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com/
 E D ITE D B Y

ELIZABETH S. BOLMAN
coL 'f'"

PHOTOGR APHY BY

PATRICK GODEAU

MONASTIC VrSIONS

WALL PAINTINGS

IN THE

MONASTERY OF ST. ANTONY

AT THE RED SEA

•••
•

AM ERICAN R E S EARCH C ENTER IN EGYPT, INC.

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YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Frontispiece: Mado nna and Chr ist Child, sa nctuary apse
(SI; ADP/SA 6s 98)
Co pyright © 2002 by th e Ame rica n Research Ce nte r
in Egyp t, Inc.
Publ ished by th e American Research Center in Egyp t,
In c. (ARCE) / 2 Mi da n Kasr al-Dub ara , Garden C ity, Cairo,
Egyp t / and in the Uni ted States at Emory University
West Ca mp us, 1256 Briarcl iff Road NE / Build ing A,
Su ite 423 West, Atla nta, GA 30306
and Yale Un iversity Press / 302 Temple Stree t, New Haven ,
CT 06520-9°40
All right s reserve d.
T his publication was m ade po ssible through
su ppo rt provided by the Office of Environ me nt and
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USAID /Eb'YPt, Uni ted States Agenc y for Intern atio nal Devel-
opment, under th e terms of Gran t No . 263-G-00- 96-00 016-
00. Th e o pin ions expr essed herein are th ose of the autho rs
and do-not necessar ily reflect the views of th e U.S. Agency
for Int ernatio nal Development.
T his book may no t be reprod uced, in who le or in pa rt,
includi ng illust rati on s, in any form (beyo nd th at co pying
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ten permission fro m th e publi shers.
Design ed by Leslie Th omas Fitch.
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Printed and bo und in Gr eat Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd ,
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING- IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Mo nast ic visio ns: wall paintings in the Monastery of
St. Antony at the Red Sea / edi ted by Elizabet h S. Bolma n;
ph ot ograph y by Patr ick Godeau.
p. em,
Includes bibli ogr aphical referenc es and ind exes.
ISBN 0-300 -092 24-5 (clo th: alk. paper )
I. Co ptic mural pa inting and deco ratio n- Egyp t-
Red Sea Region. 2. Mural painting and decoration ,
Medieva l-Egypt - Red Sea Region . 3. C hur ch of
St. Anto ny, of Egypt, Saint, ca . 250-35 5/6 - 5. Christian
sa ints in ar t. I. Ho lm an, Elizabe th S., 1960- . II. Godeau,
Patri ck.
ND286 3.3 .M 66 200 2
751.7'3'o9623- dC21 200 1035760
A cata logue record for thi s book is availab le from th e
British Libr ary.
The pap er in thi s book m eets the guid elin es for
perman en ce and durabil ity of the Co m m ittee o n Producti on
Gu idelines fo r Boo k Longevity of th e Co unci l o n Library
Reso urces.
109 8 7654 3 2 1
 CONTENTS

Preface IX

Mark Easton and Robert K. Vincent, Jr.

Introduction Xlll

PART I ST . ANTONY THE GR EAT

St. Anto ny th e Grea t and th e Mo nas tery of St. An to ny 3

at th e Red Sea, ca. A.D. 251 to 1232/I 233
Tim Vivian

PART II THE CHURCH OF S T . ANTONY: PAINTING S AND ARCHITECTURE

2 The Churc h of St. Anto ny: T he Arch itecture 21

MichaelJones

3 The Early Paintings 31

Elizabeth S. Belman

4 Theodore, "The Writer of Life," and the Program of 1232/I233 37

Elizabeth S. Belman

5 Theodore's Style, the Art of Christian Egypt, and Beyond 77

Elizabeth S. Bolman

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v
 6 Theo dore's Program in Context: Egypt and the Mediterranean Region 91
Elizabeth S. Bolman

7 Reflections of th e Tempo ral World:

Secular Elem ent s in Theo do re's Pro gram 103

William Lyster

8 The Khurus Vault: An Eastern Mediterranean Synth esis 127

Elizabeth S. Belman and William Lyster

9 Conservation of th e Wall Paintings in the Monastery 155

of St. Antony at th e Red Sea
Adriano Luzi and Luigi De Cesaris

PART III THE VIEWER'S R ESPONSE: PAST AND PRESENT

10 Perspectives on the Monastery of St. Antony:

Medieval and Later In habi ta nts and Visito rs 173
Gawdat Gabra

11 Th e Handwriting on th e Wall: Graffiti in th e Ch urch of St. Antony

Sidney H. Griffith

12 Windows into Heave n: Icons in Mo nast ic Life Today 195

Father Maximou s El-Anthony

13 In the Footsteps of th e Saints: The Monastery of St. Antony,

Pilgrimage, and Modern Coptic Identity 203

Elizabeth E. Gram

PART IV THE INSCRIPTIONS

14 The Coptic Inscription s in th e Churc h of St. Anto ny 217

Birger A. Pearson

Conclusion
Elizabeth S. Belman

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VI
 Abbreviations 249

Notes 25 1

Glossary 271

Bibliography 275

List of Contributors 291

Ind exes to the Coptic Inscripti on s

I. NAMES OF PE RSONS 293

II. NAMES OF PLACES 295

Genera l Index 297

Photo Credits 307

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I OP POS ITE
Mo nastery of 51. Antony
View into the khums, with
cleaning test area s visible
(A DP/SA 7S 27 96 )
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PREFACE
Our sma ll caravan wou nd its way toward the wall of
mountains that emerged through the dust of the Red Sea
deserts. For more than fifteen hundred years, countless
pilgrims before us- the earliest Chr istians, Roman sol-
diers, Fayoumi bishops, Crusader war riors, Ethiopian cler-
ics, Frankish travelers, Byzantine ar tists, and Egyptian
Copts-had been making th eir way toward this remote
location. In the distance, at th e foot of the barren ran ge,
appe ared a hint of green, miragelike and almost uniden -
tifiable. Closer inspection revealed the unmistakable ge-
ometry of architecture (fig. 1). We were approaching the
Monastery of St. Antony, widely believed to be the first
and thus the oldest monastic establi shment in the world.
Christmas 1997 was onl y a few days away. When we
had first seen the Churc h of St. Anto ny, man y months
before, its interior was sooty and blackened. In the int er-
venin g months, con servation work had started on th e wall
paintings. Although earlier limit ed test cleanings had given
us reaso n to believe th at very fine paintings might lie hid-
den undern eath , we had yet to see what a period of ex-
tended conservation cou ld accomplish (fig. 2). Would
there be a series of extraordinary works of art underneath
centuries of grime and layers of overpainting, or would
there be on ly disappointing obscurity? If it were the latter, clearly in more tha n four hun dred years. Their expres-
our projec t would suffer the same fate. We could hardly sions, th eir dem ean or, and their poses radiated dignit y and
contain our anticipation. hol iness (fig. 3).
Once we passed through the low entrance door and Stepping fart her int o the church, we looked up at the
o ut of the gusting wind, we adjuste d our eyes to th e refuge partially cleaned archway at the entrance to the khurus.
of th e dark ch urc h. We were unprepar ed for th e stunning There, soaring in brilliant colors, overwhelming our senses,
scene that met our view. For gazing sternly yet serene ly was the archangel Michael (fig. 4). The quality of th e
dow n on us from a height of four meters were four mon- paintings was literally breatht aking. With Western Christ-
astic saints of the Coptic Churc h who had not been seen mas and its holy rem embran ce only a few days away,
IX

Pishoi the Gr eat, John th e Littl e,
and Sisoes (N7- N9; ADP/SA 1999)
4 medieval Egypt.
Th e archa ngel M ichael ( K1S;
ADP /SA lOS 97)
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we felt even more strongly than before the sense of the
Christian tradition embodied in these figures. The Church
of St. Antony is a masterpiece, and one that preserves
the most complete iconographic program known from
A rare mix of individual dedication and joint collab-
oration across many areas of expertise propelled this
special project through all its stages. The project concept
should be seen in relation to the other conservation work
in Egypt conducted by the American Research Center in
Egypt (ARCE) , in collaboration with th e Egyptian Supreme
Council of Antiquities ( SC A). As a result of an initi ative by
the Unit ed States Congress, generous funding was made
available throu gh the Un ited States Agency for Intern a-
tional Development (USAID) . Under this initial grant from
USAID, a broad program of work was initi ated encompass-
ing th e bre adth of Egypt's histo ry, includ ing the pre his-
to ric and phara onic periods, as well as Greco- Roma n,
Coptic, Islamic, and Jewish con tri butio ns. Although more
tha n forty projects in this first gran t were balanced among
these six cultures , at sites th rou ghout Egypt, none centered
on a specific Coptic m on ume nt, nor were any located in
the Red Sea region . So when USAID offered addi tional
funding for a second grant as an activity of Sub-committee
x
III for Sustainable Development and Environment of the
U.S.-Egyptian Partnership for Economic Growth and
Development, AR CE welcomed the opportunity to round
out its conservation program, as well as to meet the objec -
tives of the SCA and the Monastery of St. Antony.
The effects of this project are already widespread. It
has opened a window of discovery for scholars, created a
wonderful viewing experience for the public , and restored
an important part of the Coptic heritage (fig. 5). With
newly restored vigor, the church will continue its tradition
of receiving pilgrims and visitors. And it of course remains
the location of hol y services for the monks who pray to
th eir patron St. Antony, th e great founder of th e monastic
tradition.
May you, too, become a visitor as you experience the
church in the following pages. We hope this book will
encourage you to visit the church yourself, or will serve as
a meaningful recor d of a visit you have already made. Sales
of the book will help the monastery by providin g reven ue
to maintain the church. So in any case, you will have
become a con tr ibutor to the susta inability of th is wonder-
ful, glorio us represe ntation of faith.
MARK E AS TO N AND ROBERT K. VI NCEN T, JR.
Ge nera l view from the nave , aft er
cleaning (ADP/SA 1999)

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6 O P PO S ITE
Ch urch of th e Holy Apos tles see n
through st reet of mo nastic cells
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INTRODUCTION
Th is book of essays is the record of two extraordi nary and
in ma ny ways parallel stories. Both of them took place in
the Mo nastery of St. Antony, in the eastern Egyptian
desert , near th e Red Sea (fig. 6). The subjects of the first
story are the wall paintings that once again fill th e Churc h
of St. Antony with their vivid and powerful presence, but
which until recently had for centur ies been obscured by
den se layers of soot and .overpainting. The se paintings ar e
aesthetically compell ing work s of art, a delight to the eye
(fig. 7). They are considerably more than that, however,
and much of the subtle narrative in the individual pa int-
ings, and the sophisticated messages in their programs,
will be missed by the viewer who is unaware of their
histo ry. It is the goal of th is book to present the overall
context for the paintings, including the life of St. Antony
the Great, the Monastery of St. Antony, and the way of life
of which he is the primary exem plar. The paintings in the
Churc h of St. Antony were and are an essential part of this
mo nastic life. Th ey would not have come into existence
witho ut St. Anto ny (or Ant hony), known in th e East an d
the West as the father of monasticism (fig. 8). 1 Because of
his prominence, and the desir e of others to follow him , a
community developed in this remote location . It has
existed there almost witho ut pause for more than eighteen
hun d red years and has experienced numerou s period s of
cultural im port ance and influence .
7 ABOV E Even th e br iefest of investigations for evidence of St.
Antony an d Pau l (Nl-N2; ADP/SA Anto ny's status as it was expressed in art yields rem arkable
1999) finds.' The oldest depiction s of him date to the early Middle
Ages, some from as far away as the British Isles.3 He reg-
ularly appears in medieval and Byzantine art , in very dif-
Xlll

8 LEFT
O ldest know n Cop tic paint ing of
Anto ny, ca. sixth cen tury,
Monastery of Apa Apo llo, Bawit
(Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes,
Paris, C2278)
9 CEN TER
Ant on y, 1192, wall painting,
Lagoudera, Cyp rus (Cour tesy of
Durnba rto n Oaks , D73 312)
10 RIGH T
Anto ny To rm ent ed by Demo ns,
Ma rtin Scho ngauer , late fifteenth
century, Ger ma n (The Metropoli-
tan M useum of Art , New York,
Roger s Fund, 19 2 0, 2 0 .5. 2)
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IN TRODUCT ION
ferent visual terms, as th e painting from a Cyp riot ch urc h
at Lagoudera (fig. 9) and a Western engraving by Ma rtin
Schongauer (fig. 10) illustr ate. In Eastern representations,
Anto ny appears as an isolated , ico n ic figure, ofte n alone or
in the company of equa lly static mon astic saints.' No t unt il
th e fifteenth century do rare examples exist, from th e east-
ern Mediterranea n, th at fra me the still, imposing figure of
the saint with events fro m his life.s T hese na rra tive events
captured the imagination of Western artists begin ning in
the early Middle Ages. In the West, numerous ar tists have
shown him fighting with devils, avoiding temptations, and
6
meeting St. Paul.
O ne of th e m ost significant m oments in th e history
of th e Mo nas tery of St. An to ny was in th e early thirteenth
century, when almost all of th e paintings we now see in th e
church were commissioned and m ade . They belong to a
Coptic artistic tradition that was th en abo ut eight hundred
years old. This tr adition has often been characterized as
having atrophied after the Arab conquest of Egypt in the
seventh century.' This point of view has been ten able
because so much of the artistic heritage of Ch ristian Egypt
has been lost or, as in the case of the painting in th e
XIV
Ch urc h of St. An to ny, was barely visible before clean ing
(fig. u ). The Coptic art historian who had worke d mo st on
these paintings befo re th eir cleaning, Paul van Moorsel,
desc ribed th e faces don e by th e m aster pain ter of the
Church of St. Anto ny as "mask-like," and of mo dest ar tis-
tic merit." The conservation of th ese pa int ings has shown
that his observations were correct in one sense, becau se
they were ma de whe n the mos t visible sections of the
images were those that had been overpainted, b ut such an
assertion would likely not be made today about the cleaned
thirteenth-century paintings. Van Moorsel's predecessor
Jules Leroy wrote th at th e highest-quality extant Co ptic
wall pai nt in gs fro m th e m edieval period were th ose in th e
Mo nas tery of St. Ma carius." He said thi s even th ou gh th e
paintings in the Monastery of St. Antony were well kn own
to him. A brief glance at th e photographs of the paintings
in th e Ch ur ch of St. Antony befor e and after co nservation
makes Lero y's and van Mo o rsel's assertions understand-
ab le, if mistaken (fig. 12). Th e medieva l paintings in the
Chur ch of St. Antony, together with other recent discover-
ies, attest to the contin ued richness and vitality of thi s
ancient Ch ristian culture into the Middle Ages." T hey
11

Inter ior of the Church , 1930-1 931

(Whittemo re Expedition. Cour tesy
of Dumbar ton Oaks, A8o )

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 INTRODUCTION
12 dramatically revise not onl y our ideas about the quali ty of
Virgin Ma ry (SI), during cleaning Co ptic art well after the seventh century but also our
(A DP/SA IlW 131:8 ) understanding of its links to th e other cultur es situ ated
aro und th e Mediterra nea n.
13 OPPOSITE The majority of the pai nt ings in the Ch urc h of St.
Sanctua ry dom e and apse, after Antony belong to a single program. We know from in-
clean ing (AD P/SA 1999) scriptions that the date of this program is AM 949 (an 110
ma rtyrorum ), according to the Coptic calendar, which
corresponds to AD 1232/1233.11 It is the most complete
and extensive cycle preserved fro m th is period in Egypt
(fig. 13). The paintings were commissioned during a time
of particular strength in the Monastery of St. Antony. A
gro up of mo re th an thi rty do no rs pa id for th eir creation,
and a team of artists led by a master painter nam ed
Theodore ("G ift of God") entered th e church and com-
menced work there. His team consisted of at least four
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XVI
individuals, and probably more. It certainly would have
included on e or more assistants, th ere to do much of the
less-skilled work of pr eparing th e plaster , mixing the
paints, and building the scaffolding. Somet hing sto pped
the work of thi s team just befo re it was finished. A second
gro up of painters was engaged to finish the work within a
few decade s of thi s unknown interruption-a clear testa-
ment to the importance of images in the monastic life, and,
the prosperous state of the monastery in the thirteenth
cen tury.
This slightly later group of artists may well have been
Copts, but their paintings belong to another artistic world.
They are part of a Me diterranea n aesthetic that combines
eleme nts from th e Byzantine and Islam ic trad ition s (fig.
14). These juxtapos itio ns do not seem out of place in such
cosmopolitan centers as Cairo and Damascus, b ut their
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 I N T RO OU C TI O N
14 LEFT app earance in thi s rem ote desert monastery sur pr ises us.
Khuru s ceiling, after clean ing Th ey show us that th e comm unity in the Mo nastery of St.
(A DP/SA 1999 ) Antony participated in th e visual culture of a vastly larger
region .
15 R I G HT All the se thi rteenth -century secco wall paintings be-
Anto ny and Paul (Nl -N2), befor e came part of th e spirit ual work and ritua l perfo rm ed in the
clean ing (A DP/SA 12 S27 96) churc h. As such, existing for cen turies within a churc h
filled with incense and lit solely by oil lamps and candles,
the pa inti ngs acquired layer upon layer of soot. Dust, ever
pr esent in Egypt, ad ded to their disfigur em en t. Periodic
efforts to enliven the images resulted in the less-than -
inspired over painting of severa l of the most beloved: the
Virgin Mary in the nave, St. Theodore the General, an d, of
course, St. Antony himself (fig. 15). In rare moments of
abandonment, the mo nastery was inhabited by bedo uin
tribes, and the fires th ey lit within the church added to the
increasing layers of obscur ing blackness. Portio ns of the
plaster on the walls fell off, and insects began burrowin g
behind th e paintings. When the exteriors of several of the
dom es were repaired and replastere d, windows were filled
in, and less and less light en tere d the chur ch. Wh en I first
visited the Mo nas tery of St. Anto ny in 1994, I cou ld barely
make out the subjects of the paintings. The most visible of
the figures were those who had been bad ly repainted over
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xvIt I
the centur ies. Their overall appearance was comp letely
discou raging. Th eir story seemed near an ignoble end.
I didn't know at th e tim e of my visit that th e story
that parallels the creation and first life of th e pa int ings had
already begun : th e miraculou s rescue of the wall pain tin gs.
As in the first story, there exists a pivotal figur e without
who m we would have no second story to tell. He is Father
Maximo us EI-An tho ny, a senio r mo nk in the Mo nastery
of St. Anto ny at the Red Sea. Having received training in
conservation, Father Maximous was aware of th e possibil-
ities of th is field. 12 Additional insight s into th e dangero usly
fragile condition of the paintings and th e walls of the
church came fro m a project, fun ded by the Royal Net her-
land s Embassy in Cairo and with the assistance ofZuzanna
Skalova, to combat termite damage." Father Maximous
made the surv ival of the paintings in the Church of St.
Anto ny his mi ssion . The con tributions of numerou s other
ind ivid uals also en ter our story at this junc ture, para lleling
those made by th e more than thirty do nors of the early-
thirteent h century Co ptic wall paintings." As in any na rra-
tive, aspects of lived experience are missin g. I will sure ly
fail to mention essential contr ibuto rs, and I hop e they will
forgive my overs ights.
Every major project requires assistance from many
 INTRODUCT ION
sources. Funding for the Monastery of St. Antony at the
Red Sea Wall Painting Restoration Proj ect was forth-
coming from th e Unit ed States Agency for Internation al
Development (USA ID) , as part of the Subcom mitte e III for
Sustain able Development and Environment of th e U.S.-
Egyptian Partnership for Economic Growth and Develop -
ment. The Red Sea coast is undergoing intensive develop-
ment for recreational tourism . One of the goals of the
pr oject was to balan ce this trend by actively preserving and
pro moting sites th at are importan t for the cultural
heritage of Egypt. The support of numerous peop le at
USAID made this project possible, in particular the USAID
Cairo Mission Directors John Westley and Richard Brown .
All of us who have worked on the project are especially
grateful to Thomas Dailey and Anne Patterson, US A ID
Project Officers, for their complete commitment to it.
The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) was
funded by USAID to carry ou t thi s and the ot her cultural
projects of th e U.S.-Egyptian Par tn ership for Economic
Growth and Develop ment. The Antiquities Development
Project (ADP) was formed at AR CE in January 1996 to
manage several projects, among which was that at the
Monastery of St. Antony. The dedication an d constant
enco urage ment, help, and support of Mar k Easto n (for -
mer director , A RCE), Rob ert Vincent (director, Egyptian
Antiquities Project , / Antiquities Development Project,
ARCE), Cynthia Sha rtzer (EAP grant ad m inistrato r), and
Madame Amira Khatt ab (deputy directo r, AR C E ) have
been invaluable for the success of thi s proj ect. Altho ugh
his tenure as director of A RCE began at the end of this
project, Robert Spr ingborg has nevertheless show n great
and mu ch apprec iated suppo rt for it. Special com-
mendatio n is also d ue Brian Martinson and Barbara
Bruen ing, respect ively grant adm inistra tor and associate
grant adm inistrato r of th e ADP . Perhap s the pivotal person
for th e success of thi s pr oject, second only to Father Maxi-
mou s, is Michael Jon es, project manager of th e AD P. Fro m
the beginning, Jones's vision for the church itself, and also
for the supporting documentation-including this
book-has been extraordinary. He is an inspiration to
work with , and his creativity and patience are legend ary.
Father Maximous contacted Paolo and Laura Mora ,
whose expertise has shaped gen erations of students at the
Istituto Centrale di Restauro in Rome , and who have dir -
ected one of the most important conservation projects in
Egypt at the Tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Q ueens .
In 1996 the Moras inspected the Church ofSt. Antony and
recommended the talented conservators Ad riano Luzi and
Luigi De Cesaris, bo th of whom had worked with the
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XIX
Mora s on th e wall paintings in th e Tomb of Nefertar i, to
take o n th e daunting task of con serving the paintings in
the Churc h of St. Anto ny. Paolo Mo ra died on March 26,
1998, witho ut ever having visited the monastery again. It is
a great loss to all who wo rked on the project that he was
not able to see its final results .
In con sult ation with Father Maximous, Luzi and De
Cesaris determined a course of work that would includ e
conservation and also restoration. Because the Church of
St. Antony is part of an active monastery, it was decided
that the conservators sho uld present the original paintings
as a coherent whole, as free as possible from the visual
distractions of extant damage to the wall sur face. A
reversible reintegration was therefore made with paint in
places that were missing their original plaster. All int er-
ventions on the walls were carefully documented in an
extensive series of graphic and photographic records. IS
These materials are available for study at ARCE . 16
The parallels to the creation of the wall paintings in
the Monastery of St. Antony by Theodore, his workshop,
and the second group of th irteenth -cen tury pa inters,
became particu larly clear beginning in 1996. Just as the
or iginal painters worked in the church, so did Luzi, De
Cesaris, and th eir team of conservators, Alber to Sucato,
Gianluca Tancioni, Emiliano Albanese, Stefano Pulloni,
and Massim iliano Gusmaro li (figs. 16, 17). They repea ted
most of the physical move men ts of the thirteenth-century
arti sts, namely, traversing the walls and domes, standing
and sitt ing pr ecari ou sly on scaffolding, standing on the
floor , and leaning backward fo r hours at a time. They
allotted work based o n skills learn ed over years of training,
and they also used the services of nonspecialist assistan ts
provided by the monastery, who performed such essen tial
tasks as mix ing plaster an d fetching supplies. Their efforts
gave me insight s int o the often ard uo us physical aspects
of the creat ion of such a large-scale artis tic effort. My art
histo rical work has been im measur ably enriched by the
opportunity to watch them at work , and by their willing-
ness to dispute various points with me and to explain their
methods and ideas. Th eir humor and friendliness made
them stim ulating and delightful colleagues.
We have no idea what kinds of accommodatio ns th e
medieval painters had while the y were wo rking in th e
monastery, o r how good their food was, but we can assume
that they were in no way as magnificently cared for and
fed as were all the members of this project, thanks to the
hospitality of the Monastery of St. Antony, as expr essed
through the services of Father Maxim ous, Father Isaac,
Ramses, and ot hers. Father Maximous and Father Isaac
16

Adr iano Luzi working in the

sanctu ary (5 1; ADP/SA 18 5191 98 )

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17
Luigi De Cesar is, right , and
Gianluca Tan cioni working in the
kh ums (KI6)

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 INT RODUCTIO N
.I .. ... , .
'f II ' ~ :,...,
• ars have long thought that the bui lding dated to the thir-
"
18 provided spiri tua l as well as material sustenance, assisted
Whittemore Expedition with auto - in thi s by the kindness and care of Bishop Yust us, Father
mob iles, 1930-1931 (Courtesy Lazarus , Father Dioscorus, and other memb ers of the
Dumbarton Oaks, A198) community.
Both th e scope and th e length of thi s book are ex-
pansive, du e in large part to Jones's understanding of the
imp ort ance of int erdisciplina ry work in art history, history,
archaeo logy, and related fields. Life happens to human
beings befor e th ey have a cha nce to segme nt it into scho l-
arly disciplines, and while thi s book dep ends on profes-
siona ls in several of these areas of study, its goal is to sur-
pass their indi vidual efforts. Th e medieval wall paintings
in th e Churc h of St. Antony are significant work s of art,
whose raison d'etr e is th e figure of St. Antony the Great,
and the monastic life he inspired. In order to und erstand
th e paintings as fully as possible, it is necessary to know
some thing about th eir setting. Thi s book therefore pro -
vides the interested reader with focused information no t
only about the paintings but about their context and recep-
tion as well. This can only amplify our understanding of
them. Differences of opinion and emphasis appear in this
book. The y enrich it significantly. Studies of the past often
engender disputes, and properly so, for lived experience is
filled with contradictions . Western scho lars studyi ng sub-
jects that are outside of the Western tradition often int er-
pret the past from a different per spective from that of
thos e who belong to that tradition, and such has often
been the case in Egypt. We do not have to look farther than
previous scholarship on the Chur ch of St. Antony to find
an example of such a divergen ce of opinion. Western scho l-
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XXII
teenth century, and its mon astic residents have asserted a
sixth-ce ntury date. Chapters 2 and 3 of this book prese nt
architectura l and art histo rical evidence fo r the correc tness
of the earlier dat e. Th e collaborative efforts of the auth ors
have created so mething mu ch closer to the lived experi -
ence of history, as it relates to the paintings, than a straight -
forward, aesthetically oriented, art histori cal analysis would
have done. In fact, th e wealth of material considered as
part of this project has inspired such a quantity of int erest-
ing work that much of it could not be included in Mona stic
Visions. Another volume is therefore planned, which will
include significant additions to our understanding of the
history of the monastery, its library, the lives of the father s
depicted in th e paintings, and the graffiti written by visi-
tors and residents alike.
Scho larly work at the Monastery of St. Anto ny first
began with Thomas Whittemore's expeditions to the site,
in a con voy of Ford automobiles, in 1930 and 1931 (fig. 18 ).
Many of the best of the small com m unity of scho lars who
have studied th e art and arc hitecture of Chr istian commu-
nities in the Middle East have turned their attention to the
Ch urch of St. 'Anto ny: Leroy, van Moorsel, Peter Gross -
mann, Pierre-Hen ry Lafferier e, Rene-Geor ges Coquin,
Alexander Piank off, Karel Inn ernee, Marg uer ite Rassart-
Debergh, Lucy-A nn Hunt, Gertrud J. M. van Loon, Jean
Dor esse, C. C. Walters, Pierr e du Bourguet, and Otto
Meinardus. Despit e the ob scuring effects of soo t and over-
painting, these scho lars acco mplished the major work of
ident ifying th e subjects of the paintings, deciphering
inscripti on s, and carefully docum enting the program. Some
specialized and th em atic analysis was also available to the
authors of Mo nastic Visions, mo st notably Inn ernee's stu d-
ies of th e ecclesiastical and monastic cloth ing in th e paint-
ings and van Loon's analyses of Old Testament themes and
th eir connection with architectura l symbolism." All these
fundamental effor ts have made it possible for the aut hors
of thi s volume to proceed with oth er aspects of art histori-
cal and historical interpretation. IS Van Moorsel's pioneer-
ing work on the wall paintings was an especially valuable
source of reference. He, along with Pierre-Henry Laffer-
iere, paid a me morable visit to the monastery dur ing
October 1998. Sadly, he died in June 1999 and , like Paolo
Mora, was not able to see th e church fully restor ed.
This book is divided into four parts: historical con-
text, art and architecture, reception and use of the paint-
ings, and inscr iptional evidence. The single chapter of part
I is an analysis of the figure of St. Anto ny and th e mon-
 I N T RO D U CT I O N
19 LEFT astery founded in imitation of his way of life. Tim Vivian
First view of the early paintin gs gives us essential background information for our under-
(ADP /SA 6s 97) standing of the Copts, monasticism, and Antony him self,
im pressively characterizing life at the monastery through
20 RIGHT 1232/1233.
Hand of the arc ha ngel Gabriel Part II presents the architectural history of the Church
( K16) ofSt. Antony, and th e paintings in it. Using evidence from
restri cted archaeological work, careful study of ar chit ec-
tur al idiosyncrasies, and remn ants of early Co ptic paint-
ings, Michael Jon es present s us with a com plete reevalua-
tion of the architectura l development of th e church in
cha pter 2 . I wrote th e thi rd chapter, an ar t historical ana ly-
sis of the earliest paint ings known in the church, wh ich
were recently found by the conservators as part of this
project (fig. 19). My art historical evaluation complements
Jones's reconstruction of the early phases of building at
the site. The discovery of the paintings and of architectural
evidence for pre-thir teenth century phases of construction
is of excep tional im po rtance because it enables scho larly
analysis to bear ou t long-standing monastic tradition in
dating the churc h to th e sixth or seven th cent ury.
Chapters 4-7 present and ana lyze the mo st extensive
group of paint ings in the church, those dated to 1232/1233.
In chapter 4, I introduce the entire program painted by
https://coptic-treasures.com/
XXltl
Th eodore and his team. I ana lyze the larger programmatic
messages and the individual narrative detai ls in the se
expressive paintings. In chapter 5, I characterize the style
of the paint ings and also discuss the work ing practices of
Theodore and his assistants. I explore the background of
Theodore's paintings in th e Christian art of Egypt and th e
eastern Mediterranean in chapter 6. In chapter 7 William
Lyster focuses on a very im portant component of Theo-
dor e's p rogram : th e evidence in it for elements from th e
secular, predominantl y Muslim world outside of Coptic
mon asticism. In thi s chapt er, Lyster expands our under-
standi ng of Coptic culture as a part of Egypt in the th ir-
teen th century, exp laining, for example, why a Ch ristian
author would be painted wearing a turban.
In chapter 8 Lyster and I use art historical data and
evidence provided by the conservation team to reconstruct
the background of the artists who painted the remarkable
ceiling zone of th e khurus and to ana lyze their program .
Although they may well have been Copts, they were cer-
tainly not painting in the long-standing Coptic tradition
exemp lified by Theo dore's paint ings. They belon g to a dif-
ferent ar tistic world altogether, and they have left us sur-
pris ing traces of it in th is part of the church (fig. 20) .
The most recent physica l changes in the church have
 Lower Zone , O ld Church of St. Antony Monastery of 51. Antony at the Red Sea

Key to Numbered Plan

NAVE
Nl Antony the Great
N2 Paul the Hermit
N3 Anonymous
N4 Isaac the Presbyter
N5 Paulthe Simple
N6 Samuel
N7 Pishoi the Great
S = Sanctua ry
N8 John the little
N9 Sisoes
NIO Arsenius
Nll sarsuma
N12 Pach omius K = Khurus
N13 Arabic inscription on parchment
N14 Pakaou
N15 "Thouan" [Noua]
N16 Piroou and Athom
N = Nave
N17 Copticarch inscription
N18 Theodore the Oriental
N19 Clau dius
N20 Victor
C ~ Chapel
N21 Menas
N22 Theodore Strateletes (the General)
N23 Sisinnius
N24 John of Heraclea (?)
N25 George A = A nnex
N26 Phoebammon
N27 large heraldicgraffito
N28 Shenoute
N29 Pisentius
N30 Moses the Black
N3l Coptic memorial inscription
N32 Maximus and Domitius
N33 Macarius the Great
N34 Macarius
N35 Macrobius (?)
N36 Virgin Mary and Christ Child
N37 Copti c arch inscription

K HU RU S
Kl Unfinished painting, saint(s)with Christ
K2 Traces of paint
K3 Mercuriu s
K4 Copticdedicatoryinscription
K5 Abraham,Isaac,andJacobin paradise
K6 ThethreeHebrews
K7 Nebuchadnezzar K32-K34 58 Anonymous patriarch 533-536 C3 Two living creatures (oxand eagle)
Decorative bands, ceiling Anonymous patriarch The twenty-four eldersof the and John the Baptist
K8 George 59
K9 Two scenes of the martyrdom of K35 Hexagonal window panes setin 510 Painted frame, unfinished composition apocalypse C4 fragmentary roundel with an
George, and Pasicrates stucco, ceiling 511 Mark 537 Decorativemotif unknown apostle

KIO Blankwall K36-K44 512 Christ Pantocrator 538 Thesacrifice of Isaac C5 Roundels withbusts of Bartholomew

Kll Theempty tomb Decorative bands, ceiling 513 Cherub 539 Thesacrifice of Jephtha 's daughter andThaddeus (')

K12 Thethree women at the tomb K45 Arabic inscription, ceiling 514 Angel 540 Angel C6 Pairof roundels with busts of

K13 Coptic inscription K46 Decorative band, ceiling 515 Cherub 541 Angel unknown apostles

K14 Arabesque andCoptic inscription K47 Band of circular window panes setin 516 Angel 542 Isaiah andthe burning coal C7 Christ in Majesty

K15 Thearchangel Michael stucco 517 Cherub 543 Mekhizedekand Abraham C8 Roundels with the apostles Paul (?l

K16 The archa ngel Gabriel 518 Angel 544 Decorative motif and Peter

K17 Coptic inscription SANCTUARY 519 Cherub 545 Jermiah C9 fragmentary roundel withan

K18 Christand the women in thegarden 51 Christin Majesty (upperzone)and 520 Angel 546 Elijah unknown apostle

K19 Band of circula r window panes set in the Virgin Mary and Child flanked 521-528 547 Isaiah C10 Two livingcreatures (man and lion)
stucco by archangels (lower zone) Windowsflanked by angels, octagonal 548 Moses and the Virgin Mary

K20 Decorative band,ceiling 52 Athanasius drumof the dome 549 David

53 Severus 550 Daniel ANNEX
K21 Arabic inscription, ceiling 529- 532
54 Dioscorus four decorated triangles(transitional Al The archangel Michael
K22-K30
Decorative bands, ceiling 55 Theophilus elements below the dome) DEESIS CHA PEL A2-A8 Graffiti, wreathed crosses, graffito

Cl Niche of the precious cross crosses,andtraces of earlypaint

K31 Hexagonal window panes setin 56 Peter
stucco, ceiling 57 Benjamin (?) C2 Christ in Majesty A9 The archangel Gabriel

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 INTRODUCT ION

Upper Zone
-,
........
,
. . ' ... .f
\
I
-----.r-...-rrt"'T77T1
S
-- ~I
(Sanctuar y)

..

