Abstract
This lecture looks at the common activity of cooking and baking to consider how men in monastic communities regulated their day as exhibited by the unique kitchens found at archaeological sites throughout the Nile Valley. Egypt is particularly unique in having the best-preserved remains of Christian monastic remains in the Middle East. The settlements document the lives of the largest Christian minority in the Middle East and a history of Christian settlement rarely studied and visited by tourists. The sites reveal a hidden history in need of attention to show how rich Egypt’s history is, in addition to the well-known pharaonic past.