long. Arranged axially, they have a more complicated architectural plan, with side chambers, stairways to roof areas, temenos enclosure walls and the usual pharaonic temple appearance. Decoration is carved relief, which was originally painted in the normal fashion. The attribution of some of these temples is more secure than others. That at Deir el-Haggar is dedicated to the Theban deities, Amen, Khonsu and Mut, and was built during the second half of the first century AD. There is a temple dedicated to Thoth of Hermopolis at Trimithis. The major shrine of Seth at Mouthis was probably built on the site of an earlier, pharaonic temple. At Kellis the main temple is dedicated principally to Tutu and there is a smaller shrine dedicated to Neith and Tapsais. The easternmost one is at ‘Ein Birbiyeh, where the building decoration can be dated to the reigns of Augustus and Hadrian, and the dedication is to Amen-Nakht and his consort, Hathor.
The decline of this high point in the Dakhla Oasis coincides with a natural phenomenon and historical trends in the Roman world. Several sites across the Oasis were apparently abandoned as the result of the incursion of heavy sanding conditions, which may in turn have been the result of environmental change elsewhere. Both the temples at Deir el-Haggar and ‘Ein Birbiyeh were filled with sand before any deliberate damage was done to them; in other words, while they were probably still functioning as temples. Ismant el-Kharab, a large town, is full of domestic buildings which were abandoned as the result of their filling up with wind-blown sand. The sand of the Western Desert is inexorable and, where present, will fill wells and cover fields, removing at a stroke the livelihood of the inhabitants. The date for this geological event was probably early in the fifth century AD. Also at the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman Empire was splitting into its eastern and western parts and one consequence of this was a weakening of the solidarity of that great economic unit. Some of the population moved back to the Nile Valley, where they had always maintained strong ties; others remained and eked a subsistence living out of the harsh climate as best they were able. It took several centuries to rebuild the Oasis economy to the strength it had during the first four centuries AD.
Dakhla Oasis, Ismant el-Kharab
The Romano-Byzantine town site of Ismant el-Kharab (Ismant "the Ruined," or "Kellis" in Greek) in the Dakhla Oasis lies 2.5km east of the modern village of Ismant (25°32′ N, 29°04′ E). The well-preserved mudbrick ruins drew the site to the attention of early travelers in the nineteenth century and archaeologists in the twentieth century. None left more than short descriptions of certain structures, although Herbert Winlock, who visited the site in 1908, took valuable photographs of painted reliefs that are now destroyed.
In 1981 the study of the site by the Dakhleh Oasis Project commenced. A detailed plan of the surface remains has been prepared and excavations began in 1986. The site appears to have been occupied only during the first-fourth centuries AD.
The ancient town is built upon a natural terrace of Nubian clay, which stands 4-6m above the floors of two wadis on its northwest and southeast, and covers an area approximately 1050x650m. The area is clearly defined by the remains of mudbrick buildings and a cover of artifacts, especially potsherds. A dense scatter of chert containing some tools of the Middle Paleolithic surrounds the site, but there is no evidence of occupation during that period.
Figure 23 Plan of excavated remains at Ismant el-Kharab, Dakhla Oasis
The earliest structure is the Main Temple, situated within a large enclosure in the western part of the site. A processional route leads through the enclosure to the temple temenos, which is entered through two undecorated stone gateways on its east, and then along a mudbrick colonnade to a portico and the temple itself. This small sandstone structure, which is poorly preserved, was dedicated to the protective deity Tutu (in Greek, Tithoes), son of the goddess Neith. It is the only surviving temple dedicated to this god. A double doorway, originally decorated with offering scenes, gives access to a small courtyard and to the temple, which comprises three rooms and a two-roomed contra-temple at the rear. A painted and gilded cult relief representing Tutu and a goddess was the focal point of either the main sanctuary or the contra-temple. The temple may have been begun during the first century AD, as an inscription of the Roman emperor Nero (AD 54-138) has been found there, as have fragments of demotic papyri, possibly also of that period. It appears to have been extended and decorated from the reigns of Hadrian (AD 117-38) to Pertinax (AD 193). Vestiges of temple furnishings include fragments of small and large anthropomorphic sculptures in stone and plaster, some of which attest to figures of Isis and Serapis, stone altars and pieces from elaborately decorated, gilded and painted wooden shrines.
Within the temenos are also four mudbrick shrines; two of these flank the temple and two flank the main east gate. The two-roomed shrine to the south of the Main Temple, Shrine I, is larger than the temple and originally stood to 5m in height. In its inner room elaborate painted reliefs are preserved on the walls and on the remains of the barrel-vaulted roof; these provide evidence of its use as a mammisi (house of births). A classical dado of alternately colored panels, with floral sprays and birds at the center, was topped by four registers in pharaonic style depicting priests and gods in procession before Tutu, who is accompanied by the goddesses Neith and Tapshay. The latter is described as "Mistress of the City." These two goddesses were also worshipped in a small sandstone temple located at the extreme west of the site, set within its own enclosure, which is probably to be ascribed the same date as the Main Temple. Access to this temple, the West Temple, from the Main Temple, was gained via a stone gateway in the rear of the temenos wall. In addition to the classical paintings in Shrine I, there are others on the walls of the court to the east of the Main Temple and in each of the other three mudbrick structures. One room of the structure on the south of the gateway has three layers of plaster; the latest one preserves an elaborate painted coffer motif with birds and fruit, and the earliest has black ink graffiti representing Tutu, Seth, Bes and a winged vulture.
