The Coptic Monasteries of The Wadi Natrun PDF

The Coptic Monasteries of the Wadi Natrun
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Feb., 1911), pp. 19-29
Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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THE COPTIC MONASTERIES OF

THE WADI NATRUN
NOTE
The Egyptian expedition of the Museum

is engaged, as one branch of its work, in the
excavation and investigation of EarlyChristian sites and cemeteries, and further
also in recording the most interesting
churches and constructions of the period
which are still extant. This latter part of
the work is being carried out, in co6peration with the Comite de conservation des
monuments de l'art arabe at Cairo, by the
architect of the expedition, Mr. William
J. Jones, from whose report on the work of
the past year the following article has been
principally arranged for the BULLETIN.
one hundred kilometers

northwest of Cairo and nearly
fifty from the nearest point of
the Nile Delta begins the Wadi
Natrun or Natron valley, so named from
its deposits of salt and nitre. In this valley,
or rather depression in the desert, are
situated four Coptic monasteries. That
lying nearest Cairo is named Deir Abu
Makar or Macarius. Some sixteen kilometers northwest of this are the monasteries of Anba Bishoi (fig. 2), and es-Suriani
(fig. 5), divided by only a few hundred
meters of desert and not far from the salt
lakes of the valley. Nine kilometers farther to the northwest is Deir el-Baramus.
It is not known when monastic buildings
were first erected in the Wadi Natrun. In
Butler's opinion "none of the surviving
A
BOUT
religious houses date their first foundation

earlier than the third or fourth century," 1
but Steindorff places the gradual rise of actual monasteries in this western desert
after the close of the fourth century. In
an article2 on the southernmost of these
monasteries he states: "When, toward the
end of the fourth century the bishop Palladius visited the desert he found about
five thousand souls, living some entirely
alone, others in groups of two, three, or
more. On the mountain seven bakeries
produced the bread for the brethren. There
was a church there, and beside it were
three palm trees, each with a whip upon it,
one for the brethren, one for thieves, one
for pilgrims. For pilgrims a guest house
was built where they could stay even two
or three years-if they would agree to work.
That which gave the life of the anchorites
in the Natron valley, during the fourth century, its peculiar character and distinguished it sharply from that of the brotherhoods which were formed in this same
period in Upper Egypt under a certain
Pachonios, is that the hermits here still led
a genuine hermit's existence, living alone in
their caves, or with a very few companions,
whereas the brethren on the Nile lived together in large numbers in a common dwelling, the monastery, toiled together, and,
held by vows, submitted to a common,
severe rule. In Schiet and in the other
1A.J. Butler,The AncientCopticChurchesof
Egypt. Vol. I, p. 289.
2 G.
Steindorff," Das Kloster des heiligen
Makarios," Velhagen und Klasings Monatshefte. Vol. XX, pp. 78 ff. The above passage
is given in translation,with a few omissions.
I9
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
hermitages of the Natron desert each man

could become holy after his own fashion; in
the Egyptian monasteries he was subject to
his monk's vows. Gradually, however, the
example of the Egyptian monasteries influenced the brotherhoods of the desert,
and there arose also here, in the place of
FIG.
I.
MUSEUM OF ART
forming on plan an irregular four-sided figure, the only opening in this wall being a
low and narrow doorway. Within the inclosure wall in each monastery are two or
three churches, cells for the monks, a guest
house or mandara, a refectory and kitchens,
numerous storerooms, a well and sakkieh,
DEIR
ANBA
BISHOI
CHOIR OF CHURCH OF ANBA BISHOI
and the kasr. A portion of the space within

the inclosure wall is laid out as a garden,
and planted with date palms and vegetables.
The kasr (fig. 8), corresponds in many
ways to the keep of the mediaeval castle,
and was used by the monks as a last refuge from their enemies. The entrance to
single dwellings, the larger monasteries

which were probably erected about the
various old churches."
Structurally the same characteristics are
common to all four of the present monasteries, although the size and detail greatly
vary. Each deir is surrounded by an inclosure wall about ten meters in height,
20
FIG.
THE
LARGEST
DOME
2.
IS ABOVE
DEIR
THE
ANBA
CHOIR,
BISHOI.
THE
ONE
CHURCH
ON
THE
OF
LEFT
ANBA
ABOVE
BI
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART
this building was on the first floor, by means

of a drawbridge, either from the gatehouse,
as at Deir Anba Bishoi, or from a flight of
steps near the entrance in the inclosure
wall as at Deir es-Suriani. The interior of
the kasr is occupied, on the ground floor by
store chambers, on the first floor by cells
The churches of these desert monasteries

have one point in common with all Coptic
churches-namely, the three eastern sanctuaries, each with its separate altar; but,
unlike the churches of Cairo, the haikal, or
main sanctuary, is invariably square-ended
and not, as in Cairo, apsidal. The plans
CHURCH OF
ES-SURIANI.
EL-'ADRA
DETAIL OF STUCCO ORNAMENT IN THE
HAIKAL
DEIR ANBA BISHOI-CHURCH

