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EGYPT - CAIRO - THE COPTIC MUSEUM
Rectangular altar supported by Corinthian columns with modified capitals, surmounted by panels showing shells and crosses within archivolts. The panels are engraved with rich foliate ornamentation, birds and crosses.
 Altar in Pine wood - 100 x 120 x75 cm Provenance : Old Cairo, Church Of Saints Sergius & Bacchus - 5th Century
This is the oldest Christian wooden altar found in Egypt. Of its twelve columns, eight featuring oblique fluting remain. The archivolts are decorated with stylized myrtle foliage. A shell on two columns forms an architectural facade, frequently represented in Coptic art. The cross and shell may symbolize the rebirth of the soul after baptism, a motif reminiscent of Aphrodite's birth from a shell.
This fine altar is exhibited under a wooden dome dating to the Fatimid period , which was brought from the church of Al-Mo'allaqa
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