0 ··.
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, 13

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17

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31 25 24 30

12
4 7 4 6 4 5 44 43 42 M 403 938 37 363 5 343 3 323 1 30 29 282 7 262 524 232 22120 19
.. ceiling 33 = central band ceiling •

17 =.i nscription : 17 13 • 13 ::: inscription

K
(Khurus)

14

r...::.. :. --- - .I
14
.........

been brought about by the conservation team . They have
carefully stripped away the disfigurement of centuries to
reveal the astonishing brilliance of the paintings from the
thirteenth century. They have also discovered hidden
paintings dating between the sixth and thirteenth cen-
turies. Luzi and De Cesaris contribute to this book in two
ways. Having cleaned the paintings, they enable all Ofus to
appreciate-indeed, clearly see-them. They have also
written an account of their remarkable work and findings,
chapter 9.
Part III is en titled "The Viewer's Response: Past and
Present." Gawdat Gabra , Father Maxi mo us, Sidney Gr iffith,
and Elizabeth Gram construct fo r us a complex picture of
th e man y people who have come to the church since
21 Theod ore's paintings were co mpleted and who are still
Plan of the Church of 51. Anto ny, com ing tod ay. The historical reco rd commonly includes
with numbers keyed to the events tied to na mes of people of stat us in their ow n tim e.
paintings Gabra gives us an account in cha pter 10 of th ese indivi-
du als, Co pts and others, and th eir respo nses to th e m on -
astery and the pain tings. He also identifies for us the
smaller commu nities of Ethiopians, Armenians, and Syri-
ans that have had close ties to the monastery. In chapter 11
Griffith pr esents the personal traces left by many individ-
uals who are rarel y included in historical accounts. His
translation and analysis of selections from the graffiti in
the church evoke for us the countless people, visito rs and
members of the monastic community, who have stood
and prayed there.
In chapter 12 , Father Maximous gives us a unique
and penetrating look at the importance of images in Cop-
tic monastic life today. As a monk in the Monastery of St.
Antony, on e with experienc e in and appreciation for the
arts, he is sing ula rly well placed to wr ite on thi s subject.
He illu minates for us th e mon astery's perspective on its
medieval wall paintings, and on their icons . Father Maxi-
mous uses the word icon (litera lly, image) to refer to all
sacred im ages, whatever th eir mediu m. Elizabeth Gram
complements Father Max imous's chapter by presenting in
chapter 13 yet another category of viewer: th e Coptic
pilgrim of today. The number of Co ptic visitors to th e site
is expa ndi ng rapidly, attesting to a Co ptic renaissance.
Gram no tes that Co ptic pilgrims have a spec ial apprecia-
tio n for the antiqu ity of the Church of St. Antony, as a ho ly
place where the Mass and pra yers have been said almost

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xxv
 INTROOUCTION
conti nuously for centuries. The medieval paintings, which
were made to be part of those sacred rituals, add to the
sense of age in the church. Ora m has also writte n abo ut the
imp ortance of St. Anto ny him self to the Co pts, and she
includes a discussion of th e peopl e who have chose n him
as their patron saint.
The final part of th e book is devot ed to the inscrip -
tion s. They embellish the thirteenth -centu ry paintings,
and most of th em are written in the Bohairic dialect of
Coptic (o ne addition is in Syriac, and on e in Arabic ).
Birger Pearson tr an slates them in chapter 14 and analyzes
their language for information abo ut the culture that pro-
du ced them. Newly visible lett ers have enabled Pearson to
resolve several of the mysteries of identification in the
painted program. His pain staking work has been of excep-
tional help for the art historical anal yses, providing as it
do es the basis for identifi cation and int erpretation of the
paintings.
A numbering system will assist the read er in locating
places, subjects, and inscriptions in the church (fig. 21 ).
Each physical space or room in th e church is given its own
sequence (nave, khurus, sanctuary, annex, and chape l),
which follows a clockwise order. Beginning with the nave,
and star ting as close to th e center of the easte rn wall as
possible, the first painting is I , with the cap ital lett er N
added as a prefix. Thus N I is th e number for th e painting
of St. Anto ny, which is the first painting to the right of the
centrally positio ned entrance between th e nave and the
kh urus, on the eastern wall. N2 is to our right ofSt. Antony,
a painting of Antony's friend and colleague in the ascetic
life, St. Paul. When numerous insc ript ions appear in one
painting, as happens frequently, Pearson has given them
an additional number, placed after th e number for the
painting. The first inscription in the sanc tuary apse is
numbered S1.1, the second is S1.2, and so on . All of the
contri bu tors to this book refer to th e paintings and the
inscriptions by thes e numbers.
Modern and late-antique personal and place nam es
are used in th is book, and are described an d included with
cross- references in the glossary. Th e earlier version s are
usually, but not always, used for peopl e. Th e saint known
to scho lars of late antiquity as Pishoi , for example, is
known to Copts tod ay as Bisho i, and th e mon astery
named after him in the Wadi al-Natrun (the ancient
Scetis) is called Deir Anba Bishoi . Nonspecialists may
be helped to kno w that the Arabi c word deir m eans mon-
astery. English tr an slation s of mon astery nam es have been
used whene ver possible, so, for exam ple, instead of refer-
ring to Deir al-Shohada (so metimes spelled Chohada ),
https://coptic-treasures.com/
XXV I
I have called this site the Monastery of the Martyrs, and I
refer to Deir al-Baramus as the Monastery of the Romans.
The context of discussion has usua lly determined the spell-
ing chose n, so, for exam ple, the nam es Father Maximous
uses for saints and places have no t been cha nged .
O ne other point of terminology sho uld be men-
tion ed here. The oldest buildi ng in the Mo nastery of St.
Anto ny is th e Chur ch of St. Anto ny. It is often referred to
as th e Old Churc h of St. Anto ny, or just th e Old Churc h.
Although there is a new church at the mon astery, St.
Anto ny shares the dedic ation with St. Paul. In this bo ok we
have therefor e dispensed with th e identification of the
early-medieval chur ch of St. Anto ny as the Old Ch urc h.
All of the members of the proj ect are ind ebted to the
Supreme Co unc il of Antiquities. Th e work was carried out
under th e auspices of the SCA, and we thank Mini ster of
Culture Dr. Farouk Hosni and also Pro fessor Dr. Abd el-
Halim Nur el-Din, Dr. Ali Hassan , and Professor Dr.
Gaballah Ali Gaballah, di rectors of the SCA . We are also in-
debt ed to Dr. Abd ullah el-Att ar, head of the Islami c and
Coptic Sector of the SCA , for his assistance, and to Mahmud
Ali and Abd el-Hamid Amin Ibrahim, inspectors of th e
S CA for the Red Sea region , for their helpfuln ess and sup-
port on site.
The project received the blessing of His Holiness,
Pope Sheno uda III, and His Grace , Bishop Yustus, head of
the Monastery of St. Antony, and proceeded under the
guida nce of Father Maximous El-An tho ny, who partici-
pated in the work as a memb er of th e team . I acknowledge
th e efforts an d generosity of numerous scholars, museum
directors, librarians , administrators, and archivists, whose
assista nce I am gratefu l for, and also several inst itutions
whose collections I have used : Alice-Mary Talbot; Natalia
Teteri atnikov; Catherine Smith; Anne Gout; Annemarie
Weyl Carr; Iaroslav Folda; Athanasios Papageorghiou;
Renata Ho lod; Detlev Kraack; Getatchew Haile; Robert
Nelson; John Williams; Cha rles T. Little; Johannes Den
Heijer; Peter Grossmann; Bern ard O' Kane; Christina
Spano u; Michele Piccirillo; Father Martyr ius of the
Mo nas tery of the Virgin Mary (Syrian Monastery); Fathe r
Benjam in of the Baramus Mon astery; Cathry n Clyne;
Terence Walz; Agnieszka Dobrowolska; Iarek Dobro-
wolski; Amir Hassan Abdel-Ha mdi; Mary Sadek; Angela
Jon es; Derek Krueger; Gene Rogers; Georgia Frank;
Darlene Brooks -H eadstrom: Fra nces Vincent; Wlodz-
imierz Godlewski; Samir Morcos; Mand y McClure (for
Arabic tra nslation); Cynthia Hall (for a dr awing ); Dr.
Mo ura d Tewfick, dir ector of th e Coptic Museum (Ca iro);
Madame Samiha A. El-Shaheed, general director for
-
I NTR O D U CTI O N
Scientific Research at the Coptic Museum; Dr. Farouk
Askar, director of the Islamic Museum (Cairo); Monica
Blanchard; Dumbarton Oaks; Art Resource; the Institut
Francais d'Archeolog ie Or ientale du Caire; the University
of Pennsy lvania Museum Library; th e Kelsey Muse um of
the University of Michigan, An n Arbo r; th e Princeton Art
Library's Photo graphi c Archive; the Deutsches Archaeolo-
gisches Institut in Cairo; th e libr ary of th e Amer ican
Research Center in Egypt; and the libraries of th e Ameri-
can University in Cairo. Vital funding and suppor t for
the final stages of thi s book project came from a National
Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. USAID and
NE H have made it possible for m e to devot e all of my
energies to thi s project for a con siderable length of tim e.
Temple University generously assisted with some final
unanticipated costs.
All of the contributors to this book have sha red ideas
and enthusiasm, resulting in a mu ch more int erestin g and
thoughtful work th an I could possibly have imagined.
They have exh ibited patience and dedi cation through
the edit ing proces s, for which I thank them. This book has
also benefited from the exten sive and excellent photo-
graphic record m ade by Patrick Godeau, and from the
survey document s pr odu ced by Peter Sheeha n and by
Michael Malinson and his associates. Th e super ior abilities
and dedication of Iud y Metro, Patricia Fidler, Dan Heaton,
22
Monks fro m one of the Red
Sea Mo nasteries, 1930-1931
(Whittemore Expedition.
Courtesy of Dumbarton
Oaks, AIOl)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
XXVII
and Mary Mayer at Yale University Press have improved
every aspect of this book. Allen Peacock, Karen Vellucci,
William Lyster, and Eileen Markson provided excellent
editor ial assistance . In particular, Lyster sustained my
flagging spiri ts on nu merous occasions and had infinite
patience for refinements to the man uscript. Anthony Cut-
ler's th orou gh critique of this manu script resulted in signi-
ficant improvements to it. I am deeply grateful to all of
these readers and editors for their encourage ment and
fortitude.
I am indebted to all of the people and institution s
mentioned in thi s int roduction, and also to a few who
have not yet been nam ed. Th ese include Robert Har ris
and Dale Kinney, for their inspiring trainin g in medieval
and Byzantine art histo ry; my parents, Katherin e Bolman,
William Bolman, and Victoria Asayam a, for taking me to
mu seums; and Patricia V. Pierce, for enco uraging my study
of art histo ry and my decision to und ertake this massive
project.
My person al dedication of this volume is to th e
monk s, past, present , and future, of the Mona stery of St.
Antony at the Red Sea (fig. 22). Without th em and their
tenac ious commitment to an ancient and vital tradition,
we would not have had the cultura l richne ss of the paint-
ings in th e Chur ch of St. Antony to share with a larger
audience.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 PART I

ST. ANTONY THE GREAT

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 JE

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https://coptic-treasures.com/

CHAPTE R
i .i OPPOS ITE
Map of Egypt, showing th e
Mo nastery of St. Antony to the
west of the widest par t of th e
Gulf of Suez. The map mak er has
tran sposed th e positio ns of the
Mon asteries SI. Antony and
SI. Paul.
1.2
Ico n of SI. Antony preachin g to
monks (A DP/SA 3 S7 1 96)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Tim Vivian
1 ST. ANTONY THE GREAT AND THE
MONASTERY OF ST. ANTONY AT THE
RED SEA, CA. A.D. 251 TO 1232 /1233
At the end of the fourth century, less than fifty years after
the death of St. Antony th e Great, John Cassian journeyed
from either Scythia or Gaul to Palestin e and thence to
Egypt on a spiritual and geographical od yssey to disco ver
in the desert both the roots of Christian monasticism and
the God -given spr ings that nourished those roo ts (fig. 1.1).
Cassian had undoubtedly read one of the two Latin tran s-
lation s of th e Life of Antony, writte n origina lly in Greek by
51. Athanasius in 356/357; perh aps Cassian had even read
the Greek Life.' For Cassian, Anto ny was Egypt's-and
monasticism 's-Abraham: ju st as Abraham was called to
be th e father of "a multitude of nations" (Gn 17:4 ), so
Anto ny was called to be th e father of monasticism (fig.
1.2).2 Anto ny, modern scho larship has dem on strated , can-
not claim sole paternity for Chr istian mo nasticism; Cass-
ian himself was ind ebt ed mo re to Evagrius Ponticus and
the mon ks of Lower Egypt (N itria, Kellia, Scetis) th an he
was to Anto ny. But mo nasticism's shared patern ity is not a such expe riences from late antiquity, secon d perhaps only
modern discovery; in Cassians Gau l in the m iddle of the to Augustine's acco unt of his conversion in th e Confes-
fifth century, the monks of the Jura Mountains recognized sions. According to the Life, "Antony was an Egyptian by
a number of monastic forefathers: Martin of Tour s, Basil birth"; a later tradition gives his village as Koma , the mod-
of Caesarea, "the hol y monks of Lerin s," Pachomius, and ern Qim an al-Arias.' "His par ents were well-born and pos-
"the venerable Cassian" himself,' Given the numerou s ref- sessed enough property to be self-sufficient. Because th ey
erences that the Life ofthe lu ra Fa thers makes to the Life of were Christians, Antony was also brought up as a Chris-
Antony, however, the Life of the Egyptian saint seems to tian " (Life of Antony 1.1 ).5 Six months after his parents'
have been primary. Thus Antony, a hundred years after his death, when, according to th e Life, he was around eighteen
death, was already an "intern ational" saint. or twenty years of age,
Antony of Egypt (251-356) is one of those larger than
life figures who may well have been as large during his life on his way to church he was .. . reflecting on . . . how the
as after his death, when he was immediately immortalized apostles gave up everything and followed the Savior,
and canonized by Athanasius. His call to the ascetic life, and how those in Acts sold their possessions and
th ank s to Athanas ius's tellin g, is one of th e best kn own of brou ght them and placed them at the feet of the apostles
3
 ST . ANTONY THE GREAT

for distribution to those in need .. .. Pondering these one who spoke to him on the riverbank. Then, after
things, he went into the church; it happened that the having first accepted some loaves of bread from those
Gospel was being read at that time and he heard the with whom he had traveled, he remained alone on the
Lord saying to the rich man, "If you want to be perfect, mountain, with no one else living with him. He was
go, sell all your possessions and give to the poor, and like someone who recognizes his own home: from
come follow me, and you will have treasur e in heaven" th at point on he considered the place his own . (Life
[Mt 19:21 J. When Anto ny .. . realized how that passage 49.7-51.2)
had been read for his sake, he immediately left the
churc h, and the possessions that he had inher ited from
his ancestor s (there were three hu nd red fertile and very
pros pero us acres), he freely gave away to peopl e from
his village so that they would not both er him or his sis-
ter about anything. He sold all his rem aining posses-
sions and , collectin g a conside rable amount of mon ey,
distr ibuted it among the poor, keeping a few thin gs for
his sister. When Anto ny entered the churc h again and
heard the Lord saying in the Gospe l "Do not be con-
cerned about tom or row" [Mt 6:34], he could no lon ger
bear to remain there so he left and distr ibut ed his re-
mainin g things amo ng those less well off. His sister he
entrusted to well-know n and faithfu l virgins, giving her
to them to be raised in virginity, while he devoted him -
self to ascetic practice in front of his home, watchin g
over him self spiritually and practicing patient en- Th is "m ountain" was Mo unt Colzim (Q ulzum), near
durance. (Life 2.2-3.1) th e site of the pr esent-da y Mon astery of St. An to ny. In
Egypt th e Nile is the center of geography. Away from it is
According to the Life, Antony pr acticed asceticism
desert; beyond that is th e "fur the r" or "rem oter" desert,
first outside his village, then in a tomb, and next in a de-
wh ere Antony now cho se to live." Therefore, although the
serted fortress; around the year 285, after living ascetically
Nile is in the center of th e country, to move away from it is
for about fifteen years near home, Antony "set out for th e
to journey not to the exter ior, as we would th ink , but to
mountain, " Mount Pispir, east o f th e Nile (presen t-day
th e int eri or, to th e desert. Th e early monks saw th is int e-
Deir el-Ma im un, ju st so uth o f Koreima t), about 75 km .
rior wild erness as both a geog ra phical an d a spiritu al real-
so uth of Memphis, halfway betw een p resent-da y Itfih and
ity, where th ey co nfronted th e aridity of the earth and of
Beni Suef," Here he lived in a deserted fo rt, wh ich was to
th e heart. But in thi s desert th e monk , as a n ew Ada m and
become his "outer mountain " (Life 11.1). 7 After livin g as
Eve, also found parad ise regained." In thi s interior Antony
a solitary th ere for twenty years, Antony eme rged aro und
found a water so ur ce and a cave, and he pr epared a garden
305/30 6 to instruct the crowds that came to h im in th e
(Life 49 - 50; fig. 1.3). Fam e, and disciple s, followed him ,
ascetic life. Fina lly feelin g hemmed in, aro u nd 313 Anto ny
however , an d he jo urneyed back and fo rth bet ween Co l-
resolved to push furth er int o th e desert ; while wai ti ng
zim and Pisp ir. Antony was to spend the rest of h is life at
on the banks of th e Nile for a boat to take him so uth to
Co lzim, dyin g in 356.10
th e T heba id, he had a vision inst ruc ting him to follow
Wh ile livin g on th e inner mountain , An to ny ma de
so me Sarac ens into "the int erior desert. " According to
freque n t visits to Pispi r to minister to the monks an d
Athanasius,
crowds at th e oute r mountain . Accor ding to th e Life,
1.3 Antony traveled th ree days and three night s with them Anto ny was much so ught after fo r co u nsel, healing, and
Entrance to th e Cave of 51.Antony and came to a very high mountain, and at the foot of the even legal me diation. Athanasius portrays him as a wo nd er
moun tain was very clear water, sweet and very cold. worke r, healer, an d seer. Monastic tra ditio n ind ependent
Away fro m the mountain there was a plain , and a few of th e Life repo rts th at aro und 338 An tony, alon g with
un attend ed date palms. Anto ny, as one mo ved by God, Amo un of N itria, founded th e mo nas tic com m unity of
loved the place, for this was the place indicated by the Kellia (Ce lls), between Nitria and Scetis (Wad i al-Natrun),

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-
ST . ANTONY AN D TH E MONAS TERY. CA . A .D . 251 TO 1 2 3 2/1 2 3 3
about halfway between modern Cairo and Alexandria;
once when Antony visited, Amoun told him that becau se
of his pra yers the number of brothers at Nitria was in-
creasing and some of them wanted cells where they cou ld
live in peace (that is, farther away from ot her monks). So
Anto ny adv ised Amoun tha t after they ate at the ninth
hour (aro und 3 P.M.), th ey sho uld go out into th e desert
and look for a new locatio n; th ey walked until sunset,
pr ayed, and planted a cross to mark th e new community.I I
They picked thi s spot so th at th e m onks at Nitria could
visit those at Kellia after th e afternoon meal. "If the y do
this," Antony said, "they will be able to keep in tou ch with
each other without distra ction of mind .?" Kellia, th ere-
fore, becam e a sort of "gra d uate school" for monks; after
some tim e at Nitr ia, th ose who wished greater solitude ,
like Evagrius of Pontus, cou ld th en m ove to th e Cells.
An tony's rationale for th e location , however, underlines
the con tinued desire for comm unity and concourse. T he
Life of Antony 60.3 says that the journey from Nitria to
Anto ny's inner mountain was th irteen days and dem on-
strates th at mon ks were already travelin g between th e
north ern mon astic communities and Anto ny's. The Apoph-
tliegmata , or Sayings of th e desert fathe rs and mothers,
also reports visits to Antony by Amoun and Macarius
the Gr eat, the founder of monasticism in Scetis (Wad i
al-Natrun )."
Thus Cassian's "Abraharnic" understanding of An-
tony is not wildly exaggerated. St. Shenoute is reported to
have proclaimed, "If you gather together all the monks in
the world , there wou ld not be a single Antony am ong
them," whi le Serapion, bishop of Thmuis and a disciple
of Antony, wrote to Antony's followers after the great
monk's death in 356 and told them that with Antony's de-
parture Egypt was bein g torn apa rt and was in an guish."
Monasticism in the differ ent parts of Egypt developed
quite independently of Anto ny, with such leaders as Mac-
ar ius, Apo llo of Bawit, Pachomius, and Sheno ute; never-
the less, the sources clearly show that Antony influen ced
the monastic communities of Scetis and Kellia.
Later tradition would remember Antony in even
larger terms: when it was tim e for th e founde r of mon asti-
cism at Scetis, Macar ius th e Great, to go to his rest, Antony
and Pachomius, th e "cofounders" of mo nasticism , came
to tell him the hour of his death. IS Anto ine Guillaumont
accepts this ancient understanding: "T he monastic life led
in th e deserts of Seetis, Nitr ia, and Kellia was along th e lines
of An to nian m onasticism; its character was fundamen tally
anchoritic, d isting uished from the monasticism, cenobitic
in nature, that was led in the monasteries founded by St.
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Pachomius in Upper Egypt. It was, to be more precise,
sem i-a nchoritism , a type of life th at assured a sort of equ i-
librium between the solitary and communal life.,,16 Th e
term A ntonian monasticism needs to be carefu lly defined.
Unlike Pachomius, Antony does not appear to have set
out to "fo und" a type of monasticism, semianchoritism;
thus "Pac hornian " and "Anto nian " monasticism should
not sim ply be paired or juxta posed as tho ugh all m onasti-
cism or iginates fro m th ese two founde rs. Fur ther more, it
is not kno wn th at Ant ony and his early disciples practiced
th e sem iancho ritic way of life followed at Kellia, although
it seems likely th at such a prac tice did develop at Mount
Colzim in th e four th century.
Anto ny did ind eed leave a legacy, bo th in Lower
(no rthern) Egypt, at Kellia and Scetis, and in th e south; in
an tiquity his feast day was a major celebra tio n at St. Shen-
c ute 's W hite Monastery at Atripe (Panopolis/Akh m im) ."
"Antonian," - that is, anchoritic and semianchoritic-
mo nasticism was also influential in Sinai and Palestine ."
Undoubted ly Antony left discip les. Shortly after his death,
the monks who had gathered aro und him on Mo unt
Co lzim founded a mon astery that to thi s day bears his
nam e: Deir An ba Antunius. " The chro nicler "Ab u Salih"
well represents Antony's co nside rable statur e in tradition:
"T his great saint, Antony, was th e first monk who clothed
him self in woo l, and exhibited the monastic habit, and left
the world and dwelt in the desert s.':" A great modern his-
torian of Egyptian monasticism, Evelyn White, has n u-
anced Abu Salih's enco mi um and justly concluded: " It was
Antony who first revealed the possibilities of the desert and
thereby became the originator of monasticism.'? '
An tony and th e monaste ry that bears his name are
part of th e am azing phenomenon of fourth-century
Egyptian monastici sm. Aro und 330, when Antony was
living on the inner mountain , Amoun and Macarius
fou nd ed m on astic commun iti es at Nitr ia and Scetis, re-
spec tively. By the en d of th e fo urth cen tury, a mere fifty
years after Amoun and Macarius had gone out into the
desert, Nitria may have had as many as three to five thou-
sand monks." Around 320 Pachomius founded the first
community of his koinon ia at Tabe nnes i in Upper (sout h-
ern) Egypt; accordi ng to Jero me, around the year 400
"nearly fifty thousand mo nks took part in the an n ual
meeting of Pacho mian mo nks.? " The Historia Monac ho-
tum rep orts th at th ere were ten th ou sand monks at
Oxyrhynchus in th e fifth century; th ou gh th e numbers
may be exaggerated, Oxyrhynchus does seem to have been
a mon astic tow n. Shenoute may have led as m any as four
thousand mal e and female monastics."
 ST. ANTONY T HE GREAT
Such numbers seem as astounding today as they
were in the fourth and fifth centuries, though for different
reasons. Why did so many people, both men and women,
embrace the monastic life? It would be presumptuous to
offer anything here other than a humble answer to such a
vast and spir itually subtle subject. On this matter, per haps
it is best to quote someo ne who was a mo nk, a citizen of
the four th and fifth centuries, and a pilgrim to Egypt:
Cassian. According to him , the monks "so ught out the re-
cesses of th e desert not, indeed, because of faintheart ed -
ness or an unhealth y imp atience but from a desire for
higher progress and divine contem plation . . .. Th ey desire
to engage the dem on s in an open strugg le and in out-a nd-
out combat, and they are not afra id to penetrate the vast
recesses of the desert in imi tatio n of Joh n the Baptist"
! I
(fig. 1.4).25 Cassia n here sum ma rizes several main them es
i·· of mon asticism: th e desire for th e contem plation of God ,
I
combat with th e dem ons, and, in th e figure of John th e
Bapti st, the belief that monasticism is a biblical calling,
even the biblic al calling."
1.4 Athanasius, in th e LifeofAntony, clearly understands
John the Baptist (C3) Anto ny's call and life as a respo nse to the comma ndments
of Scripture ; as Ada lber t de Vogue has concluded, "Athan-
asius sees in Antony's asceticism a discipline who se ori gins
lie in Hol y Scripture and in that alon e.,,27Such a basic an-
swer has been challenged recen tly by historians who em -
phasize po litical and sociological motives, but as Armand
Veilleux has pointed out, "All th e mot ivations th at [the
mon ks] th emselves revealed to us in their writings came
from Scriptur e. Do we have a right to pretend we know
their secret motivations better than the y did?" 28 Cassians
work as a whole demon str ates that th e ultimate goal for the
monk, biblicall y founded, is th e Kingdom of God- that is,
union with God in pra yer. In on e of the mo st eloq uent
summations of the monastic goal, Abba Isaac, a monk of
the Egyptian desert, proclaims in the Conferences of Cass-
ian that union occurs "when every love, every desire, every
effor t, every undert akin g, every th ou ght of ours, every-
th ing that we live, that we speak, that we breathe, will be
God, .. . that whatever we breat he, whatever we under-
stand, whatever we speak, may be God."29
The Letters of St. Antony
The Life of Anto ny presents th e great ascetic as un lettered,
defeating the pagan enem ies of Chr istianity not with
"em pty syllogisms" but by deed and example (Life 1,
72-74), but thi s representatio n has mor e to do with
Atha nas ius's purposes, it seems, than with the facts of
Antony's life: Athanasius's goal is to show that a simple
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monk, living in accord with the Cross of Christ, is much
closer to God than educated pagan philosophers (Life
72-80 ).30 But Antony, it now appears certain, wrote a
number of letters (seven are extant); not only that, the
letters reveal someone well versed in popular Platonic
philosophy and the Alexandrian theological tradition:
Antony "was no 'ignorant monk' who had simpl y ex-
cha nged th e garb of the peasant for the monastic habit,"
but was a teacher who knew the works of the great biblical
exegete and Christian phil osoph er O rigen of Alexandr ia
(185-254) and who "wore a monk's garme nt as if it was the
robe of a philosopher.'? ' Such a conclusion is im po rtan t
with regard not only to o ur un derstanding of Antony but
of early Egyptian mo nasticism in general: earl ier scho lars
rejected th e authent icity of Antony's letters because, they
assumed, th e early monks were uneducated and th eologi-
cally naive. Such, we now kn ow, was not th e case, eithe r
with Anto ny or with many other mon ks.
In his letters Anto ny emphasizes gnosis, "knowledge,"
and thus echoes the Greek phil osophical traditi on , "Know
th yself." His use of "wisdo m" also connects him with th e
bibli cal Wisdo m traditi on (Prove rbs, Ecclesiastes, th e
Song of Songs). Anto ny does not stand alone in these em -
ph ases: both of these tradition s manifest th emselves in
other early monastic writing s." Th e Antony of the Life, by
contrast, uses gnosis 'only twice (Life 77.3-4), where it
equals faith, and he does not make use of the Wisdom tra-
diti on . He doe s em phasize self-knowledge and discern -
ment (Life 16-43), however, and other aspects of his
thought in the Life mirror tho se found in the letters: the
imp ortance of understanding demons, the mo vement s of
th e soul, polemic against the Arian s, and Platon ic ideas on
divin e immovability." Thus, altho ugh much of the Life of
Antony is dependent on Athanasius's own thought and
theology, the Antony it presents cannot be divorc ed from
the Antony of the letters, and thu s from the ascetic and
monk whose anachoresis (withdrawal) lies at th e histori cal
and spiritual foun dation of the Mo nastery of St. Antony.
Abba Antony and the Apophthegmata Patru m
Atha nas ius's portra it of Anto ny was no t the on ly one."
Ot her traditions about him circ ulated in desert circles,
some of them recorded in a remarkable collection known
as the Apophthegmata Patrum, or Sayings of the Fathers .
Anto ny appears here not as a myt hic hero unflinch ingly
battlin g th e forces of evil. Instead, he speaks as a venerable
abba (or "father") , one of the "o ld men" consulted by
younger monks for advice on mo nast ic living.
In the Life, Antony dramatically renounces his farn-
- ST. ANTONY AND TH E MONASTE RY. CA . A .D . 251 T O 1232/ 1233
ily holdings after hearing the story of Jesus' call to the
rich young man. The Apophthegmata, likewise, portrays
Antony as an advocate of radical renunciation. One day, he
is approached by a mo nk who has supposedly "renounced
the world" but has actually kept back a little mon ey in safe-
keeping, some thing to fall back o n. T he monk wants
Anto ny's advice on th e m att er. Anto ny tells him th at if he
really wants to be a monk, he needs to go bu y som e m eat
and cover his naked body with it. An odd demand, but th e
monk does as he is told. Draped with meat, he finds him-
self nipped at by local dogs and peck ed at by birds. It leaves
him wo unded all over. Wh en he returns, Antony then an -
swers him: "Those who ren ounce th e wo rld but want to
keep some thing for th em selves are torn in th is way by th e
dem ons who make war on th em. ?"
Athanas ius's Life portrays Anto ny as a teacher of as-
ceticism . The Apophthegmata stresses thi s as well. But here
Anto ny delivers his ascetical m essage no t in lon g o ratio ns
but in terse epigrams:
Abba Antony said: "Always have the fear of God before
your eyes. Remember him who gives death and life.
Hate the world and all that is in it. Hate all peace that
comes fro m the flesh. Renounce this life, so that you
may be alive to God. Remember what you have pro-
mised God, for it will be required of you on the day of
judgement. Suffer hunger, thirst, nakedness, be watch-
ful and sorrowfu l; weep and groan in your heart; test
yourselves, to see if you are worthy of God; despise the
flesh, so that you may preserve your souls." J6
Here the accent is stern, austere. But other sayings
offer balance. In one, Antony warns against excesses:
monks who fast too much lack discernment and are "far
from God."J7 According to th e Apophthegmata, Antony
sometimes practiced a measured laxity. Once a hunter was
scandalized when he happened upon Anto ny enjo ying
himself with some of the brothers. To explain his beh avio r,
Antony had the hunter shoot one arrow after ano ther.
After a while, the hunter grumbled that such overuse
wou ld break th e bow. An tony then rep lied tha t it is th e
same with th e brothers, that stretched too taut too ofte n,
th ey risk sna pping."
The Life emphasizes Antony's majestic calm and in -
tegrit y. The Apophthegmata, too, m en tions th e power of
his pr esence. One story recounts ho w three monks went
out to visit him every year. Two poured out their inn er
th ou ght s and plied him with qu estion s, but th e thi rd re-
m ained silent. One tim e Anto ny asked th e silent one: "You
come to see me, but ask nothing." The monk rep lied:
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"Abba, it is enough just to see you.?"
The Life portrays Antony as heroic, larger than life.
The Apophthegmata, too, accords him great respect. When
Abba Hilarion, a Palestinian monk, visited Antony, he
called hi m a "pillar of light, giving light to the wor ld." :"
And when Abba Sisoes, who took up reside nce on th e
Inner Mountai n after Anto ny's death , was asked when he
would rea ch his predecessor's stature, he replied: "If I had
one of Abba Antony's thoughts, I would becom e all
flam e."" But such veneration is balanc ed by oth er state-
ments. One saying notes, for instance, that Antony re-
ceived a revelation that th ere was in Egypt a man of equal
sanctity and that th at man had achieved his sanctity not in
th e desert but am id th e temptation s of th e city. The m an , it
turns o ut, was a doctor who gave th e bul k of his earn ings
to th e poor and each day sang th e Trisagion (" Ho ly, Holy,
Ho ly") with th e ange ls."
Altho ugh th ere are kindred themes between th e Life
and th e Apophthegmata, even a few direct para llels, the dif-
ferences are str iking. The Apoplithegmata ma kes no m en-
tion of th e theological issues so centra l to th e Life. The
Anto ny of the Apophthegntata denounces neith er Meli-
tian s no r Arians. He shows no kn owledge of a th eology of
deification, nor doe s he make pronouncements on the
generation of the Son from the Father. The Antony of the
Apophthegmata teaches a sim pler, blunter faith . When
asked by a monk what he ought to do, Antony tells him:
"W hoever you m ay be, always have God before your eyes;
whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the
ho ly Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily
leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.?"
Th ere are other contrasts. Wh en the Antony of the
Life receives a letter from Em pero r Con stantine, he is re-
luctant to respond, saying that the empero r is a mere man;
when th e Antony of the Apopht hegmata receives a lett er
from Em pero r Constantius, summ oning him to the imp e-
rial capital, he is tempted to go and asks the advice of his
discip le, Abba Paul. Paul offers a shrewd warning: " If you
go, you will be called Antony; but if you stay he re, you will
be called Abba Anto ny."" In the Life, Athanasius claims
that after Anto ny's fierce early battle, he was ever after free
fro m sexual temptation . The Anto ny of th e Apophtheg-
mata offers a very different perspective. He is rem emb ered
as saying that wh ile most people face three co nflicts-
hearing, speech, and sight - the desert solitary is left with
onl y on e: fo rnication."
But th e con tr ast goes deeper. Wh ereas th e Anto ny of
th e Life is fearless, un wavering in the face of ascetic hard -
ships and demonic onslaughts, the Antony of the Apoph-
 ST . ANTONY THE GREAT
thegmata is more human and vulnerable. He anguishes
abo ut the justice of God-that some die young, that the
wicked prosper, th at human society is ren t by fissures be-
tween rich and po or. He gets dep ressed, afflicted by the te-
dium of desert living. And when he is rescued from it by a
vision, th e vision itself is hardly spectac ular. He sees a per-
so n-actually an angel in th e appea rance of a man -
braiding rop e, occasionally risin g to pr ay and then return -
ing to his work . "And the an gel said to him, 'Do th is and
you will be saved.' At these words , Antony was filled with
joy and courage. He did th is, and he was saved.?" finally,
the Anto ny of th e Apophthegmata reveals a per son who
has gro wn in his faith: "Abba Antony said, ' I no lon ger fear
God, bu t love him. For love casts out fear.'?"
St. Antony a nd St . Paul th e Simple
The Life of Antony speaks onl y of two (unnamed) disciples
of th e great monastic, alth ou gh there were undoubtedly
mor e. The mo st famous (along with Serapion ofThm uis)
is Paul the Simpl e, who is kn own from a variety of so ur ces:
the Apophthegmata, the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto,
the Lausiac History of Palladi us, and the Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Sozo me n. Apophthegmata Antony 31 identifies
"Abba Paul" as a disci ple of Anto ny (he is referred to as
"the Simp le" in the other sour ces, includin g Apophtheg-
Illa ta Paul the Simp le 1). Sozo me n vividly relates (History
1.13) th at Paul lived in th e country and was marr ied to a
beauti ful wom an , whom he sur prised in flagrante delicto .
He received thi s with equa nim ity, however, left her with
her param our, and went off imm ediately to joi n Anto ny in
the desert. Because Paul was old and unaccustomed to as-
cetic rigor , Sozomen says, Antony tested him with various
tria ls, found him evincing "perfect philosophy" (as
mon asticism is oft en called in the Greek sour ces), an d sent
him off to live as a herm it. Sozomen adds th at Paul was
known for his meekness and patience.
Palladius fleshes out thi s spa re account in great det ail
iLausiac History 22).'8 Paul, he says, was "a rust ic herd s-
man " and his wife "a mo st beautiful wom an of a debased
character." Wh en he caught her in adultery, he sm iled and
said to the man, "Go, have her and her children, too; I am
going off to be a monk. " He tr aveled for eight days and
came to Anto ny and told him that he wished to become a
mon k. Whe n Anto ny saw that Paul was sixty years old, he
told him to return to his village: "Yo u would never endure
the trial s and tribulations of the desert." When Paul in-
sisted th at he wanted to stay, Antony told him to go to a
ceno bitic communi ty an d closed th e door on him. Three
days later, Antony emerged to find Paul patiently waiting.
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Antony then tried Paul with a series of ascetic tests, one of
which, the Historia Monachorum reports, was to break a
jar of honey, pour it out on the ground, then "gather up
th e hon ey again with a spoo n witho ut collecting any di rt
with it."' 9 After Paul passed these tests, Anto ny pro -
claimed, "Beho ld, you have become a mo nk." After Paul's
"novi tiate" of some m on ths, Antony built a cell for him
"three or four mil es away" and told him, "Stay here by
yourse lf in ord er that you may be tem pted by dem on s."
Paul, Palladius says, "stayed th ere a year and was deem ed
worthy of grace over dem on s and passion s."
Wh at is str iking in th e tradition is th at Anto ny con -
sidere d Paul to have a greater charis ma over demons th an
he himself: "Indee d, tho se dem on s which Antony was un -
able to exorci se he sent to Paul, who drove them out in-
stan tly.?" Palladius says that when a demo niac, " possessed
as it were by th e very Princ e of Demon s, on e who cursed
heaven itself," was br ou ght to Anto ny, he confessed that he
had "no t yet been deem ed worthy of power over the ru ling
order" of dem on s and sen t the dem on iac to Paul, whose
"task" it was to heal the man. Paul at first was un successful
but finally went and "stood on the rock of the mo untain
and pr ayed" to Christ, "I will not come down from the
rock, or eat, or drink, until death overtakes me, un less You
cast o ut the spir it from the man and free him. " Before Paul
had finished speaki ng: the spir it came ou t of the man,
changed into "a great serpent seventy cub its long and was
swept int o the Red Sea." This traditi on , still reme mbered a
hundred years ago, was told to Pere Iullien , a Jesuit who
visited St. Antony's in 1884. More th an halfway up the trail
to the Cave of St. Antony, lulliens guide stopped him be-
fore a big rock within a small enclo sure of dri ed brick and
to ld him that these were the ru ins of St. Paul's cell: "W hen
th e holy patri arch [Anto ny] found those who were ill or
possesse d who m he was unable to heal, he sent them to his
discip le, convinced that Paul the Simple had received a
more abundant grace in these matt ers. See this large rock
weighing mor e tha n one hundred po unds: one day Paul
placed it o n his head , saying to God that he wou ld not re-
mo ve it until he had obtained healin g for a possessed per-
son who had been brought to him ."" Those ruin s are now
a sma ll barrel-vaulted chapel, of recent construc tion, that
sits on a flat stretch of rock to the east, dedicated to Paul
the Simp le. Accor ding to Father Lazarus, a solitary who
lives near the cave of St. Anto ny, each night a sma ll part y
climbs the mountain to celebrate the Eucharist at mid -
night , either at St. Anto ny's Cave or, if the gro up is too
lar ge, in th e Churc h ofSt. Paul the Simp le. At a bend in the
road visible to Lazarus in his hermitage, the party coming
D
ST. ANTONY AND TH E MONASTERY . CA . A .D . 2S1 TO 1232 / 12 33
1.5 L E FT u p the hill signals to him which place th ey will mee t;
Raven and loaf ( N1- N2; ADP/SA BW Lazarus then tu rn s an d heads over the mountain to meet
122:6 ) them."
1.6 RIG H T St. Antony the Great and St. Paul of Thebes
leon of Antony and Paul (ADP/SA Altho ugh Anto ny can ju stly be called the "father" or "orig-
4 56 3 9 6 ) inator" of mo nasticism, he was n ot the first ascetic or
monastic; th e Life itself, dedicated to Anto ny's beatifica-
tion, reveals th is fact (3.3) ; Anto ny's uniqueness, at least
initially, was his anac horesis, or withdrawal, into th e desert
(n. i) . The Life of Paul, the First Hermit, by the acerbic St.
Jerom e, would den y even that honor to Anto ny," Written
in Latin abo ut 377, th e Life purpo rts to show th at th e two
d isciples who bur ied Anto ny, Amat has, an d Macarius (who
are ano nymous in the Life of AlltollY 91.1, 92.2), "now also
swea r th at a cer tain man of The bes named Paul was the
first hermit, altho ugh not recogni zed as such. This belief
we also follow."?'
Accor d ing to Jero me, Paul was sixteen at th e time of
the Decian persecution in 250 (the year before Antony's
birth ): "When th e storm of per secution began to rage, he
withdrew to a remote and little -known estate" ; then, be-
trayed by his brother-in-law, he "took refuge in an unin-
habited mountainous region ."55 Th ere Paul lived as th e
first hermit. When he was ll 3 and Anto ny 96 (in 347), "o ne
night a dr eam revealed to Antony th at an other and bett er
monk than he existed, one whom he ought to seek OUt. ,,56
After m uch travel and encounters with beasts, centaurs,
and dwarfs, Antony found Paul in a cave. When the two sat
down to eat, a raven brought them a loaf of bread: "Tru ly,"
Paul said, " the Lord is gracious and compassionate. For
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l
sixty years now, I have received half a loaf, but now that
you have co me, Chr ist has doubled the ration for his sol-
diers" (fig. 1.5).57Paul then said that Antony had been sent
to bury him, and he asked his guest to bring "the cloak that
Bishop Athanasius gave you, to serve as a shroud for my
body.?" W hen Antony returned, he found Paul knee ling
in prayer, dead . Two lio ns.appeare d an d d ug Paul's grave.
Antony buried Paul, th en "claimed for himself Paul's
tunic" and returned to his own mon astery. O n Easter and
Pentecost "Antony always wore Paul's tunic" (fig. 1.6).59
Scho lars, how ever, have been ' reluctant to follow
Amathas and Macarius, or Jerom e." Jerome, it m ust be
said, does not hide th e tenden tiou s natur e of the Life he
has pen ned: huius vitae auctor Paulus, inlustrator Antonius
("the author of this [monastic way of] life was Paul,
Antony was its representative")." Six separate Greek tra ns-
lation s of th e Life of Paul show th e popularity of Jerome's
revisionist efforts: Jerome was successful at asserting Paul's
pr iority, at least in the eastern Churc h, where Paul is re-
membered as the first monk." The Coptic Ch urch usua lly
rem em be rs Antony and Paul in tand em : wall paintings at
th e Monastery of St. Anto ny and th e Mo nas tery of St.
Macarius (Wad i al-Na tru n) depi ct Paul and Antony to-
geth er, while The Commemoration of the Saints, in th e
mod ern Litur gy of St. Basil, invok es at th e beginning of a
list of monastics "o ur righteou s father the great Abba
Antony, [and ] the righteous Abba Paul.,,63
Whatever the relatio nship betwe en Antony and Paul,
th e two monasteries that bear their names constitute "the
m ost vene rable monument s of Coptic Egypt."?' Th e fact
that the Gallic monk and chro nicler Sulpicius Severu s vis-

