Archaeologists have unearthed a well-preserved Byzantine-era residential city in the Dakhla Oasis, offering new insights into urban life in Egypt during the fourth and fifth centuries AD.
The settlement, excavated at the Ain Al-Sabil archaeological site in the New Valley Governorate by a mission from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, has a well-organized street network, a Christian basilica, two watchtowers, a fortified structure and numerous mud-brick houses.
According to archaeologists, the city was built around broad north-south streets intersected by east-west roads, creating open public spaces. At its centre is a fourth-century Christian basilica, overlooking one of the city’s main streets, which is a key focal point as a religious and community centre.
The excavation also revealed domestic infrastructure such as bread ovens, kitchens and grain-grinding installations, providing a detailed picture of everyday life. The most notable buildings are the home of a priest named Tisos and another of Tabibos, which the researchers think may have been an early church before the basilica was built.
One of the most important finds is nearly 200 ostraca—pottery fragments used as writing surfaces inscribed in Coptic and Greek. Commercial contracts, business transactions and personal correspondence are all contained in those texts, and they provide rare evidence of the city’s economic and social organization.
Researchers also found a large collection of well-preserved bronze coins with portraits of Byzantine emperors and gold coins dating back to Constantius II’s reign, helping to establish the occupation chronology of the site.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities said the discovery represents one of the most significant Byzantine settlements found in Egypt’s Western Desert, and is evidence of life in the Dakhla Oasis during a key time in the history of the country.
Sources : Supreme Council of Antiquities
