Chapel Ceilings of Bagawat
Here are the doomed roofs of one of the best preserved Christian cemeteries in the world. There are 263 ornate tombs and many chapels. The roof paintings are capable enough to steal your eyes. You don’t want to miss the painting that depicts the zodiac surrounding portraits of Mary and Jesus. While many of the domed Coptic tombs are fairly plain, a few have vivid murals of biblical scenes inside and some have ornate facades. The Chapel of Peace has figures of the Apostles on the squinches of the domes, just visible through Greek graffiti. The Chapel of the Exodus, one of the oldest tombs, has the best-preserved paintings, including the Old Testament story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, which is visible through some 9th-century graffiti. Another large family tomb (No 25) has a mural of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and the smaller Chapel of the Grapes (Anaeed al-Ainab) is named after the images of grapevines that cover the walls.
Monastery of Al-Kashef
On the cliffs to the north of Bagawat, lies the ruined Monastery of Al-Kashef, named after Mustafa al-Kashef, a tax collector, and strategically placed to overlook what was one of the most important crossroads of the Western Desert - the point. The magnificent mud-brick remains date back to the early Christian era, although the site was occupied as early as the Middle Kingdom. Once five storeys high, much of it has collapsed but you can see the tops of the arched corridors that crisscrossed the building. To get here, walk or drive on the left-hand track from the Necropolis of Al-Bagawat for about 1km.
Kharga Museum of Antiquities
This two-storey splendid museum is located in a in a cavernous, well-lit building made from local bricks and designed to resemble the architecture of nearby Bagawat. Once you get in, you will be amazed by a small yet awe inspiring selection of archaeological finds from around Al-Kharga and Dakhla Oases. There's a particularly good selection of prehistoric objects, flints, ostrich eggs and tools tracing the prehistory of the oases in both English and Arabic. There are also some objects that belong to the Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman antiquities. You can’t miss taking a look at the fascinating collection of wooden Roman panels (early versions of post-it notes) detailing farmer's accounts, marriages and contracts of the time. Also look for the exquisite false-door stele of 6th-dynasty governor Khent-ka (c 2700 BC) with the earliest known reference to Dakhla Oasis. The upper floor contains objects from the Coptic, Islamic and Ottoman eras, with some fascinating jewellery, books, coins and textiles.
Temple of An-Nadura Nesteled on a hill off the main road at the north end of town, this temple enjoys spectacular views of the area and once doubled as a fortified lookout. It was constructed during the reign of Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) to protect the oasis, and inside are the remains of a sandstone temple with hieroglyphic inscriptions. It later housed a Coptic church and was used as a fortress by the Ottomans.
Temple of Hibis
Situated on the edge of a sacred lake, he temple was dedicated to the Theban god triad of Amun-Re, Mut and Khons. Its construction began during the 25th dynasty, though the decorations and a colonnade were added over the next 300 years.
An avenue of sphinxes leads to a series of gateways, the colonnade of Nectanebo and then a court, a hypostyle hall and an inner sanctuary. One of the reliefs in the hypostyle hall shows the god Seth battling with the evil serpent Apophis, an archetype of the St George and the dragon motif. Among the graffiti left by 19th-century European travelers is a lengthy inscription from 1818 by Frederic Cailliaud, who claimed to have been the first European to see the temple.