{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "name": "site",
    "crs": {
        "type": "name",
        "properties": {
            "name": "EPSG:4326"
        }
    },
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Point",
                "coordinates": [
                    31.281111,
                    26.931111
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "id": 32,
                "site_uri": "https:\/\/4care-skos.mf.no\/site\/32",
                "modern_name": "W\u0101d\u012b Sar\u01e7a",
                "ancient_name": "Apa Th\u014dmas monast\u0113rion",
                "typology": "monastic settlement",
                "date_from": 0,
                "date_to": 0,
                "dating_criteria": "",
                "place_names": [
                    {
                        "language": "Greek",
                        "pl_name": " \u1f0c\u03c0\u03b1 \u0398\u03c9\u03bc\u1fb6\u03c2 \u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "Coptic",
                        "pl_name": "monasthrion napa cwmas | petra napa cwmas"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "Arabic",
                        "pl_name": "\u0648\u0627\u062f\u064a \u0633\u0631\u062c\u0629"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "English",
                        "pl_name": "Wadi Sarga"
                    },
                    {
                        "language": "French",
                        "pl_name": "Ouadi Sarga"
                    }
                ],
                "trismegistos_uri": "https:\/\/www.trismegistos.org\/place\/12542",
                "pleiades_uri": "https:\/\/pleiades.stoa.org\/places\/759543",
                "paths_uri": "https:\/\/atlas.paths-erc.eu\/places\/91",
                "description": "W\u0101d\u012b Sar\u011fa is situated in a wadi about 25km south of Asyut, situated on the west bank of the Nile near Dayr al-Bal\u0101yza. Today, the area is off-limits, as it has been converted into a military zone. Consequently, understandings of the site are dependent on descriptions and plans made by explorers and archaeologists during the early and mid-20th century. R. C. Thompson, who led excavations of the site, describes the presence of large buildings and numerous small \u2018houses\u2019 situated on the flanks of the wadi (Thompson 1922: 2, 4). Along the southern ridge, at a higher elevation than most of the buildings, numerous rock-cut spaces were investigated, including the so-called Rock-Church (O\u2019Connell 2014: 130-131). This church is situated in a former quarry and, like many other rock-cut areas of the site, included painted depictions of religious scenes. The ones here, however, are the most elaborate of the whole site, and were depicted in a 1920 watercolour by C. O. Waterhouse. Based on the textual documents retrieved during fieldwork at the site, comprising papyri, ostraca and stelae, much of which was found in the middens dotted throughout the area, the site was determined to have been home to a monastic community, known as the monastery of Apa Thomas (Crum and Bell 1922: 6-7; P. Sarga 164).\r\nAs well as the numerous mud-brick buildings, and rock-cut areas, the site is host to three cemeteries (Faiers 2014: 178). \u2018Cemetery 1\u2019 is located in the mouth of the Wadi and is understood to have been the cemetery that served the monastic community. \u2018Cemetery 2\u2019, which included some 20-30 graves, was said to be within view of the 19th century church at Deir el-Ganadleh, \u2018Cemetery 3\u2019 is a Greco-Roman necropolis said to be situated a few hundred meters south of the modern village of Ganadleh. The latter was discovered by two local tomb robbers employed during excavations to help identify cemeteries, which was a key focus of mission. While searching for additional graves, these men uncovered the so-called \u2018Daniel Villa\u2019, situated some 3km north of Wadi Sarga. This structure is host to painted depictions of the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace from the Book of Daniel (3.19-30), and the saints Cosmas and Damian and their three brothers (Thompson 1933: 5; O\u2019Connell 2014: 133).\r\nA comprehensive understanding of the chronological development of the site is lacking. It is known, however, that the area operated as a quarry from as early as the Old Kingdom (Klemm and Klemm 1993: 153). Additionally, a stone relief, which has been attributed to the Ptolemaic or early Roman period, attests to occupation at this time, which is further attested to by the cemeteries. Occupation of the monastery appears to have spanned from the mid-fifth to the eighth-ninth centuries, based on analysis of the ceramic material retrieved during the 1913-1914 mission (Faiers 2014: 180; O\u2019Connell 2014: 123).