Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai : with extracts from his "Chronology of the Egyptians", with reference to the exodus of the Israelites . up. In an hour and a half wearrived at some considerable ruins of a large Christian con-vent in the Wadi G-azal, so called from the gazelles, whichdig in great numbers for water here in the Chor (bed ofthe valley). The church was built as high as the windowsof white, well-hewn sandstone, and above that of unburnt CHRISTIAN CONVENT. 219 bricks. The walls are covered with a strong coating ofplaster, and are painted in the interior. The
Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai : with extracts from his "Chronology of the Egyptians", with reference to the exodus of the Israelites . up. In an hour and a half wearrived at some considerable ruins of a large Christian con-vent in the Wadi G-azal, so called from the gazelles, whichdig in great numbers for water here in the Chor (bed ofthe valley). The church was built as high as the windowsof white, well-hewn sandstone, and above that of unburnt CHRISTIAN CONVENT. 219 bricks. The walls are covered with a strong coating ofplaster, and are painted in the interior. The vaulted apseof the three-naved Basilica is situated, as usual, towards theeast, the entrances behind the western transept are towardsthe north and south; all the arches of the doors, the win-dows, and between the pillars, are round : above the doors,Coptic crosses are frequently exhibited, more or less orna-mented, whose most simple form vjftQ may be compared with the ancient Egyptian symbol of Life. The wholechurch is a genuine type of all the Coptic churches which Ihave seen in ruins, and I therefore add the small groundplan just as Erbkam took it The building is above eighty feet long, and exactly half asbroad. The outer wall to the north has fallen in. Thechurch is surrounded by a great court, whose walls of enclo-sure, as well as the numerous convent cells, some of whichhave vaulted roofs, are built of rough blocks, and are in goodpreservation; the largest of them, a dwelling forty-six feetlong, is situated in front of the western side of the church,and is only separated from it by a small narrow court; nodoubt it belonged to the prior, and a special side-entranceled from it into the church. Two churchyards are situatedon the southern side of the convent; that to the west, aboutforty paces removed from the church, contained a number oftombs, which consisted simply of a collection of black stonesheaped up together. The eastern churchyard was situatednearer to the bui
Size: 2240px × 1116px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecad, booksubjectegyptdescriptionandtravel
