Figures in the Carpet: Macarius the Great, Isaiah of Scetis, Daniel of Scetis, and Monastic Spirituality in the Wadi al-Natrun (Scetis) From the Fourth to the Sixth Century Not many years ago I read a very good scholarly book on Palestinian monasticism in Late Antiquity. In my review of that book I observed, however, that …
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The Relationship of St. Shenoute of Atripe with His Contemporary Patriarchs of Alexandria WHEN WE SPEAK about the relationship of St. Shenoute with the Alexandrian patriarchs, we speak indeed about a traditional relationship between Coptic monasticism and the official church of Egypt. The basis of this relationship was already established at the dawn of Coptic …
Funerary Aspects in the paintings from the Apollo Monastery at Bawit Introduction Much has been written about the monastic settlement of Bawit and it seems a daring task to try and add something substantially new to this. First of all, we have limited access to the material on which we can base our conclusions. Only …
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SISOES (Jijoi) An anchorite (fourth-fifth century). In the APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM some fifty items mention Sisoes or Tithoes, which is another form of the same word. But it is proper to distinguish at least two if not three persons with this name. The earliest and most renowned lived with Or and MACARIUS at Scetis; he left …
SCETIS A name that historically designated the area of monastic settlement extending about 19 miles (30 km) through the shallow valley known in the medieval period as Wad Habb, now called Wad al-Natrun, which runs southeast to northwest through the Western or Libyan Desert, about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of the Nile Delta. In …
MONASTICISM BIBLIOGRAPHY Atiya, Aziz S. “Jerome.” In CE, vol. 4, 1323ff. Behlmer, Heike. “Women and the Holy in Coptic Hagiography.” In Actes du Huitieme congres international d’etudes coptes, Paris, 28 juin-3 juillet 2004, vol. 2, ed. Nathalie Bosson and Anne Boud’hors, 405-16. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 163. Louvain: E. Peeters, 2007. Boutros, Ramez. “Une question de …
WOMEN IN THE COPTIC CHURCH Egypt has known Christian women devoted to God since the early centuries of Christianity. St. Antony consigned his sister to women consecrated as virgins before he devoted his life to solitude and worship. Sources speak of female ascetics such as Amma Theodora, who lived toward the end of the fourth …
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS OF CHURCHES -INDEX Aisle Ambulatory Apse Atrium Baptistery Cancelli Ceiling Choir Ciborium Coffer Colonnade Column Crypt Daraj al-haykal Diaconicon Dome Elements Gallery Horseshoe arch Iconostasis Khurus Maqsurah Naos Narthex Nave Niche Pastophorium Pillare Porche Presbytery Prothyrone Prothesise Return aisle Roofe Sacristy Saddleback roof Sanctuary Shaq al-haykal Sacristye Sanctuarye Synthronone Tetraconche Tribelone Triconche Triumphal …
Pastophorium A pastophorium is a small side room of an ancient temple or Eastern church. According to W. Otto (1905, Vol. 1, p. 96), the term in Egypt originally referred to the official room for the pastophoroi, bearers of the pastos, the small, cabinetlike chapels in which the Egyptians placed the statues of the gods …
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SYNCLETICA (4th century?) A Saint and nun. Her “Life,” which is wrongly attributed to St. Athanasius, dates probably from the fifth century. It is one of the oldest hagiographic writings depicting a woman. She originates from Macedonia, but her Christian parents settled in Alexandria. She withdrew to a tomb near the city and dedicated herself …