1.7
Mon astery of SI. Paul, 1930-1931
(W hittemo re Expedition. Courtesy
of Dumbart on Oak s, A126)
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ST . ANTONY THE GREAT
ited a monastery with Paul's nam e shows that it existed
befor e 400. 6SGiven Sulpicius's report, there is a strong pos-
sibility that Paul at least existed, regard less of Jerome's
hagiograph ical improvements. It is possib le that a com-
mu nity formed in th e late fourt h century aro und th e site
where Paul had lived and th at a churc h was built for the
mon astic community in th e fifth century," "Abu Salih,"
who seems to have visited the monastery in th e last qu ar-
ter of the twelfth century, vaguely (but accurately) says
that it "stands on th e bank of the Salt Sea. . .. It stands in
th e Wadi al-'Arabah, near th e pool of Miriam ; and it is
near Mount Sina i, bu t divided from it by th e passage over
th e Salt Sea.,,67 More specifically, St. Paul's (Deir Anba
Bula) is located 244 meters above sea level in the Jabal al-
Ialalah al-Q ibliyyah or Southern Galala Plateau; St. An-
ton y's and St. Paul's lie on opposite sides of thi s plateau,
St. Anto ny's to th e north and St. Paul's to the so uth (fig.
1.7). Situated 25 km. apart (86 km . by roa d) , th e mo naster -
ies of St. Antony and St. Paul, like their na mesakes, have
shared a common history," As the Abba Antonius Doxol-
ogy in the liturgy of St. Basil prays:
Hail to our father Antony,
The lamp of monasticism.
Hail to our father Paul,
The beloved of Christ.
Ask the Lord on our behalf,
our masters, the fathers who love their children,
Antony and abba Paul,
that He may forgive us our sin."
10
The Monastery of St. Antony
GE O G R A P H Y A N D ORIGI NS
According to the Life of John the Little, after the inva-
sion of the monastic desert by marauders in 407, John
"left Scetis with the rest of our God-bearing fathers , with
Christ guiding him to the mountain of the great Antony in
the interior of Klysma-a day's walk," while the Ethiopic
Synaxary says that John "went to the monastery of St.
Abba Antony in the deser t of Kuelzem [Colzim l.Y'Klysma
(al-Q uzum) is at the top of the Gulf of Suez (it lies under
the modern town of Suez), while Antony's monastery lies
on the southern slope of the Wadi al-'Arabah, 350 m.
above sea level, some 125 km. south of Klysma and 30 km.
west of the Gulf-certainly more than one day's journey,"
As mentioned earlier, Antony's first monastic site was at
Pispir, modern-day Deir al-Maymun, where a village ex-
ists today, along with two churches. One ancient source
descri bes Pispi r as the "high mo untain over hanging" the
Nile, Antony's "outer mountain.?" In his Ecclesiastical
History 2.8, Rufinu s says that he visited Pispir, "wh ich was
called 'An to ny's mountain' [mons Antoniij .?"
Antony's inner mountain, Colzim, is some 140 km .
east of Pispir. Accord ing to the Life, "Antony traveled
three days and th ree night s ... and came to a very high
mountain, and at the foot of the mountain was very clear
water , sweet a~d very cold" (49.7).74 An Arab tradition,
mentioned by th e historian Maqri zi, relates that the
prophetess Miriam, th e sister of Moses, bathed in this
spri ng at th e tim e of the Exod us." It is not certain wheth er
the present-day mon astery of St. Anto ny is built on
Antony's ori ginal site; it lies at th e foot of mo untains
whose gro ttos, according to written tradition going back
to the fifth century, were Antony's first retreat. "St. Anto ny's
cave" lies two kilom eters southwest of the monastery, 626
meters above th e Red Sea, and 276 meters above the mon-
astery." As Jon es has suggested, however, it is possible that
Antony's first cave was the recess now found in the south-
eastern portion of the Church of St. Antony, off the west-
ern end of the nave, which may be the oldest part of the
church; if so, this dwelling would have been only a min-
ute 's walk from the spring that to this day supplies the
monastery with water. Thus the present monastery may
indeed be built on the site ofAntony's first occupation (fig.
1.8). The cave in the mountain, the site of the current
shr ine, may have been used by Antony as a "re treat." What-
ever the case, Antony's cave is not mentioned in the Life of
Antony, but references to it exist in other ancient sources:
in 356, shortly after Antony's death , Sisoes, a monk at
•
ST. ANTONY AND THE MONASTERY , CA . A .D . 251 TO 1232 /1233
1.8 Scetis, found that monastic community too crowded and
Monastery ofSt. Anto ny emigrated to Mount Colzim, where he may have lived in
Antony's cave; the HistoriaMonachorum mentions Antony
watching from his cave as his disciple Paul the Simple
" roast jed] in the sun.,,77
Very little is known about the monastic community
that grew up in the second half of the fourth century
around Antony's original site, but numerous monasteries
were founded near a famous an chorite's dwelling." Ac-
cording to local monastic tradition , the first construction
of the monastery took place in 315, while "Abu Salih," the
thirteenth -century chronicler, reports that the Monastery
ofSt. Antony was built during the reign of lulian the Apos-
tate (355-361). One reason that this site may have been
chosen for a monastery was a nearby tr ade route th at ran
south from Clysma alon g the gulf, then turned inland where
St. Paul's still stands in or de r to reach th e Via Had rian a,
which led to th e Nile.79 The Wad i al-'Arabah in anti q uity
was a well-kn own tr ade route from th e Red Sea to th e Fay-
oum." Rufinus, th e Latin monk and translato r of man y
m on astic works fro m Gree k int o Latin, apparently visited
the area around 375.8 1 Sulpicius Severus says that he visited
"two m on asteries of the blessed Antony, which are today
occu pied by his disciples," as well as th e site of Paul th e
hermit." Sulpicius's first Dialogue can be dated to th e year
4 0 0, suggesting that a second Anto nian co m m unity devel-
ope d between Anto ny's death and th e end of th e fourt h
century; perh aps Sulpicius is referr ing to mon astic com-
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munities at Pispir and Colzirn ." Rufinus and Sulpicius, in
th ese earlie st known reports concern ing Anto ny's monas-
teries, demonstrate th e renown that Anto ny (and Paul) al-
read y had in the Latin West during the fourth century. The
pilgrims who today ride bu ses out to St. Antony's have
spiritual ancestors dating back fifteen hundred years (see
chapters 10 and 13).
Because the area around Deir Anba Antunius has not
undergone systematic excavation, it is not po ssible to give
a com plete archeological histo ry of th e m on aste ry, al-
though parallel developments elsewhere suggest a plausi-
ble picture. The first community at th e Monastery of St.
Antony was probably a laura, consisting of scattered cells
or monasteria, "small, low houses," where th e monks lived
separately, as did their brethren at Kellia and oth er fourth-
century m onastic communities." Th e " mo nastery" also
most likely include d a well and a ch urch, with a refectory
being added later. This co mm unity was undoubte dly
sem ianc horitic, like Kellia and Scetis in their early years,
rather th an ceno bitic, like th e co m m unities of Pachomius
and She no ute: th e monks lived in indi vid ual cells, separate
from each other, and gathered togeth er on Satur day an d
Sunday for a com munal meal and worship, th us com bin-
ing (in th e felicitous phrasing of Ant oin e Guillaumont)
"la vie solitai re et la vie solidaire" (solitary life and com -
munal lite)." Th e orga nization was minimal, with an abba
or "father" as leader, witho ut a for mal rule." As with ot her
semia nchoritic co m m unities in Egypt, however, a "cen -
 ST. AN TONY THE G REAT
tr ipetal tendency," primarily for reasons of safety and
security, gra dually brought the monks together in more of
a cenobitic community beh ind great walls, as one sees
today in the m onasteries of Egypt. 87
This evolution usually had two stages: first, a keep
(qasr) or tower of refuge was built, in whic h the monks
co uld flee fro m marauders. T he monasteries of Scetis
(Wad i al-Na tru n) were devastated m an y times in th e fifth
century, and it app ears th at keeps were built th ere in th e
mid-fifth century," Later the cent ral monastic area was
fortifi ed with a high wall; thi s to ok place in th e ninth cen-
tury at th e m on asteries of Scetis." The Mo nastery of St.
Anto ny, however, m ay have been for tified as early as th e
sixth cent ury, possibly because of its rem ot eness and sus-
cep tibility to maraud ers." Even with th e "enclosing" of th e
mon astery, however, it is prob able th at so me mo nks co n-
tinu ed th eir sem ianchoritic lives outside th e walls." The
enclosing of th e sem iancho ritic co m m unities of Egypt
"can thus be seen as a grad ual process spread over th e pe-
riod between th e fourth and ninth centur ies, as th e inde -
pend ence of th e hermits was gru dgi ngly sur rende red. Th e
first enclosures were th e rudim en tary walls aro und th e
cells of the more imp ortant ancho rites. ... Bitter experi-
ence th en led to th e rebuildin g of th e walls sur ro und ing
the nucleus in order to turn it into a defensible are a.,,92
Even after th e enclo sing of the cen tra l mo nastic area, man y
monks undo ub ted ly contin ued to live ou tside th e walls in
sma ller com pounds (Co ptic: m a n-sliope; Arabic man-
shobiyyav; these dwellin gs, o r at least th eir sandy shadows ,
can still be seen at the aba ndoned (and as yet undated)
Monastery of St. John th e Little in the Wadi al-Natrun and
at many other sites. By the fourteenth century, th e monks
throughout Egypt seem to have aband on ed th ese buildings
and moved behind central enclosures.
T HE MO N AS T ERY I N HI STORY
Any history of the Monastery of St. An ton y will con-
tain mor e silence th an so und, and th e historical traveler
m ust learn to stand h umb ly befor e a desert expa nse th at
has relatively few markers or landmarks." This monastery
apparently produced no histories, chronicles, or lives of
the sain ts with which a historian m ight chart its course
thro ugh the centuries. Its story, therefore, is known pri-
mari ly th rou gh o utside events or through indiv iduals who
fo und th eir way th ere-as monks, as spiritual to ur ists, or
just as tourists- and whose lives were recor ded in dis-
parate sources (see cha pter 8 for a disc ussion of man y of
these acco unts). It is goo d to remem ber th at befor e the
construction of the Suez-Ras Gharib road in 1946, the
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12
monastery was very isolated, and it took great desire an d
effort, and even courage, to venture there." Nevertheless,
numbers of people did find their way to the monastery by
the Red Sea, and their stories shed light on both the history
of the Monastery of St. Antony and the Coptic Church.
The story of Bishop Menas of Thmuis is representa-
tive: Menas, forced to marry agains t his will, left his wife
an d went to th e Monastery of St. Antony. There he became
th e com pani on of Abba Michael. At so me point the two
left and went to "the mountain [mo nas tery] of St. Macar-
ius" in th e Wadi al-Na tru n. During th e patriarchate of
Simo n I (689-701), Menas becam e bishop of Th m uis or
Tmai , th ou gh "he wep t, and afflicted himse lf, and lamen-
ted at qu itting the desert. " As bishop, he received the pow-
ers of healing and discer nment." This story shows the im-
portance of both mon asteries and dem on st rates the
central role of mon asticism in th e Coptic Church. After
451 th e monasteries beca me increasingly im po rtant in th e
life of th e church ; by the late seventh century, bishop s
came largely from th e monasteries an d had a wide variety
of civil and ecclesiastical duties, and numerou s patriarchs
came from monastic com m unities. But because the Mo n-
aste ry of St. Anto ny was so remote, it likely did not even
lie within a typical dioc ese and thus did not contr ib ute
bishops to the local hierarchy. Th e first pat riar ch definitely
known to have come from St. Antony's is quite late:
Gabriel VI (1466- 1475).96
Just as th e Monastery of St. Anto ny mu st have had
comm unication, tho ugh scarcely docum ented, with Alex-
andria, its mo nk s probably also traveled on pilgrimage to
th e hol y sites in Jeru salem and to the Monastery of St.
Catherine on Mount Sinai, although unfort unately we
have no record of it. We kno w more about connection s be-
tween the Monastery of St. Antony and the church in
Ethiopia. Early in the tent h century, two monks from the
monastery went to Ethiopia, whi le during the patri ar chate
of Anba Yuan nis VI (1189- 1216), St. Antony's su pplied the
Ethiopian Ch urc h with leaders. Yuannis con secrated a cer-
tain Kilus, bishop of Fuwah, for the Ethiopian Churc h.
Four years later, accused of murder, Kilus had to flee, and
Ishaq of the Mo nas tery of St. Antony succeeded him." An
Ethiopian reference tells us th at Ghabrial ibn Turaik, sev-
en tieth pat riarch of Alexandria (1131-1145), was banished
to the Monastery of St. Paul for three years." Links be-
tween th e Mo nas tery of St. Anto ny and Ethiop ia co ntin ue
to thi s day: a few years ago an Ethiopian monk, Moses
(na med after the famo us Moses the Black of the fourth
century, fig. 1.9), lived in a cave above St. Antony's for the
fifty days of Lent."
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ST. ANTONY AND T HE MONASTERY . CA . A .D . 2S1 To 123 2/1233

1.9 AFTER C H A LCE D ON: T HE S CHISM B ETW E E N

Mo ses th e Black (N30; ADPISA 18 M EL K IT ES AN D C O P T S

519398 ) Abo ut on e hundred years after Ant ony's death , in

451, th e deci sions of th e Co unc il of Cha lcedo n on th e na -
ture of Chr ist essentially severed th e Chur ch in Egypt from
the sees of Consta ntinople and Rome."? Th e Egyp tian
Ch urc h became a national church, one that increasingly
used Coptic as its liturgical, biblical, and theological lan -
guage. Across this divide two groups confronted each
other, often with hostility, sometimes with violence: the
Me lkites (those who supported Chalcedon, usua lly Greek-
speakers), and the so-called Monophysites (those who
opposed Chalcedon and who were usually Coptic-speak-
ing). " : This conflict, of course, came to bear on the mon-
asteries of Egypt, includi ng that of St. Antony. Because
Copts have never appreciated the opprobrious term MOllo-
physite, for the two sides in th e dispute I will here use the
terms Me lkites or Cha lcedonians on the one hand an d Cop -
tic Orthodox on the other. 102
The monastic commun ity of Kellia, west of the Nile
de lta , phys ically illustrates the schism between Melkites
and Copts. Before 451, arc heo logica l evidence demon-
strates, Kellia ha d one churc h; after the m iddle of the fifth
cen tury , it had two- one for each side of th e Cha lcedo n-
ian schism.!" As Apa Phocas bluntly put it: "Kellia has two
ch urc hes: th e one belon gin g to the orthodox [Ch alced on-
ian s] ... th e other to th e Mon oph ysites."!" (It is goo d to
reme m ber th at each side called itself "orthodox.") Kellia
came to be a community literally divided agains t itself.
After Chalcedon, Alexandria remain ed Melkite, while
th e m onas teries an d th e coun trys ide were Co ptic Ortho-
dox: "The loss of Alexa ndr ia to the Chalcedonians had th e
effect of polarisin g di fferences between an ' im perial' or
'Melkite' churc h in Alexandria and th e 'C optic' or ' Mo no-
ph ysite' churc h in th e rem ainder of Egypt, who se cen ter
was now th e Mo nas tery of St. Macarius," sout hwest of th e
delta.!" In 516 the peo ple of Alexan dria riote d against
Emperor Anastasi us's choice of patriarch.f 'The pro-Cha l-
cedonian policies of Emperor Justinian I (527- 565) caused
havoc in th e Pachomian monasteries and apparentl y pre-
cipitated the breakup and demise of th e Pachomian
koinonia. When Justinian attempted to force the Chal-
cedonian position on th e monks, large numbers left the
monasteries, including Abba Abraham, the abbot of th e
chief monastery at Pbow. " "
St. Shenoute provided the Copts with a popular base
that was never lost, though it was probably not until the
early seventh century that the monks regarded themselves
"conscio usly as both Egyptian and anti-imperial."?" The

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 ST. ANTONY THE GREAT
History of the Patriarchs asserts that during the reign of
Peter IV (567-579), there were "six h un dred flo uri shing
m onasterie s, like beehi ves in th eir populousness, all in -
hab ited by th e orthodox, who we re all m onks and n u ns,
bes ides th irty-t wo far ms called 'Sakatina,' where all the
people held th e true faith, and the father and pat riar ch
Peter was th e ad mi n istra tor o f th e affairs of all of them. "!"
Late in th e sixt h ce ntury, John , bi sh op of Shm u n and a
monk, wrote an en comium on Anto ny in whi ch he patri-
ot ically praises Antony as bo t h the father of monasticism
and the father of Egyp t and exto ls Egyp t's greatness. !"
In 631 Em pe ro r H eraclius sen t Cy rus (a l-Makaukus) to
Egypt, and Cy ru s tri ed through force to unite the Me lkites
and Co ptic Orthodox. Deir Metras, the monastery resi-
dence of th e Co ptic Orthodox patriar ch, refu sed to accept
Chalcedo n, the m onks "be ing Egyp tians by race [that is,
not Greeks] and all of them natives, wit ho ut a stranger."!"
By the seven th century, before th e Ar ab in vasion In
641, "Eg yp tian m onasticism was th e heart a nd so ul of
Mon oph ysitism."!"
After the C halcedo n ia n schism, the monasteries of
St. Antony and St. Pau l, by co nt ras t, seem to have re-
mained in M elkite hands, unde r the influen ce of Mount
Sina i, until at least th e eight h or ninth cent ury.'!' In 615th e
Me lkite pat ria rch , St. John th e Almo ne r (609 -620), gave
Anas tas ius , hCgolll/lCllOS (abbo t) of St. Anto ny's, a large
amo un t of m oney to ra nsom those taken captive by the
Persian s.!'" Does that m ean th e monastery was Melki te?
Proba bly, but John was known- indee d, ca nonized-for
his generosity and for h is su ppo rt of the monasteries. In
790 o r 799 Coptic O rt ho dox m onks fro m th e Wadi al-Na-
tr u n had to use subte rfuge-a nd the help of bed ouins or
Arabs - to steal the body of St. John the Little from th e
Me lkite Chalcedo nians of St. Antony 's. JJS Aro und 800 th e
m on asteries of St. Anto ny a nd St. Paul m ay have tempo r-
ari ly co me under Co ptic control. Accord ing to Maqrizi,
durin g th e patriarch ate of Anba Murqus II (799-819), th e
patri ar ch of th e M elkites, tr ain ed in m edi cin e, we nt to
Baghdad to heal on e of th e caliph's co ncub ines, a Chris-
tian. H e cured her a nd , as a result, th e caliph o rde red th e
Co pts to return to th e Me lki tes m onasteries for me rly
under their co n tro l. This orde r m ay hav e also affected St.
Antony's.!"
By th e eleventh century or earlier, th e mo nas teries
of St. Antony and St. Paul were definitely in th e hands
of the Co ptic O rthodox. The fascinating sto ry of Mark ibn
al- Kan bar, related by "Abu Salih," dem onst rates th is. It
invol ves Chalcedo nians and anti-C halce donians, the Mon-
https://coptic-treasures.com/
14
astery of St. Antony, and even the body of the blessed saint
himse lf! " Al-Kanbar held a number of "unorthodox"
be liefs, not the least of whic h was hi s ad he rence to th e two
natures and two wills of Christ, and thus he ran afo ul of
the Coptic patriarchs John V (1145- 1167) and Mark III
(1167-1189). H e appar ently attracted a large eno ugh fo llow-
in g tha t so me bi sh ops alerted th e pa tr iarc h, who repri -
m anded h im . In 1174 Mark was take n under guard "with
deputies of th e pat riar ch " to th e Monastery of St. Antony,
where he and his followers, their heads shaven, wer e in -
terned . After en trea ties to th e patri ar ch by Ma rk's fam ily,
th e pop e o rdered the su perior of th e m on astery to lead
" that Mark to th e plac e in whi ch th e bod y of St. An to ny
lay, and require him to swear upon it a nd up on th e Gos pe l
of Iohn " th at he wo uld m end his ways. li B He d id so and was
released; however , he sho rtly "returned to hi s former ways
and did even wor se th an before," and "G od rem oved him
from the ranks of the orthodox ."!"
T he Mo nas tery of St. An to ny, as th ese sto ries illu s-
trate, witnessed periods of turbulen ce and upheaval, not
only between Chalcedo n ians a nd non- Chalcedon ians but
even with in the latter gro up (whic h included both Coptic
and Syrian O rthodox). After re turn ing to th e non- Ch al-
cedonians, the Mo nas tery of St. Anto ny seems for several
ce nturies to have co me unde r th e co ntrol of th e Syrian
Monastery of th e Wadi al-Natr un, The monastery appears
to have co me finally under Co ptic control earl y in the thir-
teenth century- a fact vitally im porta nt fo r th e hi story o f
the wa ll paintin gs at St. Antony's. Acco rd ing to a sc riba l
note in a Syriac manuscript origina lly from the Syria n
Mo nastery t hat can be dated to the thirtee nth century,
Abbot Co nstantine I, "fe d up " with th e insu lts of wicked
monks, fled to St. Antony's and took "the book of Mar
Isaac" with him, intending to return it; however , he fell
sick at "the Mo nas tery of th e glorio us Mar Anto ni us and
died there." T he note concl udes : "Let the Syrian brethre n
who co me after us to thi s monaste ry know th at in the co n -
ven t [m o nastery] of Abba Paulus, beside the Mo nas tery of
M ar An to n ius, wh ich belonged to th e Syrians like th is
[one], th ere are many Syriac books sti ll. But . . . the Syria ns
were driven th ence: the Egyp tians took it.,,120 Another
margin al note, " rather care lessly writte n," from anothe r
thirteenth-century Syriac m anuscri pt , complains that th e
Syrians, legitim ate owners of St. Paul's, have just bee n di s-
possessed by th e Copts.!" T he troubles at th e Syr ia n
Monaster y that led to Co nstantin e's flight can be pla ced
122
be tween 1222 and 1254. We know that m ost of th e wa ll
paintings at St. Anto ny's date to 123211 233.123 Because their
 ST . ANTONY AND THE MONASTERY, CA . A .D . 251 TO 12321 1233
program is reso lutely Coptic, and because we know that a
Syrian scribe complaine d of the Syrians ' losing St. Paul's in
the thi rteenth cen tury, we can say that Co nstant ine came
to St. An to ny's when it was still under Syrian con tro l,
some time before 1232, but by th at d ate th e Copts had taken
possession of the monastery. "Ab u Salih," writi ng earl y in
th e thirteenth century, identifies seven ch urches in th e
vicinity of the Monastery of St. Antony, six Coptic and
one Armenia n, no ne Syrian .!" Thus it seems that the wall
paintings were co mmissioned as a sort of celebra tion of
Co ptic identity after the expu lsion of the Syrians.!"
The Plight of t he Monasteri es after 641
Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt in 641. Not long after-
ward, several important monastic communities went into
declin e: at the Monastery of St. Jerem iah at Saqqara, "first
the sculptures representing living creatures had to be ex-
cised or hidden; then th e monastery must have been
sacked and the churches thoroughly destro yed."!" Th e
abandonm en t of the renowned mon astic community of
Kellia in the seventh to eighth centuries may have been du e
to changed economic conditions or to a combination of
religious and economic pressures from the new rulers of
Egypt.!" Little is explicitly known of th e Mo nas tery of St.
Anto ny in thi s period, so its history must be largely in-
ferred fro m even ts taking place in Egypt as a whol e. 128
Initially- and co ntra ry to what we mi ght expect -
th e cha nge from Byzanti ne to Arab ru le afte r 641 doe s not
seem to have been traum atic for th e nat ive Egypt ian popu-
lation. Maqrizi accura tely, if understated ly, ob serves that at
th e co nques t by th e Arabs, "the land of Egypt . . . was full
of Chr istians, but d ivid ed amo ng th em selves in two sects,
both as to race and religion."!" Fro m th e conquest until
th e reign o f ' Vm ar ibn 'Abd al-Aziz (717-720), the Arabs
were "broadly tolerant of th e Christia n Church and popu-
lace of Egypt" and supported the Copts over th e Melkite s.
" Both Arabs an d Copts regarded the Melkite Church as a
Greek church, th e tool of Co nsta ntinople and the repre-
sentative of Byzantine int erests in Egypt."!" Soon, how-
ever, th e monks came under increasing government
scrutiny. During th e patriarchate of Alexander I (701), th e
Arabs exacted six thousand dinars as tribute; 'A bd al-'Aziz
Ben Merwan, emir of Egyp t, o rde red a census of th e
monks and levied a tax of one din ar on every monastic, th e
first tribute taken from the monks.!" Late in the seventh
century, monks had to wear badges; if one were found
without his, his monaste ry could be sacked.!" Early in th e
eighth cen tu ry, ' Um ar forb ad e public displays of Christian
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15
symbols; during Alexander II's patriarchate (first quarter
of the eighth century), ' Umar extended the jizya, or tax, to
include monks because fugitive peasants often hid in the
monasteries. 133 Apparently this was not strictly enforced,
because later th e poll tax was again applied to monastics.!"
By 725 th e Coptic Ch urc h was no lon ger essen tial to the
Arab rulers of Egypt, so th e Ca liphate allowed th e first
Melkit e patriarch under Mu slim rul e and restored at least
on e church to the Greeks.!"
Eight Coptic revolts took place from 725 to 832,
mai nly in the delta. After so me initial success, however,
the Copts were routed.!" Maqrizi saw this as a turning
point for the Co pts: " Fro m that time th e Qibt [Copts 1have
been reduced throughout th e land o f Egypt." 137 M ass co n-
versions seem to have follow ed sho rtly thereafter and
Chr istians became a minority.':" Maqri zi ends his History
with th e report that thousands o f Co pts had con vert ed to
Islam. "The greater portion o f th e population," he says,
"are no w d escendants of th e M uslim s."!"
Such events cou ld not fail to affect th e m onks and
monasteries of Egypt. Aro und 850 the Monaster y of St.
Jeremi ah was abandoned; a tenth-century Arabic graffit o
at the now-deserted monastery gives a Mu slim profession
of faith.!" The Arab geographe r Yaqo ubi d escribes Kellia
as aba ndo ne d in the ninth century, and ano the r geogra-
ph er, Bakri , confirms th ai two centur ies later .!" According
to Maqriz i and Sawirus, during th e patriar ch ate of Mark 1I
(799-819), the monast eries of th e Wad i al-Na trun wer e at-
tacked and burned, "a nd only a ver y small compa ny of
monks remained there."!"
Due to th eir isolation, th e mon asteries of St. Pau l and
St. Antony m ay have been fort unate eno ugh to escape
some or even most of the even ts I have described.!" T hese
trou bles were co mpo un de d in th e eleven th centu ry, es-
pecially during th e patriarchate of Christodo ulos (1047-
1077), by rebellion by Kurds and Turks and by natur al dis -
asters: earthquake, pestilence, famine. The remnants of a
defeated Turkic army invad ed th e T hebaide and pillaged
th e m on ast eries of St. Anto ny and St. Paul, killing man y
rnonks.!" It is amazing th at th e monasteries surv ived at
all, but survive th ey did . The Mon aste ry of St. An tony en-
dured, and even prospered .
An Oasis in the Desert
The Mo nastery of St. Antony reac hed its greatest heights
from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries (Gab ra,
ch apter 10). Numerous translations were done during this
period at th e monastery, fro m Co ptic to Arabic to Ethiopic,
 ST. ANTONY THE GREAT

and its lib rary played an imp ort ant ro le in th e Coptic-

Arabic int ellectu al rena issance of th e th irteenth century.
Th e program of th e wall pa int ings of 1232/1233 and th e
later paintings completed during th e th irteenth cen tury
"constitute th e best exam ple we have of medi eval Co ptic
art. " 145 It is rem ark able th at, except for a br ief peri od at th e
end of th e fifteenth century, the Mon astery of St. Antony
has been continuously occupied since its founding in th e
fourth century-sixteen hundred years of nearly continu-
ous monastic witness .!" The longevity of the monastery
bears living witness to Antony, the Egyptian monk who
purposefully withdrew to the desert so long ago. To John
Cassian, Antony was the church 's Abr aham , calling its
people to follow God; in the Life of A ll tOIlY, Athanasius
prophesied that Antony wou ld become the "father" of
monasticism. When Antony emerges from the tomb in
which he has sequestered himself in order to fight the
Devil, an angel appears and tells him, "Antony, I was here,
b ut I waited to see your stru ggle. And now, since you per-
severed and were not defeated, I will be a helper to you al-
ways and I will make you famous everywhere" (10.3). That
fame was realized, and has endured, in both the Christian
East and the West. And the Monastery of St. Antony has
equa lly endured. Mo re than eight h und red years ago, "Ab u
Salih" prese n ted a picture of th is co m m unity th at is prob-
ably idea lized but o ne that nevertheless strikingly resem -
bles the monastery to day (figs. 1.10 , 1.11):

This mon astery possesses man y endowments and pos-

1.10
sessions at Misr. It is surro unded by a fort ified wall. It
Monas te ry of St. Antony, distant
con tains many monks. Within the wall there is a large
view of the Church ofSt. Anton y
garden, contai ning fruitful palm trees, and app le trees,
between th e keep and the refectory
and pear trees, and pomeg ranates, and other trees be-
sides beds of vegetables, and th ree springs of perpetu-
ally flowing water, with which the garden is irrigated
and which the monk s drink. One feddan and a sixth in
the garden form a vineyard, which supp lies all that is
needed, and it is said that the number of the palms
which the garden contains amounts to a thousand trees,
and there stands in it a large well-built qasr [keep]....
Th ere is nothing like it among the other mon asteries
inhabited by Egyptian monks.!"

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16
 I
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.,
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, ff
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!