\r\nDetails of the site are somewhat unclear, with limited capacity to resolve various uncertainties due to the lack of accessibility in modern times. For a discussion of the confusion surrounding a number of specifications of distances between features and names attributed to different areas of the site, see: O\u2019Connell 2014: 124-125. A great deal of information is able to be retrieved, however, based on the various objects retrieved during excavation work and the associated excavation documentation, which is today being studied as part of the research project titled \u2018Wadi Sarga at the British Museum\u2019. A total of six plans were produced during excavations of six mud-brick structures situated on the north and south flanks of the wadi, as well as numerous water colours of the paintings in the rock-cut areas. A topographical map was made by F. A. Richard, but was never published, and its whereabouts today remains a mystery. Thompson included a map in his brief description of the site from 1922, which was based on a sketch map he had made previously based on Richard\u2019s map, using his scale, baseline and triangulation points (O\u2019Connell 2014: 128). With the help of these maps, many of the architectural units that were excavated have today been geo-referenced.",
                "archaeological_research": "The site was visited by numerous figures during the 20th century who published brief accounts of their visits, such as S. J. M. Julien (Julien 1903: 239-240) and S. Clarke (Clarke 1912: 174-175). Petrie visited the site in 1907 whilst investigating numerous other Christian settlements in the area (Petrie 1907: 2, 30 and plates 39 and 40). Fathers Michel Jullien and Maurice Martin S. J visited the site and took a number of photographs, which are now in the Coll\u00e8ge de la Sainte Famille in Cairo. Jean Doresse also photographed the site, and made a number of sketches and plans (Doresse 2000, 4: 360-410, 5: 612 and 636-659).\r\nArchaeological exploration of the site was initiated by O. M. Dalton, who was the British Museum\u2019s Byzantinist. After failing to obtain the concession of Bawit, he commissioned Egyptologist T. E. Peet to seek a suitable site for excavation, preferably including a cemetery (O\u2019Connell 2014: 126). Peet suggested Deir el-Ganadleh, which he came to refer to as Wadi Sarga. After being granted the concession, the archaeologist and Assyriologist Reginald Campbell Thompson was employed to lead excavations, given that Dalton himself was not an archaeologist. Fieldwork at the site began November 16th, 1913 and lasted until January 28th, 1914. The official site report was never published due to the outbreak of the first world war, but a brief summary of two pages was distributed in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (Thompson 1914a: 187-188). Additional information concerning the site was published by Thompson in a 1922 volume regarding the written material uncovered during the fieldwork (Thompson 1922: 1-5). Considering the fact that the area is now off-limits, subsequent works on the site have relied almost exclusively on these descriptions provided by Thompson.",
                "bibliography": "\u2022 Brooks Hedstrom, D. L. 2017. The Monastic Landscape of Late Antique Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. \u2022 Cappozzo, M. 2007. \u201dUadi Sarga.\u201d In Il cristianesimo nel Medio Egitto. Todi: Tau. 139-142.\u2022 Clarke, S. 1912.\u00a0Christian Antiquities in the Nile Valley: A Contribution Towards the Study of the Ancient Churches, 174. Oxford: Clarendon Press.\u00a0\u2022 Coquin, R.-G. and M. Martin. 1991. \u201dWadi Sarjah.\u201d In The Coptic Encyclopedia, Vo. 7, edited by A. S. Atiya, 2312. New York: Macmillan.\u2022 Cromwell, J. 2013. \u201dA Coptic Epistolary Exercise from Wadi Sarga.\u201d Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99: 272-275.\u2022 Cromwell, J. 2014. \u201dThe Textual Corpus from Wadi Sarga: A New Study.\u201d In British Museum Newsletter: Egypt and Sudan 1: 17.\u2022 Crum, W. E. and H. I. Bell, eds. 1922.\u00a0Wadi Sarga: Coptic and Greek Texts from the Excavations Undertaken by the Byzantine Research Account. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.\u2022 Dalton, O. M. 1916. \u201dA Coptic Wall-Painting from Wadi Sarga.\u201d Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 3: 35\u201337.\u2022 Dekker, R. 2015. \u201dThe Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga: Point of Departure for a Relative Chronology.\u201d In Christianity and Monasticism in Middle Egypt: Al-Minya and Asyut, edited by G. Gabra and H. N. Takla, 1\u201313. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.\u2022 Doresse, J. 1952. \u201dD\u00e9couverte d\u2019une nouvelle \u00e9glise peinte.\u201d Comptes rendus de l'Acad\u00e9mie\u00a0des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 96, 3: 390.\u2022 Doresse, J. 1970. \u201dMonast\u00e8res coptes de Moyenne \u00c9gypte.