Bawit

Bawit (Arabic: باويط Bāwīṭ; Coptic: ⲡⲁⲩⲏⲧ Pavēt) is an archaeological site located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Asyut, near the village of Dashlout, in Egypt. It covers an area of 40 hectares (99 acres), and houses a cemetery and the ruins of the Hermopolite monastery of Apa Apollo founded by Apollo in the late fourth century. The structures on this site are relatively well preserved, and demonstrate different aspects of a monastic complex of Middle Egypt. History The Apa Apollo monastery (Coptic: ⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲛⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲡⲟⲗⲗⲱ) is a Coptic monastery founded c. 385/390 and had about 500 monks. The sixth and seventh centuries were a period of prosperity for this monastery, which then hosted a community of women, under the patronage of Rachel. A fresco found at the monastery depicting Rachel dates to the sixth century. After the Islamic invasion, the monastery declined, and was abandoned around the tenth century. Excavation In early 1901, a survey of the site and surrounding areas was made by Jean Clédat, who was based at the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo. Continuing into 1902, Clédat was assisted by Émile Gaston Chassinat and Charles Palanque. Clédat found hermitages he called "chapels" that contained Coptic art. His colleagues discovered two churches, today simply called North and South Church, with stone and wood carvings that were removed to the Coptic Museum in Cairo and the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Numerous sculptures and paintings were unearthed during the excavations. The papyrologist Jean Maspero (1885–1915) resumed excavations in 1913, discovering a common room with several entrances. In 1976, then 1984 and 1985, the Supreme Council of Antiquities resumed excavations and added to the collections of the Coptic Museum. Since then, excavations have continued under various organizations. References Further reading Jean Clédat, 1901, "Notes archéologiques et philologiques", Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire (BIFAO), no 1, p. 87-91 Jean Clédat, 1902, "Recherches sur le kôm de Baouît", Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (CRAIBL), no 30, p. 525-546 Jean Clédat, 1904, "Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît", Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire (MIFAO), no XII, 1 et 2 Jean Clédat, 1904, "Nouvelles recherches à Baouît (Haute-Égypte). Campagnes 1903-1904", CRAIBL, no 32, p. 517-527 Charles Palanque, 1906, "Rapport sur les recherches effectuées à Baouît en 1903", BIFAO, no 5, p. 1-21 Émile Chassinat, 1911, "Fouilles à Baouît", MIFAO, no XIII Jean Maspero, 1913, "Rapport de M. Jean Maspero sur les fouilles entreprises à Bâouit", CRAIBL, p. 287-301 Jean Clédat, 1916, "Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît", MIFAO, no XXXIX Gustave Schlumberger, 1919, "Les fouilles de Jean Maspero à Baouît en 1913", CRAIBL, p. 243-248 Jean Maspero, 1931 and 1943, "Fouilles exécutées à Baouît, (notes mises en ordre et éditées par Étienne Drioton)", MIFAO, no LIX, 1 and 2 Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya, 1995, "Le monastère de Baouît. État des publications", Divitiae Aegypti: Koptologische und verwandte Studien zu Ehren von Martin Krause, Wiesbaden, p. 279-288 Dominique Bénazeth and Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya, 1999, "Jean Clédat, Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît" MIFAO, no 111 Dominique Bénazeth and Thomasz Herbich, 2008, "Le kôm de Baouît: étapes d’une cartographie", BIFAO, no 108