Gawdat Gabra - Christianity and Monasticism in Alexandria and the Egyptian Deserts

Christianity and Monasticism
in Alexandria and the
Egyptian Deserts

Christianity and Monasticism Series

Christianity and Monasticism in the Fayoum Oasis

Christianity and Monasticism in Wadi al-Natrun

Christianity and Monasticism in Aswan and Nubia

Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt, volume 1

Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt, volume 2

Christianity and Monasticism in Middle Egypt

Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt

Christianity and Monasticism
in Alexandria and the
Egyptian Deserts

Edited by

Gawdat Gabra

Hany N. Takla

Copyright 2020 by

The American University in Cairo Press

113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt

200 Park Ave., Suite 1700 New York, NY 10166

www.aucpress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Dar el Kutub No. 10920/19

ISBN 978 977 416 961 8

Dar el Kutub Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gabra, Gawdat

Christianity and Monasticism in Alexandria and the Egyptian Deserts / edited by Gawdat Gabra, Hany N. Takla. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2020.

p.cm.

ISBN 978 977 416 961 8

1. Coptic monasticism and religious ordersEgypt

I. Gabra, Gawdat (ed.)

II. Takla, Hany N. (jt. ed)

281.720962

1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20

Designed by Jon W. Stoy

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

This volume is dedicated to Dr. Fawzy Estafanous, founding president of the Saint Mark Foundation for Coptic History Studies, in appreciation and acknowledgment of his great efforts in the promotion of knowledge about the Coptic legacy.

Illustrations

Figure

Location of the Pentapolis

Wadi Murgus

Map showing the division of eastern Libya into Libya Superior (the Pentapolis) and Libya Inferior (Marmarica)

Schematic map of the main desert routes across Egypts Western Desert

Churches of St. Macarius Monastery in Wadi al-Rayan

Distribution of the churches and monasteries along the CairoAlexandria Road

Monasteries between Wadi al-Natrun and Marsa Matruh

The bending tree

The Holy Family entering Egypt

Jesus taming wild animals

The rock of Gebel al-Teir

Bir al-Sahaba

The arrival in Qusqam

Coptic monk in an Egyptian desert

Coptic manuscript colophon

Coptic manuscript colophon

Coptic manuscript front page

Coptic manuscript colophon

Coptic manuscript colophon

The gorge of the lower Wadi Naqqat

The tentative groundplan of Laura Wadi Naqqat

The course of upper Wadi Naqqat from the northeast

The Wadi Naqqat hermitage WN12 from the southeast

The Wadi Naqqat hermitage WN3 from the northeast

The entrance to the Wadi Naqqat hermitage WN11

Carl Maria Kaufmann

Flask with representation of St. Menas between the camels

Fragment of a flask with representation of St. Thecla

Figurine of a woman with child

Statuette of a dog

Lamp with floral and ornamental design

Top of a lamp with unusual motif

Jar

Corinthian capital

Map of al-Bagawat Cemetery, first half of fourth century

Map of al-Bagawat Cemetery, second half of fourth century

Map of al-Bagawat Cemetery, first half of fifth century

Map of al-Bagawat Cemetery, second half of fifth century

Al-Bagawat, Building 180 in its two phases of development

Altar table in the Church of the Holy Virgin, Dayr al-Suryan

Mensa/altar table

The tomb-church of Dayr Abu Fana and Building 66 at al-Bagawat

The refectory at Dayr Anba Hadra

Development of architecture connected with ritual meals

Alexandria and Mareotis

Plan of the church at Karm al-Ahbariya

The Prophet Isaiah, Karm al-Ahbariya

Constantine, Karm al-Ahbariya

The sleeping Constantine, Karm al-Ahbariya

The cross in the sky, Karm al-Ahbariya

Kom al-Dikka, auditoria lining the portico

Two groups of auditoria uncovered at the Kom al-Dikka site

Auditorium S, Kom al-Dikka

Auditorium M, Kom al-Dikka

Auditorium K, Kom al-Dikka

Auditorium W, stone pedestal, Kom al-Dikka

Icon of St. Mark the Evangelist with severed head

St. Mark receiving the Gospel from the Apostle Peter

Icon of St. Mark, painted by John the Armenian, Church of St. Menas, Fumm al-Khalig

Icon of St. Mark and his symbol, Church of St. Menas, Fumm al-Khalig

Interior of ciborium, upper floor of Church of St. Menas, Fumm al-Khalig

Miniature of St. Mark the Evangelist and St. Peter

The plaster of the renovated walls, Mar Mina Church, Fumm al-Khalig

The bricks of the arches, Mar Mina Church, Fumm al-Khalig

Renovated walls, Mar Mina Church, Fumm al-Khalig

Arches and cross vaults, Church of Qasriyat al-Rihan

Arches, Church of Qasriyat al-Rihan

Brickwork, Church of Qasriyat al-Rihan

Contributors

Elizabeth Agaiby holds a Ph.D. from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, and from the University of Gttingen, Germany. She lectures in Coptic studies at St. Athanasius Theological College at the University of Divinity Australia. She is currently leading a project to catalogue the collection of manuscripts at the Coptic Monastery of St. Paul the Hermit at the Red Sea in Egypt.

Fr. Anthony St. Shenouda is a Coptic Orthodox monk from St. Shenouda Monastery, Australia. He completed his PhD from Macquarie University on the topic of The Arrow Prayer in the Coptic Tradition. He currently teaches on the topic of early monasticism at St. Cyrils Coptic Orthodox Theological College (Sydney College of Divinity).

Fr. Bigoul al-Suriany is a monk and hieropriest in Deir al-Surian, Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt. He is the curator of the manuscripts collection of the monastery, a researcher in Coptic studies, an MA candidate in the Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo, and a member of the International Association for Coptic Studies.

David Brakke is Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity and professor of history at the Ohio State University. He is the author of several books and articles on early Egyptian monasticism, including Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism (1995), and president of the International Association for Coptic Studies (201620).

Jan Cigleneki is assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He lectures on ancient and medieval philosophy, with special focus on patristics. His main research topic is Egyptian monasticism and the teachings of the Desert Fathers. In 2018 and 2019 he conducted the Endangered Hermitages: Documenting Coptic Heritage in Middle Egypt and in the Eastern Desert project under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).

Jean-Daniel Dubois is Directeur dtudes mrit for Gnostic and Manichaean Studies at the cole Pratique des Hautes tudes, Paris-Sciences-Lettres University. He is also a member of the Laboratoire dtudes sur les monothismes (CNRS, UMR 8584), writing mainly on Valentinian Gnostics. In Manichaean studies, his interests focus on hymnography and the documents from Kellis. With a team of scholars, he is preparing a new edition of the