The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary in El-Shamyia, Assiut ( An Archaeological Study )

This study aims to identify the ancient Church of the Virgin Mary, which was not published before. It is located in the village of Al-Shamiya in Sahel Selim, Assiut Governorate. Unfortunately, despite all ancientness of this church, it was not mentioned in the ancient books of history. It is well known that the churches and monasteries of the east bank of the Nile did not receive sufficient attention from the ancient historians, unlike the monasteries of the West Bank. These churches adopt the Coptic Byzantine style in their design, taking the form of a cross with an octagonal central dome made of wood and surrounded by four sections that take the shape of a cross. It preserves some ancient antiquities such as the iconostasis, wooden beams, the ancient baptistery and its beautiful minaret, in addition to the most important masterpiece in the church, which is the dome of the altar. This study records the architectural outline of the church and its horizontal and vertical projections, which is published for the first time in this research.