Lecture by Mikael Muehlbauer (Ph.D Columbia): Learning Late Antiquity: The Quarry Church at Deir al-Ganadla (Asyut, Middle Egypt) and the Lost Timber Nave

“This presentation presents the little-known Quarry church of Mary at Deir al-Ganadla (near Asyut) as a tool for students of Late Antiquity to visualize lost timber-roofed basilicas in Egypt as well as the Mediterranean more broadly. The church’s value lies in its mural program, which orders the Pharaonic mine from which it was consecrated into a fictive freestanding basilica. As I argue here, these paintings depict painted timber ephemera from circa 500 that are largely lost to us. By fully documenting this largely unknown church and its decorative schema we may reconstruct elements of freestanding basilicas in Egypt and the wider Mediterranean which lack extant naves. Although modest, Ganadla’s import should not be understated, as it is the most in-tact Late Antique church in Egypt known.”

The lecture will be held via Zoom

For more information https://eastofbyzantium.org/learning-late-antiquity-the-quarry-church-at-deir-al-ganadla-asyut-middle-egypt-and-the-lost-timber-nave/