1679
Archaeologists have explored a church of the IV century on the outskirts of the former city of Trimitis in the territory of modern Egypt. Inside the structure, they discovered an unexpected number of burials, most of the dead in which were women and children.
Based on the results of several years of excavations, the book "Early Christianity in Amheid (Egyptian oasis of Dakhla), IV century church" was published. transmits The New York Times.
In 2012, a team of American scientists led by researcher of ancient civilizations from New York University David Ratzan and archaeologist from Washington University in St. Louis Nicola Aravecchia began excavations in an ancient church in the middle of the Egyptian desert.
One of the oldest churches in the world was built on the eastern outskirts of Trimifis. Previously, thousands of people lived in this city, who left it at the end of the 6th century.
Scientists say that the settlement was built in "one of the most barren and hostile places on Earth." However, excavations have shown that this did not stop the local residents from large-scale construction. The locals actively traded dates and olives, which allowed them to build connections with people from more fertile lands along the Nile.
It was much more interconnected with the world than one might guess at first glance, said Dr. Nicola Aravecchia.
On the territory of the former city, archaeologists unearthed a villa, a pagan temple, a Roman bath and an unusual basilica. The church had a rectangular structure with a colonnade, which corresponded to the style that was popular in Rome at the time. According to scholars, this indicates that the Roman "fashion" for design reached Trimitis in just a few years.
Archaeologists found a large number of dead inside the basilica: 11 bodies were found in two crypts and six more in separate tombs. According to scientists, this was unusual at the time, because priests or bishops were usually buried in church premises.
At the same time, most of the remains in the church belonged to women and children.
The fact that there are so many tombs right inside the church is amazing, said David Frankfurter, an Egyptian religious scholar from Boston University (USA), who was not involved in the project.
The bodies in the church were mostly wrapped in cloths, only two of them were lying in coffins. Archaeologists say it's a clear testament to a Christian tradition that favored simple burials, as opposed to lavish Egyptian burial customs.
Next to one body, researchers found bunches of rosemary, myrtle and palm leaves, and one child was buried with a bronze bowl. One of the dead women found in the church was middle-aged and had all her teeth. This probably indicates that despite the harsh environmental conditions, she had a good diet and a relatively comfortable life.
According to Laura Nasrallah, an expert on early Christianity and a doctor at Yale University (USA), there is enough evidence that women held leadership positions in ancient Christianity.
At the same time, the finds in the church of Trimitis are not enough to determine whether the women buried there were religious figures.
