Ancient Kellis, now known as Ismant el-Kharab (Ismant the ruined), was a village in Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

 during the Roman Period. It was located about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) east-southeast of present day Ismant in the Dakhleh Oasis, and about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) northeast of Mut (more fully Mut el-Kharab), which is the capital of the oasis. In ancient times, Mut was called Mothis, and thus Kellis was in the Mothite nome

Nome (Egypt)

A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...

.

Structures

The village was 1050 metres (3,444.9 ft) long and 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) wide, built almost entirely of mud brick on a low terrace with wadi

Wadi

Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...

s to the southeast and northwest, and surrounded by fields. Small businesses included weaving, handcrafted pottery and blacksmithing. Attractions in Kellis included the Temple of Tutu

Tutu (Egyptian god)

Tutu was an Egyptian god worshipped by ordinary people all over Egypt during the late period. The only known temple dedicated to Tutu is located in ancient Kellis, but reliefs depicting Tutu are seen in other temples, such as the Temple of Kalabsha. Tutu's title at the Shenhur temple was "Who...

 and three churches; the Small East Church is the oldest known church building in Egypt. The site was occupied from the late Ptolemaic Period, was abandoned sometime after the year 392, and has remained unoccupied since then, except for a time in the 1940s, when some Bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

 camped there. Many buildings are buried beneath the sand. The tops of some are visible from the surface; others are hidden, waiting to collapse as an unwary tourist crosses.

Excavation

Archeological exploration of Kellis began in 1986. Since 1991 the Kellis excavations have been funded by the Australian Research Council

Australian Research Council

The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...

, administered by Monash University

Monash University

Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....

. Thousands of writing fragments have been unearthed at Kellis, many pertaining to the ancient religion called Manichaeism

Manichaeism

Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...

, whose adherents at Kellis apparently lived alongside Christians in ancient times. Archeologists at Kellis have also found wooden books, glass vessels, tools, other domestic items, as well as cemeteries.

External links

• Photographs of Kellis, Flickr