In Egypt the Copts founded and maintained many monasteries, and built many churches; and from these come two remarkable series of monuments, inscribed in Greek and Coptic, which are exhibited in Bays =28=, =30=, and =32= of the Southern Egyptian Gallery. The greater number of them belong to the period between 600 and 1000 A.D., and among them may be noted:—The stele of =Isos=(?), inscribed in Greek with a prayer to the “God of Spirits” (Bay 26, No. =1094=); the stele of =Paḥomo= (see =Plate LIII=), the father of a monastic settlement, with figures of the military saints =Apakene= and =Victor= (Bay 30, No. =1103=); the =apse= from the shrine of a saint, on which are sculptured vine branches, with doves seated on them, and figures of flowers, shells, fish, etc.: a very interesting object (Bay 32, No. =1104=); the stele of =John the Deacon=, inscribed with a =lament= on the bitterness of death (Bay 30, No. =1105=); an =altar slab= from a church (Bay 32, No. =1106=); three stelae, inscribed with =invocations= to saints (Bays 30, 32, Nos. =1107-1109=); =apse= from a shrine of a saint from a church at Philae (Bay 30, No. =1113=); and a group of stelae commemorating the holy women =Hêlenê=, daughter of Peter, deacon and steward of the Church of St. John, in Esna, in Upper Egypt (Bay 30, No. 1115), =Sara=, =Rachel=, =Teucharis=, =Troïs=, and =Rebecca= (Bay 32, Nos. =1116-1120=). Many of the sepulchral stelae are richly sculptured with pediments of shrines, pillars with elaborate carvings, figures of doves, and everywhere are prominent the cross, which is assumed to be identical with the _ānkh_ 𓋹, the old Egyptian symbol of “life,” and the =crown=. On several of them also are seen Alpha and Omega, Α Ω. The most elaborately decorated stele is that which was set up for the child =Mary= in the old church at Ṣûhâḳ. The design is good, the cutting excellent, and it is one of the finest examples extant of this class of monument (Bay 32, No. =1123=).[42] A very interesting group of =Coptic documents=, consisting of affidavits, letters, invoices, contracts, extracts from the Scriptures and from liturgies, hymns, etc., is exhibited in Table-case M in the Fourth Egyptian Room. In division 4 of the same case is a good collection of =Coptic crosses=, pendants with figures of St. George, etc., from Panopolis. Several very fine examples of =linenwork= from Coptic graves and churches will be found in Table-cases E and J in the Third Egyptian Room, and a handsome =bier cloth= in Wall-cases 70 and 71, in the Second Egyptian Room. [Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of Abraam, the “perfect monk.” [Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 30, No. 1136.]] [Illustration: Sepulchral tablet of Rachel, a Christian lady. [Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 32, No. 1117.]]