Friday, June 24, 2011

Remnants of Islamic, Coptic buildings discovered in Luxor

Al Masry Al Youm

An Egyptian expedition team working in Luxor discovered remnants of ancient Islamic and Coptic buildings, the Ministry of Antiquities announced Wednesday.

The remnants include churches, minarets and domes and are located in the Luxor Temple area along the Avenue of the Sphinxes, according to a ministry statement.

The team found remains of an ancient church that dates back to the Ptolemaic era (AD 5), built with stone blocks typical of ancient temples. The church reflects the style of ancient Egyptian architecture in its stone cornices, columns and ceiling vault.

As for the Islamic monuments, the expedition team found the authentic architrave of a mosque called al-Muqashqash, as well as the minaret and dome of another mosque, Abul Hajjaj.

2 comments:

Gordon Napier said...

I don't think that can be right about a 'Ptolemaic' church from AD 5, as the Ptolemaic era ended in 30 BC, and thy weren't building churces in 5AD, when Jesus was still at playschool!

Anonymous said...

The dates are rather confusing: Ptolemaic era AD 5 and Christian era at the same time? The Ptolemies were history by AD 5. The Christian influence in Egypt probably did not begin much before AD 70. The earliest Nag Hammadi Gospel fragments are from later.