religious history

AE155 News

Coptic monastery 

The remains of a Coptic monastery have been discovered by an Egyptian mission at Wadi el-Natrun, in Beheira Governorate. The structure, which dates from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, sheds light on the architectural planning of the first…

AE155 News 5b

Coptic guesthouse

Further north from Wadi el-Natrun, another Egyptian team has found a Coptic guesthouse, dating to the 5th century AD, in the Qalaya area of Hosh Issa (also in Beheira). The building has 13 multi-functional rooms for individual and communal living,…

Pilgrimage cities

Ritual practices have been part of human life for almost as long as we can trace archaeological remains. The supernatural and inexplicable attract, excite, and worry people, with religion and its associated rituals being one of the main ways through which humans try to make sense of the world, create structure, and seek support