Situated in western part of the al-Ḥayz oasis (about 40km south of the al-Baḥariyya oasis), east of the modern village of Ġarbiyya, Biʾr Šawīš is an agricultural agglomeration suggested to have been occupied from the second half of the first century to the end of the fifth or early sixth centuries (Dospĕl: 2015: 19). Along with ʿAyn Rīs, Biʾr Šawīš is the only other site in al-Ḥayz that documents a Christian presence. Prehistoric occupation of the site has been recorded, followed by a Roman/Byzantine settlement, with no pharaonic/Ptolemaic or Medieval occupation having yet been identified (Dospĕl, and Suková 2013: 7). The Roman/Byzantine phase of the site is by far the most prevalent, with the state of preservation, and the extant of preservation, enabling an almost intact view into the location in antiquity, including settlements, agricultural fields, production facilities, roads, cemeteries, qanāt, and a cult installation (Dospĕl, and Suková 2013: 9; Musil, Tomášek, Kučová, and Šanderová 2013: 6). Considering the limited evidence of Prehistoric occupation, and the lack of a documented Pharaonic/Ptolemaic phase, it seems fair to say that permanent occupation of the site did not occur until the first or second century AD.

The site consists of four distinct ‘houses’, interpreted as individual farmsteads connected by production facilities, including a number of pottery kilns, all of which was surrounded by fields, vineyards and palm orchards (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová, and Šanderová 2013: 30). A burial-cultic installation was identified in 2004, likely dating to the second or third century AD, but the work conducted was limited (Dospĕl and Suková 2013: 23). Likewise, a cemetery has been located on the eastern edge of the current desert, containing hundreds of graves (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová, and Šanderová 2013: 32). A complicated network of manāwir has been documented so far, totalling to some 20km (Dospĕl and Suková 2013: 23). To date, House number 3 is the most extensively excavated and well-documented sector of the site.

House 1
This structure is near the current guard’s house, located 800m north of the other three houses, which form somewhat of a group. No large residential buildings are evident on the surface, but no archaeological work has been conducted here. Nearby are a battery of pottery furnaces, which were partially examined. Finds from this house include 4 ostraca found in 2005, and ceramic assemblages dating between 350 and 400AD (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 35; Dospĕl 2013: 92).

House 2
Excavations were not carried out at this structure, but surface cleaning was conducted. This cleaning exposed the tops of a number of walls, revealing a structure consisting of some 20 rooms (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 36). 100m S-W, an additional production area was located, consisting of two vertical pottery furnaces uncovered and documented in 2004 (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová, and Šanderová 2013: 33). During the survey of the furnaces of the site, quite a large number of transport amphorae and amphora-like containers were found (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 34).

House 3
This ‘house’ is located in the southern section of the site, between Houses 2 and 4. The structure was first surveyed in 2004, with minor test excavations conducted in 2005, followed by the initiation of more extensive archaeological work in 2007 (Dospĕl 2015: 16). This is the most well-documented structure at Bi’r Šawīš and reveals much about the population in antiquity, including religious affiliation. The ground plan displays two distinct sections of the house, a section in the west dominated by an open courtyard, and a section in the east which appears to have been a residential area. It is a distinctively large structure, with it being said to have originally had up to three floors, plus a rooftop, including some 33 rooms (Dospĕl 2015: 16). The structure shows signs of an outer casing of dark basalt, perhaps used as reinforcement. Additionally, there is no door on the ground floor, with entry only gained from the first floor via a bridge (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 41). These two features in conjunction suggest that the structure gave at first glance a monumental impression of a structure seemingly easy to defend (Dospĕl and Suková 2013: 84).

The material from inside the house comprises an impressive amount of clearly datable material, which includes 68 coins. Of these coins, only 15 could be analysed with any degree of precision due to oxidisation. The approximate dates provided are from the last third of the third century to the last third of the fourth century and include coins of emperors Valentinian II (375-392AD), Theodosius I (379-395AD), Arcadius (384-408AD) and Honorius (393-423AD) (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 43; Dospĕl 2015: 19). The remainder of the material from the house comes predominantly from the second half of the fourth to the first half of the early fifth century, with such a chronological concentration of material likely indicating a brief occupation, implying that the house was probably only operational for 2-3 generations (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 47; Dospĕl 2015: 19).

Additional material found in House 3 includes 104 clay vessels, 57 clay lamps, 19 bronze items, a clip, 3 rings, 2 bronze equal arm balances with plates, and a stylus (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová, and Šanderová 2013: 41). Among these finds are numerous Christian identifiers. This includes 66 ostraca fragments, coming from some 52 ostraca, which contain a number of unambiguously Christian names, as well as terms used in referring to a priest and seemingly also for a monastery (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 43; Dospĕl 2015: 43, 106). These ostraca are not only significant in their documentation of a Christian presence, but also in that many include datable information, including one which specifically dates to August 4, 403 (excav. No. 30/BS/05 Dospĕl 2013: 92). Accompanying these ostraca are a number of ceramic objects, including jugs, jar stoppers and a bowl, which have depictions of crosses crosses (Dospĕl 2013: 100, 104 106-108). It is difficult to definitively identify all of these depictions of crosses as Christian signifiers, however, as transecting lines are a basic design motif (Dospĕl 2015: 122).

House 4
This structure is located 100m west of Houses 2 and 3. Excavations conducted in 2005 revealed two groups of rooms divided by a courtyard, which was likely open, and including stairs leading to the upper floor. The structure is positioned differently from Houses 2 and 3 in that the long axis is running SW-NE. Unlike House 3, the layout appears to be somewhat the opposite, with the eastern section seemingly used for farming purposes and the western one supposedly being residential, as suggested by a mud-brick staircase leading to a second floor (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 48). The Roman amphorae date to a period ranging from the fourth to the sixth centuries, and imply the abandonment of the house in the end of the fifth century (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 48). A third, unexamined production area, likely kilns, lies about 800m to the west (Musil, Tomášek, Kučová and Šanderová 2013: 33)