1.11

Icon of Anto ny, flank ed by

Onnophrius and Paul the Hermit,
ca. thirteenth century, Mo naste ry
of 51. Catherine, Mount Sinai
(Co ur tesy of th e Michigan-
Prin ceton -Alexandria Exped itio n
to Mount Sina i)

https://coptic-treasures.com/
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 PART II

THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY

Paintings and Architecture

https://coptic-treasures.com/
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 M ichael Jones

CHAPTER 2 THE CHURCH OF ST. AN TONY

TH E ARCH IT ECTU R E

The first known settlem ent at the site o f the Monastery of

St. Antony the Great was some thirty-five kilometers in-
land from th e Red Sea coast (fig. 2.1).' It sat on the natural
ledges and terraces of th e foothills, o n th e northern side of
the South Galala Plateau, in the Wadi al-Araba, Th e cur rent
monaste ry occupies the sam e site, in thi s magnificent
landscap e, against th e desert cliffs that rise steeply to more
tha n a thousand meters above sea level. H igh in the cliffs is
th e cave in whic h St. Antony is believed to have spent th e
last years of his ascetic life in th e desert. Fro m here the
view extends for many mil es across th e desert and th e Red
Sea to th e Sina i Peninsul a (fig. 2.2) . This is the natural en-
viro n me nt of th e mo nastery.
The Church of St. Antony was bu ilt against the
northern edge of on e of the low de sert terraces and was
aligned along the natural topography on an axis roughly eith er enlarged or created , and the cur rent sanctuary may
northeast to southwest.' It is at the heart of th e historic and also have been added. In the western end of the nave the
spiritua l core of the mon astery, where St. Antony himself windows were blocked an d th e original access into the
is believed to lie b uri ed (figs. 2.1-2.3) . As one approaches sma ll chapel was closed . An outer stone facing was added
the ancient ch ur ch, it seem s secluded behind the two de - to th e west wall of the chur ch, to suppo rt a new stru ctur e
fen sive towers and th e adjace n t fifteenth -century Churc h built o n th e side cha pel and a corridor running along th e
of the Ho ly Apos tles. It can be seen on ly fro m quite close, southe rn side of the ch ur ch. Sometim e later, mu ch of th e
2 . 1 O PPOS ITE either across the gardens on th e h igh er deser t to th e south, upper-level building fell in to decay and was removed. The
View of the histori c core of or glimp sed between th e two towers from th e ope n court- inter ior, however, remained largely un tou ched after the
th e Mon astery of 51. Antony yard in front of th e m on astery gues t rooms. th irteen th cen tury unt il the restor atio n of th e ch urc h in
(ADP/SA 18 s8 96 ) The churc h has undergo ne m an y alterations during 1996-1999.
its lo ng history,' Th e mos t obvious changes took place in T he Chur ch of th e Holy Apo stles dates from the fif-
2 .2 two stages during th e thirteenth century, when th e murals teenth century and ab uts th e eastern end of th e Churc h
Pan orami c view of th e mo naster y that constitute th e m ain subject of thi s book were painted . of St. Anto ny. Today th e two churc hes have becom e so
(ADP/SA BW 46:31) At th at time, the dom ed and vaulted roof was constructed, in tegrated th at from th e outside they appear to be a single
th e connection between the side chape l and th e main archi tectural unit. They are connected internally by a cov-
church was altered, th e current entrance to the church was ered corrido r ru n ni ng along th e sou th side of the Ch urch

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21
 I
I

\.
J
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m .9111l
V i

~I SUPREMECOU ~'ClL
OF AtmQUl11fS
o Church ofSt.Antony 1SlA.\lIC. rome SI:l:TOR
b remains ofearlier church
ck"P AM£RJCAN RESEAROt
d refectory (roha,j»-l CENTfRIN EGYPT
e cells
f Church of IhcHoly Apostles ANTIQUITIES
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
.... l.-~GwDo:,.tMt.f:
JDSURVEY
RED SFAMONASTERIFS

N l)n,W1lby PeterSheehan

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0.- June 1999

--
\CidIacl Malilllul

SPl'-buhi

""""""" ....
MONASTERY OF
ST. ANTONY
RedSeaCoast, EiYJl'

EXISTING CO~DITIONS
RECORD
o~-~i---
5
,,-_...I-- _ 25m .... '",
HISTORIC CORE
PLAN 1:100

2·3
Plan of th e Monas tery of
St. Antony; shaded buildings
constitute the histo ric core

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 THE ARCHITECTURE
2. 4 ABOVE ofSt. Anto ny, wh ich is par t of the early development of the
C hurch of 51. Antony, exterior site. To the north of the churches, separated from them by
view of the roof, looking east a narrow open corridor, are two great defensive tow ers.
(ADP/SA BW 4PO) Th e towers were built at different tim es, as shown by their
positions relative to nearb y struc tures . Neither the o riginal
2.5 RIGHT con struction dates nor the vario us ph ases of rebuilding
Int erior of th e wes te rn d o m e of that are evident can be ascertained, however, because no
th e nave, a fter clea ni ng (ADP/SA serio us archaeological work has yet been done at the mon-
lOS 97) astery. This also appli es to the original founding and to
mu ch of th e early history of the ch urc h, and therefo re the
precisely dated th irteenth-cen tu ry wall paintings playa
key role, standing between the earlier and later phases of
cons truction.
In its current form the Church of St. Antony is a sim-
ple, rectangular b uilding surmounted by five domes and a
barrel vaulted ceiling (fig. 2.4). It was constructed of lime-
sto ne and mudbrick set in a tafl clay mo rta r, with int ern al
and externa l coatin gs of lim e and gypsum-based plasters,
which have accumulated as th e church was per iodica lly
resurfaced. Wood was used spa ring ly, as may be expected
in the desert. Those pieces that were included comprised
https://coptic-treasures.com/
23
bra nches of acacia and olive trees obtained locally, and
palm logs and timbers reused from dismantled rafters
or screens. The walls are roughly 5 m. high, and rise to a
rounded coping that forms a parapet of varying height
around the north, south, and west sides of the roof. Access
to the roof is by means of an outside staircase at the south-
west corner of the bui lding .
The roof of the church is dom inated by two enor-
mou s dom es th at cove r the two part s of the nave. Both
were constructed in stages so that th ey rise in four un even
and un equ al steps to a slightly rounded conical to p. The
stepped shape of th e outside clearly reflects the meth od of
build ing in layers, which is also visible on the inside of
both domes. Altho ugh they are smoothly plastered, the
inner surfaces are visibly contoured in horizontal rings
that correspo nd to th e externa l steps (fig. 2.5). It has been
suggested th at this unusual shape results fro m rebuildi ng
follo wing an early collapse of the dom es soon after th ey
were built, but this has yet to be ascertained.' Th e dom es
are pierced by windows of various sizes positioned irregu -
larly. Some of th e windows are set into niches and are
frame d externa lly with cawl-like hood s that are intended
to prot ect them from rain.' As restora tion work pro gressed,
it was found that th e sma ller wind ows were covered with
plain glass set in the plast er of the domes. Larger wind ows,
however, were in various states of disrep air. Broken panes,
in a var iety of wooden and plaster fram es, were set into the
inn er and outer surfaces of the do mes. None were co n-
temporary with the construction of the domes, although
some were definitely "old." Most were too fragile to keep
in place, so during th e restoration of th e roof, all the win-
do ws were replac ed with new plaster and wood en frames
and were fitted with ultraviolet screening glass.
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY

2 .6 ABOVE

Exterior view of the sanctuary

domes and the khurus vault
(A DP/SA BW43'26)

2 .7 N EA R RIGHT

Exter ior view, loo king east

toward the curren t entrance por -
tico (A DP/SA BW 43:31)

2.8 UPPER RI GHT

Exterior door, within th e ent ra nce

po rtico

2.9 FAR RIGH T

View of the a nnex from th e

n ave, after co nserva tio n ( NI4- NI8;

ADP/SA 1999)

At the eastern end of the church three smooth-sided,
conical domes cover the slightly raised roof level of the tri-
partite sanctuary. The central dome is th e largest, having
almost twice the diameter at the base and more than twice
the height of tho se on either side. The kh urus , in con tras t,
is covered at the sides with flat roofs, and in the center,
lengthways, with a barrel vault (fig. 2.6) . Before the res-
toration of the windows , the exter ior of the vault was a
plain plaster surface th at merged int o the flat roof beside it.
Window restoration work required the plaster to be cut
along th e top and on both sides. In the process it was re-
vealed that successive replasterings had caused th e roof
level to rise beside th e vault by some 40 cm since its con-
struction in the thirteenth century. Beyond the dom es of
the sanctuary a flight of steps leads to the higher roof of the
Churc h of the Holy Apostles. The tall bell tower topped by
a cupola at the northeast corn er of the Chur ch of St. •
Antony seems to have been con structed with the later of
the two chur ches, or at some tim e afterward.
The only doorway into the chur ch from th e out side
is at the western end of th e nor th wall. It leads directly into
the nave (N23; figs. 2.7, 2.8). One's first impression on en-
tering the ch urch is of a spacious interior filled with light.
This is thanks to the two large, white-p lastered domes over
the sections of th e nave, and to the sunlight strea ming
through the windows in the domes. Immediately facing
the entrance, on the southern side of the nave, is a wide
archway leadin g to an annex and a side cha pel (NI7; fig.
2.9). The western end of the nave, which opens onto th e
eastern half, is divided from it by a wide archway. The arch
rests on two columns positioned close to the nave walls.
Th ese colum ns are now comp letely plastere d over and give

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24
 THE ARCHITECTURE

-7
",I,

-:".

-- I rr
,~ \,: ~_, ,-':"'1.
"

(' f. ... .... .. 1 .. ' ..... ...

2 .10 A BOVE the impression that doubl e shafts may be concealed inside
Inte rior view of the church, them. The rudiment ary capitals are shape d from mu d-
look ing east, 1876-1878, Geor g brick and plaster. At some tim e after Geo rg Schweinfur th's
Schweinfurth visits to the churc h between 1876 and 1878, and before
Th om as Whittemore's expediti on s of 1930- 1931, rectan -
2 .11 UPPER RIGHT gular blocks of masonry were built up between the col-
Int eri or view of th e churc h, loo k- umns and the walls to add furt her support to the arch ( N13,
ing east, 1930-1931 (Whitt emore N27; figs. 2.10, 2.11). Following this, no further significant
Exped itio n. Co ur tesy of Dumbar - changes were made inside the church, as show n in a pre-
to n Oa ks, AI) conservation view of 1996 (fig. 2.12). Low walls, abo ut 1.05
m. in height , protrude into the nave from the columns,
2.12 LOW ER RI GH T leaving a gap 80 em. wide in th e cente r. In the sout h wall of
Int erior view of the ch urc h, look- the eastern half of the nave, a low doorway (N8, N9) leads
ing east, 1996 (A D P/SA BW 45:14) to the corridor connecting this church with that of the
Church of the Ho ly Apostles. The corridor forms a cov-
ered space between the Chur ch of St. Antony and the rock
escarpment beside it. Vital clues can be found her e for
understanding the remains of th e earliest traceable stru c-
tures and their setting in th e local topography. Opposite
th is doorway, an oth er in th e north wall formerly led into
the churc h from th e outside ( N31). Unti l 1999 it had been
walled up, at least since December 162~, when the Fran-
ciscan Father Bernardus wro te a bo ld graffito across the
blocking." Two windows in the north wall, one over the
form erly blocked do orway and th e other beside it over a
niche (N32- N33), are the only windows in the church walls,
all th e others being in the roof. They both belon g to the
period before 1232/1233, as is shown by th e way in which
th e wall paintings have been designed aro und them.
At th e eastern end of the nave th ere is ano ther arch-
way spann ing th e church (N37) . It divides the nave from
th e khurus and is prec eded by th ree steps that effect th e

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25

2 . 13
Kh u m s ceiling fro m t he nave, after
conser vat io n (ADP/SA 1999)
2. 14 OP POSIT E
Khums vau lt, deta il lo o king eas t
(ADP/SA 1999)
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T HE CH URC H Of S T. AN TONY
tran sition to th e higher floor of the khurus. This ar chway
is extraordinarily high and pointed. Its loftin ess com ple-
ment s the high domes of th e nave, and em phasizes the ris-
ing floor level and th e transitio n from nave to khurus, and
eventually to the sanc tuar y, by car rying th e eye up into the
cent ral vault of the khurus roo f. The kh urus arch is sup-
port ed by the lateral walls between the nave and khurus,
which have been strengthened with an extra skin of bri ck-
work on their east faces up to the springing of th e arc h,
presumably to buttress the walls against th e weight above.
The presence of paint ings dating to 1232/1233 on these walls
(K5 , K6) sho ws that this architectura l work was completed
before that time. On its northern side the khurus arch ex-
hibits a curious twist that seems to be related to another
unu sual feature. In the no rth east corner of the nave, above
the pain ting of th e Virgin Mary (N36), the dome does not
rise straight from the wall as in the ot her three corners. In-
stead, it rests on a squinch made on an olive wood frame ,
and seems to have been a delibera te atte mpt to create a
broader, mor e substantial support fo r th e do me an d the
springing of this side of the kh urus arch.
The two narr ow recta ngu lar spaces of the khurus and
the sanctua ry are each divid ed into th ree parts, dict ated by
26
the th ree altars in th e sanc tuary (fig. 2.13). The centra l part
of the khurus, which is also the largest, is a recta ngular
space created by four archways that rest on the walls be-
tween the nave and khurus, and on th e two piers between
th e khurus and sanctuary. Both the northern and so uthern
archways are crooked, and neith er of them lines up with
the sidewalls of the church. As we have seen, the khurus
roof is in three parts. The side rooms have flat roofs rest-
ing o n wooden rafters (four on the south and five on the
no rth ) laid north to south. Two of the rafters on the sou th
are unfashio ned natur al timbers cut fro m th e branch of a
tree. All the others on both sides are reused pieces, includ-
ing one with evenly spaced mortise and tenon join t slots
that may have originally for med a beam of a wooden
screen. Whet her these side roofs predate the 1232/1233 mu-
rals is no t certa in, altho ugh it is possib le that they were
already in place when Theodore and his team paint ed the
khurus walls. Wooden crossbeams were inserted into th e
walls at a lower level after they had been alread y painted, as
is shown by the damage done to the m ur als.
The central roof is a barrel vault constructed of palm
logs and wooden beams laid lengthwise betwee n the two
arches over the entrances to the kh urus and the sanctuary.
Th e whole int erio r sur face was plastered and painted.
Thr ee sets of lon g, na r r o~ gypsum window frames were
buil t into th e roof when it was constr ucted. All th e glass
had been broken, ho wever, possibly in the period when
th e mon astery was aband on ed at the end of th e fifteenth
century. The roof had then been covered from the o utside
with palm logs, wooden plan ks, and matt ing, beneath an
o uter coat of plaster, which remaine d in place until 1998.
Nevertheless, fragme nts of glass surv ived in almost all the
window op enings, so that it was possible to restore the en-
tire roof to its ori ginal co ndition of ca. 1233- 1283.7 In th e
center at the top of the vault, th ere are two single fram es
set o n either side of th e cent ral wooden beam , each com-
pr ising a row of seven ide ntica l hexagona l openi ngs and
six sma ll circular op enin gs (fig. 2.14). Th e hexagons con-
tain pan es of pinkish red, blu e, pale blu e, and clear glass.
The round openings have dark red glass in the form of a
cross, a modern design chosen in the absence of or iginal
glass. Along each side of the vault, resting on the sidewalls,
is a single frame with a row of ten round openings con -
taining plain glass. Small triangu lar openings between th e
circu lar panes are filled with green, amber, dark blu e, and
tur qu oise glass.
The sanc tuary is a single transverse roo m d ivided
into three open sections by int erior archwa ys, which span
th e spaces between th e east wall of the church an d th e
https://coptic-treasures.com/

2.15
Western exterior wall of th e
church , at left, show ing stai rs
rising up th e desert shelf to the
so uth (ADP/SA BW 41:8 )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
l,t,< ..r.
r- '~
, 'I~I
- ....
pillars between the sanctuary and th e khurus. Th e three
entrances to the sanctuary are no w closed by wooden
doors on either side, and by an inlaid, eighteenth-century
wooden screen across th e widest space, between th e two
pillars in the m iddle . Th ere are th ree solid altars with low
arched compartme nts on the east sides at floor level. Be-
hin d the north an d sout h altars are rectangular niches in
the wall (S2, S11), while in th e cen ter there is a tall apse
stepped into the wall to provide seats for clergy (SI ). Each
sanct uary is roo fed with a do me . The central dom e is the
largest and is supported on an octago n conta ining eight
recta ngu lar win dows. The square suppo rt for th e octa -
gon includes four windows that are now blocked. Three of
them were closed and plastered over (S34-S36) before the
paintings were created in 1232/1233. It is not clear wheth er
the sanctuary was built well before 1232/1233 and later mod-
ified to accommodate the paintings, or whether a change
in th e painted program caused the newly built windows to
be closed off. The eastern window (S33) has a painted
frame . This window was probably op en and functioning
before the cons truction of the adjacent Church of the Holy
Apostles.
Returning to the main entrance in the northwest
corner of the nave, immediately op posi te we see the wide
28
arch (N I7; fig. 2.9) in th e south wall lead ing to the annex
and the side chapel. This arch occup ies half the length
of the wall an d rises to the base of the do me. It was cut
th rou gh the wall at a relatively late date, after th e 1232!I233
paint ings had been finished, and was apparently left un -
paint ed for some tim e. The plaster on th e eastern und er-
side had cracked and accumulated dirt , and was th en
replaster ed before being painted (Ai, A9).8
Th e plan (fig. 21 , introduction; fig. 2.3) shows how
the annex and side chapel are aligned at a strikingly
oblique angle to the rest of the church. The point at which
the south wall of the church abuts the north wall of the
annex and chapel is visible: there is a marked change
in dir ection in the wall on both sides ben eath the arch.
The annex is a high room with a pointed, vaulted ceiling
aligned east to west. The south wall is built on the natural
bedrock, the level of which is indicated by a bu lge in the
wall 2.85 m. above the current interior floor level. This
difference in level indicates the face of a natural desert
escarpment, against which the annex and side chapel were
built either before or at the same time as the western end
of the nave (fig. 2.15) . To the east of the annex is the arched
entrance of a chapel, which contains the earliest painting
identified in the church (C4-C9; figs. 3.1, 3.3).9 The chapel
itself comprises a sem idome with a small niche at th e base
of the east wall (c i) . It is aimos t certain that this currently
visible interio r does not reflect the original appeara nce of
the space. Precisely whe n remodeling occurre d is not
known ." Part of th e original inn er- wall surface of th e
cha pel was foun d during conservation work inside th e
sma ll cupboard built into the north wall of the chapel. In
addition, there are hollow cavities behind the sem iapse,
an d features observable in th e corridor to the east of the
chapel suggest that th e chapel was one end of what was a
mu ch longer roo m.
To the west of the annex is an archway, with a par-
tially disman tled woo den screen, that leads to a shallow
blind room. This room is now little more than a deep ,
square niche at th e rear of th e church (A5-A7; fig. 2.9) . An
exam ination of th e inter ior shows th at this was originally
a mu ch larger room extending farth er to the west than
th e cur rent back wall of th e chur ch. Thi s is indi cated by
traces of a mudbrick dome that still survive in the two cor-
ners on th e west side of th e archw ay from the ann ex (AS,
A7). The dome was remov ed and the room reduced to less
tha n half its original size by the construction of a new west
wall (A6). This wall continued northward along the out-
side of the west wall of the nave to form an addition al
outer skin of masonry against the exter ior face of the west
 THE ARCHITECTURE
wall of the church, thereby also sealing the three or iginal
windows in the west wall of the nave. This new rear wall
contrasts str ikingly with th e m udbr ick walls of th e room
itself and the rest of the churc h. It was constru cted of care-
fully fashion ed limestone blocks laid in even courses. Th e
sto nework was built as high as the origin al western wall of
th e church and was then co ntinued in mudbrick, again
evenly laid in neat courses. The reduced roo m created by
the new wall (AS-A7), in what is now a deep niche opening
off of the west wall of th e annex, is extr aordinari ly high,
giving access to ano ther space above. A skylight opens on-
to the roof of the church, next to the exter ior stairs. A
doorway is visible from th e annex, in the wall above the
western archway. It may once have been part of an upper
story in the annex the floor of which is now lost.
Th e question of when th e main church was built
again st the north side of th e annex and chapel remains
unanswered in absolute terms, but some relative chrono-
logical evaluation is possible." Windows in the north and
west walls of the nave were filled with mudbrick, blocked
both inside and out, and covered by plaster shortly before
Theodore's team pa inted the interior sur face in 1232/1233.
An exami nation of the windows showed clearly that they
were built at the same tim e as th e west wall; th ey therefore
provide an important guid e to th e app earan ce of th e ear-
lier pha se of the church. 12 Th e blo ckin g of one window was
dislodg ed when the current do orway of the church was ei-
ther enlarged or inserted into th e wall after 1232/I233 (N23,
N24) , probably when the arch betwe en the nave and annex
was mad e." There are also two earlier layers of painted
wall plaster visible on both the so uth and west walls of the
nave, beneath the plaster layer paint ed in 1232/1 233.14 The
clearest section is at th e top of the so ut h wall (N16, N17),
where th e later of the two earlier layers featured a series of
standing figur es. What rem ain s is only a hor izontal str ip
showing part of their clothi ng. All aro und th e western end
of the nave, the earlier layers of paintings have been cut off
at the current upper edge of th e wall, indi catin g clearl y that
befo re 1232/I233 thi s roo m, at least, had mu ch higher walls
th an it has now. The conto ur of the cut indicates that it was
made when the walls were tr immed off for the domes to be
added, during recon struction work befo re repainting by
Theodo re's artists.
The mos t plausible recon stru ction of th e architec-
tural development of the com plex is as follows: At an early
stage, in the sixth or seventh century, or perhaps even be-
fore, the cha pel, annex, and roo m west of th e annex (now
the niche AS-A7) formed a single struc ture built against
the vertical face of a natural desert ledge. The group almost
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29
certainly included the corridor now connecting the two
churches, east of the chapel today, as well as rooms farther
to the west now discon nected by a passage leading around
the west end of th e church. The exact purpose and form of
th e chapel at thi s stage is unclear, except that by the end of
th e eighth cen tury it already contained the painted arch
(C4-C9). The height of this arch suggests th at the ori ginal
floor level must have been similar to the level of tod ay.
Somewhat later, the western end of th e nave, and possibl y
the eastern end and khurus as well, were bu ilt in the space
betwee n the chape l and the western tower or keep. It is in-
tere sting to note here that the orientation of the keep is
closely para llel with that of the ann ex and chapel , wherea s
th e chur ch respects the alignment of the eastern tower.
Th e way that the church ph ysically abuts the annex and
chapel suggests that th e two were always in some way co n-
nected, although thi s juxt aposition may have been dictated
by requirem ents of space. Altho ugh th e chapel certainly
once had its own externa l entrance from the west, th e
church may have been built beside th e annex with a sma ll
connecting doorway that was later enlarged into th e cur-
rent archway (N17) .
The eastern part of the nave also has trace s of murals
underlying th e 1232/I233 paintings, altho ugh th ey are ob-
scure and fewer th an in the western end. The positions of
the formerly blo cked do orwa y in the north wall and of the
window over it (N31) are more helpful here. Th e windo w
and doo rway clearly go togeth er and derive from th e or ig-
inal design of the churc h. As we have seen , th e two win -
dows in th e north wall are the only ones that remain in use
fro m th e per iod befo re the thirteent h-cent ury modifica-
tions (N31, N33). From th e exterior, this door way is visible
in the space between th e two towers as one approac hes the
churc h fro m th e north . It is thus on a significant axial
route th rou gh the oldest part of the mo nastery. This align-
ment is maintained across the church nave, in the small
doorway in the south side of th e nave (N8, N9) .
On passing through th e south doo rway (N8, N9) int o
the corridor (leading to the Church of the Holy Apos tles),
one is directed eastward up two steps on to a higher floor
level. Th e floo r rises again int o a roo m at the western end
of th e corrido r. Thi s was at o ne tim e part of th e lar ger
roo m into which th e apse of the chape l was later bu ilt. The
floor level of thi s room is commensurate with the top of a
natural rock shelf projecting int o the ch urch at the base of
the south wall of th e khurus, the inn er face of which aligns
on the oblique axis of th e chape l and an nex. Accor ding to
the mon astic tra dition, an openi ng in this rock ledge leads
to the grave of S1. Antony. This open ing was originally
 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
mu ch taller th an it is tod ay, for it is no w partly buried
under th e floor, which has risen in front of it. Th e match-
ing levels on top of the rock shelf in the khurus and the
floor of the room at the back of the chapel are only about
40 cm. higher than the floor of th e corridor, which is itself
some 60 cm. higher than the floor of the nave. Th ere can be
little doubt that all these surfaces correspond to the natural
desert terracing against which the chapel and the church
were bu ilt, and which can still be observed in the sloping
surfaces both east and west of this group of churches.
During restoration work on the church floor, some
of the sandstone slabs in the nave were removed. Below
them, layers of buildi ng debr is contain ing m ud brick, plas-
ter, and roofing materials (incl uding palm wood, fronds,
and matting) were discovered, filling the floor to a depth
of more tha n one meter. The material was deposited
with in the already stand ing bu ilding and had not been
placed th ere as a platfor m for th e construction of the
church. There were also fragments of gypsum window
mo ldings in the floor at the western end of the nave, which
may have come from the blocked windows. The most
significant detai l to emerge was the fact that the current
floor level is not orig ina l. At some stage, th e level was
raised approximately 50 ern. with th is filling material and
repaved with sandstone slabs to create its cur rent sur face.
This work transformed th e church. It created an int ernal
space requiring new thr esholds and higher doorways, and
probably higher archways and a new roo f. The original
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30
win dows would have been m uch higher in the walls than
they seem now , and the or iginal doorways may have been
stepped down int o the church. The new floo r may also
have brought th e level up to the existing floor of th e ann ex
and closer to th at of th e chapel. No conclusive eviden ce
was found for th e material of th e original church floor. A
number of pieces of white, green , and black marble, how -
ever, shaped into lozenge s, squares, and rectan gles, and
suggestive of opus sectile , were found in various parts of
the church, either reused as filling between paving slabs or ,
in one instance, wedged into a hole in the south wall ofthe
eastern part of the nave. Further evidence for the raised
floor in the khurus was found in the form of a frieze of
stylized plant motifs close to the current floor level. It had
been covered by later layers of plain wall plaster and there-
fore belonged to a period before 123211233. It continues
down the wall and disappears beneath the current floor
level.
The only room of the church in which no traces were
found of wall pa intings earlier than 123211233 is the sanctu-
ary. This room therefore may have been added as an exten -
sion to the earlier church, per haps as late as the thirteenth
century, during the rebuil ding works descr ibed here . In
th is case th e or igina l sanctuary could have been where th e
khurus no w is. This is an intriguin g possibility in connec-
tion with th e tr adition th at identifi es this spot as the burial
place of St. Anto ny, because the saint's body migh t be
expected to lie bene ath th e altar of th e chur ch.

CHAPTER 3 THE EARLY PAINTINGS
3· 1
Early paint ings, ca. 550-700 ,
visible at far left, with part of
Theodore's program of 1232!I 233
seen to th e right, Deesis Chapel
(C8-CIO; ADP/SA IS 97 )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Before 1998, when Adriano Luzi and Luigi De Cesaris dis-
covered paintings under layers of blank plaster, the earliest
kno wn artistic works in th e Churc h of St. Anto ny dated to
1232!I233. In fact, Western scho lars believed th at th e church
itself dated to the elevent h cent ury at the earliest, and more
likely the th irteenth century.' Th e oral tradition at the mon -
astery, however, assigned the or igins of th e church to the
sixth cent ury.' Traces of pre-thir teenth century paintings
exist in every part of the churc h except the sanctuary.
There are pro bably rema ins of pain tings from two pre-
thi rteenth century periods, but most of the m are preserved
too fragmen tarily to be dated on the basis of style.
Pre-thirteenth century paint remnants exist on a
plaster layer that can be found under as many as three or
31
Elizabeth S. Bolman
four later layers of plaster. These paintings, in keeping with
other Coptic wall paintings in Egypt, are do ne in a seeco
technique. Unlike th e fresco technique of applying paint
to wet plaster, common in Western wall paint ings, Egyp-
tian wall paintings consist of paint applied to dry plaster.'
Th e clearest and best-preserved of th e early secco remains
in the Church of St. Anton y are located on the underside of
the arched ent ranc e to the side chapel (C4-C9; fig. 3.1). The
subject of th is area is an enthro ned Christ in Majesty with
the Apostles. Small, flakin g, colored remnants of red, blue,
and yellow are visible in th e an nex (AS, A7), and traces of
an inscript ion in Coptic are visible on an early plaster layer
in th e niche at N14. A dark red sectio n has been discovered
near the curre nt entrance to the church, close to th e floor
level (N23), on the southern nave wall (N7, N8, N16), and
also on the floor of the church. A decorative geometric or
abstract plant motif, colored primarily in red and yellow,
can be seen near the floor on the western wall of the kh u-
rus (KS). Based on the similarity of plaster cons istency and
color, th ese five areas seem to date from the same period.
In numero us part s of th e nave (NIl, NlS, 16, N20-22, N2S,
26), and also in the chapel (ci, under the book of Chr ist)
and upper zone of the khurus (KI2, below the three
women), the conservators have observed small sections of
an even earlier layer or layers of painting. Particularly clear
exam ples are located at N22, where one can see the rem-
nan ts of a horse's tail (below th e feet of the woman in blue,
from a later per iod; fig. 3.2), and also bord ering the top of
the 1232!I 233 paintings in the southwestern corner of the
nave (NI6, N20, 21). The pastel colors and loose brush-
strokes of these pai ntings generally suggest a sixth - to
eighth-century date, but these traces are too poorly pre -

3·2
Traces of an early painting of a
horse ( N22)
3·3
Christ in Majesty and the Apostles
(C4-C9), archway of the Deesis
Chapel (AD P/SA 1999)
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THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
served to make thi s mor e th an a tentative suggestion.
Finally, th e edge of the large arch that bisects th e nave
along a north-to- south axis was or iginally paint ed with an
edging of im itation br ick. A segme nt of this work was
found at N29, and it seems likely th at thi s patt ern ap-
pear ed elsewhe re. It is unusu al in Co ptic wall paint ing
and is difficult to date, except to say that it mu st have pre-
ceded the 1232/1233 program that previously ma sked it.
Th e small band of paintings recently discovered on
the underside of the arched entrance to the side chapel
(C4- C9) are of excep tional importance to the history of the
church (fig. 3.3). Abo ut 70 percent of the original compo-
sition ha s surv ived, enough to permit dating based on
both iconograph y and style. The painting depicts a full-
figure image of Chri st in Majesty, enthroned, with his
right hand raised in blessing , and his left balancing a book
on his knee. He is oriented for the viewer entering the
chapel and lookin g up, with his head to the west and his
feet to the east. His head is frame d by a cruc ifor m halo,
with a pea rl bord er. He wears a dark red, long-sleeved
tun ic and a brown himation. Both are outlined in black.
On ly the red cushion of his throne has been preserved.
The man do rla, or body ha lo, whic h completely encom-
passes the figure, would or igina lly have been supported
by th e four incorporeal living beings of Revelation 4:1-8,
with th e head s of a man , an eagle, an ox, and a lion .' Only
the head of th e lion is clearly visible now , in th e lower left
corner of the mandorla. Christ is flank ed by roundels on
either side, in pairs, originally numbering twelve. Th ey
32
conta in bu st-l ength portraits of the apostles, and seven re-
main in reaso nably good condition. They are oriented per-
pendi cularly to th e figure of Chr ist, rising in pairs along
the curv ing face of the archway, on either side of the
viewer's head (fig. 3.4). Like th e figur e of Chr ist, th ey stare
stra ight out at the viewer. They hold th eir hand s open in
fro nt of th eir chests, palms facing outwar d in a gesture of
prayer. Some have dark hair and others white, but all seven
are bearded and bareheaded . Th ey appear to have been
identically dressed in dark red clot hing. Centrally located
in front of their chests but behi nd their hands are squares
that may suggest bo oks or decorated element s of their cos-
tume. On e figure (cs) seems to hold a book in front of him
and keys in his left hand , but early overpainting has ren-
dered th ese ar eas difficult to read. ' Onl y two roundels in-
clud e eno ugh of their or iginal Coptic inscriptions to per-
mit identificatio n. On e of these, the figure with the keys, is
Peter, and the other, located across from him, in the sec-
ond pair of ro un dels, is Bartholomew (C5). Yellow crosses
with circles deco rating the corners of each arm fill the
spaces between these portrait busts.
The iconography of the ent hroned Christ in Majesty
is a standard type in early Byzantine art. Thi s subject was
ren dered numerous times in wall paint ings in the mon as-
teries of Apa Jeremi ah at Saqqara and Apa Apollo at Bawit,
both lar ge com m unities in Egypt with numerous paint-
ings, generally dated between ca. 500 and 750.6 It con-
tinued to be important in Coptic art after the Islamic
conquest of Egypt in 641, and a similar composition from
th e thirteenth century can be seen in th e sanc tuary of the
Churc h of St. Anto ny, in the eastern apse (Sl). 7 The con-
junction of Chris t in Majesty with the apostles is typical of
the sixth century. Sometimes the apos tles stand below
Christ, in the lower zone of a compositio n with two regis-
ters, or else th ey appear in roundels, as in a Co ptic textile
icon now in Cleveland (fig. 3.5).8 The arrangeme nt and
even the cho ice of apostles vary in early medieval art, mak-
ing it impossible, in th e absence of inscriptions, to do
more than guess at th e identities of the seven indi vidual s
preserved in the archway." We can be certa in of the identity
of Peter, tha nks to the few lett ers remaining, an d to his
keys, which are amo ng his standar d attr ibutes. Paul often
appears next to Peter and is tra ditionally shown with a
high forehead, dark hair, and a beard, as we see here in the
figure to the left of Peter. A painti ng fro m cell 42 at Bawit
shows Peter and Paul on either side of the enthro ned Vir-
gin Mary with Chr ist. Their hairstyles are identical with
those seen in th e Church ofSt. Anto ny, suggesting that the
figure to Peter's left is indeed Paul." Aside from Barthol-
 THE EARLY PAINTINGS
}.4 L EFT omew, whom we kno w from his inscription, none of the
Apostles (C4-c6; ADP/SA 1999 ) other figures has distinctive featur es or att ributes to permit
ident ification." Th e whole composition fits readily with a
}. 5 RI GH T gro up of sixth-century mon uments in several media.
Textile icon of the Virgin Mary Owing to their subject matter, these early paintings
and Christ Child. Egypt, Byzant ine appear to belon g to th e sixth century. But because of the
Period, sixth century. Tap estr y enduring nature of the Ch rist in Majesty iconograph y,
weave, wool , 178x lI D em (© The style becom es a parti cularly im por tant elem en t in th e at-
Cleveland Museum o f Art, 2000, tempt to date th ese pain tings accurately. Having said that,
Leon ard C. H ann a II. Bequest, however, I m ust also acknowledge th at style is a not ori -
1967.144) ously imprecise basis for establish ing chro nology. Th e tra-
ditiona l mo del for charting a chronology of style in Coptic
painting consists of a single trajectory in a state of pro-
gressive decline from Helleni stic naturalism to pr ovincial
abstrac tion." This model has numerou s flaws, only one of
which is the possibility that several styles exist at one time.
Art historians studyi ng Cop tic materia l face an especially
difficult task constru cting a new model based on datable
evidence, because early archaeologists, in th eir qu est for
the pharaonic strata buri ed below later superimposed lay-
ers, did not pro perly excavate or in some cases even pho-
tograph or preserve early Christian and medieva l layers.
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33
Additionally, Coptic art has but rarely been cons ide red a
serious field of study, and we are therefo re only beginning
to understand it. This mea ns that ideas about stylistic de-
velopment and the datin g of specific styles in Coptic art
rest no t on a firm foundation but on what is at best loose
sand. The shortest span of years that we can posit for the
early paintin g in th e Chur ch ofSt. An tony is a tyo -year pe-
riod between ca. 550 and 700, based on close par allels with
other works of art dated by some of the best scholars in the
field. Man y sur prises still await us, however, and it may
one day pro ve necessary to revise these dates by as mu ch as
a century in either direction.
The style of the paintings in the archway of the
chapel is characterized by an extensive use of outlines.
They are usually black or dark brown, and th ough they are
prec ise, their edges are none theless slightly blurre d, giving
an impression of fluidity and softness. They are neit her as
dark nor as sharply defined and hard -edged as the outlines
used in the 1232/1233 pro gram in th e Churc h of St. Antony.
The artist created schematic images that are not plausib le
as three-dimensional figures. Despite this, they retain a
softness ofline and here and there a suggestion of illusion-

). 6 LEFT
Ch rist in Majesty, detail (cz)
).7 RIGHT
Icon of Bishop Abraham, ca. 600,
Luxor (?) (Staatliche Museen zu
Berlin -Prussischer Kultur besitz,
Muse um fur Spata ntike un d
Byzantinische Kunst, inv. 6114)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
ism that shows a connection to their Greco -Roman her-
itage. Thi s is apparent in the depiction of the eye sockets ,
nose, and mouth of Bartholomew, which are not simply
outl ined but slightly modeled as well, conveying an im-
pression of depth. The apostles' heads are long and rectan -
gular, some times mad e narrower or broader by thei r
beards. The rectangular shape of th eir heads is furth er ac-
centuated in several cases by a squared- off beard. Christ's
head, in contrast, is mor e rounded, and his head, hair, and
beard combine to form an egg-shaped oval (fig. 3.6). Christ
and several of the apo stles have narrow mu staches and a
small section of hai r in th e center of th eir chins, framed
first by bare skin and then by dense bea rds . The lines
marking the bo undaries of their hair are black, even in
those instances where the apostles are white-haired. The
narrow band of hair at the top of the apostles' flat heads is
marked by a distinctive line, which usua lly dips down in
the center, above a high forehead. Christ alone is shown
with long hair, extending down along both his shoulders.
Eyebrows are also always painted black, though com-
monly enhanced by adding a parallel red line underneath
that follows the same curved arch. Christ's eyes are some-
what more rounded than those of the apostles, most of
whom have long and narrow eyes. In all cases, their pupils
are pronounced, hardly distinguishable from the equally
34
large and dark brown irises, and all slightly covered by
th eir upper eyelids. Th eir noses are lon g, their bridges de-
lineated in red, an d their tips marked by a distin ctive loop-
ing brushstroke in black. Th eir mouths are straight lines,
generally in black, with some tou ches in red. A restrained
gestur e towa rd shading is made in red, at the edges of their
cheeks. While th e apostles' hand s are sim ply outlined,
Chr ist's fingers are elongated, and his right hand includes
three oddly placed fingerna ils. Christ's neck is partiall y vis-
ible, marked by a single curv ing line in red. The apo stles'
bodi es are mere ciphers , suggested bu t truncated by th e
roun dels framing th em. Christ's body is short and stocky.
Close stylistic affinities exist between these paintings
and a group of Coptic images on panels, plaster walls, and
in textile, dated to the sixth or seventh century," One note-
worthy example, an icon of Bishop Abraham believed to
be from the Monastery of Apa Phoebammon (Deir al-
Bahri), on the West Bank at Luxor, has been very persua-
sively dated on the basis of historical and archaeological
evidence to the decade or two ca. A.D. 600 (fig. 3.7). 14 The
bishop's head, features, and clothing are shaped with dark
outlines, simi lar to those used in the Monastery of St.
Antony. He has a long and narrow face, and an expansive
forehead. Although the shape of his head is rounded, un-
like the flat-topped heads at the Church of St. Antony, the
 THE EARLY PAINTINGS
3.8 LE FT dip in the center of his hairline is similar to that sha red by
Apo stle Paul (?) (cs) several of o ur apos tles, Paul, for exam ple (fig. 3.8). An-
other com pelling point of com par ison is the particular
3.9 R IGHT way th e nose is show n: light red and gray lines descend
Apa Apo llo and other monks. fro m his eyebrows, markin g the bridge, and a separate,
ca. sixth century. wall pain ting. cell pron ounced black bru shstroke outlines the tip. Th e lines
A. Monaster y o f Apa Jeremiah . on the icon are more subtle, but the device is identical to
Saqqa ra that used in the secco painting.
A wall painting of monks from cell A in the Mon -
astery of Apa Jeremiah, and dated between ca. 550 and ca.
800, also includes several fami liar feature s (fig. 3.9). The
monks' heads are lon gish rectan gles with flat top s and
curv ing, high hairlines, all outlined in black. Th ey have th e
very distin ctive sq ua red sect ion of facial hair on their
·1
chins, frame d first with bare skin, and then set in a circle
made from their m ustaches and beards. Their mo uths are
I prog ram of th e Churc h ofSt. Antony. Enough is preserved
delin eated principally with stra ight black lines, also very
similar to the mouths of Christ and th e apos tles in th e
Churc h of St. Anto ny. Add itionally, the crosses to either
side of the figur e of Apa Apo llo fro m cell A are similar to
th ose in our wall painting, th ough less elaborate. Sma ll cir-
cles adorn the terminations of th e arms and mark the
cross ing point in both.
An icon of Ch rist and Apa Mena from Bawit, gener-
ally dated to the sixth cen tury (fig. 3.10), provides another
https://coptic-treasures.com/
35
close stylistic para llel for our figures. l''Not o nly are the soft
dark o utlines and two-colo r noses of both figures an d the
curv ing hairline of Mena familiar to us, but the oval face
and head of Christ, framed by a wide band of hair falling
over his sho ulders, and including a m ustache, short beard ,
and patc h of hair on his chin, are all very close to th e secco
Christ. The wide-open eyes with large pupils and irises and
the stocky proportions of both figures on the icon , as well
as the squared neckli ne of Christ's robe, are also sim ilar to
the wall paintings. A faint line suggesting a crease aro und
the necks of Men a and Christ on the icon is simply a more
delicate exam ple of the emphatic red line enci rcling the
neck of Christ in th e Churc h of St. Anto ny.
Fragme ntary th ou gh th ey are, the pre-1232!I233
paintings in th e church still furnish exceptionally impor-
tant evide nce for the dating, arc hitecture, and decorative
of the pain tin g of Christ in Majesty with roundels of th e
apostles to date it to the mid -sixth to seventh century on
th e stylistic and icon ograph ic evidence. The simi larity be-
tween the plaster below these paintings and plaster in the
western wall of the room now functioning as the khurus
shows th at parts of th e main bod y of the churc h, not sim-
ply sectio ns of th e annex and th e side chapel, date to thi s
early period. Peter Grossmann has established a seventh-