The temple of Tutu appears to have continued in use throughout the life of the city, with additions and modifications to its plan. The portico, with its baked-brick columns fronted by sandstone plinths, two bearing dedicatory inscriptions in Greek, was probably added in the third century AD. Three large enclosures were added to the north of the temple enclosure, possibly containing administrative buildings and storage facilities, though at what date is unknown. In the most northerly are the remains of a small church adjacent to the remains of two monumental, classical-style tombs. The architecture of the latter is unique within Egypt and is paralleled only by monuments in Libya; they resemble buildings depicted on first century BC coins from North Africa and second century AD Roman coins from Alexandria. One of the tombs contained the remains of eleven burials with grave goods consisting of pottery, glass, a basket and a bed, and numerous floral bouquets. Five gold rings were also found. The burials may be ascribed to the third century AD, although the tombs themselves are earlier. The small church and a seven-roomed building immediately to its south date to the fourth century AD.
Three large building complexes on a north-south alignment are the main feature of the northern part of the site, Area B. The south complex contains 216 rooms, courts and corridors, some preserved to second floor level. Several of the rooms preserve traces of polychrome wall paintings in classical style. Excavation has revealed part of a large peristyle court against the south wall of this structure, which stood some 5m in height. Its columns of baked brick were plastered and painted and the lower 2m of the walls received classical painted decoration of panel motifs separated by pilasters. The ceiling was originally decorated with a variety of coffer designs which incorporated figurative motifs. Jar sealing dockets inscribed in Greek from the fill in the foundations of the room indicate a date for its construction at the latest in the second century AD. There is evidence of four major phases of use. Constructed as a formal hall within what was probably the center of administration, it was eventually used for domestic purposes, including the stabling of animals, during the fourth century AD.
Immediately to the north is an agglutinative series of buildings, which may have been for domestic use, and to their north is a complex of a more formal nature. Here the buildings are of differing size and complexity. One comprises a court surrounded by ten rooms which are lime-plastered and several bear polychrome geometric and floral motifs. There are also three buildings with pigeon lofts.
To the west of Area B is a line of mausolea which face east. They consist of an entrance chamber leading to one or more inner rooms, all of which were vaulted. Several also have porticos. The two on the south are the largest and most elaborate, with three inner chambers (the central one is stone lined) and white-plastered exteriors ornamented with pilasters and niches. The central rear chamber of the southernmost mausoleum once bore painted funerary scenes, which were photographed by Winlock but are now destroyed. This monument was cleared by Bernard Moritz in 1900. A similar group of mausolea lies to the south of the site. Both groups appear to have been family vaults. Approximately 0.5km to the northwest of the site are a series of low hills which contain an extensive cemetery. These have yielded multiple burials in single-chamber tombs, a few of which have painted and gilded cartonnage mummy cases; grave goods are rare. These burials date to the first-second centuries AD. On the southeast of the site there is another cemetery with single burials in pit graves, some with mudbrick superstructures. They are oriented east-west; grave goods are largely absent. This cemetery seems to have been in use during the third-fourth centuries AD.
The east and central parts of the site are residential sectors. Ceramics on the surface of the former, Area C, indicate that it may have been occupied from the second century AD onward. The survey of the latter, Area A, shows it to contain single-story houses with courtyards built in blocks, many of which are preserved to roof level. These blocks are separated by open areas and lanes, at least one of which was roofed with a barrel vault. One group of three houses within this sector, located immediately to the south of Area B, has been excavated. They contain barrel-vaulted, rectangular rooms and larger square rooms, which were either open or had flat roofs. Niches, open shelves and cupboards, some originally closed by wooden doors, are set in the walls and some rooms had a palm-rib shelf. Most of the wooden doors, door frames and roof beams were removed when the site was abandoned, but large quantities of artifacts were left behind. These include fragments of household furniture, utensils (mostly pottery), clothing, jewelry, coins and, most significantly, documents in Coptic, Greek and occasionally Syriac, written on wooden boards, papyrus and, rarely, parchment. Four intact wooden codices have been found and in one house alone approximately 3,000 fragments of inscribed papyrus were discovered. Much of this was at floor level and clearly represents part of a family archive.
Among this material are private letters, and economic and literary texts. Kellis emerges as the center of a regional economy which was agriculturally based. It traded with nearby villages and towns elsewhere in the oasis and had contacts with those in Kharga Oasis and several in the Nile Valley. While there are references among the texts to what may be orthodox Christianity, references to one of its main rivals, Manichaeism, occur more frequently. A unique bilingual board inscribed in Coptic and Syriac documents the efforts made by the Manichaean proselytizers to translate their sacred literature into the vernacular. Dated contracts written in Greek cover the period AD 30481; the coins and ceramics confirm a fourth century AD occupation of these houses. A fourth house with similar architectural features and of similar date has been partly excavated due east of the entrance to the Main Temple enclosure.
In the south of Area A there is a wide east-west street which runs from the southeast corner of the Main Temple enclosure on the west, past the remains of a bath house (with a central heating system), and ends at a complex of two churches with associated buildings. These, the East Churches, are located on the northeast edge of the site. The larger of the two is a two-aisled basilica with a painted cupola in the apse and four chambers along its south wall; it is preserved to a maximum height of 3.8m. The smaller one has a single chamber with an elaborately decorated apse. The coins and ceramics excavated in the large church date to the early to late fourth century AD. It is, therefore, one of the earliest surviving purposely built churches in Egypt.
Available evidence all points to an abandonment of the site at the end of the fourth century AD. The reasons for this are uncertain. Possible contributing factors may have been overexploitation of the local water supply and an increase in sand dune activity in this part of the Oasis. All structures examined reveal a fill predominantly of windblown sand with pockets of building collapse and no trace of subsequent occupation in antiquity.
