17 papers from a symposium held at the Frederick R Weisman Museum at the University of Minnesota in 2000 which accompanied an exhibition of monastic artefacts and manuscripts. Subjects include: the use of space in monasteries, ascetic practice in Egypt, monasteries and urban development in early medieval Ireland, the Makkurian monasteries of Nubia, Bordesley Abbey, Cluny, women, Athonite monasteries and Benedictine architecture.

A magnificent treasure house for a study in decoration, no other extant Roman monument has such rich examples of ornament from a single building campaign. McNally grabs the opportunity to consider the functions of rare fragments in situ to find a grand decorative scheme and a relationship with structure. This should also provide fixed points of comparison for other buildings at a defined period (early fourth century). Appendix dealing with the frieze inside the mausoleum, and the coffers of the Temple of jupiter.

Subtitled Continuity and change in city life from late antiquity to the present' this first report' presents a summary of the University of Minnesota's study and excavations in the town of Akhmim. Areas covered include discussion of the site and the history of the project, excavation, architecture, the cemetery, late Roman and Islamic pottery, Egyptian slip wares, and pottery evidence for changes over time.