CAIRO, EGYPT—The AFP reports that the remains of three churches and monks’ cells made of basalt, mud brick, and bedrock have been uncovered at a Christian monastery site in the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert. The structures have been dated to the fifth century A.D. Victor Ghica of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology said the church walls were covered with scripture passages and other inscriptions written in Greek. Graffiti and Coptic Christian symbols were also found on some of the walls. Previous excavations at the site, which was occupied from the fourth through the eighth centuries A.D., have uncovered evidence of wine production and animal husbandry, he added. To read about spectral imaging of texts from St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai, go to "Recovering Hidden Texts."