OF
ANBA BISHOI
DETAIL OF CARVED PANEL IN DOOR OF
HAIKAL
FIG.
3.
DEIR
FIG. 4.
and the library, while on the flat roof is a (figs. 10 -I2) follow no definite type, each
small chapel. The kasr of Deir Abu Makar being different. The materials used were,
differs from this arrangement in containing for the walls, roughly coursed limestone,
on the first floor three separate chapels, in quarried from the desert near by, and for
which are traces of wall-paintings, and on the domes and vaults, of which the roofs
the ground floor a church dedicated to E1- consist, small, well-burnt bricks, dark red
'Adra (the Virgin). The largest of these in color, with wide mortar joints between.
keeps or towers is that of Deir Anba Bishoi, Almost the whole, internally and externally,
in which is much interesting brick vaulting, has been covered with thick, hard stucco.
both to the staircase and to one of the larger Much fine brick detail, and probably marble
chambers.
caps and columns, must have been hidden
22
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
by this stucco. Nearly all of these churches

contain fine wood carving, or ivory inlay,
either in the form of doors or screens (figs.
4, 6, 7 and 9). There are also wall-paintings and a few fine fittings of bronze, such as
pierced coronaefor lamps and small crosses,
still remaining in some of the churches.
The largest church is that dedicated to
Anba Bishoi in Deir Anba Bishoi (figs. I
and 2), but the finest, both in general
FIG.
BARREL-VAULT
and, over against Peter, not Paul, but

the apostle who introduced Christianity
into Egypt, Mark. The names are inscribed in Greek beside the figures. Round
the walls of the haikal are bands and
panels of modeled plaster-work' of fine
design and workmanship (fig.3). In the
semi-domes to the north and south of
the choir are paintings, that to the north
representing the Death of the Virgin, that
DEIR ES-SURIANI-CHURCH
5.
IS ABOVE NAVE, DOMES AT LEFT
design and detail is that dedicated to El'Adra in Deir es-Suriani (fig. 5). This
church contains two pairs of very fine
folding-doors: one, between the nave and
choir (figs. 6 and 7), the other between
choir and haikal (fig. 9). These doors
are divided into small panels inlaid with
ivory and filled for the most part with
elaborate geometrical designs. The panels
of the upper row in each door, however, contain standing figures of Christ,
Mary and various saints. The figures
of the door illustrated in fig. 7, are (beginning at the left) Peter, Mary, Christ,
MUSEUM OF ART
OF EL- ADRA
ABOVE
CHOIR
AND
HAIKAL
to the south the Annunciation and Nativity, while in the center of the west wall is a
small semi-dome containing a painting of
the Ascension.
The doors, stucco ornamentation, and
perhaps the paintings mentioned are due
to the activity of one Moses of Nisibis who
presided over this monastery in the first
half of the tenth century A.D. Various
1This plaster-workis illustrated and briefly
discussedby ProfessorStrzygowskiin his essay
"Mschatta," in the Jahrbuchd. kinigl. preuszischen Kunstsammlungen,1904, fig. 109, p.
342. See also the articlecited in note I, p. 26.
23
i,
12 ,5
- ,
...
1,I
-1 , .
FIG. 6.
VIEW
OPEN;
OF
NAVE
BEYOND
LOOKING
DEIR
ES-SURIANI-CHURCH
EAST.
THE
IT THE DOOR BETWEEN
DOOR
SHOWN
CHOIR AND
OF EL-'ADRA
IN
FIG.
HAIKAL
IS HERE
(FIG.
9)
THROWN
IS VISIBLE.
FIG. 7.
DEIR
DOOR
ES-SURIANI-CHURCH
BETWEEN
NAVE
AND
OF EL- ADRA
CHOIR
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
dates and facts in his life are known from

the statements written on manuscripts
which he brought back from Syria to his
convent and which have survived to the
present day. Some of these manuscripts
are in the British Museum, having been
removed from the monastery by Lord Cur-
FIG.
THE
8.
KASR-FROM
DEIR
THE
zon; others are in the Vatican. The doors