3·10
Icon of Ch rist and Apa Mena,
ca. sixth cent ury, Bawit (Par is,
M usee d u Lou vre, 5718)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
to eighth- century date for the introduction of the khums
as an architectura l feature in Coptic churches, bu fferin g
th e sanctuar y from the nave." Th e existence in the current
khums of plaster app arently datin g to th e sixth to seventh
centur ies, and its absenc e in the sanctuary, suggest th at th e
sanctua ry may have been added to th e eastern end of th e
churc h sometime after 700, and th at the roo m now used as
the kh ums was th e or igina l sanc tuary. Probably of the
same date, the dark red pai nt found on the floor and on
the walls near floor -level in the nave, an d the figura l traces
above it, attest to a standard early Christian treatment of
the wall, and permits us to reconstruct the early appear-
ance of the painted program in the Churc h of St. Antony.
According to this system, derived from Roman painting, a
ban d of geometr ic shapes ofte n im itating colored stone
encircles the lowest zone of th e wall. Figura l scenes usually
sur mount thi s lower zone. A fine first-c entury A.D. exam -
ple of th e lower zon e, from Rom an Egypt, still exists in th e
temple at Deir al-H aggar, in th e Dakhl a Oas is. A roughly
1.5 m.-high band of alternating sq ua res of red and yellow
im itation stone is painted on the inside of the enclosure
wall of thi s temple. An early Chr istian paint ing fro m Abu
Girgeh and no w 'in th e Greco -Rom an Museum in Alexan-
dri a includes a lower zone of imit ation marbl e in alterna t-
ing gray and reddish-orange, sur mo unted by a fragmen -
tary figural com positio n showi ng the legs of St. Mena. The
geometric patt ern at floo r level in the khums is a more
elabo rate variation of what seems to have been a sim pler
lower zone in th e nave. Since we know that the edge of the
lar ge arch separating the eastern and western halves of the
nave was pa inted with an edging of imitation bricks at
so me point before 1232!I233, it seems likely that this motif
was repeated elsewhere. Fragm ent s of figural painting high
up on the walls in the nave may belon g to the same tim e
span as the paintings in th e cha pel, that is, ca. 550-700, or
they may be somew hat later. They certainly show that a de-
veloped scheme of painting in at least two zon es, including
geometric and figural subjects, existed in th e church sev-
eral centur ies befo re th e program that now predominates.
This later pro gram dates to 1232!I233 and is the subject of
the following chapters.
 Elizabeth S. Bolman

CHAPTER 4 THEODORE, "THE WRITER OF LIFE,"

AND THE PROGRAM OF 1232/1233

4·1
No rthwestern corner of the nave
(N21-N 24; AD P/SA 1999 )
Th e most extensive program of paint ings in th e Church of
St. Antony was created in 1232/1233 by a team of Coptic
artists (fig. 4.1). They were led by a master artist named
Theodore. We know that the y were Egyptians , from in-
scriptional information and also becau se of the subject s
and style of the paintings, which belong to a long-standing
tradition of Christian painting in Egypt stretching back at
least to the fourth century. This chapter is concerned with
the iconography of the paintings. Theodore's program ex-
tends thro ughout the church and will be analyzed follow-
ing a descrip tion of the physica l plan of the architecture.
The various spaces in a church have specific functions , and
different audiences, and the subjects and disposition of the
paintings were designed with these factors in mind.
Memorial Inscriptions: Patron s and Artists
The paintings wou ld not exist without patrons, people
who paid for their creation. Imp erial patronage results in
th e use of expen sive materials, such as mosaic or marble,
as we see in the decoration of the church in the Monastery
of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. A royal donor could also
affect an artistic program, including in it messages of im-
perial power and status. The paintings at the Monastery of
St. Antony had a very different background, which af-
fected their content, medium, and style. As Tim Vivian ex-
plains in chapter 1, the Coptic Orthodox Church separated
from the church of the Byzantine capital at Constantino-
ple in the fifth century. Th e temporal ruler s of Egypt from
the middle of th e seventh century were Mu slims, and far

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37
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
fro m donating funds for churches and their embellish-
ment, they actually taxed monks and forbade th em from
bui lding churches without permission. ' The hig h-quality
paintings in the Church of St. Antony were painted on
dry plaster, in a tec hnique called secco.' Neither the pig-
ments no r the plaster were of more than modest cost.
In the Churc h of St. Antony we are fortunate to have
four insc riptio ns th at give us pr eciou s d etailed infor ma-
tion about th e pat rons of th ese paintings. Th ey are located
at N31, K4.1, S1.14 and S33-36 (figs. 14.4, 14.5, 4.32). Th ey tell
us that at least thirty-three individuals helped pay for th e
paintings, and because some o f th e nam es are missin g, and
two or mor e patrons co uld have had th e same nam e, the
number m ay have been closer to forty. The lon gest of th ese
inscription s, at N31, characterizes th e patrons as being lov-
ers of God, Ch rist, cha rity, and offerings. Altho ugh m an y
or all of th e donors m ay have belon ged to th e com m u nity
at th e Mo nas tery of St. Anto ny, th e m ost sen ior amo ng
them certainly did . He is described as: "the archpriest
Peter of thi s church " (N31). An important m oti vation for
such don ation s is clearly ar ticulated: "T he Lord Jesu s
Christ give to the m th eir [reco m pense ] in (the) Jerusalem
of heaven " (N31). They would have gaine d blessin gs in
their efforts to attain salvation after death, by virtue of
their sponso rship of the painters. It seems likely from th e
inscriptions, as Birger A. Pearson points out in chapter 14,
that in addition to making a general contribution to th e
funding of th e project, some of th e pa tro ns paid for indi -
vid ua l paintings. The inscription at K4, to th e right of Mer-
cur ius, me nt ions two brothers, the Pries t Abba Michael
and the Archdeacon Salib, sons of Abu Gha lib (fig. 14.5):
" Lord, bless them, for th ey have provided for (the im age
o f) th e hol y Mercurius. Lord, give th em their recom-
pen se." The se two, who are included in th e long m em orial
inscription at N31, here gain special blessings through th eir
support of th e painting of Mercurius.
In addition to payin g for the project , it is likely that
one or mo re of th ese monastic patrons design ed th e pro-
gra m of the pa int ings. Altho ugh no definitive evidence on
this subject is availab le, certain inferences can be made. As
we sha ll see, the subjects of the paintings were carefully
chose n to func tion in the various parts of the church, to
express specific theo logical concepts, and also to tell sto-
ries. In the process of restoration, fluidly written words
and nam es above th e subjects of th e nave were un covered
by Ad riano Luzi. For exam ple, the word mem orial is lo-
cated above the m em o rial inscriptio n at N31 (fig. 14.4), and
the nam e Max imus (directly to th e right of memorial), is
https://coptic-treasures.com/
positioned above the monastic father of that name (N32;
fig. 12.1 ). These notations were covered with plaster, and
are distinctly different in style than the formall y written
inscriptions which exist within the frame of each subject.
The words above the paintings were written to mark out
the subjects of the paintings for the artists, and are evi-
de nce of a carefully conceived plan.' The development o f
th e plan would have required considerable know ledge of
Chr istian sym bolism, m on astic history, and th eology, su b-
jects th at are th e pro vince of ed ucated monks and not very
likely th at of painters.
Two inscription s memorialize the mas ter pain ter of
this extraordinary program. He is named Theodore, which
mea ns "Gift of God," and he calls himself by the Greek
word for painter, zographos, literally, "writer of life" (538.7;
fig. 14.1). As is characteristic of med ieval scribes and artists,
he describ es himself as "mo re sinful th an anyo ne, un wo r-
thy of th e nam e Th eod or e" (N35.3; fig. 4.2), an d as an "ap-
pr entice painter" (S38.7), who asks God for forgiven ess
(N35.3): Because hi s nam e is writte n not once but twice,
alone of th e m an y ar tists whose ind ividual hands can be
di scerned , we kn ow th at he was the m aster in charge o f
th e en tire p roj ect. Like th e patrons, he also wou ld have
gain ed bl essings from suc h ho ly work, and no doubt pr e-
sents himself in a forrnulai o, self-deprecating vein so as to
appear modest and worthy of salvation.
The Functions of Paintings
One of the pri mary pur poses of this book is the presenta-
tion and analysis of the wall paintings in the Church of St.
Antony because th ey are com pelling works of art. They
are , however, con sid erabl y more th an thi s. Th ey wer e
m ad e in a cultural env iro n ment in which they were under-
stood to do much more th an passively d epict or illustrate
subjects. In pagan Egypt and th e larger Mediterranean
world, images could be objects of beauty, but they co uld
also work magically-for example, to help heal th e sick or
revivify th e dead . Christians believed that dem on s reside d
in pagan scu lptures, and that saints cou ld be reached by
appealing to paintings of them. ' In the contexts of pil-
grimage and also Coptic monasticism, images have bee n
shown to work as part of a process of imitatio n. In order to
attain salvation, people strove to tra nsform themselves
into a h igher spiritual state. Copying or im itat ing the acts
of more elevated beings-for exam ple mo nastic forefa-
th ers- was a cruc ial mea ns by which tr an sformation was
achieved . Pain tings of these exemplars worked in the same
way that stories of them did: both served as models for

4·2
Northeastern co rne r of th e nave
(N33-N36; AD P/SA1999 )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THEODORE , " T H E WR ITER OF LIFE "
spiritual elevation ." Th e paintings in the Chur ch of St.
Anto ny thus perfo rmed severa l fun ction s for their medi-
eval audience.
The churc h has four spatial components: nave, kh u-
ru s, sanctuary, and side chapel (fig. 21 , int roduction). Th e
nave in the Churc h of St. Antony is divided into eastern
and western halves by an archway and a low partition wall.
The western en d has sometimes been called a narth ex but
will here be referr ed to as part of th e nave. Progressively
mo re restric ted access is perm itted as one moves eastward,
first into the khurus and then into the sanctuary. The build-
ing is oriented to the east, the direction from which Chris-
tians believe that Christ will come on the day of judgment.
The eastern end is the location of the most sacred activities
performed in the church, and therefo re it is the mos t pro-
tected and exclusive part of the church interio r. Symbol-
ism is an essential component of church architecture, and
two twelfth-ce ntury Coptic texts tell us th at th e church as
a who le is the house of God .7
The histo ry of publi c access to the nave is im medi-
ately apparent from the masses of graffiti in severa l lan -
39
guages which cover the lower sections of the walls, all the
way around the nave (fig. 4.2). We know from an eighth-
century account that at least one visitor, on pilgrimage to
the Holy Land, stopped in Egypt and visited the Mon-
astery of St. Antony. He was a monk, but likely some of the
pilgrims who came to the monastery were lay Christians.
Later reports show that the practice of including the mon-
astery on pilgrimage itineraries conti nued, albeit irregu-
larly, th rou ghout the centur ies." Such outsiders would
have participated in churc h services sta nding in the
nave, th e part of th e churc h op en to bapti zed Christians.
Whether or not wome n ever joined in services in the
mo nastery befo re this century is an open qu estion." We
know that wome n wen t on pilgrimage and visited holy
sites, an d we also know that wome n so metimes entered the
churches of men's monasteries, but we sho uld certain ly
imagine that most if not all ou tsiders were men, in keeping
with the exclus ively ma le population of the monastery. to
The nave was not only a place for the congregation . A
ten th- to thi rteenth-centu ry Cop tic text describes the long-
standing practice of reading the life story of each figur e
pa inte d on th e wall, o n that saint's feast day. The congre-
gants lit candles to the saint and prostrated themselves in
fro nt of the painting. The image was censed ." This largest
of spaces would th erefore.have accommo dated monks, vis-
ito rs, and servants when no services were taking place; vis-
itors, servants, and those mon ks who did not belon g to the
clergy during services (perhaps separ ated into two groups,
visitors and servants at the western end, monks at the east-
ern end) ; and also procession s of the clergy.
The khurus is a feature part icular to Coptic church
architecture . Although the word comes from the Greek
khoros, or cho ir, its placement and character in Coptic ar-
chi tecture is distin ct from the cho ir as it is known in th e
West. 12 It is an architectura l element that first made its ap-
pearan ce ca. 7 00, mo st likely int end ed as an additional
zone of prot ection setting off the nave from the sanctuary,
where the ho ly mysteries were performed." Duri ng th e
liturgy, members of the clergy (for example, pr iests and
deacons) who were attending bu t not performing in the
service may have stood in the kh urus.
Th e sanctuary, also called the haykal in the Cop tic
tradition, is the site of the celebra tion ·of the Euchar ist. The
Church of St. Antony, in keepi ng with standard Coptic
practice, includes th ree altars in th e sanctuary.. Domes
mark their three separa te spaces, which oth erwise form a
contin uo us long room. The cen tral o ne is the largest and
most important. The fourth arc hitectura l space in the

4.3 LEFT
View fro m th e mi dd le of the nave,
looking east (ADP/SA 1999 )
4.4 RIGHT
Southwestern co rn er of the nave
and archway to th e a nnex
(NI5-N20; ADP/SA 1999)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
TH E CHURC H OF ST . AN TONY
churc h is a side cha pel, which is reached thr ou gh a sma ll
annex off of th e southwestern corner of the nave, called
here th e Deesis Chapel.14 Th e general public may not have
been permited to ent er this space , du e to its diminutive
size; the fact th at it includes two short graffiti only, by a
single aut hor, is evidence that access was lim ited. IS Th is
paucity of graffiti is in stri king contrast to the dense writ -
ing in the nave, some of it covering several successive lay-
ers of plaster. " An altar stands in the middle of this small
chape l, making it clear that private an d possibly solitary
celebratio ns of the Euchar ist could have taken place here.
The space is not large eno ugh to accommodate more than
two or three people at a tim e.
T HE NAVE : A GENEALOGY OF COPTIC
MONASTIC ISM I N PA INT
Entering th e nave fro m th e do or in the northeastern
corner (N23, N24) , one is im mediately surro unded by a
painted band ofla rge figures on horseback (fig. 4.1). These
are martyrs, indi viduals who died for th eir faith before the
Roman Emperor Constantine's legalization of Christianity
in A. D. 313. Looking acros s the nave and to the east, o ne
sees that th e circle begun by th e equestrian mart yrs is com-
pleted by standing figures of monastic saints, with the ad-
40
dition of an enthroned Virgin Mary and Child (fig. 4.3).
The martyrs and saints were chose n to express a primary
message abo ut th e impo rtance of Egyptian monasticism.
Th e figures sho wn here also performed other function s in
the church, which will be addressed subseq uently.
Martyrs have a special place in the Christian com-
munity. The y were perfect witnesses to Christ, suffering
the ultimate tests of faith, torture and death, and rema in-
ing steadfast in their beliefs. For th is, they earned instan -
ta neo us salvation. Ma ny of them, including mo st of th ose
dep icted on ho rseback in th e nave, were originally soldiers
in the Roman army. Because they refused to sacri fice to
the emperor and pagan gods, they were co ndem ned
to death and becam e soldiers of Christ." Mart yr legends
tell us th at, thro ugh the grace of God, martyrs per formed
miracles and inspir ed conversions both while in the throes
of torture and execution and also after death . The mar-
tyrs chose n for thi s pa inted prog ram were the focu s of
parti cular veneratio n in Egypt, and some were Egyptians
by birth.
Beginning with th e equestrian figures and moving in
a clockwise di rection aro und the weste rn half of th e nave,
we see Theo do re th e Anato lian (NIS; th e last figur e on the
southern wall, almost completely destroyed in the con-
 THEODORE, " T H E WRITER OF LIFE "
4·5 str uction of th e archway), Claud ius (N19), Victor (N20),
Nort h wall o f th e nave, western Men as (N21), Theodore Stratelates (N22; Stratelates mean s
end, showing the ent ra nce to th e "the gene ral," and he is th e last figure on th e western wall),
church (N 2 2 -N2 6; ADP/SA 1999) Sissinius (N23; largely destroyed du e to th e insertion or en-
largem ent o f the rectan gu lar doorway), Joh n of Heracl ea
(?; N24), George (N25), and Phoebammon of Ausim (N26;
figs. 4.1, 4.4, 4.5) . The mo st famous of the equestrian mar-
tyrs of Egyptian birth is Menas (4.6), a soldier in the Roman
army who fled to the desert upon hearing an imperial
order to worship the pagan gods :
After a time the grace of God lighted upon him , and he
saw heaven open, and the interior thereof was filled
with angels of light who were carrying crowns of light,
and laying them upon the heads of those who had con-
summated their martyrdom .... And Saint Minas
lon ged to becom e a mart yr for the Name of our Lord
Jesus Christ . . . [and] a voice from heaven cried out .
"Blessed art thou, Minas, for thou hast been called .
and thou shall receive thr ee cro wns incorruptible, like
[those of] the Holy Trinity: ... one for thy virginity,
and one for thy patient endura nce, and on e for thy mar-
tyrdom. And thy mart yrdom shall be greater than the
martyrdoms of a multitude of martyrs, and thy name
https://coptic-treasures.com/
41
shall be hon ored, and multitudes of people shall come
from every part of the world, and shall take refuge in thy
church which shall be bui lt in the land of Egypt, and
works of power shall be manifest, and wonderful thin gs,
and signs, and healings shall take place throu gh thy holy
body.?"
He su bsequently left the desert to confront th e pagan
governor with his resol utio n, saying: "Because I wished to
beco m e a soldie r of th e Heavenly King I forsook the fleet-
ing soldiery of this world." 19 He was whipped, had his flesh
scraped off of his bones, was burned with torches, and
finally decap itat ed . Fellow soldiers rescued his bod y from a
pyre on wh ich it had been cast to burn and car ried it wit h
th em for protection." Fro m Alexand ria, they took it to th e
region of Mareotis, a sho rt distanc e to the west, whe re it
assisted them in atta ining victory in battl e. "And when th e
gove rnor wished to return to Phrygia he wanted to carry
th e bod y [of th e saint 1 with him. And he placed it o n a
camel, but the camel was unable to move with it, and he
plac ed it upon another camel, and th e camel was unable to
rise up; in this manner he placed it upon all the cam els th at
were with him, and th ere was not one which was able to
carry it away."" It was fina lly recognized that Me nas was
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
4.6 L EFT refusing to leave that site, and his body was buried and its
Menas (N21; ADP/SA 1999) grave eventually forgotten . The saint's in transigence is il-
lustrat ed below his equestrian figur e on th e western wall of
4.7 RIG fiT th e nave in th e Church of St. Ant on y (N 21; figs. 4.6, 4.7).
Ca mels, det ail under Menas (N21; Beneath the horse's feet, a man stands whipping a camel,
ADP/SA 1999) which refuses to rise, its op en-mouthed head reared back
in what is almo st an audible protest. A second camel be-
4.8 OPPO SI T E hind this one suggests the series of camel s in the story,
Theodore Str atel ates and Sisinnius with the charming addition of a bab y camel tethered to its
(N22-N23; ADP/SA 1999) leg. The domed structure to the right of the scene, with a
cross on the roof, an op en do or and hanging lamp, repre-
sent the shrine that was sub sequently built to house the
saint's body after a series of miracles ensure d its redis-
covery. On e account describ es th e recognition coming
abo ut after th e healing of a lam e bo y over th e site of the
grave. Such mi racles continued for later visitors to Men as's
shr ine, earning him a reputat ion as a great healer." In a
characteristic example, Menas appears on his spirit ual
horse to save the life of a man being devoured by a croco-
dile. 23 We therefore see in the painting the saint himself on
his spir itua l horse, as countless of the faithfu l have seen
him, with the three crowns of ma rtyrdom described in the
text above, one on his head and two, oddly duplicated in
shafts of light, being held out to him from heaven. He sits
o n his horse, over the camels who refused to move him
fro m his pre ferre d place of rest an d adjacent to th e churc h
built for him there. The site became the largest pilgrimage
complex in the early Byzantine Mediterranean, d rawing
countless pilgrims. " The large hol e th at we see tod ay in the
https://coptic-treasures.com/
42
middle of the pain ting is a window, wh ich was part of the
pre-thirteenth century building, later bricked up and
pa inted over by Theodore's team. Pho togra phs from th e
19 3 0 S show that the paint ed plaster had already fallen off
and the space had been filled in with plaster.
Menas's story is typical of martyrdom accounts in
many respects. The saint was a soldier in the arm y who was
called to his death as a soldier for Christ. He suffered al-
most unimaginable horrors with equanimity, and upon
death achieved instantaneou s salvation and crowns for his
heroi c qualities. His physical remains worked mi racles.
Th e saint would appear o n hor seback, responding to calls
for help by th e faithful , parti cularly tho se appeals made in
th e region of his body.
The painting to the right of Menas is particularly in -
teresting for the histo ry of ar t and also for its story. Al-
though the origins of Theodore Strate lates (N22 ) are un -
certain, we know tha t he was very popular in Egypt (fig.
4.8). Not onl y does th e Coptic version of his life descr ibe
him as Egyptian, but man y Coptic churches are dedicated
to him, and he appears frequently in art ." The general is
shown at a famous moment in his life before his martyr-
dom. A widow finds him passing by the tow n ofEuchaites.
She begs him to deliver her fatherless sons from the hid-
eous fate of being sacr ificed to a drago n th at the tow nsfolk
worship." In the paint ing we see the two childre n bound
and threatened. Pearson identified traces of inscriptio ns
around their heads as names (fig. 4.9), which is fortunate,
because th e textual so urces don't include this information.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY

dragon from their location below the rear of the horse. Al-
though the later painting includes elements missing in the
earlier drawing-for example, the hand extending a sec-
ond crow n from heaven, the shield, and the wonderfu l
kno t formed by th e coils of th e beast-the similarities are
close eno ugh to make plausible two suppositions: first,
th at it repeats iconography from an earlier painting of
Th eodore Stratelates in th e churc h, perhaps painted in this
very spot, and second, that this manuscript almost cer-
tain ly came from the Monastery ofSt. Antony,"
The painting of Claudius (NI9; fig. 4.12) includes
unusual subject matter. The fanciful coloring of th e horse
is startling, with its black and red cloverleaf designs and
dots on ocher, as is th e odd pointed shape of the hor se's
hoove s. Additionally, the figure whom Claudius is piercing
through his neck is a sur prise (fig. 4.13). The inscription
clearly identifies the crowned ruler as Diocletian , appar-
ently the Roman empe ror of that name (ru led A. D.
284-305) , who was responsible for some of the worst
persecutions of Christians. Scholars have been puzzled by
his inclusion here, for Claudius is nowhere else credited
with his death. " Some accounts say that George and the
Archangel Michae l performed the deed."

On e name is legible, Peter. With th e help of the Archangel

'.._:4' . _~ .• _., - '~ ' ~ . l :- ' - : - j<:: '- '~ ,
4.9 UPPER LEFT .'.
Michael, Th eodore kills the dra gon and saves the boys."
. ..>. :(," ~ . ,... :::... . / ."~~: f'
Snake an d boun d ch ildre n, detail
und er Theodore ( N2 2; ADP/SA Fragments of early paintings are visible to the right
1999) side of N22 and directl y below th e bare feet of the petition -
ing moth er (fig. 3.2) Altho ugh we do not know whether
4 .10 LOW ER LEFT the older paint ings below th e 1232/1233 layer depicted the
Theodore Stratelates, ca. tent h same subjects as the ones we now see, the partially revealed
cent ury, wall painting, Tebtunis, layer shows a horse's hindquarters and tail. This suggests
Fayoum (The Griffith Institute, that the earlier program also includ ed equestr ian mart yrs
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ) in this section of th e ch urch. O n th e western wall of an
unidentified bui lding from Tebtunis, in the Fayoum re-
4. 11 RIGHT gion of Egypt, a painting dating to the tenth century or
Th eod o re Stra telates, ninth or later also shows Theodore Strate lates in a similar pose,
ten th cen tury , man uscrip t illumi- spearing a giant snake (fig. 4.10).28 In thi s painting, how-
natio n, Egypt (Vatican City. Codex ever, th e snakelike dragon rises up to face Th eod or e. A
Vatican Copto 66, fo!' 2 1OV) depiction of the event that is virtually identical to that in
the Church ofSt. Antony is a drawing made in the ninth or
tenth century, two or three hundred years pr ior to the
painting now visible on th e wall, for a manuscript thought
to have belonged to the Monastery ofSt. Antony (fig. 4.11 ).29
The saint faces us from horseback, loosely ho lding the
cross-headed spear that pierces th e head of the dragon.
The widow appeals to him with her right arm upraised,
standing just in front of the hor se. The childre n look at th e

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44
4.1 2 TO P

Claudius (N I9; ADP/SA1999)

4 .13 BOTTOM

Diocl etian , detail under Claud ius

(N I9; ADP/SA 1999)

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 j;•.,;Ji< ~.<, .
\' ;,. ,I' ,,'P. .' >\ P tl\-ItI1A~I ", t·- , iii .
I"

n n .,' Ij- _.. \ ~''- ~l. .. b z.).~ I.

,
4·14
Victor (N20; ADP/SA 1999)

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4 .15 LEFT
Victor in the bathhouse furn ace
(N20; ADP/SA 1999)
4 .16 RI GHT
South wall of nave, looking east
(N2-N17; AD P/SA 1999 )
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T HEODORE , " T H E WR ITER OF LIFE "
Victor (N20; fig. 4.14) is show n next to Claudius (NI9) .
The two were contemp or aries and acqua inta nces. Victor is
not d ressed in armor because he refused to be a soldier,
even th ou gh his fath er is described in th e acco unt of
Victo r's martyrdo m as being one of the Emperor Diocle-
tians caesars, an d a general in the Roman army." Because
of Victor's great popularity and his father 's high rank, Dio-
c1etian sent him away to Alexandria to be tortured. There
he was thrust into the furnace of a bath ho use, but the
Archangel Mich ael rescued him from death." We see a
diminutive Victor in the bathhouse, located between th e
for elegs of the horse, with his hands raised in a gesture of
prayer (fig. 4.15). Smoke po urs from the chim ney, suggest-
ing th e int ense heat of th e furnace. The domes of th e bath -
hou se are painted with circles, depicting glass windows in
keepin g with medieval bath architecture . Although th e ex-
tant Co ptic text of Victor's mart yrd om doe s not explain
the scene in the lower left of th e compositio n, a passage in
the "Martyrdom of St. Th eodore the Ori ental" describe s a
stone slab on which Victor shed blood while being tor-
tur ed, and fett ers that bound his hands and feet. The chain s
are shown in th is painting, and the stone is depict ed here
as a millstone of the kin d visible in mo nasteries thro ugh-
47
out Egypt to day. The text recor ds that the sto ne and chains
were kept in th e martyrium churc h of th e saint."
The four standing figur es on the southern wall, in
the western end of the nave, seem at first glance to be o ut
of place with th e para de of equestr ian mar tyrs (fig. 4.16).
Visually, they appear to belo ng to the program in the east-
ern end of the nave. They stan d calmly, facing forwar d, set
within arcades, an d wear monastic and priestly clothing
more in keeping with the eastern group. The standing
figure at the left is Pakaou, who holds the small devil Sof-
onesar by the hair (NI4) ; to th e right is Noua (misspelled as
Thouan, NI5), followed by Piroou and Atho m together
( Nl6; parti ally cut away by a later archway). Of the stand-
ing saints, Pakao u was an ascetic, Noua was a physician
and possibly also a prie st, and the pair Piroou and Atho m
were peasants." Th e equestr ian group, unlike th e standing
gro up, were all ori ginally milit ary men or nobili ty, or both.
Several wear th e tuni c and cuirass of the Roman army, al-
though other aspects of their costume and weap onry
reflect post-Roman developments." The standing saints
are an int egral part of th e weste rn gro up because they died
as mart yrs. All four were Egyptians. The figure closest to
the east, Pakao u, provides a physical link between th e two

4·17
So fo nesa r the devil, held by
Pakaou (NI4; ADP/SA 1999)
4-18 ABOVE RI GH T
South wall of the nav e (N8-N I6),
wi th Pachom ius (NU) at the cent er
(ADP/SA 1999)
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
categories: he was a martyr and also belonged to the east-
ern group, which ma inly comprises mo nks, the successors
to the mart yrs. Tho ugh soldiers of Ch rist, none of these
four was a noble or a soldier in the Rom an army; hence
they are neith er on ho rseback no r in military garb. It has
been suggested that at least on e additional standing figur e
was part of the original program of 1232/1233, although we
cannot guess at his ident ity." An archway cut into th e wall
at a later date obl iterated most of the figur es of Athom
(N16) and Theodore the Anatolian (NI8) and is wide
enough to have destroyed one more painted figure.
At first sight, the paintings of the four standing fig-
ures appear to include con siderably less narrative activity
than those of the ir mounted companions. Pakaou (N14)
holds the small black devil by the creature's startling
ocher-yellow hair (fig. 4.17), and Noua (N1S) swings a
censer, b ut these depictions lack the elaborate scenes and
bu ildings characteristic of the rectangular compositions
with equestrians elsewhere in the western end of the nave.
Despite th e spareness of these paintings of standing mar-
tyrs, they do contain a subtle kind of narrative embedded
in detai ls of placement and even posture, and decipher-
able on ly to someone who knows the stories of the figures.
Piro ou and Atho m (NI6) are un ited by a single archway
because th ey were brothers. They are juxtap osed to No ua
(N1S) because of an event linking th em to him. They were
peasants, and one day th ey enco un tered soldiers prepar ing
to dispose of th e bod y of a Chr istian m an who had recentl y
been mart yred: No ua. The soldiers were going to th row
Nouas bod y into the sea. Piroou and Atho m bribed th e
soldiers to hand over th e body, so that th ey cou ld give it a
reverent burial. After arranging for th e cont inui ng care of
No ua's grave, th ey set forth to embrace their own martyr-
dorn." Never having met in life, th e th ree stan d together,
companio ns in heaven.
In some cases, researc h has so far failed to uncover
the full story suggested by these sma ll narrative clues in the
wall paintings. Pakaou, for exampl e, is known to have been
an ascetic who left his disciple s upon being called to mar-
tyrd om by th e archangel Gabr iel." We do not know , how-
ever, th e story sur rounding his encounter with th e devil
Sofonesar. Interestingly, th is devil is credited with having
been Eve's seducer in th e Garde n of Eden."
In addition to martyrdom, ano ther path to salvation
was available to th e devout Christian: it lay in attempting
to live out one 's life in a state of perfection. Roughl y con-
temporary with th e cessation of persecu tion s of Chr istians
by th e Roman state in 313, the institution called mona sti-
cism was develop ed, and aspects of it were patterned on
the act of martyrdom. According to tradition, Antony
founded thi s new way of life. On e of his most famou s
fellows was Pachomius, who is included in the gallery of
saints in the nave (N12). Describing him and his brethren,
Pachornius's biographer wrote : "Then they offered their
sou ls and bodies.to God in str ict ascesis [ascetic practice]
and with a befitting reverence, not only because th ey
looked day and night to the holy Cross, bu t also because
th ey saw th e martyrs take up th eir struggles. They saw
th em and imi tated thern.t'"
Edward Malone, a historian of early mon asticism,
has th e following to say on this subject: "Mo nastic life be-
comes a militia spiritualis, a spiri tual warfare, or spir itual
m ilitary service; the monk is now the soldier of Christ who
goes forth to give battle for Christ against th e evil spirits
an d the enemies of Christ in the world.,,43
Anto ny himself lived during the end of the period
of persecuti on , and his biograph er, Atha nasius, makes it
clear that Antony played a role that was as important as
that performed by the martyrs: "He was praying that he,
too, might be martyred, as I have said before, and he
grieved because he had not yet been called to be a martyr,
but the Lord was keeping him to help us and others th at he
might teach many the practice of asceticism th at he had
him self learned from the Scriptures. Many me rely on see-
ing his way of life were eager to imitate [it]."44
One can th us see the program of paint ings in th e
nave of th e Chur ch of St. Antony as a genealogy. It begins
with the martyrs, both equestrian and standing, at the
western end, and is comp leted to the east, with the rows
of standing monastic saints (fig. 4.18). The subjects in th e
eastern half of th e nave are all men who con tributed sig-
4.19
Macarius and the Cheru b
(N32-N34; A DP/SA 1999 )

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4 · 20
Che ru b holding Macar ius's wrist
(N33; ADP/SA 4 5193 98 )
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
inspired is called eremetic, depending as it doe s on con sid-
erab le solitude. The two figures depicted on the archway
tha t divides the western from the eastern half of the nave
were also instrumental in developi ng met hods of monastic
living. They are Pachomius (N12, on the south side; figs.
4.16,4 .18), an d Sheno ute (N28, on the north side). Pachomius
(292-346) is famo us for having been called by God to for-
mul ate a new system of mon astic orga nization, one tha t
em phas ized community," We kn ow fro m his Lif e that he
had a prop hetic dream , o n the night he was baptized: "He
saw th e dew of heaven descend on his head, th en co nde nse
in his right hand and turn into a hon eycom b; and while he
was considering it, it dropped onto the ear th and sprea d
o ut over th e face of all the earth.,, 47 He was later led to a de-
serted village, where a vo ice told him to bu ild a monastery,
in fulfillme nt of the dream ." Sheno ute was born and lived
in th e region of Akh m im , between ca. 350 and ca. 450. He
becam e abbot of the White Monastery aro und 385 and
shap ed the communal monastic life th ere along st rict
lines. H e ins pire d str ong feelings in his contemporaries,
and alth ough thos e feelings were not always positive, nev-
ertheless a large followi ng of petit ion ers from all walks
of life cam e to him for blessings and advice. He is also
kno wn for having been tireless in fightin g against pagans
and heretics."
On e of the most vital cen ters of early monasticism
in Egypt was Scetis, now known as th e Wad i al-Natrun. In
thi s regio n, monks seem to have followed a semia nch or-
itic form of community." Macarius th e Gr eat (N33), the
legendary founder of monasticism in Scetis, was called to
thi s task by a cherub while working in th is region collect-
ing natron salts (fig. 4.19): "One night when he was in th e
Natro n Valley an angel sho wed him a vision of th e inn er
valley and prom ised that it would be th e herit age of his
spiritual so ns.,,51The cherub said to him ,
nifican tly to th e genesis and development of m on asticism
in Egypt, wit h one exception: th e Virgin Mary an d Chi ld "They are spiritual fruits, which are the commandments
(N36). Th is painting is located on the eastern wall, to the and virtues, and Chr ist our God will make you god over
north side of th e entra nce to th e khurus. Th e eastern wall, this land on which will live a multitu de of people. Those
closest to the altar, is a pr ivileged pos itio n in th e church. who hear and keep and observe your com mandments
Balan cing the pain ting of th e Virgin Mary and Child, on will be a wreath and royal diadem on your head in the
th e oppos ite side of th e khurus ent ra nce, are painted presence of Chr ist th e King." After the cherub had said
Anto ny (sn) and Paul (N2; fig. 7, in troduction; fig. 4.3) . As these things to him, he crucified him on the land and
the father of m on asticism an d th e figure who lived at an d said to him, "You will be crucified with Chr ist and you
inspi red th e formation of a m onastery at thi s site, Anto ny will join him on the cross with the virtues ado rning
is depicted in a pos ition of honor. The sen ior ascetic Paul's you with their perfum e, and your ascetic practices will
m od el br ou ght into bein g the brother m onastery to th at of spread to the four corne rs of the eart h and will raise up
St. Anto ny's, located not far away (fig. 1.1, 1.7).45 T hey both a multi tude sunk in the mire of sin and they will becom e
lived as hermits, and the form of monasticism wh ich they warriors and soldiers in Christ's army."S2
50
1 THE OD ORE , ' T H E W R ITE R OF LIFE '
4- 2 1 Sho rtly th er eafter his wife and par ents di ed , and he
Moses the Black (N30; ADP/SA 8 became a herm it, and was eventually visit ed a seco nd time
S19398) in a visio n by the cherub."
Later, th en, o n an appointed day whe n he would receive
th e holy mysteries, as was his custom, alone in his cell,
and when he would stand at th e altar as was his custom,
he looked toward his right and suddenly saw. th ere a
cherub with six wings and a large number of eyes. Abba
Macarius began to ob serve him closely, saying, "Who
are you?" Then because of th e brightness and splendor
of the cherub 's glory, Saint Abba Macarius fell on his
face and becam e like one dead. When he remained lying
on the gro und a short while, th e cherub took hold of
him and revived him and raised him to his feet."
Durin g thi s visitat io n, th e che rub d irected Macarius
to leave for Scetis an d begin h is task of fo un ding a mon-
astic center there. The appearance to Macarius of th e
ch erub, and espec ially th e ange l's act of tak ing Macarius by
his right hand, sho wn in th e painti n g, m arked him as the
55
chose n of GOd. Scetis q u ickly came to be a m ajo r cente r
of m onasticism , and Macarius th e Great's monastery th ere
was , and is again today, famous .
https://coptic-treasures.com/
51
Macarius's plac e in th e congregation of saints painted
in the nave in the Ch ur ch of St. Antony is assured for two
reasons. According to the Life of Macarius, the saint vis-
ited Antony before the latt er's death, and Antony is de -
scri bed as h avin g "clothed Abba Macarius in the m on astic
h abi t and this is th e reason he is called th e disci ple of
Abba Anto ny?" Also, Macarius was kno wn as the father
of Scetis, and thus it is fitting th at he sho u ld be incl uded
along wit h Anto ny, th e father of monasticism." In th e
painting of Macarius th e Gr eat, o n th e north nave wall
(N33), th is po wer ful lead er is show n with h is right wrist in
th e grasp of th e che rub who showed him h is destiny. T he
pa intin g in clud es a stylized m ounta in, proba bly ind icating
Scet is, as a background for th e che ru b. The insc riptio n
withi n thi s painting is damaged and was illegib le before it
was clean ed , altho ug h previous identification of th e saint
as M acar iu s th e Great was helped by th e pa inter's inclusio n
of th e cherub ." The d iscovery in cleaning of th e first three
lett er s of Macarius's name within th e fra ming of th e arcade
is aug m ente d by m o re free ly written lett ers, discovered
above th e frame, under ob scuring plaster, and reading:
"the cherub . . . [unpreserved ] th e great"(N33; fig, 4.20).59
These ad d itional find s co nfirm th e earlier id entificatio n of
th is figure as Macarius th e Great.
Che ru bim appear here and elsewhe re in the churc h,
and repay close exam inatio n. Th ey are mentioned in th e
O ld and New Testam ents, and th ese sources are conflated in
Coptic art." Th ey have four head s, th ose of a m an, an ox, a
lion , and an eagle. In N33 th e head of th e m an is most
prominent, but th e sma ll head s of eagle, lion , and ox peer
out from th e to p and sides of th e man's head. Wings extend
abov e the cher ub's head and at its sides, and also cover its
body. A homily o n Ezekiel's vision describes th e ch erub's
wings bein g "co m pletely covered with eyes." Two human -
like arms exte nd outwar d from th e bod y. The arti st has
painte d eyes on the win gs covering the che ru b's bod y and
abo ve its head. Th e author of the ho mi ly associates th ese
eyes-the "s piritual eyes of light "- with th e light of th e
Ho ly Spirit as it shi nes th rough th e eyes of the human soul."
The renowned founders of four addi tional mo nas-
ter ies in Scet is are also show n in th e nave. They are Max-
im us and Domitius (N32; fig. 12.1), Mo ses the Black (N30;
fig. 4.21), Pish oi th e Great (Bisho i, N7; figs. 4.22, 5.9), and
John th e Little (N8; fig. 4.22). The sources tell us that Moses
was an Eth iopian, a form er slave, who led a band of ro b-
bers. Up on enc ou ntering th e m onks of Scetis , he repented
and became a parti cul arl y revered m onastic father ." One
acco unt expresses th e de lightfully direct qu ality of so many
of the se earl y mo nk s:
4 · 22

