Kellis

Rich account of life over four centuries in a village of Roman Egypt incorporating recent archaeological and textual discoveries.

The first comprehensive account of the ancient village of Kellis in the Dakhleh Oasis of the Egyptian Western Desert. Incorporates the wealth of recent archaeological discoveries from public and private buildings to artefacts to numerous documents and provides a rich picture of life in Egypt in the Roman period.Kellis was a village in the Dakhleh Oasis in the Egyptian Western Desert inhabited continuously from the first to the late fourth century AD. Previously unexcavated, it has in recent decades yielded a wealth of data unsurpassed by most sites of the period due to the excellent state of preservation. We know the layout of the village with its temples, churches, residential sectors and cemeteries, and the excavators have retrieved vast quantities of artefacts, including a wealth of documents. The study of this material yields an integrated picture of life in the village, including the transition from ancient religious beliefs to various branches of Christianity. This volume provides accounts of the lived-in environment and its material culture, social structure and economy, religious beliefs and practices, and burial traditions. The topics are covered by an international team of specialists, culminating in an inter-disciplinary approach that will illuminate life in Roman Egypt.