John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series EGYPT and the SAHARA www.johntyman.com/sahara |
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3.2 Judaism and Christianity :: Pt. II 180-195 |
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John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series EGYPT and the SAHARA www.johntyman.com/sahara |
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3.2 Judaism and Christianity :: Pt. II 180-195 |
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| .180. Having been attacked on several occasions, and even sacked, both before and after the arrival of Islam, the community at Wadi Natrun was progressively fortified, surrounded by high walls. |
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| .181. Given the ever-present danger from outside these walls the communities here needed to be as self-sufficient as possible ... growing much of their own food in their monastic gardens. (In garden of the Monastery of St. Pishoy) |
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| .182. They also milled their own flour and baked their own bread ... and still do. The monastic communities, which grew from the informal gatherings of hermits here, actually provided a model for later Christian monasticism in both eastern and western churches. They not only inspired the monastic revivals of the Middle Ages but, through their pietism, also influenced later Protestant renewal movements ... including the Mennonites and the Methodists. (Flourmill turned by hand; with millstones behind) |
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| .183. As such the monasteries at Wadi Natrun are a major tourists attraction, especially for Western Christians wishing to touch base with the roots of their spiritual tradition. Much money, therefore, is invested in the upkeep of old buildings and the preservation of their artistic tradition. (Traditional roof style) |
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| .184. And though relations between Christians and Muslims in Egypt have been strained at times in recent years, the Coptic community at Wadi Natrun was actually building a new cathedral at the time of the author’s visit in 2003. |
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| .185. Though the monastic tradition of Egypt was focused on the desert west of the delta, the most famous monastery today lies on the other side of the Red Sea in the shadow of the Gebel Musa. It was built between 548 and 565 CE and claims to be one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world still operating. It is known officially as “The Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai”. (Monastery of St. Catherine) |
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| .186. Most people know it by the name of the saint from Alexandria (Catherine) who was sentenced to death on a spiked wheel in the 4th century, whose remains were miraculously transported here by angels and discovered by monks around the year 800 ... after which it became a place of pilgrimage ... and still is. (Bell tower of the monastery) |
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| .187. The monastery was built by order of the Emperor Justinian to enclose the chapel that had been built previously by order of Constantine’s mother Helena in the year 330 on the site of “the burning bush”. And the monks here still care for what they believe to be the bush where Moses met with God. (The “burning bush” of today, at St. Catherine’s Monastery courtesy Google.com) |
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| .188. The monastery lies close to Gebel Musa (literally the “Mount of Moses”), identified in guidebooks as the Mount Sinai in the Bible. Here Moses supposedly met with God again and received the Ten Commandments. As a result the mountain is sacred to Muslims and Jews as well as Christians. (Gebel Musa) |
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| .189. A mosque was actually built within the walls of the monastery. It was no doubt well-intentioned and occupied a significant position close to the entrance and opposite the cathedral: but it was never used because it was not correctly orientated towards Mecca. (Mosque, in white, next to the bell tower: in Fatimid style it combines elements of eastern and western architecture) |
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| .190. During the seventh century all the other Christian communities in the Sinai were eliminated, but St. Catherine’s was well fortified and it survived. The community was and is headed by an archbishop: and since his entire diocese lies with these walls, it is the smallest diocese in the world. (The monastery’s main fortifications) |
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| .191. The monastery was at times surrounded by enemies, but it had a large garden, plus a good well, and so was able to provide its people with food and drink even when isolated. (Corner of monastery garden) |
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| .192. The protected area was clearly limited, though, so when the monks died their bodies were buried for a few years and their bones then exhumed for storage in a charnel house, allowing the original burial place to be re-used, since there was not enough room to leave them all in the ground. (Charnel house) |
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| .193. Though many Christian communities in North Africa disappeared -- through martyrdom or conversion to Islam -- as the Arabs armies pushed westwards, violence was not inevitable. When the Muslims conquered Egypt, Caliph Omar’s general (Amr Ibn al-As) promised to respect church property and not to interfere in church affairs. He allowed Copts who held public office to retain their positions, and he conferred new offices on others. (Courtyard of the Amr Ibn al-As Mosque in Cairo courtesy w3toplisting.com) |
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| .194. However, later Caliphs imposed heavy taxes, placed all government in Arab hands, forbad the display of Christian symbols and the wearing of vestments, destroyed churches and monasteries (confiscating their property), and suppressed ruthlessly those who rebelled. (Print dated 1840 by David Roberts of “The Tomb of the Caliphs” in Cairo : Wikipedia) |
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| .195. In 706 they made Arabic the language of government, replacing the language of the Copts ... which thereafter declined in use to the point where in the 12th century they had to translate their liturgy into Arabic since the Coptic tongue was then spoken only by a minority. (Inscriptions in Arabic and in the language of the Copts, at a church in Cairo courtesy Wikipedia) |
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