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The Monastery of al-Ganadla (ASYUT)

The Monastery of al-Ganadla (ASYUT) THE MONASTERY OF AL-GANADLA, also called the Monastery of the Virgin (Dayr al-‘Adra), was established in pharaonic quarries to the west of the village of al-Ganadla, about 25 kilometers south of Asyut. It is often confused with the Monastery of St. Macrobius (Dayr Abu Maqrufa), a nearby laura dedicated to …

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Discerning the True Religion in Late Fourteenth-Century Egypt

History / By Armia FAYEZ

Discerning the True Religion in Late Fourteenth-Century Egypt: Pages from the Dayr al-Muharraq Edition of al-Hawi by al-Makin Jirjis ibn al-‘Amid Introduction In recent years, Dayr al-Muharraq has shared some of its riches with the wider world through the publication of transcriptions of manuscripts from the monastery’s library. As examples, I can point to the …

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St. Mary’s Virginity

Theology / By Armia FAYEZ

ST. MARY’S VIRGINITY Aaron’s rod, in fact, is Mary. It is a type of her virginity. She conceived and bore the Son of the Most High, the Word, without human seed. Theotokia[1] of Sunday. Biblical Reality The virginity of St. Mary is not a matter of her own private life, but rather a ‘biblical reality’, …

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The Red Monastery Conservation Project

Events, Places / By Armia FAYEZ

The Red Monastery Conservation Project – 2006 and 2007 Campaigns: Contributing to the Corpus of late antique Art THE MASSIVE WALL painting conservation project now underway in the church at the Red Monastery near Sohag is contributing substantially to the known corpus of late antique art. Obscured under layers of soot, dust and varnish …

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Copto-Arabic Literature

Heritage, History / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTO-ARABIC LITERATURE This entry consists of four parts. The first addresses the origins and development of the Arabic literature of the Copts. This is followed by introductions to three Copto-Arabic literary genres—hagiography, apocalyptic, and popular catechesis—for which texts are usually of anonymous authorship, and therefore unlikely to be otherwise addressed in a dictionary arranged largely …

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Triumphal Arche – Architectural Elements Of Churches

System / By Youssef Matta

Triumphal Arch A triumphal arch is a freestanding structure in Roman architecture and the arch at the entrance to the apse in church architecture. From the second century A.D., the Romans built arches to commemorate some extraordinary political event or the outstanding achievements of some exalted personage. Such arches frequently stood astride a road and …

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Awlad Al-‘Assal (13th C.)

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

AWLAD AL-‘ASSAL (13th c.) Family of scholars. The term Awlad al-‘Assal (“the children of al-‘Assal”) is conventionally used to refer to four brothers who played a major role in the revival of Coptic thought in the decades between 1230 and 1260. Their father, Fakhr al-Dawlah (“Pride of the State”) Abu al-Mufaddal al-As‘ad, was a wealthy …

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