Station K

Coptic Basilica

When the cult of the old Egyptian gods ceased, and Christianity took over as the dominant religion, the temple became part of a nunnery.

Its church was built in front of the temple, perpendicular to the temple’s main axis which was a strong sign against the old religion. The building is a three-aisled basilica made of fired bricks and mudbricks with pillars and two entrances in the west from a higher level. Below the stairs of the northern entrance there is a large block of characteristic granodiorite, the variety of which is identical to the fragments of the main sanctuary D3. Since these might be the remains of the shrine for the statue of the god, it could be another anti-pagan act. The apse in the east is completely destroyed.

The church declined in Medieval times, perhaps in the 9th - 10th centuries, and was used in a completely different way. For instance a round oven for baking bread was built along a pillar and storage pots were placed in the corner.