Artefacts of Excavation

The excavations were sponsored by the Graeco-Roman branch and thus were concerned with recovering papyri from the Graeco-Roman period rather than objects or material from different time periods.

The location of the large Byzantine and Coptic cemetery is noted in the report as existing past the village and adjacent to the modern Coptic cemetery of Maghagha. The bodies were wrapped in cloth and laid out on reed mats with common grave good including copper or silver bracelets, glass beads, leather shoes and bone amulets. Unusual items included one body buried with scribal implements and another with a reed flute and a pair of bronze clappers. Inscribed wooded tablets were also found.