Samue l. Pishoi the Great. John th e

Litt le. Sisoes, Arsenius, Barsauma,
a nd Pachorni us (N 6 - NI 2; A DP/SA
1999)

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 T HEODORE. " T H E WR ITER OF L I FE"
A brother at Scetis committed a fault. A council was
called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused
to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him,
"Come, for everyone is waiting for you." So he got up
and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water and
carried it with him. The others came out to meet him
and said to him, "What is th is, Father?" The old man
said to them, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not
see them, and today I am coming to judge the erro rs of
another." When they heard th at they said no more to
the broth er but forgave him."
Pishoi the Gr eat and John th e Little are located next
to each other on th e so uth wall (fig. 4.22) and provide an
interesting example of th e subtle character of th e narr ative
elements included in th ese paintings, sim ilar to what we
observed in our discussion of th e m art yrs. Pishoi and John
lived in th e fourth and early fifth centur ies and were co n-
temporari es of Macar ius th e Great. They were bound to
each other in spiritual friendship , and so are show n side
by side, and across the nave fro m the other monastic
founders of Scetis." Pishoi stands facin g st raight ahead,
with his hands at chest level, palms facin g outw ard, in the
attit ude of prayer. He is distinguish ed from the m on ks
flanking him by a bu st-l ength figure of Ch rist, who ap -
pears fro m between two arches at th e top of th e arca de,
and poin ts to Pishoi (fig. 6.22) . T his gesture immediately
co nveys th e idea th at Chris t has singled Pish oi out for
greatness, but it also refers to the fact th at Christ appeared
to Pishoi several times, even permi tt ing the saint to wash
his feet."
Before th e pai ntings in th e nave were cleaned, the
im age now known to us as Joh n the Little was unidenti-
fied (NS).66 Pishoi and John stan d within a four-part ar-
cade with two other saints, Sisoes (Shisho i; N9) and Arse-
nius ( NlO; fig. 4.22) . T heir heads reac h a ro ughly even
height within th e arches, Pishoi and Sisoes overl apping th e
arc h ab ove their he ads slightly, and Arse nius intruding
somew hat m ore over the curve . Joh n's sign ificant ly shorter
figure man ages to reach the same general heig ht of the
other three because he is stand ing on a sma ll hill. His short
statur e is an ide ntifyi ng eleme nt. Other features in th is
painting of John th e Little are encoded with meani ng. The
sma ll flowerin g tree adjacent to his left foot refers to th e
decisive mom ent whe n what m ay well be John's m ost fa-
mou s miracle occ ur red. John 's spiritua l adviser, Father
Amoi, tested him by placing a dry stick of wood abo ut
twelve m iles from his cell an d instructing John to water it
dai ly. "Now the water was a long way from the place where
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53
the tree was planted, but Abba John would leave with the
water basin at night and he would return in the morning.
He did thi s for three years, and the tree lived, blossomed,
and brought forth fruit. The elder Abba Amoi took the
fruit of the tree an d brought it to the church and gave it to
the elders, saying, 'Take, eat from th e fruit of obedie nce."?"
John does not raise his han ds in the common gesture sig-
nifying prayer. In his left hand he holds a staff topped
with a cross, and his right hand appears to poin t, for his
ind ex finger is exten ded. Th is han d gesture refers to th e
high rega rd in which his fellows held him : "' W hat is th e
measure of Abba John the Litt le?' And th e great elde r,
ren own ed both in monastic practice an d deepest wisdo m ,
sto od in th eir midst and said to th em , 'Abba John th e Lit-
tle is more exalted th an us, especially because th rou gh his
pure heart and true humility he has suspended all of Scetis
fro m his finger.'?"
One of the m on astic figures in the nave is not Egyp-
tian, nor did he found a m on astery in Egypt. He is Bar-
suma th e Syrian (x n : figs. 4.22, 14.3), kn own as th e father
of th e Syrian monks." As such, it is fitting that he is
painted on the narrow wall division th at extends into th e
nave, so that he. is facin g Ant on y, the father of monasti -
cism. Barsuma is famo us for oppos ing the Council of
Chalcedon of 451, and in this he was in agreeme nt with th e
doctr inal position of th e' Co ptic Church." No doubt be- .
cause of this he is describ ed in the open scro ll he holds as a
combatant, in other words, one who fights against heresy.
The pig and serpe nt at his feet sure ly refer to events in the
saint's life, bu t th eir significance has yet to be explained."
In summary, then , the painted program of the nave is
a genealogy of Coptic m onasticism . It begins with the first
soldiers of Ch rist, the m artyrs, who successfully forged a
path to salvation . It continues with th eir successors, start-
ing with Anto ny th e Grea t, located in a place of hon or o n
the eastern wall, because he is the father of m on asticism .
Like th e martyrs, th e monks shown here are known for de-
veloping a way of life th at leads to salvation. Th ey are also
descr ibed as soldiers of Chr ist, and like the martyrs th ey
perform miracles and defend the faith in the face of non-
Chr istians and heretics. Altho ugh most of the m artyrs are
no t Egyptians, th ey are all of special imp or ta nce in Egypt.
Their monastic successo rs inspired followers and founded
monasteries in Egypt, an d mos t were native Egyptians. In
th e case of Barsuma, the father of Syrian monks shared th e
position of th e Copts in th e do ctrin al strugg le agains t
heresy, and he likely suggests th e lon g-stan din g ties be-
tween Syrian and Coptic Christians.
In this painted program, the way in which the monks
 THE CHURCH Of ST, ANTONY
imitate the martyrs is a clue in our effort to understand the
full range of the meaning for thes e paintings. The essential
goal of the Christian is to assimilate to Ch rist, and the
challenge is figuring out how to do it. In the Gospel ac-
cording to John, Christ says: "He who eats my flesh and
dri nks my blood abides in me and I in him" On 6:56). This
refers to the consumption of Christ in the bread and wine
of th e Eucharist, one importa nt way to become Ch rist. The
paintings in the sanct uary relate d irectly to thi s act. Imita-
tion of Chr ist's sufferings is ano ther metho d, as is ex-
pressed in passages fro m the reco rded "Sayings" of th e
monks painted in th e nave at th e Mon astery of St. Anto ny.
"The definition of a Chr istian is the imitation of Chr ist.?"
T he process of im itating Ch rist is a length y and difficult
one, attained by degrees. An essential component of th e
process is patt ern ing oneself on others who are mo re spir-
itu ally elevated th an on eself, as in th e monks' efforts to
model th em selves on th e martyrs. Th rou gh death, mart yrs
imit ate Christ. The monks imitate the m artyrs, and Chr ist,
without actually bein g killed. They non eth eless attem pt to
die to the world in adva nce of th eir ph ysical death : "T he
brethren said, 'H ow is it possible for a monk to die every
day for the love of Ch rist?' Th e old m an said, 'A man [can
do this 1ifhe contemplate in silenc e at all season s, and per -
form the ot her works of the body, I mean fasting, and vigil,
and the recital of th e books of the Psalms , and prayers, and
genuflections, and pain, and weeping, and tear s, and sighs,
and the reading of the Holy Scriptures. ",73
Novice monks modeled themselves on senior monks
and ascetics, as Athanasius wrote: "For simply by seeing
. . . [Antony's] conduct, many aspired to become imitators
of his way of life.,,74These acts of im itation were facilitated
through spoken, written, and painted depictions of holy
figures. Athanasius explained the rational for writing
Antony's life as follows: "You have asked me about the ca-
reer of the blessed Antony . . . so that you m ight lead your-
selves in imitation of him .?" And about th e wr itten collec-
tion of th e "Sayings" of th e fath ers on the ascetic life, th e
comp iler wro te: "This book is an acco unt of the virtuous
asceticism and admirable way of life and also of the words
of th e holy and blessed fathers. They are meant to insp ire
and instruct those who want to imi tate their heavenly lives,
so th at th ey m ay make progress on the way that leads to the
kingdom of heaven.'?" Like the written accounts of these
exem plary figures, th e im ages serve as models for im ita-
tion. An early indicatio n that pain tin gs themselves co uld
participate in th is process comes from Theodoret of
Cyrrhus, writ ing in the fifth century, on the lives of Syrian
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54
ascetics. Describing how th ese hol y men were imitators of
Biblical figur es, T heodo ret uses explicitly visual terms:
they have tak en on "the impress of all the virtue of " their
models and become "living images [icons] and statues of
them."n Two thirteenth-century Coptic aut hors address
the role of images in churches. Abu al-Khayar ibn al-
Tayyib describes the effect on the Christian viewer of see-
ing paintings of the martyrs. These mo dels strengthen the
viewers' faith and prepare them to hold fast to it, even to
th e po int of death , sho uld anyo ne attempt to persuade
them to con vert." Th e issue of conversion was a sens itive
one for both Mu slim s and Chr istians, and it is fascinat ing
to rea d th e views of Theo dore's co ntemporaries, defendi ng
and explaining th e very active role of images in ch urc hes .
Al-M u' taman Abu Ishaq al-'Assai devot es a whole chap ter
of his treatise to "the paintings of im ages in chur ches,
m odel s of those they represent, in order th at on e [th e
viewer 1remembers them and asks them for th eir int erces-
sio n with God. "79
T he m ar ked Egyptian and mon astic em phasis of the
program is ap propriate in thi s churc h, built in honor of
the Egyptian fath er of monasticism , An tony th e Great, in
one of th e mo st fam ou s monasteries in Egypt. The paint-
ings have a timeless relevanc e recording the historical
importance of monasticism in Egypt. The y also act as a
visual focus for im itatio n, the path that leads to assimila -
tion to Ch rist, a'nd thereby salvation. The paintings have
another specific message, which related to the events of
the late twelfth and early thirteenth,century, including the
period when these paintings were made. As Vivian and
Gabra explain in chapters 1 and 10 , the Syrian and Coptic
Ch ur ches were historically close, sharing a doctrinal view
on the nature of Christ which was in opposition to the
official position of the Byzantine empire. Th e decades pre-
ceding 1200 witnessed rising tensions between th e Coptic
and Syrian popes, over issues of authority. Marginal nota-
tions in two Syrian ma nu scripts from Egypt suggest th at
the m on asteries of both St. Paul an d St. Anto ny were in
the hands of Syrian monks at this time . At some point
before 1232/1233, they were taken over again by Coptic
m on ks. Although th e evidence for this is sparse and u n-
clear, th e painted program in th e Churc h of St. Antony
takes on an addi tio na l level of meani ng if the monastery
had rece ntly been repossessed by the Cop ts. The Egyptian
character of the monastic saints conveys a strong sense
of pr ide. The inclusion of Barsuma suggests that matters
between the two gro ups were not overtly hostile, but the
emphasis is Copt ic."
 THEODORE , " T H E WRITER OF LIFE '
PROT E CTIO N , HE ALIN G, AND I N T ER C E SSION
FOR FORGIVEN ES S
The martyrs announce the protection of the faith in
the face of persecution and death, and also establish the
ro le of so ldiers o f Christ, which the monks follow. In addi-
tio n to expressing a genealogical relationship, the pa int -
in gs of th e ma rtyrs also serve at least two other func tions.
Most of th em are shown triumphing over evil, and th ey
perform thi s task continuou sly, gua rd ing th e entra nce to
the church. Th e current door to th e ch urc h, lo cated in th e
northwest corn er (N23, N24), ma yor may not be ori ginal
(fig. 4.1 ).81Th e sta nda rd ch urc h plan includes one or m ore
entra nces in th e weste rn wall, and if doo rs existed th ere,
th ey would also have been protect ed by paintings of mar -
tyrs. The two m ar tyrs shown in th e khurus also serve a
protect ive fu nctio n, guarding th e sa nct uary.
Accord ing to a modern Western approach, pai nt-
ings are capab le of exp ress ion and the illusion of life, b ut
are lifeless in th em selves. In the m ed ieval world, the anti -
thes is could be tru e, as a miracle performed by George
demo nst rates:
A group of Saracen soldiers insults Saint George by
going into his church in order to drink, sleep, and even
play dice. Th e Saracens have with them som e Christian
prisoners, one of whom warns them that the saint is
able to repay such behavior. But the Saracens on ly
laugh, and ask the prison er to po int out Saint George's
po rtrai t from amo ng the holy images set above them in
the church. The Christian ind icates the mosaic of the
martyr. . . . The fearsome chara cter of this portrait . . .
does not deter on e of the Saracen soldiers from hurling
a missile at it; whereupon the weapon is returned to the
attacker in such a mann er that it strikes him in the
heart. The saint's active parti cipation iri this miracle is
proved by the icon itself, which is seen by the other sol-
diers to stre tch out its hand ."
Paradoxically, th e western visual tradition prizes illu-
sion ism wit hout believing in the life of the work of art,
while in the Coptic tradition antinaturalistic images act as
well as or bett er th an living be ings .
The gra ffiti below the martyrs sugges t to us ano ther
use for these pain ti ngs. All the pai ntings in the nave were
the focus of peti tio ns to the indiv id ua ls depicted in th em ,
to int er cede with Go d for healin g and for th e forgiven ess
of sins. We kn ow thi s not o nly fro m th e gra ffiti but also
fro m m iracle acco u nts .") Me nas, for exa m ple, was known
for his success in curing women and fem ale an ima ls of in -
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55
fertility, and fo r revivifyin g th e dead (fig. 4.6).84 Piroou
and Athom brought back to life th e wife of the gove rnor
wh o had imprisoned th em, converting her hu sband in th e
process (fig. 4.16).85
Paintings of monastic saints were vehicles through
which these holy figures performed miracles. Severa l of
the monastic saints depicted in the eastern ha lf of the nave
had rep utatio ns as healers. The sai nt always stresses that
Go d has acted throu gh him or her in per form ing th e cure,
o r, as in th e following passage fro m th e Life of An to ny, de-
nies any rol e at all, even th ou gh th e sup plicant atta ine d
health while going to see Anto ny:
A young woma n from Busiris in Tripo li also had a very
terr ible affliction and suffered terrib ly, for water fell
from her nose and her ears and turned into worms . In
addition, her body was para lyzed and her eyes were use-
less. ... Her parents fou nd out about some monks who
were going to Antony . . . [and asked] if they could
travel with them . . .. When the brothers went in to see
Anto ny and star ted to tell him about the girl, he told
them abo ut her affliction and how she was traveling
with them.. . . [And Antony refused to see her, and
said:] "Go away and you will find her healed if she hasn't
died. For thi s healing is not my do ing, but the Sav-
ior 's.. . . The Lord has given her healing when she
prayed to him ; as for my part, his goodness has told me
that he will heal her." They left and found her parents
rejoicing because their daughter had been healed."
Barsuma the Syria n (x u : fig. 4.22) was rep ute d to
have hea led the broken heel of the son of ari stocratic
Fra n kish parents, who had petitioned him th rough an
icon." Paul the Sim ple (N5; fig. 5.12), a d isciple of Antony's,
was so good at exorcisin g demons that Antony sen t the
most difficult cases to him ." Across th e nave from Paul the
Sim ple, th e two brothers Max im us and Domitius are
shown togeth er u nd er a single arch (N32; fig. 12.1). Th ey
may also have been a focus for petitions for hea ling, for
th ey were known to have cured a leper and "a man with an
in verted face.,,89 All of the ma rtyrs and saints painted in
the church co u ld have bee n th e specific focus of prayers
and pe titions , for healin g and other nee ds as well.
The pai n ti ng of the Virgin Mary in th e nave may also
have been used fo r pro tection and hea ling, and was cer -
ta in ly th e focus of pr ayers for intercession, inscribed below
in graffi ti (figs. 4.2, 4.23).90An Ethio pian mi racle story set
in Cairo in th e Monastery ofSt. Mercurius describes a blind
monk, Joh n of Bakansi, prayi ng to an ico n of th e Virgin
4·23
Virgin Mar y and Ch rist Ch ild
(N34-N36; ADP/SA 1999)

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 THEODORE . " T H E WRITER OF LIFE '
Mary every night after the rest of the community had gone
to bed. One night he saw her in a vision, taking milk from
one of her breasts and anointing his eyes with it. This milk
cured his blindness." While currently known onl y in an
Ethiopian version, thi s story was probably originally
Egyptian."
TH E V IRG IN MARY
The Co pts are well known for th eir part icul ar devo-
tion to th e Virgin Mary," It is th erefor e not sur prising to
find th at th e single paint ing in th e nave program th at de-
picts neith er m art yr nor mo nk is of the Virgin Mary and
Child ( N36; fig. 4.23 ). T his painting provides a focus for
pra yers to the Virgin in the space with unrestricted access,
the nave. As an obe dient virgin, Mary was also a m od el for
the ascetic life. Albeit in different ways, the Virgin Mary
and mon ks share th e experience of bearing Christ." In this
pain ting, th e Virgin sits on a richly colored and decorated
throne, expressive of her high status as Theotokos, or
bearer of God. She hold s an ova l shape with poi nted ends
in front of her ches t, within which is shown Christ as a
child, in a seated position (altho ugh no th rone or seat is
visible). In his left hand he holds a book with a cross on it
indicating at one an d the same tim e th at he is the Logos, or
Wo rd of God, and also th at th e bo ok is th e written word of
God, th e Gospels. His right hand is raised in a gesture of
blessing." T he oval shape evokes th e mandor la, or bod y
halo, within whic h Christ is often show n. It is also sugges-
tive of the clipeus, or shield, o n which imperial Roman im-
ages and, later, ima ges of Ch rist were depicted, as part of
th e visual symbo ls of imp erial aut hority," The position of
th e young Chr ist is identi cal to th at of th e two im ages of
Ch rist enthroned th at are located on th e eastern walls of
th e sanctuary (S I) an d th e side cha pel (C2), th ereby em-
ph asizing his divini ty, T hese two paintings show th e adult
Christ as th e rul er of heaven and earth. The icon ographic
type of th e Virgin Mary holding a mandorl a co nta ining th e
Christ Child is sometimes called the Nikopoios, or "bringer
of victory." In the medieval Coptic visual tradition Mary's
hands suppo rt the disk from belo w, not from the middl e."
Two theories have been proposed to acco unt for thi s
iconographic typ e. In one, put forw ard by Han s Beltin g,
th e oval is a literal shield (c1ipeus) and th erefo re a physical
object-a painted icon of Ch rist-which th e Virgin hold s.
The primary meaning co nveyed is th e divinity of Ch rist,
presented here as an image with in an image, for worship.
The scena rio recalls the imperial Roman and Byzantine
practices of wor shiping th e divine ruler's image." In th e sec-
ond th eo ry, exp ressed by Gustav Kuhne l, th e im age dep icts
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57
the Virgin Mary pregnant with Christ. "The clipeus before
Mar y's chest illustrates literally th e verse in Psalm s 46:6
'God is in th e mid st of her. ' Th e un seen presence . .. inside
her is alluded to by mean s of th e picture of Em ma n uel in
th e clipeus. Th e repr esentation should be inte rpret ed as
th e Logo s befor e th e Incarn ation .?" Kuhn el's reading takes
into account the resonance of the setting of this parti cul ar
image of Ch rist, held as it is by the Virgin Mary, who is
pronounced in the monogram framing her head as the
Mother of Go d. T he theories of Beltin g and Kuhne! are
co mp leme ntary. T he dep iction of Mary as a moth er also
has a relevance with in the larger sett ing of monastic lead -
ers wit hin a monastic church, because Mary was described
by th e prominent theologian and patriarch Cyril of Alex-
andria as "the mother of all the monks and all th e nuns." !"
Mary belongs in the company of the monks painted in the
eastern end of th e nave as their mother, as a model of vir-
ginity and obe d ience, and as a focus of veneration.
THE KHU RUS : SALVATION V ISUALIZ ED
T he kh ur us, which separa tes th e nave from the sanc-
tu ary, is a feature uniqu e to Coptic architecture. As we
have seen, it was probably introduced in the seventh cen-
tury to provide an addi tional bu ffer for th e holiest part of
th e churc h, th e eastern e!l'd. Th e sha pe of th e khurus ceil-
ing is distin ctive and symbolic. 101 Two Co ptic au tho rs
writing in the thirteent h and fourteent h centur ies have ex-
plained that ch urches mu st inclu de a vault, symbo lic of
Noah's ark , because both the church and the ark are ships
of salvation. '?' T he sta nda rd barr el vault in m edieval Co p-
tic ch urc hes is cons truc ted of wood and built ove r th e
khur us.l" In th e Church ofSt. Anto ny, th e vault is ma de of
pa lm logs, and it has an irregular , almost undulating sur- '
face. The paint ed deco ration now visible in th e ceiling
zo ne of th e khurus postd ates Theo do re's prog ram, but th e
essent ial shape of th e ceiling and its sym bolic mean in g do
not.!" Salvatio n, the th em e expressed in th e arch of th e
ceiling, is carried out in the paintings from bo th periods in
th e khurus.
Th e two paintings on the inner face of th e weste rn
khurus wall sho w the three Hebrews in the fiery furn ace
(K6; fig. 4.24, fig. 27, conclusion ) and Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in Paradi se (K5; fig. 4.25). In the first image, th e th ree
young men are sho wn standing fro ntally in a gesture of
prayer, with their hands held upraised, palms facing out-
ward, amid the high flames of a furnace. The entire back-
gro und is made of fire, th e top s of th e flames fork ing at
head level. As we are told in the Book of Dani el, th e three
young Jews na me d Hananiah, Azaria h, and Mishael, have
4 ·24
Three Hebrews (K6-K7; ADP/SA
1999 )

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 .'" ....
' r' / ), .'
I '

,.

, ,
, ~~ . '...... '~ v ,

4·25
Abraham, Isaac, and Jaco b in

parad ise ( K5; ADP/SA 1999 )

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 THE CHURCH OF ST. AN TONY
refused King Neb uchadnezzar's order to worship a golden
idol. IOS In a rage, the king orders them burned alive in the
furnace, but an angel of the Lord ap pears and protects
them fro m th e flam es, causing the king to reco gnize the
power of th eir God (Dn 3).
Th ree vignettes adjoin th e right side of the painting,
on the northern wall of the khurus (K7). Before the paint-
ings were cleaned, the lowest scene was completely ob -
scured, but even without being able to see this important
sect ion, van Moorsel correctly asserte d that these scenes
belonged to th e narrative of th e three Hebrews and not to .
the large framed su bject to their right , George (K8; figs.
7.31-7.34; fig. 25, conclusion) . The uppermost scene shows
King Nebuchadnezzar, flanked by lance bearers. Simi lar
guards or soldje rs stand in th e middle register , along with
two identified as centurions ( K7.3). A ma ss of soldiers
holding whips fills the lowest zone, keeping the thre e
young men inside the inferno. Th e extreme discrepancy in
scale between the Hebrews and ang el, on th e on e hand,
and the king and soldiers, on th e other, makes the narra-
tive relation between the se figures confusing for the mod-
ern viewer. The tie between them.is made visually explicit ,
however, in the whip held by the soldier closest to the
young men , which actually penet rates the interior of the
furnace. Also, th e br ickwo rk und er th e feet of the Hebr ews
exte nds aro und the wall and int o the space inhabited by
Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers. The three young men were in-
terpr eted as an Old Testam ent type for the resurrection of
Christ, and as such they work well in th e khurus, alon g
with th e th ree patri archs and th e later paintings in th e ceil-
ing zone above.:"
The scene on th e other side of the western wall shows
the faithful, saved in heaven . It is a scene of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in Paradise, hold ing in their arms the
sma ll, childlike figures of the saved ( K5; fig. 4.25) . The three
patriarchs were the subjects of considerable veneration in
Egypt and elsewhere, by Christians, Jews, and Mu slims.!"
The site of their burial is believed to be in Hebron, which
was a destin ation of Christian pilgri mage as early as 384 .108
Addi tional inte nsity was focused on th is site in 11l9, when
a cave containing buried rem ain s was discovered beneath
th e shrine.!" Th e Gospel according to Matt hew reco unts:
"I tell you, man y will come fro m the east and the west and
sit at table with Abra ham, Isaac, an d Jacob in th e kingdom
of heaven " (Mt 8:n ). Elaborating o n this, th e Coptic lit-
urgy to commemorate the dead includes a reference to
them: all "who have fallen asleep and are gone to their rest
in th e faith of Christ, vouchsa fe to grant rest to all th eir
souls in the bosom of our holy fathe rs, Abraha m and Isaac
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60
and Jacob: nourish them in a place of pasturage beside the
waters of comfort, in the paradise of joy, whence sorrow
and sighing an d weeping have fled away, in the light of thy
saints."!" Co ptic tombstones regularly includ ed reference
to these three, and o ne example from Esna, dated to A .M .
699, A.D. 983, describ es the sett ing in similar term s: "Lord
Jesus Christ, give repose to his soul in the place of repose,
and throw him in the br east of Abraham, Isaac, and of
Jacob, in your paradise, in a green place, below a restful
spring, the place wh ere sad ness flees, and also lamen tation,
in the light of your saints. Amen ."1 11
In th e compelling painting of 1232/1233 , the three
patriarchs are seated on a lo ng, continuo us throne, set
against a green back ground filled with fru it- bearing trees
and sma ll, gamboling figur es. From left to right , th e three
virtually identical elders are clearly nam ed: Jacob, Isaac,
Abraham. Inscriptions above and to th e right of each halo
and additional on es o n the decorated bands of th eir
sleeves make this clear. An int erestin g organizational pat-
tern th at does not conform to Western expectations is es-
pecially clear here.!" The patriarchs are arranged accord-
ing to their usual hierarchical ord er, but within a cultural
context that has adopted the Arabic orientation of reading
from right to left: th e seque nce has Abra ham at th e right ,
Isaac in th e middle, and Jacob at the left. Each of th e patri -
arc hs hold s a diminutive 'man or wo man in his lap , or
"boso m ." We kn ow th at the now-destroyed figure in Abra -
ham 's lap was Lazarus, th e poor man in the Gospel parabl e
(Lk 16:19- 31). Onl y his feet are still visible, exten ding fro m
undern eath Abraha m 's left hand . The area aro und th e bor-
der of Parad ise was covered with plaster at some po int
after 1232/I233 .113 The conservators remove d this up ain ted
layer to reveal a fascinating vignette. The sma ll naked man
enveloped in flames and sta ndi ng in a brick structure of
so me kin d, o utside of the border surrounding paradise,
provides the pri ncipal clue in identifying Lazarus. This
unhapp y figure is labeled "N ineve, th e unmerciful," and
below th e brick enclosure is the word "hell." The rich man,
nameless in the gospel, is called Nineve in the Coptic tradi-
tion. !" In Luke he is described as looking up from hell,
seeing Lazaru s in th e bosom of Abra ha m, and begging fo r
a drop of water to put on his ton gue.!" We see him stretch-
ing out the finger of one hand in his desperate plea fo r
water and tou chin g his parched tongue with a finger from
his other hand. The theme of salvation expressed in the
khurus by the architectural reference to Noah 's ark, and
the painted depictions of the three Hebrews, and the vision
of paradise are mad e more preciou s by the sma ll visual re-
minder that not everyone succeeds in attaining th is goal.

4· 26
M ercuriu s ( K3- K4; ADP/SA 1999 )
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THEODORE , ' T H E WRITER OF LIFE '
The two equestrian figures on the northern and
southern walls are not part of the message of salvation
expressed in the rest of the khums. They are the two
most popu lar martyrs in Egypt, George (K8, north wall;
figs, 6.24, 7.31) and Mercur ius ( K3, so u th wa ll; fig. 4.26).
Geo rge is included here for th e seco nd time in th e
123211233 program, and th at is proof of his importanc e,
especia lly when one consid ers th at Antony is shown onl y
once (Nl ; fig. 7, introduction l. !" Th ese two sold iers of
Christ are shown here in the same format as the equ es-
trian martyrs in the nave, and th ey perform one of th e
same fun ctions. T hey are her e as guardians, protecting th e
sanctuary.
The story of th e m artyrd om of George in cludes sev-
era l re ma rkab le features. George was subjec ted to an ex-
ceptio na lly creative ran ge of tortures, including having
perfora ted iro n boot s pu t on his feet, int o wh ich nails were
ham mered ; be ing lacerated with stakes and then bo iled;
and havi ng his head beaten with nail s until "his brains
poured out through his mouth white as milk. ,,117After
expe rien cin g these an d o the r horrors, George died, and
Ch rist caused the piece s of his dism embered body to join
together again, and revivifi ed him. George was tortured
furt her and put in jail, where Jesus came to him and
promised to bring him back from th e d ead two more
times. Jesus said th at after his fourth demise: " I will make
thee lie down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." IIBWe can
picture th is vision of heaven, painted as it is in the oppo-
site end of the khums (KS; fig. 4.25). The scene in between
the se two depicts a seated figure wearing a turban, twisting
his head aro un d to look up at the enormo us figure of
61
George on horseback (fig. 7.5). This is Pasikrates, who
earned salvatio n by recording George's sufferings and mir-
acles. As his text tells us, George ma de th e following re-
qu est of Christ: "D o th ou wr ite in th e Book o f Life th e
nam e o f eve ryo ne who sha ll write down my m art yrd om
and the sufferings wh ich I have end ured."! "
In the large scene of Geo rge on th e north wa ll, th e
sain t is sh own spearing the evil general Euchius, who,
accordi ng to the Coptic account of George's martyrdom,
took three th ousan d sold iers wit h h im and wreaked havoc
on the churches of Egypt. After torturi ng and killing nu -
merous Christians, Euchi us went to Syria to overthrow
a famous shrine of George.!" Wh en the general entered
the church, a lam p exp loded and he was covered with
burning oil. His flesh became leprous and, as his followers
abandoned him, he finall y died. The fateful lamp is shown
within the martyrium church of th e sain t, to the left of
Euchius.
Acro ss the khums from Geo rge is another much-
belo ved martyr: Mercurius. He is commonly known as
Abu Sefein, or the "father of two swo rds," perhaps b ecause
an ange l of the Lord gave the saint a sword.III A monastery
ded icated to him still exists today in O ld Cairo, only o ne
exa m ple of almost th irt y churc hes and monasteries de di-
cated to him, acco rd ing to th e record writte n by Abu
al-M akar im in th e thirteenth century!" Mercurius is
shown her e in richl y colored dr ess, on a b lack horse with
m agnificent trappings, and accompanied by two pages
(fig. 4.26). Th e fabr ic of the horse blanket is virtu ally
ide ntical to the splend id painted cloth dr aped over the
arms of the cross, in th e side cha pel (c i, figs. 4.4 0 , 6.18).123
O ne of h is two swo rds is in its scabba rd, beh in d h is saddle,
and he holds a seco nd swor d in his left hand. T he angel
touching th e blad e in the up per right co rn er indicates its
m iracul ous origin (fig. 31, co ncl usio n) . Me rcuri us spe lls
out the significance of h is armor in the acco unt of his m ar-
tyrdom, when he addresses the Roman Emperor Decius:
" I have upon m e th e wh ole armor of Go d, and the breast-
plate of faith, by me an s of wh ich things I sha ll ove rco me
all th y desi gns and all th y crafty arts in respect of me."!"
We see a painting of ph ysical armo r standing in for sp iri-
tual armor.
Though pos sessed of two swords, the saint neverthe-
less pierces the small crowned figure directly below him
with a spear. This man is the Ro ma n Emperor Julian the
Apostate, who was killed by Mercurius's spear in a posthu-
mous appearance of the sain t. Basil of Cesarea, shown to
th e right of the ho rse's head, saw thi s event in a visio n and
d iscovered th at Mercuri us's spear was no longer in his
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
m artyrium chur ch- the saint had removed it to kill
Iulian.!" A delightful thirteenth-century Coptic version of
thi s event describes Basil in his pri son cell with an icon of
Mercurius. After expressing frustration that he could not
help his brethren in the fight against Julian, he notices
that the saint's image has disappeared from the icon. It re-
appears, and the painted spear is covered with blood.
W hen asked whether he had killed Julian, the saint's
im age nods .!"
The odd event shown to the right of the Julian illus-
trates th e murder of Mercurius's grandfather by two cyno-
cephaloi, or dog-he aded cannibals (fig. 7.1). Befor e Mer-
curi us's birth , his father- an d gra ndfather-to -be went
hunting. The elder man was attacked an d killed by th e
mon sters, bu t God sto pped them from killing the you nger
ma n, who was needed to father Mercurius. The two beasts
prostrated themselves in front of him. God rendered the ir
nature sweet, and th ey converted to Christianity!"
THE S A N C T U A RY: THE PLA CE WHERE HEAVEN
AND EA RTH MEET
T he paintin gs in the sanctuary are closely linked to
th e ritu al events th at take place in th is space (figs. 4.27,
4.28). Therefore, howev er ill-equipped th e art historian is
to explain the subtleties of th e ritual, it is clear th at such an
effort must be attempted in order properly to understand
the paintings. In essenc e, th e celebration of the Eucharist
commemorates Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Bread and
wine are transformed in the ritual by th e infusion of the
Holy Spirit into the flesh and blood of Ch rist. Ch rist ex-
plained the purpose of thi s act during th e Last Supper, and
commanded his apostles to repeat it as a form of rem em-
br an ce. Th e ritu al is enac ted by priests and o the r atte n-
dants, and th e Christian faithful co nsume th ese substa nces
and receive grace and th e for giveness of sins th rou gh th e
sacrame nt.!" Th e pa rticipants in thi s act -pr iests, dea-
cons, cantors, and so on-perform actions in im itation of
Christ, the apostles, angels, and the prophets. When the
ritual actions are properly followed, God in the form of the
Holy Spirit changes the bread and win e into Christ's flesh
and blood, and the space of the sanctuary becomes the
Heaven ly Ierusalern.!" The pa int ings depict what few peo -
ple are spiritually elevated enough to see but what the y be-
lieve to be actually happening.
AR CHITECTURAL SYMBOLISM
The thirteenth-century "Order of Priesthood," by an
unknown author, describes the sanctuary in terms of both
O ld and New Testam ent s, followin g a traditional Chr istian
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62
system of co mpa rison, in which Old Testame nt even ts
fores hadow o r prefi gure th e people an d happ enings of th e
New Testa ment. Th e layers of mean ing th at it creates are
app arent in both the architecture and the paintings of th e
sanctuary. In a groundbreaking study of the architectural
symbolism of the Coptic sanctuary, Gertrude J. M. van
Loon summarizes th e anonymous author's text. The writer
first describes the construction of the Tabernacle and the
Temp le of Solomon, in the earthly Jerusalem. He explains
that the offerings of ani ma l sacr ifices prefigured the Chris-
tian ritual of th e eucharistic sacrifice. He next describes the
Heave nly Jerusalem , according to th e Revelation of St.
John, includ ing the th ro ne of God, the four living crea -
tures, and the twenty-four elders of the apocalypse. The
anonymous aut hor credits John with deciding to bui ld a
sanctuary as a visible reminder of these two Ierusalems,
"firstly as a type of the Tabernacle and the inner dome
called the Holy of Ho lies, the place where one prays for
forgiveness, and secondly in accordance with what was left
in his mind by the div ine revelation. This altar room, we
see it with seeing eyes, was going to be a work based o n
these two exam ples, the ear thly and sub lime heavenly," !"
The theme of sacrifice and also John's vision of the Heav-
enly Jeru salem are carried out in th e paintings.
T HE P AI N TI NG S
"The Order of Priesthood" explains that a dome
mu st be included in the sanctuary of a church.:" A dome
rises abov e each of the three altars in the sanctuary of the
Chur ch of St. Antony, but th e largest, and the onl y one
that is painted, is th at over th e central altar. Indeed , the
density of painting is greatest above and aro und thi s sec-
tion. The center of th e dom e is filled with a bu st-length
image of Ch rist Pantocrato r set within a double-band ed ,
circular frame (S12; fig. 13, int roduction; figs. 4.27, 6.20 ).
Christ faces th e viewe r below and is o riented with his head
at the west, so th at the priest celebrating the litur gy and
facing east can see this image right side up . Christ holds a
book in his left hand and raises his right hand in a gesture
of blessing. The roundel is sur ro unded by four cherubim
and four other angels (S13-20 ). The cherubim are also
called the four in co rporeal bei ngs and are sometimes
shown as four separate creatures, as in the sanctuary apse
surro unding the mandorla of Christ (st; figs. 4.28, 6.15)
and in th e side cha pel, in pairs, flanking th e same image
(C3, ClO; figs. 4.38, 12.7). The dome rests on an octagonal
drum. Each of its eight sides includes a window, centrally
positioned. The paintings in the drum are largely destroyed,
but each pan el o rigina lly co nsisted of two angels flanking
4·27
Apse an d central dome of the
sanc tuary (si, 512-544. 546-549;
ADP/SA 1999)

