Bagawat Necropolis The Necropolis of Bagawat is a reminder of
one of the most central battles of early
Christianity; the dispute over the nature of
Jesus. The 5th century bishop Nestorius was exiled
to Bagawat (as the village was called) for having
claimed that only one of Jesus' natures had
suffered on the cross; the earthly nature, not the
divine.
The large extent of the Necropolis of Bagawat is
the result of the his and his supporters' exile.
The tombs here are believed to indicate that
worship of the dead was continued in a Christian
style.
There are 263 mud-brick chapels climbing up a
ridge, the oldest dating back two centuries before
Nestorius, the last dating back to the 7th
century.
Some of the tombs have
courtyards, possibly used for ceremonies.
The tombs were originally
plastered, but this is has since long
disappeared