are dated to the exact year, and the name
of Moses of Nisibis is mentioned in Syriac
inscriptions1 cut in their lintels and door
1 For texts and translationsinto German,see
Strzygowski, " Der Schmuck der Alteren elHadrakircheim syrischenKlosterdersketischen
Wuste," OriensChristianus,Vol. 1, pp. 365 ff
MUSEUM OF ART
jambs (see fig. 7); the door between baikal and choir is the older, 1225 Seleucidan
era =913-14
A.D.; that between choir and
nave dates from 926-27 A.D. The present
paintings are not the earliest in the apses
mentioned above; others are visible here
and there beneath, somewhat as in Santa
ES-SURIANI
MONASTERY
COURT
Maria Antiqua, Rome, and Strzygowski2

reserves for future discussion the question
whether the upper or lower paintings belong to the time of Moses of Nisibis.
In addition to the kasr and churches
there are other buildings of interest. The
2
See articlecited in the previousnote.
26
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
refectory (fig. IO) is usually a long, low,

domed or vaulted building down the center
of which is built a low, shallow trough,
formed of brick or masonry and covered
with cement, to serve as a table. In Deir
es-Suriani at the eastern end of the refectory is a rude lectern, of the same material
as the table, upon which are incised crosses.
The cells are generally divided into two
parts, of which the inner division is very
MUSEUM OF ART
spent in gardening, reading, prayer or sleep.

As a whole, the monks are very ignorant
and indolent, but are well-disposed toward
strangers.
From the middle of January to the
middle of March during the past year, the
work at Wadi Natrun consisted in measuring and drawing to a scale of 1:200, plans
of the whole of the monasteries of Anba
Bishoi and es-Suriani. The churches, kasr
FIG. 9.
DEIR ES-SURIANI-CHURCH OF EL- ADRA
DOOR BETWEEN CHOIR AND HAIKAL (SANCTUARY)
small and dark. Both divisions are usually

barrel-vaulted. Much alteration has been
carried out, particularly in modern times,
in these monasteries, many of the old buildings having disappeared and given place to
new and poor structures.
The average number of monks in each is
about twenty, some being there permanently, others for a few years only. Except
on holy days, only two very short services
are held, one in the morning, the other in
the evening, the remaining time being
and other buildings of interest were measured and plotted to a scale of :IOO.
I
Details were drawn to a large scale; where
possible, full size. Photographs were also
taken, both general views and details, illustrating and recording, as far as possible,
the whole of these two monasteries. The
monasteries of Abu Makar and Baramus
were visited, but no work was commenced
here. During the season of I9IO- I these
two monasteries are to be recorded in a
similar manner.
27
BULLETIN
.lax..
OF THE METROPOLITAN
"' 6urch
A/Io.1 2Tedcd
k5
FIG.
10.
OF ART
a aiomllz
drnc3Loe5
Jca,
f,1
MUSEUM
nes,
ooet
/:20,oo.
ImA 6 tfi-1At,A?A ik ADEIR ANBA BISHOI-CHURCH

PLAN
OF ANBA BISHOI
28
BULLETIN
OF THE METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART
/ zoo
I/e
J1
FIG.
II.
DEIR
ES-SURIANI-CHURCH
PLAN
I=3/
OF
EL-'ADRA
/1
'njyf
.shou1n)
1
[0
FIG.
12.
DEIR
1J
?
iLo
J^
t- ALJA4
ES-SURIANI-CHURCH
PLAN
4-J-
OF THE SITT MIRIAM
29

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The Coptic Monasteries of the Wadi Natrun

THE COPTIC MONASTERIES OF

The Egyptian expedition of the Museum

one hundred kilometers

religious houses date their first foundation

hermitages of the Natron desert each man

CHOIR OF CHURCH OF ANBA BISHOI

and the kasr. A portion of the space within

single dwellings, the larger monasteries

this building was on the first floor, by means

The churches of these desert monasteries

DEIR ANBA BISHOI-CHURCH

by this stucco. Nearly all of these churches

and, over against Peter, not Paul, but

IT THE DOOR BETWEEN

dates and facts in his life are known from

zon; others are in the Vatican. The doors

Maria Antiqua, Rome, and Strzygowski2

See articlecited in the previousnote.

refectory (fig. IO) is usually a long, low,

spent in gardening, reading, prayer or sleep.

small and dark. Both divisions are usually

ImA 6 tfi-1At,A?A ik ADEIR ANBA BISHOI-CHURCH

OF THE SITT MIRIAM

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