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4. 28
Sanctuary apse (SI; ADP/SA 65 98)

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4-29
Detail of sanctuary apse and part
of the sacrifice ofIsaac (51, 538;
ADP/5A 4S 98 )
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THEODORE , " T H E WRITER OF LIFE "
each window (S21-528; fig. 13, introduction; fig. 4.27). Th e
drum is set on a square, and th e squa re is supported below
by four piers, which frame the central bay of the sanctuary.
Th e four sides of th e upper walls are divided hori zont ally
into two registers. Th e upp erm ost depicts a continuou s
band of the twenty-four elde rs of th e apo calypse, wearing
crown s and holding chalices (S33-S36). Below them , on
th e western and eastern faces of th e wall, are abstract
designs and angels (S37, S40, S41, S44). The southe rn
and northern walls show Old Testa me nt scenes th at are
typolo gically related to the Eucha rist. The underside of
the central archway between the khurus and th e sanctu-
ary is painted with bust-length portraits of the proph ets
(S45-S50) . The undersides of the archways to the other two
bays of the sanctuary are unpainted.
The painting of the large eastern apse is divided into
two levels (SI; fig. 4.28). At the top , a large and impressive
Christ in Majesty sits enthroned, facing the viewer (the
priest and celebrants of the liturgy) . As in the image of
Christ in the dome, his left hand holds a boo k and his right
hand is raised in blessing. His feet rest on an are, inscribed
with the words "Behold, heaven is my throne and the earth
is my footstool," from Isaiah 66:1 (S1.7). This tells us that
we are seeing a vision of Christ in heaven. He is enclosed
with in an oval with pointed ends, a m an doria , or bod y
halo, as we saw in th e nave (N36; 4.23). Appeari ng as if
from behind th e mand orla are the heads of an eagle, an ox,
a lion , and a man, each set: within layers of wings covered
with eyes. To th e left is a red sun, and to the right is a gray
moon, both with faces. The archangels Michael and
Gabriel gaze upward at the image of the Lord in reverenc e
(figs. 4.29). Th e zone below this, in the bottom of the apse,
is paint ed with an enthro ned Virgin and Ch ild with th e
archan gels Michael and Gabriel. The Virgin sits looking
direc tly out at th e viewer, hold ing the Christ Child with
her left hand and gestur ing toward him with her right. In
contr ast to her static, frontal pose, Christ sits sideways,
looking up at his mother and extending his right hand to-
ward her, suggesting move me nt. This hand assumes the
usual positio n signify ing blessing. In his left hand he holds
a scro ll with crosses on it. The two archangels stand fron-
tally, holding in their left hands large disks with letters sig-
nif ying "Jesus Christ is victor ious" (SU I, S1.13). The upper
,edges of Michael's wings are shown as bands of flame.
Just as the architecture is symbolically expressive of
sacrifice and of the earthly and heavenly Ierusalems, using
elements and event s from th e Old Testament as pre-
figurations of those in the New Testament, so also are the
paintings. Four kinds of written sources help the outsider
to understand the paintings' meaning. The first is the
Bible, and th e second is th e liturgy itself, the words recited
as part of the celebration of the Euchar ist. A th ird is the
 TH E C HURCH Of ST. ANTONY

ritual of monastic initiation. Descriptions of the miracu-

lous events or visions that relate to the ritual and the paint-
ings provide a fourth kind of textual source.!"
Conside r the paintings in the apse of Christ in Maj-
esty (SI) and in th e dome of Christ Pantocrator (S12) , sur -
rounded by che rubim and othe r angels, in light of th e fol-
lowin g texts (figs. 4.27, 4.28). No te also that im ages of
pri ests ar e included in the sanctua ry, on piers flanking th e
altar and in the southern end (ss, 59, S3-S7; figs. 4·30, 4.43,
7.14). In the late seventh century, the priest Theodore re-
cou nted the following: "I have heard in many places that at
the time when the ob lation is about to be offered up, th e
Son of God comes down with all His ranks and stands
upon the altar until they have finished giving co mm union
4 ·30 to all the people."!" Similarly, another account tells us that
Anonymo us patria rch (58; ADP/SA "o ne day, Bishop Pisentius of Qift [painted in the nave,
1999) N29], ... admonished a priest, who had behaved [in a] dis-
orderly [m anner] at the alta r and reminded him: 'Dos t
thou not know th at myriads of an gels and Che ru bim and
Seraphim stand before th ee upon th e Sanctuary, singing
with sweet voices in one chant? "? " Th e spiritual subjects
that appear during the ritual event are painted directly
above the altar. They are also referred to in the Coptic
litur gy, when, during feasts of th e Virgin and angels, the
p riest reads:
Four events recounted in th e Old Testa me nt are pic-
Behold, Emmanuel our God, the Lamb of God, Wh o
tured above th e altar: th e sacr ifice of Iephtha's dau ght er
takes away the sins of all the world, is with us tod ay on
(539), th e sacrifice ofIsaac (538), th e meetin g of Abrah am
this table, Who sits on the throne of His glory, and be-
and Melchiz edek (543), and Isaiah and th e burning coal
fore Whom stand all the heavenly orders, Who m the
(542). All of th em foreshad ow th e sacrifice of Ch rist on th e
angels praise with the voices of blessing, and before
cross and its ritual co m me moration on th e alta r below. In
Who m the archangels fall dow n and worship.
addi tio n to th is cen tra l mea ning, some o f th e paintings
The four Incorporeal Beasts sing the hymn of the Trisa- also make refere nces to the monastic life. The two images
gion, and the twenty -four priests sitting on their seats, of sacrifice on the southern wall below the dome an d over
and twenty-four crown s of gold on their heads, and the altar are connec ted to each other as well as to the
twent y-four golden vials in their hands, full of incense sacrifice of Christ and the ritual actions in the sanctuary
which is the prayers of the saints, and they worship be- (fig. 4.32). In the scene on the right (539), King Iephtha is
fore Him who is living unt o the age of ages.!" sho wn in the act of severing his daught er's neck. He had
asked God for victory in battle and had vowed to sacrifice
T he paintings also correspo nd to th e description of th e first living thing he saw co mi ng fro m his hou se up on
th e Heavenly Jerusalem , in th e Book of Revelation. John his return home. Gr eeted by his much beloved daughter,
describes the enthroned Christ (shown twice in the painted he dul y sacr ificed her (Igs 11:30-40 ). This subject is rar e
4.31 ABOVE RI GHT pr ogram of the sanctuary: in th e dome, S12, and in th e and may appear here because o f a symbo lic relationship
One of th e twent y-fo ur elders of eastern apse, SI, fig. 4.27), th e fo ur incorpo real beings (also with monastic initiation. Acco rdi ng to th is explanation ,
th e apocalypse (536; ADP/SA 20 shown in both locations: SI and s13, 515, 517, 519) , and the th e novice presents himself as a sacrifice, paralleling the
518798) twenty-four elders of the apocalypse (S33-S36; fig. 4.31 ). sacrifices of both Iephtha 's daughter and Isaac. The novic e
Describing paintings of thi s subject, th e Cop tic priest Abu offers his life to God and th ereby becomes a monk. !" In
aI-Barakat ibn Kabar (d. 1324) wrot e th at "it shows Him as th e mu ch mo re commonly depicted ima ge of th e sacrifice
the word of God"- that is, th e Logos. 136 of Isaac, Abraham prepare s himself to commit the terr ible

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66
4·32
Sacrifices of Isaac and lephtha's
daught er (S38-S39; A DP/SA 7S
'7098)

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4·33
Isaiah and the burning coal (542),
and Abr ah am and Melch izedek
(543) (A DP/SA 85 170 98)
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THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
deed at God 's command but is stopped at the last moment
by an angel of the Lord (Gn 22:1- 14). In th ese paintings,
the two children are shown almost identically: both are
naked to the waist, and bound, with their head s pulled
back by their father s. The men firml y grasp their children's
hair and expose their necks to kni ves. In each case, a fire
burns on an altar in front of the victims. While the in-
scriptions around Iephtha are largely illegible, those in th e
scene on the left are clear. Next to Abraham 's head the text
reads: "He does not wish to kill Isaac" (S38.4). Ind eed, nor
does Iephtha wish to kill his daughter, if the longing gaze
he directs to Abraham is any ind ication. The visual simi-
larities in the two scenes underscore the painful difference:
Iephtha's daug hter's eyes are closed, the knife her father
hold s has severed her neck, and blood pours down her
chest. Abraham's gesture is stopped inches away from
Isaac's neck by the ange l's voice, indicated by a hand ex-
tending into the picture from above. An inscription next
to the hand says: "the voice" (S38.1), and one next to the
sacrificial replacement reads "the ram bound" (S38.3) .
The biblical acco unt of Melchi zedek and his meeting
with Abra ham is brief (Gn 14:17-21; fig. 4.33). Melch izedek
68
is described as a priest and a king of Salem who offers the
victorious Abraham bread and wine. ·Considerable apoc-
ryphalliterature elaborates on this short passage. Legends
about th e par ent age and significance of Melchizedek
abound from the first centuries of Christian ity, based in
part on Jewish sources.!" In early Christian and Byzantine
ar t, Melchi zedek is a regal figure wearin g a crown, dre ssed
as either a king or a priest. !" In medie val Coptic art, how-
ever, Melchizedek is shown as an unkempt herrni t.!" On e
primary so urce of influ en ce for this unusual imagery is a
tra dition that Melchizedek was a holy ascetic who lived in
a cave on Mount Tabo r.!" Pilgrimage texts indicate that
this notion developed after the Arab conquest of Egypt.!"
A par ticularly compelling eyewitness account of this cave
and its significance comes from the Russian Abbo t Daniel,
who traveled to the Ho ly Land between noo and nos, a
century before Theodore worked in the Monastery of St.
Antony:
And on this same Mount Tabor, in a level place, there is
a very marvellous cave like a small cellar cut in the
rock. . . . In fron t of the doo rs of this cavegrow small fig
 T HEODOR E, ' T H E WRITER Of LIfE '
4·34 trees and aro und it grow little trees of every kind . . . . In
David (549) this small cave lived the holy Melchisedek, and Abra-
ham came to him here and called him thrice, saying:
"Man of God!" Melchisedek came out and brou ght
bread and wine, and having made a sacrificial altar in
the cave, offered up the bread and wine in sacrifice and
th is sacrifice was immediately taken up to God in
heaven; and here Melchisedek blessed Abraham, and
Abra ham cut his hair and nails, for Melchisedek was
hairy. This was the origin of the liturgy of bread and
wine instead of unleavened bread. Of th is the prophet
says: "Tho u art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedek." (Ps 1l0:4)143
The wild hai r and eyelashes o f Melchi zedek in the
painti ng at th e Monastery ofS t. An to ny m ake sense in th is
con text, whic h prob abl y deve loped from an apo cryp ha l
sto ry of Melchi zed ek th at was wid ely available in th e
Med iterranea n, in several lan gu ages, including Coptic
and Ara bic (fig. 6.12).144 In thi s tale, Melch izedek rea lizes
th at th ere is only one God an d flees his home whe n his
fathe r, in an an xio us attempt to ap pease th e gods, endeav-
ors to offer Melc hizedek up as a human sacrifice. Wh en
Melchizedek 's fathe r canno t find him , he offers up Mel-
chizedek 's brother instead , and Me lch izedek asks God to
make "Ha des come and swallow th em up." After seeing
that God has heeded his prayer, Melchizedek goes to
Mo un t Tabor "in great fear. "
And going into the brush of the forest, he rema ined
there for seven years. He went about naked as from his
mother's womb, and his fingernails became overgrown,
and the hair on his head hung down to his loins, and
his back became like the shell of a tortoise.. . . And
after the seven years, a voice came to Abraham saying
"Abraham, Abraham . .. saddle your beast and take
costly garments and a razor and go up on Mt. Tabor
and cry out three times 'Man of God!' And a wild man
will appear; however, don't be afraid of him . Rather,
shave him, and clip his nails, and clothe him, and be
blessed by him ."
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And later, after this first meeting, Melchizedek met
Abraham a second time, returning victorious from battle,
and "gave him privately a cup of wine, putting down for
him a piece of bread, and also for his people, being 318
men. . .. And thus he became the prototype of the blood-
less sacr ifice of the Savior, bringing an offering in holi-
ness. ,,145In the painting, the altar at the mouth of the cave
is clearly visible. It para llels the actual three-dimensional
altar below, as th e offering of the cha lice and b read to
Abraham and his m en parallels the priest's offering to the
community o f th e faith ful.
The cave and the hermi tlike appearance of Melchi-
zedek have been given a mon astic interpretation, with
good reaso n, by Paul van Mcorsel.!" Antony was only o ne
of numerou s ascet ics and mo nks who lived in caves, a tra-
dition th at contin ues even tod ay. Building on van Moorsel's
association, it seems possible that th e prominence of the
scissors an d knife or razor in th e painting were int ended to
relate to the rit ua l to nsuring of th e monk at his initi ation .
The followi ng passages fro m th e mon astic rites of initia-
tion in th e Co ptic Ch urc h equate hair with ph ysical desires
and th e ton sured state with grace : "Bestow on him perfect
subm ission, and ma y it be h is pur pose to turn himself
away fro m th e pleasures of nat ur e, th at, in the laying aside
of the hair of his hea d, he may cast away fro m him un -
seem ly acts and m ay receive unto himself th e help of grace
and th e Ho ly Spirit. Take a pair of scissors, cut th e hair of
his head in th e form of the Cro sS.,,147
The Cop tic liturgy makes explicit the connection be-
tween th e depiction of Isaiah and th e burning coa l on th e
no rth wall (S42; figs. 4.33,5.8) and the co nsum ption of th e
Eucha rist. During the liturgy th e priest says: "As th o u did st
cleanse th e lips of th y servant Isaiah th e proph et when on e
o f th e seraphim took a live coal in th e ton gs fro m off th e
altar an d laid it on his mo uth and said to him 'Lo, thi s hath
tou ched thy lips: it sha ll tak e away thine iniquities and
purge all th y sins' : in like ma n ner for us also h umb le sin-
ners purge our so uls and our bodi es an d our lips and our
hearts, and grant us this true coal, quickening soul and
body and spirit, which is the holy body and the precious
blood of th y Chris t." !" In the pa int ing, we see the sera ph
(depicted, like the cherub, with eyed wings and four heads)
holding the burning coal to Isaiah's lips. This action is re-
peated by the priest when he offers the bread and wine to
the communicants, whose sins are thereby forg iven.
The unusual inclusion of Ieph th a's sacrifice an d
the extraordinary depiction of the meeting between Mel -
chizedek and Abraham suggest that this program was
thought out with care. While all four of the Old Testament

4 .35 UPPER LEFT
Eulogia loaf fro m the Mo nastery
of St. Antony, next to th e paint ed
disk held by the archangel M ichae l
(51)
4.36 LOW ER RIGHT
Mark (511; ADP/SA 75 98)
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TH E CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
standing at his side and giving him the words which need
to be said."!"
The largest single composition in the sanctuary is th e
painting in the apse (51; fig. 4.28). It is divided into two
zones, which can be understood to signify the two aspects
of Christ: divine and human. In the upper zone, Christ in
Majesty sits ent hro ned in a mandorla, supported by the
four living creatures . These four guar d the th rone of the
Lord and serve as models for ceaseless prayer. They are
also imp ortant as intercessors .": This role is especially
relevant in the paintings of th e side chapel. In the upp er
zone of th e sanctuary apse, Chr ist is shown in heaven,
using th e earth as his footstool, depicted as an arched sup-
narrative scenes depicted above the altar have a primary port for his feet (S1.7). He holds a large book with a cross
level of meaning that relates th em to th e Eucha rist, three on it -literally a bible, but also a symbo lic reference to
pro vide pointed visual models for th e monk. Like Ieph - Christ himself, who is the Word of God, the divine Logos.
th a's dau ghter and Isaac, th e monk sacrifices himself and is The archa ngels Gabriel and Michael face Christ and raise
reborn in Christ. Like Melchizedek, he joins the ranks of their hand s in prayer (fig. 4.29) . The simu ltaneo us pres-
Anto ny and othe r hol y ascetics and cave dwellers, and also ence of the sun and moon suggests the timeless zone of
casts aside his earthl y passion s with th e ritu al ton sur ing of etern ity that Ch rist inhabits. Below, in the image of the
his hai r. The rare depicti on of th e meeting of Abra ham Virgin and Child, th e Word or Logos made flesh is shown,
and Melchizedek shows both that Coptic artists and th e- seated in his mother's arms and hold ing a scro ll. Mary is
ologians were sufficiently connected with th e eastern prese nted as th e Mother of God, seated on a th ron e that is
Med iterranean world to be aware of th e cave and tradi- equal in magnificence to that of Christ's above . The two
tio ns surro unding it, and that they ada pted it for their own
purposes.!"
The archway between th e khums and th e sanc tuary
is paint ed with portraits of six Old Testame nt prophets.
Read ing from south to north, they are Jeremi ah, Elijah,
Isaiah, Moses, David, and Daniel (545-550) . These figur es
also relate to th e service, to the pro phetic relation between
Old Testament an d New Testament events, to the rest of
the painted program, and to its monastic setting. It has al-
ready been pointed out that Isaiah (547), for example, had
a vision of the Lord on a throne supported by creat ures
with wings covered with eyes, and the head s of a man, an
ox, a lion , and an eagle, and we see this vision painted in
the upper zone of th e apse (5 1; fig. 4.28). Jerom e described
the prophets as "the monks of the Old Testament." ISO The
image of the prophet David (S49; fig. 4.34) is a good exam-
ple of the way these paintings could have multiple points
, 4
of reference. As the aut hor of th e Psalm s, which were read •
in th e church and were also an im portant part of th e
mon k's private spiritual work, he clearly belongs here . l SI
David was also a model for the cantor, as a passage in th e
Life of Sheno ute tells us, in which th e monastic father says
of the cantor: "Beho ld, there is a cho ir of angels arou nd
him responding to him. Look, there is the prophet David
70

4·37
Un finis hed decorat ion, north wall
of sanc tuary (SIO; ADP/SA 1999)
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71
THEODORE . ' T H E WRITER D F LIFE ·
zon es show Ch rist as eterna l, in a timeless realm, and also
as th e divin e and human child, inc arnate, in followin g th e
human cycle of birth and gro wth with in tim e. Th e pair is
flanked by th e archa ngels Micha el and Gabriel. Th ese two
hold med allions em bosse d with lett ers sign ifyi ng "Jesus
Christ is victo rious" (si.n, si.ij: fig. 4.35). These disks are
visua lly similar to Co ptic Eucha ristic loaves.!"
Th e remaining paintings in the sa nctuary all depict
patriarchs (po pes) , the foremost rank of bishop. In a nich e
behind the northern altar sits the enthroned Mark the
Evangelist, known as the founder of Ch ristian ity in Egypt
and thereby also the founder of the Coptic Church (S11;
fig. 4.36). The southern niche incl udes a painting of one of
the mo st important figure s in the early church. He is
Athanasius, a patriarch of the Coptic Ch urch and also au-
thor of th e Life of Ant on y th e Great (S2; fig. 6.8).155 Two
standing figures flank the main altar, o n th e piers that sup-
port th e arche d entranc e to the khurus (s 8, S9; fig. 4.30).
We know that the y ar e patriarchs from their dress and
fragm ents of inscriptions, but too many letters are mi ssin g
to permit add itional identification. Before th e con serva -
tion effor ts of Luzi and De Cesaris, th ese two figures were
covered with blan k plaster and th eir existence was un-
known. Five more patriarchs stand in an arcade, located
high up on the wall in the southern bay of the sanctuary.
From left to right they are Severus of An tioch (53),
Dioscorus (54; fig. 7.14), Theophilus (55), Peter (56), and
one anonymo us patriarch, possibly Benjamin (57; fig. 4.43).
Severus, the only non-Coptic patriarch portrayed, is in-
cluded here fo r his pivot al ro le as a defender of th e faith.!"
Simi lar pai nte d figures were planned for the wall di rectly
across the sanctuary from these five, but they were never
completed. Additional patriarchs wou ld likely have been
shown here, almost definitely including Cyril of Alexan-
dria, due to his prominence in the Coptic Church. This
area (510) also was covered under plaster before recent
restoration.
One of Luzi and De Cesaris's most surprising discov-
eries took place in the sanctuary. Under blank, smooth
plaster they fou nd remnan ts of a painted frame (fig. 4.37).
Its ban d o f pearls edged with red and th e vegeta l dec-
oratio n with in a tri an gle are ident ical to decorative ele-
ment s elsewhere in Theo do re's program. IS? The artists never
painted th e planned figures in thi s fra me. It is clear th at
their work was abruptly ter minated. This explains why the
pa inted program of the sanctuary is uneven, and also why
ano ther team of artists was brou ght in to work in th e
church so soo n after Theodore left, as is shown in chapters
8 and 9. A bu ckled wall at the nor th ern en d of the eastern
sa nc tuary wall, above th e painting of Mark (511; fig. 4.36),
and evidence of plaster repairs within th e un finished
painting on th e north wall suggest th at a ph ysical collapse
played a ro le in th e cessatio n of Theo dore's work. Perh ap s
T heo dore was hurt and unable to finish. It seems likely
th at we sha ll never kn ow.
Th e absence of all but on e apos tle in the en tire sanc-
tu ar y program is int eresting. In earlier Coptic art, th e
apo stles were a regular element in the apse program. ISS In
the Coptic tradition, Mark is kn own as an apostl e.l" The
fact that the single apostle included is Mark, who is known
as the founder of Christianity in Egypt, is telling (fig. 4.36).
The stro ngly Egyptian character of the nave paintings is
continued here in th e sanctuary, and th e genealog ical re-
lation ship is par alleled. The Coptic patri archs are the suc-
cesso rs to Ma rk, just as th e monks are th e spiritual descen -
dants of th e martyrs.
The enthroned Ch rist as shown in the dome and the
apse, and indeed all th e figure s painted on the walls sho uld
be understood as being pre sent during the celebration o f
th e Eucharist. An acco unt fro m a p riest named Ban ub,
whic h dates to the early thirteenth century-just when
Theodore's paintings were created-makes this point clear:
I celebrated the Divine Liturgy. . . . And when it was the
time of the Aspasmos, which is the [Prayer I of Consola-
tion , there appeared above on the dome of the altar a
person seated on a throne, and . . . a person standing be-
fore him. ... Then there appeared at the back of all the
dome riders on horses like the pictures of the Saints
which are in the churches, and they were turning about
Deesis Chapel (C I-C3. CIO; ADP/ SA

1999 )

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 THEODORE, " T H E WRITER OF LIFE "
4·39 the dome, and the tails of their ho rses were swishing,
Cei ling window, Deesis Chapel and all of them, namel y the people, witnessed them.
(A D P/SA 57 159 97) And when they reached the th ron e, they bowed in
greeting, and they passed by, and the y continued thu s
up to the tim e of the Com munion, [and] they de-
part ed. And the like of thi s had appeared in the Church
of Hanut, . . . the Church of Sabas, . . . the Churc h of
the Mistress, . .. and in the Church of the Martyr Abba
John, . . . and the Muslim inh abitant s of the town tes-
tified to this. 160
In conjunction with this visio n, co nsi de r th e final
sectio n of th e litur gy, when the p riest asks for blessings
and in tercession on behalf of th e servants o f Go d from
man y of th e angels and sain ts depi ct ed in both the sanctu-
ary and th e nave:
By the intercession of the ho ly glorio us ever Virgin
Theotokos St. Mary and the prayers and the supplica-
tions of the holy archangels Michael and Gabriel , and
St. John the forerunner and baptist and martyr, . . . and
our holy fathers the apos tles, and St. Mark the apost le
and evangelist and mart yr, and the ho ly patriarch
Severus and our righteous father the great Abba Antony
and our father Abba Paul and the three Abba Macari us
and our father Abba John and our father Abba Pishoi
and our Roman fathers [Maximus and Domitius] and
our father Abba Moses and the fort y-nine ma rtyrs
and the holy Abba John the Black and all the choirs of
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73
the sain ts, th rou gh whose prayers and sup plications
vouchsafe us, 0 our master, to atta in unto a part and a
lot with them in the kingdom of heaven." !
Almost all .of th e angels and sa in ts included in th e
passages fro m Pri est Banub and th e liturgy are also de-
picted in Theodore's paintings throughout the ch ur ch.
Th is co rre lation d em onst rates that the paintings were in -
tended to sho w th e spiritua l realit y th at most human s are
not able to see. In a sense, one can imag ine th e entire
ch urch as a stage set in the ro und, filled duri ng services
with hu m an and sacred players, the latt er visible th rough
the paint ing s th at cov er its walls.
THE S I DE C HAPEL
Located th rough an annex (fig. 21, intro duc tion; fig.
4.4 ), off of the southeastern corner of the nave, the side
chapel ma y be the earliest site of devotion in the church
and even the monastery. As Jone s has observed, the eastern
orientation is at a slight angle to that of the rest of th e
church, sugges ting th at the two spaces were no t planned at
the same time. Also, the chapel's floor is higher tha n that of
the nave and annex, a feature determined by th e grad ual
rising, in ste plike levels, of th e mountain at th e foot of
wh ich th e m onast ery is set. T he chapel may have origina lly
been a cave, perhaps even the first cave of St. Antony !"
The space is an intimate one, accommodating at most two
o r three people with ease (fig. 4.38). Th e chapel is esse n-

4·40
Niche of the precious cross (c i:
ADP/SA lO S 16) 97)
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
t /.
tially a deep niche, with curvin g walls and a ceilin g th at
arches overhea d. An altar fills th e center of th e floor. Nat-
ura l light enters from a sma ll win dow above the entra nce
in the western wall (fig. 4.39) . The painted program that
we see today is not the earliest one. Remnants of sixth- to
seventh-century paintings are visible on the underside of
the arched entrance (fig. 19, introduction; figs. 3.1, 3.3,
4.39 ).163The conservators have noted the existence of paint-
ings underneath those by Theodore and his team, so this
chapel clearly predates the thirteenth century on the evi-
dence of the paintings alon e.
Paintings dating to 123211233 cover the entire upper
half of the chapel, an d a sma ll, deep niche located in the
lower part of the eastern wall (figs. 4.38, 4.40). The upper
part of the program is an elaborate image of intercession
and pr ayer, in wh ich the Virgin Mary (ClO), John th e Bap -
74
- I ""
tist (C3), and the four living creatures (C3, ClO) face an
image of th e divine Christ in Majesty (C2) . We see him
here as we have before, seated on a magnificent th ron e, set
within a mandori a, with his right hand raised in blessin g
and his left hand balancing a book on his left leg. What dis-
tinguishes thi s image from the almo st identical one in the
sanctuary apse (SI; fig. 4.28) is the fact that the four crea-
tures stand apart from the man doria, and angels take their
places supporting th is halo . This visua l presentation of the
four creatures underscores their importance in the painted
program of the chapel.
The cherubim seen elsewhere in the church with
their four heads have been separated into four single-
headed creatures (fig. 12.7).1 64 Th e standing Virgin Mary
and John the Baptist (fig. 1.4) are shown with their hands
raised toward Christ in a composition called th e Deesis.165

4-4 1
Silk texti le, Reliq uary ofSt.
Isid o re, Leo n, Real Co legiata de
San lsido ro , Leon (Cour tesy of
C.T. Little)
4 .4 2 ABOV E RIGH T
Drap ed proces sional cross, mod -
ern , Church of th e Ho ly Apostles,
Monastery of St. Antony
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THEODORE . " T H E WRITER OF LIFE "
Thi s term refers to th e act the y are engaged
in: petitioning Chr ist on behalf of human-
kind. The four creatures stand in the same
pose, and because we know from textual
sources that they intercede for all living
things, we can read the entire gro up as a
painted prayer for inte rcession . Theodore,
taking advantage of his positio n as master
painter, has included a sma ll inscripti on that
confo rm s with the int ercessory cha racter of the program :
"Lord Jesus Christ, have pity on me" (C2.6). It is located at
Chris t's feet as if it were the petit ion er himself.
The pain ting in th e niche is of an elabo rately pat-
tern ed cross, draped with fabr ic and frame d by two cens -
ing angels (fig. 4.40). The inscriptions con vey the imp o r-
tan ce of thi s sym bo l, calling it "the preci ous Cross" (C1.3),
"the tr ee of life" (C1.2) , and "Jesus Chr ist" (CLl) . The an -
gels framing it swing bowls contain ing incense, evoking a
passage fro m th e Coptic liturgy that fits th e larger program
as well: "We pray to thee, our master, accept our supplica-
tion s and let our prayer be set fort h in thy sight as th e in-
cense and the liftin g up of our han ds as an evening
sacrifice: for th ou art the true eveni ng sacrifice, who was
himself offered up fo r our sins on th e pr eciou s cross after
the will of th y goo d Fathe r, who art blessed with him and
th e Hol y Ghost th e lifegiver and of one substa nce with blance to th e painted cloth hanging on th e cross in the
th ee, now and ever and world wit ho ut end. Ame n.,,166 Deesis Chapel. The Leon textile is related to cloth from a
The inclusion of a prominent painted cross in the North African Um mayad works hop, and th e patt ern s are
pro gram may also have a pr o- Christian , ant i-Mu slim res- Near Eastern in origin.!" The painted textile suggests great
on anc e. Pro hibitions against crosses exist fro m th e first luxury in all of its sett ings. Here it competes for lavish pat-
years after th e Islami c conquest of Egypt, prescribi ng in tern an d color with th e cross itself, th e tree of life.
some cases the destru ction of all cro sses, and in others The combination of a niche setting, the elabo rate dec-
only of tho se displayed on the exteriors of buildin gs.l" The oratio n, expensi ve fabr ic, inscription s, and censing angels
seventh-ce ntury Syrian author Pseudo-Metho di us uses all draw th e viewer's atte ntion to the cross and suggest th at
th e cross as th e sign of a victorious Christianity in the face it plays an im porta nt part in th e larger iconographic com -
of Islarn.!" And altho ugh th e int ensity of the cult of th e position of the Deesis Chapel. Although research on this
cro ss seems to have decreased in Byzantium after icono - subj ect has so far failed to yield a medieval text to suppor t
clasm, the majo r role it played in Co ptic churc h paintings, the followin g interpretation, mo dern pract ice at th e Mo n-
at the Monastery of St. Antony and elsewhere, suggests astery of St. Antony consists of the placement of fabr ic on
that the cult did not decline in Egypt.!" a large processional cross, kept in the main sanctuary by
The fabr ic shown hangin g over th e arms of the cross the altar. It rep resents the shro ud of Christ, which he has
suggests an add itional layer of meaning for th is im age. The cast off (fig. 4.42). A black cloth is used d uri ng Passion
textile is of high qua lity, and clot h with a simi lar pattern is Week, a white cloth is draped on the cross for Easter and
shown elsewhere in the Church of St. Antony, and also Christmas, and a patterned fabric is otherwise used . If this
thro ugho ut the Mediterranean in contemporary or earlier tra dit ion is ancie nt, as seems likely, considering th e cult of
pa inti ngs, d ressing emperors and prophets, and cover ing the cross in Egypt and the generally conservative nature of
the bier of the Virgin Mary.170 A reliquary of St. Isidore the Coptic Church, then we see an image of the cross that
made in Leon in the middle of the eleventh century (fig. signifies the resurrected Christ. In Petitions for intercession
4-41 ), is lined with pieces of silk th at bear a close resem- with Christ have as their ultimate goal salvation-in other
75

4·43
Patriarchs Dio scoru s, Theophilus,
Peter, and Benjamin (1) (S4- S7;
ADP/SA 9S 166 98)
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THE CHURC H OF ST. ANTONY
words, everlasting life in Chr ist. The inclusion of fabric on
the cross in the Deesis Chapel makes a visual reference to
the divine Chr ist, whose resurrection and ascensio n Chris-
tians hope to ernulate.!"
Analysis of the program of the paintings dated to
1232/1233 in th e Chur ch of St. Antony shows it to be care-
fully con structed. Each section of the church has its own
principal theme, although paintings can and do have mo re
than one level of meaning, and relations with paintings
throughout the chur ch. The paintings in the nave demon-
strate the vitality of Christianity in Egypt, with specific ref-
erence to the m artyrs and th eir successors, monks. This
th eme is historically appropriate, comi ng as it does shortly
after the possible repossession of the Monastery of St.
Antony by Copts, fro m Syrians. It is also particularly fit-
ting at thi s site, because Antony the Great is the father of
mon asticism . The paintings in the khurus are abo ut faith,
salvation, and, in a small visual aside, the consequences
of sin. The paintings in the sanctuary are intimately con -
nected to th e rit ual myster ies enacted in th is space and de-
pict spiritua l realities. We see the Egyptian theme of th e
nave repeated in th e lateral roo ms of the sanctuary, with
their emphasis on the Coptic tradition (fig. 4.43). The pa int -
ings everywher e in the church exemplify the use of imit a-
tion as a method of spiritual ascen t. They also rep eatedly
underscor e th e significance of th e Old Testam ent prophets
and events as precursors to th e New Testam ent , particu-
larly th e paintings in th e khurus and sanctuary. Such un -
usual visual elem ents as th e hairy, naked Melchizedek
show th at th e Copts were particip ant s in th e world of
Christian pilgrim age an d cultur e outside of Egypt, and ad -
apted it for their own uses. Altogether , the pro gram is a
masterful demonstr ation of theology and Coptic monastic
identity, compellingly expressed in visual term s, in th e
early th irteenth century.
 Elizabeth S. Bolman

CHAPTER 5 THEODORE 'S STYLE, THE ART OF CHRISTIAN

EGYPT, AND BEYOND

The newly visible early thirteenth-century paintings in the

S·l
Annunciation to th e shepherds,
ca. 1200, wall paint ing, Haikal of
51. Mark, Mon astery of 51. Macar -
ius, Wad i al-N atru n
Church of St. Anto ny are so greatly at odds with art histor-
ical expecta tions that they mandate a near tota l reevalua-
tion of Coptic art after the Arab conq uest of Egypt. Unt il
recently, it has been possible to dism iss post-seventh or
eighth cen tury Coptic art as bein g cut off from interaction
with art istic cur rents outside of Egypt, and also as lacking
a stro ng, int ern al artistic force. I The dating of Coptic art
of any period is often still based on guesswork, for some
of th e mo st significant finds of Coptic paintings were ex-
cavated without serious analysis of th e material evidence,
and we lack contextual data for man y m or e.' New discov-
eries of imp ort ant Coptic wall paintings, covered for
centuries by layers of plaster, add imp ressively to the
corpus of Coptic art between abo ut 100 0 and 13 0 0. The
mo st significant of these, from th e Syrian and Naq lun
Monas teries and the Mon astery of th e Rom ans, show the
richn ess of Coptic art in thi s period . But even th e most
rema rkable of the new discoveries are on ly fragmentary
remains from m uch larger programs. Add to this the fact
that inscriptions with dates are rare, and the confusion
th at sur ro unds the cha racter and chronology of Coptic art
becomes understandable.'
Although art historians have known the paintings in
the Monastery of St. Antony at least since the early twenti-
eth century, these images have been virtually invisible
under th eir covering of soot and later overpainting. Paul
van Moorsel, quite understandably, described them as
being of modest artistic quality.' The pioneering Coptic art
historian Jules Lero y wrote as recently as 1982 that the
most important Coptic paintings, after the pr econquest
examples from Bawit, belon ged to th e Mon astery of St.
Macarius, in the Wadi al-Natru n (figs. 5.1, 5.18, 5.19, 6.11).5
Although th ese are certainly im pressive, th ey in no way
sur pass thos e which we can now see clearly at the Mon -
astery ofSt. Ant ony, and are both far fewer in number and
significantly less well preserved.
The pai ntings in the Churc h of St. Anto ny were ob-
scure d to such an extent tha t in their cleaned state they
shou ld be considered as a new discovery in the history of
Coptic art. On e example will make this point unequivo-
cally. A com parison of the precleaning image of Theodore
Stratelates (N22) with the same image after conservation
(figs. 5.2, 5.3) reveals striking differences. In the over -
painted version, the saint's face was painted with shaky
and uneven lines, the skirt of his tunic was an unappealing
green , his shield was unadorned, and the sword hilt was
roughl y drawn. In the cleaned painting, now stripped of its
later "refreshment," on e can immediately see th at the lines
and colors have been applied with confidence. The artist
has render ed Theo dore 's face with skill, conveying an im-

