The 2021 excavation season at Dayr Muṣṭafā Kāšif (Kharga Oasis)

The present paper pertains to the first season of work conducted at the monastic complex of Dayr Muṣṭafā Kāšif in Kharga Oasis, by the joint Egyptian-Norwegian mission co-directed by Professor Victor Ghica and Dr. Basem Gehad. While not the first excavation of the site, it is the first to be accompanied by a publication. The previous, poorly known digs – conducted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the beginning of the 20th century and the local inspectorate in the 1980s and 1990s – unfortunately disturbed the stratigraphy to an unknown extent, constraining interpretations of the archaeological contexts uncovered. The work, nonetheless, brought to light a collection of evidence which helps to elucidate the function, and datation, of the complex, which assuredly operated as a monastery from at least the fourth century, making it one of the earliest archaeologically attested monasteries in Egypt.