DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Godlewski, Włodzimierz: Naqlun: excavations 1997
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41242#0087
the rooms yielded an archive consisting of over 50 texts written in
Arabic.
Once the buildings were destroyed, the mins served to bury
the dead, undoubtedly Christians. The excavated area is presumably
part of an extensive necropolis from the late 19th century that had
been identified earlier on site A.
THE ARCHIVE OF GIRGA BEN BIFAM
The archive was found inside a large storage vessel (N.9763)
closed with a finely woven cover of palm leaves and grass
(N.9766). The vessel was surrounded by a constmction which was
situated in the comer of the room and filled in. The texts included
20 parchment rolls and 18 paper cards, frequently written on two
sides, separately wrapped in textiles. The entire archive was placed
in a leather bag. All the texts were written in Arabic in the office of
a notary at Lahun; they are notary acts concerning the purchase of
allotments of arable land and houses in the nearby region of Fayum.
Part of the texts are receipts for money loans. Most of the texts are
dated. It can be assumed that all the texts in the archive came into
existence in the late 10th and 11th century. The circumstances of the
transfer of this archive to the Nekloni monastery are unknown, but
one should note the coincidence in time between the archive and
the rebuilding of the monastery and the refurbishing of the Church
of the Archangel Gabriel. The new paintings inside the church can
be dated to the 1020s and 1030s.
CHURCH OF THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL
Documentation and conservation work continued in the
church interior. Attention was mostly devoted to the paintings
inside the apse. Conservation work has practically been completed
and the final touches have been given to the preserved paintings.
The only mural to require additional conservation is the depiction
of the Enthroned Mother of God and Child inside the central niche
of the apse. A decision is needed as to the form in which it should
85
Arabic.
Once the buildings were destroyed, the mins served to bury
the dead, undoubtedly Christians. The excavated area is presumably
part of an extensive necropolis from the late 19th century that had
been identified earlier on site A.
THE ARCHIVE OF GIRGA BEN BIFAM
The archive was found inside a large storage vessel (N.9763)
closed with a finely woven cover of palm leaves and grass
(N.9766). The vessel was surrounded by a constmction which was
situated in the comer of the room and filled in. The texts included
20 parchment rolls and 18 paper cards, frequently written on two
sides, separately wrapped in textiles. The entire archive was placed
in a leather bag. All the texts were written in Arabic in the office of
a notary at Lahun; they are notary acts concerning the purchase of
allotments of arable land and houses in the nearby region of Fayum.
Part of the texts are receipts for money loans. Most of the texts are
dated. It can be assumed that all the texts in the archive came into
existence in the late 10th and 11th century. The circumstances of the
transfer of this archive to the Nekloni monastery are unknown, but
one should note the coincidence in time between the archive and
the rebuilding of the monastery and the refurbishing of the Church
of the Archangel Gabriel. The new paintings inside the church can
be dated to the 1020s and 1030s.
CHURCH OF THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL
Documentation and conservation work continued in the
church interior. Attention was mostly devoted to the paintings
inside the apse. Conservation work has practically been completed
and the final touches have been given to the preserved paintings.
The only mural to require additional conservation is the depiction
of the Enthroned Mother of God and Child inside the central niche
of the apse. A decision is needed as to the form in which it should
85