Researchers previously thought that Amarna—originally known as Akhetaten, founded by Pharaoh Akhenaten around 1370 BCE—was completely abandoned after the fall of his dynasty. Recent archaeological work, however, reveals a striking second chapter in its history: between the 5th and 6th centuries CE, the site was reoccupied and transformed into a vibrant Christian community.

Located strategically between Thebes and Memphis, Akhetaten initially flourished as the capital of Akhenaten’s monotheistic cult of the sun disc Aton. Though it lost its status when Tutankhamun moved the capital back after about 15 years, the city did not vanish entirely.

By the late Roman or early Byzantine era, monks had settled in the necropolis north of Amarna. They repurposed ancient tombs and caves as simple dwellings, chapels, and even monasteries. In “Tomb 6” (Panehsy’s tomb), archaeologists uncovered a chapel featuring an apse decorated with red crosses, doves, and eagles—the iconography of early Christian art. These monks embraced austere architecture, roofing their structures with local stones and palm fronds, emphasizing simplicity and spiritual focus.

Excavations also uncovered thousands of ceramics—amphorae used for storing olive oil and wine—originating from regions as distant as Tunisia, Syria, and Alexandria. This suggests that the settlement maintained extensive trade connections. Everyday items like cooking pots, weaving looms, and carved niches for storage or work demonstrated organized communal living.

According to the study, monks were not fleeing persecution or seeking ideologically significant sites. Rather, they were drawn to the desert’s spiritual seclusion. The elevation of the cave dwellings may have symbolized a spiritual boundary between the sacred Christian enclave and the wider world of the Nile Valley, a region once associated with pagan traditions and “dark forces”—in the mindset of the time.