\u201d Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise d'\u00e9gyptologie 59: 7-29.\u2022 Doresse, J. 2000. Les anciens monast\u00e8res coptes de Moyenne-\u00c9gypte (du Gebel-et-Teir \u00e0 Kom-Ishgaou) d'apr\u00e8s l'arch\u00e9ologie et l'hagiographie, 3 vols. Yverdon-les-Bains: Institut d'arch\u00e9ologie yverdonnaise.\u2022 Drioton, E. 1944. \u201dUn dessin copte des trois H\u00e9breux dans la fournaise.\u201d Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'arch\u00e9ologie copte 10: 80-85.\u2022 Faiers, J. 2014. \u201dWadi Sarga Revisited: A Preliminary Study of the Pottery Excavated in 1913\/14.\u201d In Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Perspectives from New Fieldwork,\u00a0 edited by E. O'Connell,\u00a0 177-189. Leuven: Peeters.\u2022 Leclercq, H. 1954. \u201dWadi Sarga.\u201d In Dictionnaire d\u2019arch\u00e9ologie chr\u00e9tienne et de liturgie,\u00a0edited by F.\u00a0Cabrol and H. Leclercq, vol. 15.2, col. 3237. Paris:\u00a0Letouzey et An\u00e9.\u2022 Meinardus, O. F. A. 1965.\u00a0Christian Egypt: Ancient and Modern. Cairo: Cahiers d\u2019histoire \u00e9gyptienne. 288\u2013289.\u2022 O\u2019Connell, E. R. 2007. \u201dTransforming Monumental Landscapes in Late Antique Egypt.\u201d In Holy Households: Domestic Space, Property and Power, edited by K. Sessa, Journal of Early Christian Studies 15: 239-274.\u2022 O\u2019Connell, E. R. 2012. \u201dSettlements and Cemeteries of Late Antique Egypt: A Short History of Archaeological Collections in the British Museum.\u201d In Coptic Culture: Past, Present and Future, edited by M. Ayad, 102-103. Oxford: Oxbow Books.\u2022 O'Connell, E. R. 2014. \u201dR. Campbell Thompson\u2019s 1913\/14 Excavation of Wadi Sarga and Other Sites.\u201d British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 21: 121-192.\u2022 Petrie, W. M. Flinders. 1907.\u00a0Gizeh and Rifeh. London: School of Archaeology in Egypt. 2, 30 and pls. 39, 40.\u2022 Petrie, W. M. Flinders. 1909.\u00a0Memphis I. London: School of Archaeology in Egypt. pl. 54.\u2022 Porter, B. and R. L. B. Moss. [1937] 1962.\u00a0Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings\u00a0V:\u00a0Upper Egypt.\u00a0Sites. Repr. Oxford: Griffith Institute.\u2022 Smart, T. 2018. \u201cCommemorating the Dead: A Study of the Stelae Discovered at Wadi Sarga.\u201d MA dissertation, King's College London.\u2022 Strudwick, N. 2006. Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press. 324-5 (EA 73139) and 326-7 (EA 73196).\u2022 Thompson, H. 1911.\u00a0A Coptic Palimpsest Containing Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Judith and Esther in the Sahidic Dialect. London, New York: Oxford University Press. \u2022 Thompson, R. C. 1914a. \u201cByzantine Research Fund: Excavations at Wadi Sarga.\u201d Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 1: 187-188.\u2022 Thompson, R. C. 1914b. \u201cAn Egyptian Relief at Wadi Sarga.\u201d Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 36: 198.\u2022 Thompson, R. C. 1922. \u201cIntroduction I: The Excavations at Wadi Sarga.\u201d In Wadi Sarga: Coptic and Greek Texts from the Excavations Undertaken by the Byzantine Research Account, edited by W. E. Crum and H. I. Bell, 1-5. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.\u2022 Timm, S. ed. 1984-1992. Das christlich-koptische \u00c4gypten in arabischer Zeit: Eine Sammlung christicher St\u00e4tten in \u00c4gypten in arabischer Zeit unter Ausschlu\u00df von Alexandria, Kairo, des Apa-Mena-Klosters (D\u0113r Ab\u016b Mina), der Sk\u0113tis (W\u0101di n-Na\u1e6dr\u016bn) und der Sinai-Region. Vol. 3, 1400-1403. Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert.\u00a0\u2022 Tudor, B. 2011. Christian Funerary Stelae of the Byzantine and Arab Periods from Egypt. Marburg: Tectum Verlag. 75, 188-195, 203-204, 230, 414-415, inter alia.\u2022 Wipszycka, E. 2009.\u00a0Moines et communaut\u00e9s monastiques en \u00c9gypte (IVe-VIII si\u00e8cles). Warsaw: Journal of Juristic Papyrology. 90, 155\u201357, 330, 361, 457, 546, 549\u2013550.",
                "external_links": [
                    {
                        "text": "Artefacts of Excavation: British Excavations in Egypt 1880-1980 Project",
                        "url": "http:\/\/egyptartefacts.griffith.ox.ac.uk\/node\/1183"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "Wadi Sarga at the British Museum",
                        "url": "https:\/\/webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/20190801114911\/https:\/\/www.britishmuseum.org\/research\/research_projects\/all_current_projects\/wadi_sarga.aspx"
                    }
                ],
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "author": "Rhiannon Williams",
                        "year": "2021"
                    },
                    {
                        "author": "Victor Ghica ",
                        "year": "2020"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}