The sacred topography of a monastic landscape and its development on the hilltop of Dra' Abu el-Naga / Upper Egypt: Deir el-Bakhit and the monastery of Apa Paulos in Western Thebes - pilot phase

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Günter Burkard; Professor Dr. Falko Daim; Dr. Daniel Polz
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2013 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 232500198

The monastery of Deir el-Bachit in Western Thebes can, in all probability, be identified as the monastery of St. Paul, which is well-attested by papyrus documents. Evidence for this possible identification came from the names of abbots, which have been written on coptic ostraca. Approximately 400 meters east of the monastery is a hermitage, tomb No. XXVI, built in a pharaonic tomb. An inscription their names IX XC Paulos, who seemed to inhabit the tomb in Late Antiquity. An ancient path connects the hermitage directly with the monastery.The hypothesis is as follows: The hermit Paulos was intensely venerated and he received guests who left their names as graffiti on the walls of the pharaonic tomb. The veneration grew and led to the foundation of the monastery. The veneration of Paulos and the significance of the monastery as a local, regional or even a supraregional pilgrimage center should be apparent especially in the sacred center of the monastic community, the church. For this reason a pilot phase of one year aims to locate the church with the aid of geophysical methods. To verify the results of the geophysical measurements, it is important to accompany the prospections by small test excavations. In addition, an investigation will take place in the duration of the pilot phase, in order to establish if there was a place of worship or a chapel in the hermitage No. XXVI. In this case, the aim is to ascertain if this place of worship was retained or if it was abandoned in favour of a newly-constructed church inside the coenobitic monastery, which was inhabited from the end of the 6th to the beginning of the 10th century AD.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants