The author demonstrates that inscriptions from the Theban area provide invaluable information about the life of the civic and monastic communities that inhabited ancient monuments and other localities. He also discusses the important Christian monuments of Esna, further south.

First published in: G. Gabra, and H.N. Takla (eds.), Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt, vol. 2: Nag Hammadi – Esna, Cairo/New York: American University in Cairo Press 2010, 147–55.