dayr mustafa kashif. To the northwest of the capital of the oasis of Khargah, about 1.25 miles (2 km) northwest of the necropolis of al-Bagawat on the summit of a hill where the tombs rise in tiers (Jabal al-Tayr), are some ruins that some interpret as those of a monastery (de Bock; Meinardus). Others describe them as those of a Roman fort later utilized as a dwelling by Christian hermits (Fakhry). Whatever its original purpose, its last inhabitants have left numerous graffiti (de Bock, 1901, p. 35ff.). It was excavated by the German Institute (Müller-Wiener, 1963, pp. 121-40).
The inscriptions have been copied several times: first by the archaeologist Fakhry, who published them in 1951 (pp. 401-434). G. Roquet has copied but not yet published them (see Leclant, 1977, p. 269). Roquet has remarked that some have been written by the same personages as at al-Bagawat, for they bear the same titles.