The actual grave is below the centre of the floor of each tomb. The bodies, which mostly appear to have been embalmed and wrapped in cloth, have in many cases been plundered of ornaments and thrown out. Even at the time of Hoskins’ visit in 1837 the majority of the tombs had been ransacked, and at the present day there are probably few left intact. With regard to the practice of embalming, Hoskins writes: “It is highly satisfactory that we have such indubitable evidence to enable us to establish the fact, that the custom of embalming the dead was continued by the first professors of the Gospel in Eastern Africa. The introduction of Christianity produced great and sudden changes in the minds, habits, and customs of believers; but a length of time was no doubt often necessary to root out many of the prejudices of the people; and it is very possible, that the practice of embalming may have been continued as a necessary mark of respect to the dead, long after the doctrine had been entirely exploded, in accordance with which the custom had been originally established. This practice, however, even in the most ancient times, was not confined to the worshippers of Amun. The physicians of Egypt were forty days in embalming Jacob; and Joseph also was embalmed in Egypt.” [Illustration: BIBLICAL SCENES IN A TOMB OF THE NECROPOLIS.] We cannot speak with certainty as to the exact period during which this cemetery was in use. In the course of the reign of Constantius (337-361), Athanasius, the champion of the doctrine of the Trinity, was several times expelled from Alexandria and compelled to take refuge in the Libyan Desert, where there were numerous monasteries, which afforded safe asylums from the followers of Arianism and Paganism. Hoskins states that the name of Athanasius occurs in one of the Theban sepulchres, and he believes that “the ruined monasteries in the Oasis Magna were, probably, the abode of the great champion of the Christian religion.” During the reign of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius numerous personages, including the general Timasius, were exiled to the Great Oasis, described by a writer (Zosimus) as “a barren place whence no one could escape when once carried thither; for the way being sandy, desert, and uninhabited, no one can find it, the wind covering the traces of people’s feet, nor is there any tree or house to guide them.” Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, was excommunicated and banished to the oasis in A.D. 434 by the Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, and probably the necropolis contains the tombs of a large number of his followers. The Bishop, however, did not die in Kharga, as he was carried thence into captivity by the Blemmyes, the ancestors of the Bisharin and Ababdeh Arabs, and died, after suffering great persecutions, at Panopolis (Akhmîm) about the year 440. It is interesting to note that certain Christian customs and festival days are still observed in the oasis at the present time.