Kellis

thumb|Ancient Kellis Ancient Kellis, now known as Ismant el-Kharab ('Ismant the ruined' in Arabic), was a village in Upper Egypt during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. It was located about east-southeast of present-day Ismant in the Dakhleh Oasis, and about northeast of Mut (more fully Mut el-Kharab), which is the capital of the oasis. In ancient times, Mut was called Mothis, and thus Kellis was in the Mothite nome.

==Structures== The village was long and wide, built almost entirely of mud brick on a low terrace with wadis to the southeast and northwest, and surrounded by fields. Small businesses included weaving, handcrafted pottery and blacksmithing. Attractions in Kellis included the Temple of Tutu and three churches; the Small East Church is the oldest known church building in Egypt. The site was occupied from the late Ptolemaic Period, was abandoned sometime after the year 392, and has remained unoccupied since then, except for a time in the 1940s, when some Bedouin camped there. Many buildings are buried beneath the sand. The tops of some are visible from the surface; others are hidden, waiting to collapse as an unwary tourist crosses.