The Monastic Cemetery of Deir el-Bakhît (Western Thebes): Development and Spatial Organization

The monastery of Paulos (Deir el-Bakhît) on Dra’ Abu el-Naga is the largest known monastic complex at Western Thebes, Upper Egypt. Inhabited by a coenobitic community from the late 6th to the early 10th century CE, its cemetery provides unique insights into Christian burial practices during a period of transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Islamic period. The appearance, structure and development of the monastic cemetery are now being analysed as part of a PhD project at the University of Vienna. Based on the evaluation of the grave architecture and the stratigraphic sequence, this poster examines how the spatial use of the cemetery changed and to what extent this was linked to social differentiation within the community.