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77

5.2 LEFT
Theodo re Stratelates (N22), before
cleani ng (ADP/SA 2S16 96) -
5.3 RI GH T
Th eodore Stra telates (N22), after
clean ing (A DP/SA 1999)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
pression of alertness. The skir t of his tunic is now blue. His
shield is elabo rated with an elegant deco ration, including
an Arabic inscription arou nd its edge. Not only is th e hilt
of his sword cleanly defined , but a composite bow is also
visible next to it." The combination of soot and overp aint -
ing mask ed the artistic force and even elemen ts of the
dress and weaponry in the original painting. The cleaned
painting shows a well-conceived composition, dominated
by th e figure of 51. Theodore astride his horse. Witho ut
confu sion or disharm ony, the Coptic artist has filled th e
field of the painting completely. Th e motionless, front al
head and tor so of the saint stabilize th e forw ard move-
ment of the ho rse. The wom an and the horse's head on the
right are balanced by th e saint's cloak and right arm , seen
on the left. Theodore stabs th e serpentlike dr agon th rou gh
th e head with his cross- top ped spear, but he looks out at
us as if the act was effortless. Receiving the crown of mar-
tyrdom from heaven, the saint is above temporal concerns.
In a smaller scale, the petitioning mother, below the
horse's head, and her two sons, under the horse, express
the drama of the narrative moment and the anxieties of
everyday people. The artist has used devices such as scale,
facial expression, and composition to convey the different
states of being of the figures (holy vs. secular), and the ele-
ments in the story. All the figures, including the horse, ex-
press personality.
The condition of the paintings in the Monastery of
St. Antony is significantly better than that of other recent
Coptic finds . It is also by far the most complete program
from this period, and it includes inscriptions with a pre-
cise date: 1232/1233.7 Because on ly sma ll sections of th ese
paintings were covered with plaster, most of the images
lack th e destructive tra ces of later plaster applicatio ns,
marked by gouges in the earlier plaster. Before their clean -
ing, it was not possible to identify with confid ence th e en -
tirety of th e pr ogram th at we have here attributed to
Th eodore and his workshop." The clarity with which th e
viewer can now see and comprehend the full program
makes these paintings a great resourc e for identifying th e
character istics of a major Coptic workshop, op erating in
th e first half of the thirteenth century, and also helps with
th e establishme nt of a chro nology of Coptic painting.
Theod ore's Style
Th e style of Theo dore 's paintin gs is chara cterized by a con-
fident and vigoro us use of line, color, and pattern. The
subject matter is representational-that is to say, it con-
sists largely of persons, incorporeal beings, and identi-
fiable objects. However, these subjects are rendered with a
two-dimensional approach to space. Thirteenth-century
Coptic art uses visual tools that are unfami liar to many
Westerners. Modern Western viewers commonly use Ital-
ian Renaissance art as a standard against which to evaluate
other artistic systems . Renaissance art strives to convince
us that paint on a two-dimensional surface is actually an
opening into space. Its tools are perspective and model-
ing-in other words, the use of light and shadow to sug-
gest mass. What we see here, in the paintings by Theodore
 ART OF CHRISTIAN EGYPT AND BEYOND
5.4 L EFT and his workshop, is something very different: a represen-
From right, Abraham, Isaac, tationa l art that is expressed thro ugh conventions, almost
and Jacob in paradi se (K5; ADP/SA diagrams, bu ilt on linear schemata, an d filled with patterns
1999) and saturated colors.
The picture is conceived first and forem ost as a col-
5.5 RIGHT ore d pattern. Large, almost life-size figures fill the pictori al
Virgin Mary and Christ Child field and gaze out at the viewer. They are delineated with
(SI; ADP/SA 6s 98) heavy black lines, both aro und the outsides and with in
their fields of dense color. The lines often segment part s of
th e bo dy and cloth ing, almos t as if th e artist were working
in a m edium that requi red th is technique, like stained glass
or ena mel. We see thi s feature in the hair and right forearm
of th e patriarch Jacob , and in the arms, torso, and legs of
the small perso n who sits on his lap (K5; fig. 5.4). S maller
figures, some times in movem ent , occupy th e per iphery of
the framed space, and less ofte n its center, bu t do not un-
balance the fixity and frontality of the principal, large per -
sonages. These dim inutive beings are often engaged in ac-
tion s th at tell sto ries abo ut th e saints, but th ese events exist
within tim e, while th e major figures, with th eir grand scale
and iconic presentation, seem to reside in an eterna l, tim e-
less reality.
Faces are most often show n front ally, as is the case
with the th ree patriarchs. Eyes gaze dir ectly out at th e
viewer. Black lines divid e major parts of the face and facial
hair, and th ey are filled in with other colors- beige, pin k,
red, white, and brown . O nly the slightest traces of light
and shad ow are visible on the faces, to suggest depth and
corporeality. A second common mode of presentation
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79
shows the face from a three-quarters view. This view in-
cludes a reduced, angular dep iction of the eyes, eyebrows ,
and nose, which conveys alertness and movement qu ite ef-
fectively. It is almos t always used for figures that are shown
in a smaller scale, such as the saved in parad ise (K5; fig. 5.4)
or th e face of th e Chr ist Child in the apse (si : fig. 5.5).
Cloth ing is defined with black lines and is also sug-
gested with lines and pattern s made up of darker shades of
the fabric's color. We see darker yellow-oc her lines on
Isaac's yellow him ation , or mantl e, and dar ker pink lines
on his rose-colored tunic. Certain details in th e ren der ing
of drapery, cha racteristic of Theodore and his worksho p,
act as a kin d of signature. One of th ese is the delineation
of ro un ded, th ree-dimension al elements such as knees,
sho ulders, an d bu ttocks, with circles bisected by a zigzag-
ging line." Anot her feature is the small, opposed cu rls that
enliven a solid, continuous edge. These curls are black or
colored, as we see in th e detail of Christ, from th e apse.
The dense black lines are often, but not always, overlaid by
thin, calligraphic lines that meand er delightfully along the
cours e of th e outlines. Some of these can be seen in the
dr apery of Abra ha m. Consider as well the very distinctive
fold that is characterized by a capital T shape in the center.
We see it here, in the figures of Abraham and Isaac, at the
far right end of th eir tunics' hems. It is also particularly
clear in th e hem of th e angel fro m the apse, on the left side
of the figure of Chr ist in Majesty (fig. 5.16).
Another treatment of drapery is seen in frequen tly
in these paintings. It consists of delicate, swirling lines set
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
5.6 L EFT within the larger segments made of the standard heavy
Ch rist in Maj esty (51; ADP/SA black lines. O ne examp le is the rendering of th e hima tion
8598 ) wra pped aro und the Chr ist Child's tu nic in the apse (SI; fig.
5.5). In thi s case, the lin es are pale yellow, rem iniscent of
5.7 !l IG HT gold. Both the tunic and himation of th e Christ Pant ocra-
Ch rist in Majesty (C2; ADP/SA tor (S12; fig. 6.20) in the dome are done in th is technique,
1999) but in this painting th e lines are awkward, in contrast with
th e sophisticated elegance of th e same feature elsewhere."
The field of the painting is often edged with a row of
pearls set within a red border, but frames can also be de-
fined with simple red bands. Figur es regu larly transgress
the frame, or exist outside of the framed group altogether.
In the sacrifice ofIsaac (S38; fig. 4.32), Abra ham's feet over-
lap the border below him . The pages behind Mercurius
( K3; fig. 4.26 ) are left outside of the picture field, as if th e
frame were moving with Mercuri us and th ey had some-
how escaped its confi nes. These tra nsgressions surprise
mo dern viewers, who expect frame d segments of wall or
canva s to present th e illusion of being windows int o the
th ree-dimensional world aro und us, at least when th ey de-
pict figur al subjects.
The high white walls and domes of the nave are the
backdrop for a brightly colored horizontal band of paint-
ings. The paintings begin abo ut five feet fro m the curre nt
floor level (figs. 4.1- 4.5)." The paintings in th e khurus are
positioned at a slightly lower level, and th ose in th e sanc -
tuary at vary ing levels. Th e sanctuary also includes paint-
ings in two low niches, the large, tall apse, and the entire
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80
region of the dome over th e central altar (fig. 4.27). Evi-
dence exists in th e nave for a lower band of dark red, below
the extan t paintings. These mayor may not belon g to the
1232/1233 pro gram ..Th e paint ed areas of the wall are seg-
ment ed int o framed sq uares, rectangles, and occasiona lly
less regular geometric shapes. Th e settings for th e eques-
tr ian mart yrs, in th e western end of the nave and also the
two ends of th e khu rus, include banded backgrounds, sug-
gesting the concept of a gro und line and a hori zon witho ut
convey ing a sense of space (figs. 4.1, 7.22). The standing
figures, martyrs and monks, are usually set with in arcades
(figs. 4.2, 5.12). Rarely, abstrac t hills stand in as cip hers for
landscapes (figs. 4.19, 8.19). The two scales used for figures,
roughly life-size and about a quarter-life-size or smaller, as
well as th e numerous miniature bu ildin gs, contribute to
the viewer 's awareness th at the artist is not attempting to
depict the world as we see it."
The field within the fram e is built up of com peting
systems of pattern , made up of figures (for exam ple, Abra-
ham or Mary) , elabo rately carved and colored furniture,
and ornamente d columns, all of which contri bute to the
visual richn ess of these im ages. Several decor ative moti fs
are often used with in th e same piece of furniture or archi-
tectural framework, indicating that varietie s of patt ern
were an essential part of this stylistic language. The device
of filling the fra me with two-di men sional colored designs
results in th e almos t com plete absence of anything th at
could be construed as atmosphere, distance, or three-
 ART OF C HR ISTIAN EGYP T AND BEYOND
5.8 dimensional space. Even th e seated figures-for example,
Isaiah and th e angel (S42) the three patriarchs (K5, fig. 5.4) or the Virgin Mary (N36,
si ; fig. 5.5)-seem to have been conceived of as decorative
shape s in front of their thrones rather than as concrete
masses seated on top of them. The pillows on which the y
sit are completely undisturbed by any weight.
Despite the abstract characteristics of th is style, the
figures represented here convey a stro ng sense of life and
personality. One feels the calm presence of the Virgin Mary
gazing out at us in the painting in the apse (si ). Th e eyes
and outstretched arm of the Christ Child expres s an inti-
macy with Mary. The solid weight and intense gaze of
Mark (S11; fig. 4.36) convey a strength of character and
con viction suitable to the apostle who brought Chris-
tiani ty to Egypt. The monastic saints in th e nave stand in
virtua lly ide ntical po ses bu t suggest ind ividu ality, not
sameness.
Theodore and His Workshop
Careful stylistic analysis has made it possible to ident ify
several individual painters who contributed to the p ictor-
ial program in the Church of St. Antony. This information
enab les us to const ruc t an idea of th e working practice of
Theo dore and his workshop. I shall begin with Theo dore,
who wrote his name twice in the church, demonstrating
his status as master painter. How can it be determined that
more than one artist was at work in the program and, that
established, which part s of the painting are by Theo dore's
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81
hand ? Th e application of a technique from the branch of
art history that is called connoisseurship has yielded im-
pressive results .
Analysis of ears and other features-for example ,
eyebrows, hands, and drapery-combined with such fac-
tors as confidence ofline and color use, has resulted in the
identification of several distinct hands. A brief considera-
tion of ear types supports this discrimination. The art ist
who painted the two single most important works in the
church, the Christ in Majesty in the sanctuary apse (si; fig.
5.6) and the Chr ist in Majesty in the side chapel (C2; fig.
5.7), used a distinctive hook shape for his ears. The ears
and several other features are so similar in these two faces
of Christ that we can safely assume that they were painted
by th e same hand. Given the significance of the subject
matter and location of these two paint ings, it is most prob-
able that Theodore, the master painter, created them him-
self. J)
A second, distinct ive type of ear is used in the pro -
gram. It is oval and is either th in with a dark vertical line
marking the center, or fat with a thin or a broad vertical
pink line suggesting its interior. Several artists, with vary-
ing degrees of competen ce, were paint ing oval ears. The
mos t accomplished seems to have been th e equal of
Theodore, in skill if not in status, and I am calling him the
Second St. Antony Master. His work can be seen in the
spare oval ears, with a vertical line in the center, of the
prophet Isaiah (S42; fig. 5.8). The up per edges of the ears

5·9
Sa m ue l, Pishoi the Great, and Joh n
the Little (N6-N8; A D P/SA 1999 )
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T HE C HURCH O f ST. ANTONY
are position ed just about at th e figur e's eye level. Th ey are
virtually ident ical with the sha pe and position of the ears
on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Paradise (K5 ; fig. 5.4) , al-
th ou gh th e patriarchs' ears lack th e characteristic lines in
the center. Nonetheless, similarities in the stru ctur e of the
eyes, the growth pattern of the beard s, an d th e mouths
suggest th at th e Second Master is respo nsible for bo th of
these paintings and several more besides.
Variations suggest yet more hands at work. Th e fat
ovals framing th e face of Sisoes (N9 ; fig. 5.10) are posi-
tion ed significantly lower down on th e sides of his face
th an are th ose of th e Second Master. The ears of Athana-
sius (S2; fig. 6.8), which are filled with a wide pink line, are
located very high up on th e sides of his face. The iden-
tificatio n of two major an d several minor ear types reveals
that at least two masters, and as ma ny as four or five less
skilled artists, were at work.
82
Further stylistic analysis tells us a great deal about the
working practices of Theodore's team and shows that mor e
than one artist usually paint ed each figure . An example
from th e southern nave wall illustrates thi s point. The four
mo nks standing within an arcade show two closely related
facial types an d appear to be by the same hand (N7-NlO;
figs. 5.9, 5.10) . All four have iden tically sha ped br oad oval
ears, and other features of th eir faces and beards are simi-
lar. The pair on the left, Pishoi the Great and John the Lit-
tle, have gently arched eyebrows. The pair on th e right ,
Sisoes and Arsenius, have angular eyebrows and wrin kled
foreheads . It seems plausible that one artist pain ted all four
faces, using eyebrows , foreheads, and oth er details to indi-
vidualize them. W hen we cons ider the style of the monas-
tic cloak that th ese four monks are wearing, it becomes
immediately evident that the garment on the far right is
out of place. Arsenius (NlO) is shown here with much
 ART OF CHRISTIAN EGYPT AND BEYOND
5·10 more bulk tha n th e others, most of which is conveyed
Sisoes and Arsen ius (N9-NIO; through th e folds of his appare l. His silho uette is uneven,
ADP/SA 1999 ) especially on th e left side. In contras t to thi s, th e torsos of
th e th ree other figure s are virtually dem aterialized by their
cloaks, which are filled with a grid of almost mathemat i-
cally precise lines. Th e contro lled linearity of the entire
figure of Sisoes (N9) forms a consisten t who le. Arsen ius's
face (NlO) matc hes this linearity, but th e treatment of his
body does not. These differences lead me to conclude that
one artist paint ed th e three figures at th e left, and also the
face at the far right (NlO), but that ano ther artist pain ted
the body of Arsenius. Extend ing our consi deration to
th e figure paint ed to th e far right of th e gro up of four, in
the curve d space of the nave division (NU), we see that the
bu lky form of Barsum the Syrian was also shaped by the
artist who pain ted Arsenius's body (fig. 4.22).
This absen ce of complete stylistic unity suggests that
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a somewhat flexible wor king process was used in the
church. The rows of saints in the eastern half of th e nave
dem on str ate thi s again. At first glance, we see uniform
rows of saint s standing within arcades. All are facing us,
and all are roughly the same size. A closer look shows that
altho ugh mo st of th em are framed by arcades, not all are.
Also, the row of saints is segmented int o separate squa res
or rectangles. These boxes have different widths, and each
one follows its own int ern al laws with respect to the type of
colum n used, if any, th e height of th e frame, the relation of
the arch to the frame, and the contour of the wall. On th e
northern nave wall, the columns are set on stepped bases,
and the tops of the po inted arches pierce th e upp er frame
(N34, N35; fig. 5.U). A con tin uous narrow, horizontal band
of Arabic inscrip tion extends between the columns and
behind the saints. This feature may be intended to repre-
sent a decorated tie beam or a carved frieze that wrap s

5. 11 LEFT
Macari us, Macrobius (?) , and th e
Virgin Mary and th e Christ Child
(N34-N36; AD P/SA 1999)
5.1 2 R IG HT
Antony, Paul, ano nymous mo nk,
Isaac, Paul th e Simple, Samuel,
Pishoi th e Great, Iohn th e Little,
and Sisoes (Nl -N9; AD P/SA 1999)
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THE CHURCH OF 5T , ANTONY
around th e back of a series of niches. I. On th e southern
nave wall we see different methods for segmenting the
space (fig. 5.12). Colum ns ar e noticeably absent in the east-
ern end of this wall, and fram ing rectangles are narrower
in width (Nl-N6) . The attenuated colum ns to the west
form an elegant, cont in uo us arca de not fou nd elsewhere
in the churc h program (N7-NIO) .
What can these irr egularities tell us about the work-
ing practice of Theodore and his team of artists? An inter-
esting discovery m ade by Adriano Luzi in the co urs e of his
conservation work in th e nave helps us recon struct th e ac-
tion s of the painters. An unpainted plaster layer was added
to the domes at so me point after Th eodore's paintings
were finished. It terminated along th e upper level of the
pa intings on the nave wall. Luzi discovered th at th is layer
covered some words, which were painted just above the
upper frames of the wall paintings. He found one of them
above the lengthy inscription on the nave wall ( N31; fig.
14.4), and it is Coptic for "memorial." In the body of the
inscri ptio n, this text is called a memorial because it com-
memorates the do nors, asking blessings on them for their
offering. Luzi foun d "cherubim," written above the cherub
at N33 (fig. 4.20). A distinct stylistic difference exists be-
tween th e lett ers within th e pa inted fields and those above
them . The higher lett ers seem to have been written casu-
ally, in a more cursive style. These words state the subjects
of th e paintings below them. Th ey must have been written
at the direction of the person, perh aps a priest from th e
monastery, who designed the program."
After the program for th e paintings was mappe d out,
sections of wall were divided as well (fig. 5.12). One can al-
mo st see Theodore' marking out a baseline for the paint-
ings, for it is continuous, except around the corners. After
this, he would have assigned single ar tists or sma ll groups
to pa int areas of the wall, and per haps would have given
them gene ral instructions to present the figur es standing
and facing the viewer. He does not seem to have dir ected
their frami ng of the mon astic lead ers, as an examination of
the southe rn nave wall suggests. 55. Anto ny and Paul are
enclose d as a pair in an arcade (Nl, N2). The heads of the
next th ree sain ts to th eir right are set in m uch simpler arcs,
which lack columnar support altogether (N3- N5). Samuel
is shown in a simple rectangle, with a plain red frame (N6) .
In a slightly larger scale, and with a considerably greater
height, the next four saints are fram ed in a finely propor-
tioned arcade (N7- NlO). So different is its conception that
it is evident that th is sectio n was not painte d by the same
person or peop le who mad e th e frames for the saints to the
left. And , as we have seen, two artists contributed un-
equally to these four figures. Either of these two, or per-
haps even a third, could have painted the colonnade.
The evidence considered so far suggests that the sub-
jects of the paintings were dictated to the painters and sec-
tion s of wall were marked o ut. Whil e general dir ection s
 AR T Of CHR IS TIAN EG Y PT AND BEYOND
5.13 LEFT were given, the variety in th e frami ng of the saints shows
O ne of th e saved in parad ise us th at individ ual artists or sma ll teams had a certain au-
(K5; ADP/SA 9 517297) ton om y. T he var iations in style th at are ofte n app arent
within a single figur e show us th at ar tists worked closely
5.14 CENT ER togeth er. On e per son may have blocked o ut th e figure and
Present ation in the templ e, paint ed th e face of a saint, while ano ther artist painted his
detail, ca. 120 0 - 1250 , wall painting, clothing and po ssibly a third worked on th e enfra m ing
No rthwestern Gallery Chapel, colum ns and background.
Mon astery of 51. Mercu riu s,
Old Cairo Theodore's Style and Coptic Art
We have seen how mu ch new work is po ssible now th at the
5.15 RIGH T paintings at th e Churc h of St. Anto ny have been clean ed.
Tra nsfigurat ion, detail, ca. Altho ugh stylistic sim ilarities exist between th em and m u-
120 0 - 1250 , wall painting, No rth- rals in other Coptic ch urc hes, th ese ties are not close
western Gallery Chapel, eno ugh to warrant a definite att rib ution to Theo do re and
Mon astery of 51. Mercur ius, his works hop. However, stylistic analysis can also help us
O ld Ca iro advance the state of Coptic art history. As I have men -
tioned, we lack preci se date s for mo st medieval Coptic wall
paint ings. In fact, a range of as m uch as two or three cen-
tu ries is often suggested for man y paint ings. Two exam-
ples will indi cate the po tent ial of th e newly cleaned work in
the Mo nas tery of St. Antony to im prove the chro no logy
for medieval Co ptic painting. Im ages in th e north western
gallery chapel, dedicated to th e Virgin, in th e Ch urc h of St.
Mercurius at th e mo nastery of th e same na me in Old
Cairo, have been given dates ranging between th e eleventh
and fourteenth centuries." Some close stylistic sim ilarities
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between th ese . murals and th ose by Theodore and his
workshop make it po ssible to assign to th em a much m ore
pre cise date.
A com pariso n of th e seated patriarch Jacob , hold ing
o ne of th e saved o n his lap (K5; fig. 5.13), with th e Christ
Child in the Present ation in th e Tem ple, fro m th e Mon -
astery of St. Mercurius (fig. 5.14) is r evealing . A sim ilar use
of heavy black o utlines to segment parts of th e figures is
evide nt in both cases. Par ticularly not eworthy is a com par-
ison betwee n the face of th e d iminutive saved person and
that o f th e Christ Child. The two faces are alm ost ide ntical,
wit h th eir th ree-quarter presen tation , forceful eyebrows
made of sing le, straight black lines, an d angular eyes, look-
ing off to the right. Also from th e same cha pel in Cairo is a
pain tin g of the Tra nsfigura tion (figs. 5.15, 5.20). The face
and pose of the figure at th e bottom are similar to th ose of
the saved, particularl y in the way that both figures twist
whi le reaching to the right. The directional emphasis of
the u pper halves of their bo dies is to the right, while th at of
their lower bo dies is to th e left. This torsion is rar e in Co p-
tic art, and as will be explored below, it may show th e
pa inter's int erest in Western art. The essential factor here is
th e existence of th is unu sual featur e in both program s.
Another compellin g poi nt of sim ilarity is the capita l
T-shaped fold that we see in the hem of an angel's skirt
fro m th e apse in the Mo naster y of St. Anto ny (si: fig. 5.16)
and in the hem of on e of th e figur es from th e Tran sfig-
 THE CHURCH Of ST. ANTONY
5 .16 LE FT uration in Cairo (fig. 5.15). These parallels show th at th e
The archangel Michael adoring - gap in dates between th e wo rk by T heo dore at th e Mon-
Christ (SI; ADP/SA 1999 ) aste ry of St. Antony and the work at the Monaste ry of St.
Mercurius by unknown painters is not great. Rathe r th an
5 .17 fl IG HT elect in g to date the painting s in th e Ch ur ch of St. Mer-
Lower zone of the apse (51), before cur ius loo sely, on stylistic gro u nds , as ha s usually been
cleaning (A DP/SA II 535 96) done, we can compare them to the precisely dated works
from the Monastery of St. Antony and assign th em more
confidently to a fifty-year span around 123211 233. Before
cleaning, dirt obs cured th e detail s of the an gel's hem in the
Church of St. Antony (fig. 5.17), so thi s feature could not
be seen and asso ciated with th e T-fold detail in Ca iro .
Other paintings in th e Monast ery of St. Mercurius
include parallels to those in th e Monastery of St. Antony.
Their dating is sign ificantly less problematic n ow th an it
has been, du e to impressive new work by Gertru d van
Loon, but it is not abso lutely conclusi ve. Based on some-
wha t uncertain inscriptional eviden ce, and on stylistic
analysis, sh e argues p ersuasively for a date of ca. 1168-11 75
for all th e pain tings on the gallery level, including those in
the Chapel of the Virg in." Sim ilar ities of style between the
paintings in O ld Ca iro and th ose in the Ch ur ch of St.
Antony make it pos sible to build on van Loon's carefully
mapped out conclusions about the temporal unity of the
Cairene images an d su ggest a possible, minor di fferen ce
in dating. A di amond grid filled with plant motifs is em -
plo yed behind the figures of two archa ngels, one on the
n or th wall of the n orth gallery an d th e o ther in th e Cha pe l
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86
of St. Geo rge." Precisely thi s diamond -and-p lant patte rn
is used by Theodore's team behind th e arc hangel Mic hae l
(SI; fig. 4.28 ), and also on the mountain next to Sam uel th e
Archimandrite (N6; fig. 5.9). Additionally, although slight
differences exist, the three-quarter face, eyes, and bea rd of
the head of Abraham in the Cha pel of St. Georg e in Cairo
are strikingly sim ilar to those of the sam e pe rsonage in the
painting of Abr aham with MeIchizedek (S43; fig. 6.12) in
the Ch ur ch of St. Antony." Van Loon has noted an em -
ph asis on the lower eyelid in th e Chapel of St. George,
whi ch gives th e suggestion of a pouch." Though not ubiq -
uitous, thi s feature is common at the Ch urc h of St.
Antony, m ost notably in th e figur es of Ath an asius (S2; fig.
6. 8) , Mark (s n; fig. 4.36), John the Bapti st (very pro-
nou nc ed, C3; fig. 1.4), the Ch rist Child (51; fig. 5.5); Piroou
and Athom (NI6 ; fig. 4.4) ; and Sisin ni us (N23; fig. 4.8) .
Similarities in th e ren dering of drapery can be ascer tained,
most notably the dist inctive T-fold described earlier is vis-
ible in th e hem of the tunic worn by Christ in th e apse of
the Cha pel of St. George." Although some of th e best par-
allels to the paintings by Theodore can be found in the
Monastery of St. Mercurius in Cairo, they are not close
en ough to assert th e same hand. But th ey cert ain ly su ggest
a significant relationship and might lead on e to date th e
pai ntings in Cairo somewhat later th an van Loon has, or
within a roughly fifty-year span beginning with th e latest
date she proposes, 1175, and ending with th e date of th e
paint ings in the Monastery of St. An tony, namely 123211233.

5·18
Deesis, ca. 12 0 0 , wall painting,
Haika l of 51. Mark, Mon aster y of
51. Macarius, Wad i al-Na tru n
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ART OF CHRISTIAN EGYPT ANO BEYOND
One other gro up of wall paintings with salient visual
links to Theo dore's work has been preserved in the Sanc-
tu ary of St. Mar k at the Monastery of St. Macarius the
Great, in the Wadi al-Natru n (fig. 5.18). Leroy has dated
th em very generally to th e eleventh or twelfth century,
with a preference for the beginn ing of th at period; van
Loon has shown that th e archit ecture of thi s sanctuary
dates to the years imm ediately befor e 1133, and suggests th e
per iod between 1133 an d 1150 for th e pain tings." Because
this is the first study of th e paint ings in the Church of St.
Antony since th eir clean ing, it is now possible to observe
that numerous features of style an d decoration connect the
paintings by Theo dore to those in th e Sanct uary of St.
Mark. The two basic eye types used in both programs are
sim ilar, tho ugh not iden tical. Both are characterized by
the use of bold, heavy strokes to shape the outlines of th e
face itself and th e features. Th e most prevalent eye type is
even and almond-s haped, commonly seen in the frontal
figures. In Theodore's paint ings, the lines of th e eyebrow
and the nose are usually regular. Occasion ally, th e eye-
brows are angular and calligraphic, with varying widths-
for examp le, in the faces of S5. Sisoes and Arsenius (N9,
NlO; fig. 5.10) . It is this expressive eyebrow that is more
commonl y seen in th e paintings in th e Sanctuary of St.
Mark. Even when they are gently arched, th eir width
varies. The depiction ofIsaiah's eyebro ws, with their sharp
corners and sop histicated variation of line thickness, is
typical of the paintings in the Monastery of St. Macarius ,
and the even eyebrows shown in the paint ing ofSt. Antony
in th e Wadi al-Natrun exemp lify an altern ate version of
the first eye type (fig. 6.11) .23 The second method for repre-
senting eyes, found in both program s- and , as we have
seen, in the Mo nastery o·fSt. Mercuri us in Cairo-is char-
acterized by a right ang le in the in ner corner of the eye,
which ma rks the upper line of the open eye and the
stra ight line of th e nose." In Theo dore's work, the eye is
sur mo unted by th e short straig ht line of the eyebrow . In
the pain tings in the Wadi al-Natrun, this straight up per
line is included , bu t it is used to define the upper lid. A
longer, curv ing, and more articulated eyebrow arches over
the eye. In bot h programs, the angular eye type app ears
commonly when th e face is show n in a thr ee-qu arters
view."
Th e rendering of drap ery in the Mon asteries of St.
Ant ony and St. Macarius is different in conception but
shares a few features . The abstract and linear monastic
cloak, which is com mo n in Theodore's work, is painted in
a similarly two-dimension al mann er in the murals in the
Monas tery of St. Macariu s. An example of this is the figur e
of Maca rius the Great with th e cherub (fig. 5.19).26 The
dra pery here is usually shown as more fluid and natur alis-
tic th an we see in th e Monastery of St. Antony (fig. 4.19).
Altho ugh th e artist or artists working in the Wadi al-Na-
trun have not segme nted the clothi ng into two-dimen-
sional patterns to the same degree, they have nevertheless
used black outlines and have also occasionally painted

5·19
51. Macarius and the cherub, ca.
1200, wall painting, Haikal of 51.
Mark, Monastery of 51. Macarius,
Wadi ai-Nat run
https://coptic-treasures.com/
T HE CHURC H Of ST . AN TONY
over th em in a thin, mob ile whit e line, as we saw in Th eo-
dore's painti ngs." The T-shape for the hems of dr apery
that is found in Theo dore's work and th at of th e paint er or
paint ers from the Mo nastery of St. Mercurius is not pre-
cisely replicated here, but a related, mor e loosely con-
ceived relative of it can be seen in the Sanctuary of St.
Mark."
Several distinctive features of decoration are identi-
cal in both programs. The red- framed pearl border is th e
most obvious of these (fig. 5.18), bu t the background of
meringuelike mountain s behind the cherub (fig. 5.19) and
the diam ond- patt ern ed grid filled with plant fronds, also
used as a background pattern, are the same at bo th sites.
An accor dion-like folded-ribbon design is an exact paral-
lel, from its green centra l stripe on a red gro und to th e dec-
orative yellow triangles th at fill th e interstices between the
ribbo n and the red band s of th e bord er. The ribbon design
in th e Monastery of St. Anto ny defines th e curve of the
arch over th e niche with the cross in the Deesis Chapel (C1;
fig. 4-40), and in the Mo nastery of St. Macarius it plays the
same role, but with a keel-sha ped arch, in a mu ch larger
scale, underneath the scene of th e Ann u nciation." Al-
though decor ative motifs can be an un tru stworthy basis
for dating, the use of several of th e same orname ntal ele-
ments in both pain ted programs is likely significant ," Nu-
merous other points of similarity and difference require
close ana lysis before the p recise relation between the two
programs can be ascertained, but this evidence suggests
that Leroy's an d perhaps even van Loon's dates for the
paintings in the Sanctuary of St. Mark are too early. The
fixed date from th e Monastery of St. Antony enab les us to
suggest that the paint ings under considera tion in th e
Monastery of St. Macarius are not earlier than th e twelfth
century in date, and may even belong to the thirteenth
century.
88
Stylistic Ties Beyond Egypt
The style of the paintings by Theodore and his team of
artists is thoroughly Coptic. Its frontality and linear,
schematic qualities build on those found in Egyptian art
from late ant iquity. But for art to be Coptic in character in
the thirteenth century meant something different from its
meaning in the first centuries of Christian art in Egypt.
The thirtee nt h-ce ntury Copts participated in the secular
culture of th e ruling Muslim society, an d their involve-
men t is appare nt in the 1232h233 paintings in the Mon-
astery of St. Antony, so to charac terize th ese paintings as
Coptic is to incor por ate, rather th an to exclude, th eir sec-
ular elements. Lyster analyzes this aspect of Theo dore's
paintings in depth in chapter 7. Although iconograph ic
elements from posticon oclastic Byzantine art are easy to
chart in Theo do re's program, as we shall see in chapter 6,
th e same is not tru e for style. Theodore seems only very
rar ely to have drawn on artistic traditions beyond Egypt. A
trace of Byzantine art can be identified, and, with less cer-
tainty, an echo of Rom an esque ar t as well. The Roman -
esque device may have m ade its way into Cop tic art
th rough th e agency of the Crusades.
Th eodo re has empl oyed one readily app arent detail
from the Byzan tin e stylistic repertoire. It is the use of very
thin, swirling lines, which appear only rarely in these
paintings, in th e rend erin g of drapery. An imp ressive ex-
ample can be seen in th e cloth ing of the Christ Child from
the apse (si: fig. 5.5) . The thin lin es here are pale yellow,
evocative of th e curv ing lines mad e of gold wire in Middle
Byzantine ena mel work . Elegant gold lines are also com-
mon in Byzantine icon painting of th e period, examp les
of which could have been seen in the Monas tery of St.
Catherine, and very possibly within the collection of the
Monastery of St. Anto ny itself."
Finally, a suggestion of Roma nesque art can be dis-
cerned in both Theodore's paintin gs and th ose in the
Churc h of St. Mercur ius (figs. 5.13, 5.20). The tor sion de-
scribed above, in both programs, is not character istic of
Cop tic art. Although similarly extended figural rotation
can be found in Byzantine art of th is period, there it is used
with atten uation and conveys an etherea l impression . The
short pro por tions and tors ion that we see in the Cop tic
paintings finds its closest para llel in Roma nesque art-for
example, in the drawing of a child from a Romanesque
missal (fig. 5.21).32
Theodore and his workshop pro duced visually engag-
ing paintings that show an impressive command of com-
position, color, pattern, and line. Rendered with an empha-
sis on two-dimensionality, their figural subject matter

5 .20 LEFT
Tran sfiguration . detail. ca.
1200-1250 . wall painting. Nor th-
western Gallery Chapel. Monaster y
of St. Mercurius, O ld Cairo
5 .2 1 RI GHT
Child. deta il from th e arrest
of Christ. after a drawing in a
Rom an esqu e missal. treasu ry of
the Cathed ral of St. Etienne.
Auxe rre
https://coptic-treasures.com/
ART OF CHR IS T IAN EGYPT AND BEYOND
nevertheless expres ses personality and int en sity. Thi s thir-
teenth-century Coptic art contin ues the tradition of early
Coptic painting, th ou gh with distin ctive var iations, and el-
ements unknown to th e earlier artis ts. Some of the most
salient features fro m early Co ptic ar t th at are still in use in
Theo do re's pr ogram are a preferen ce fo r frontality and
sha llow or nonexistent pictori al fields inhabited by large
figur es; the segmenta tion of pictorial subjects by black or
colored lines; an d the tendency to restrict movemen t.
Close ana lysis of the style of the 123211233 pa intings in the
Monastery of St. Antony shows them to have been the
work of several hand s, at least two of whom were arti sts
of great skill. A group of four or more pai nters worked
together in a process that followed specific guidelines for
subject matter and gener al presentation , but which other-
wise seems to have left th em considerable freedom .
The style of th ese pain tings has close para llels III
ot her Chris tia n monume nts within Egypt, specifica lly the
Mo nasteries of St. Merc uri us (O ld Cairo) and St. Macar-
ius (Sanctuary of Mark, Wadi al-Na tr un). " Lyster demon -
strates their intimate ties to the shared secular realm of
art in Egypt, dominated by Mu slim rule." Hunt has iden -
tified a work shop of arti sts act ive in Egypt betw een 120 0
and 1250, likely based in Cairo, which created wall paint -
ings at the Syrian Mo naste ry and illuminated manuscripts
and icons ." The ~I ea ned paint ings in the Mo nastery of St.
Anto ny make it clear that a separa te schoo l of painting,
with recognizable stylistic chara cteristics, was working in
Egypt at the same tim e, and prob ably beginni ng so mew hat
earlier. Although sim ilarities abound, I do not see pre -
cisely the same hand at work in the th ree mo nument s I
have gro uped together , and it therefore seems most plausi-
ble to me that their arti sts cam e from a single, large work-
shop or school that was active over an extended period .
No doubt more than two schoo ls existed in this culturally
stim ulating period , as I suggest in th e conclusion of thi s
book. Stylistic parallels with Christian art outside of Egypt
are difficult tho ugh not impossible to locate. With the un-
derstanding that areas of overlap existed between Coptic
and Muslim visual culture, we can concl ude by cha rac-
terizing the style of these paintings as a vivid, thi rteenth-
century exp ressio n of the lon gstand ing Coptic tra dition.
https://coptic-treasures.com/

CHAPTER 6 THEODORE'S PROGRAM IN CONTEXT
EGYPT AND THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION
In 726 th e Byzantine emperor Leo III began a fateful move-
ment called iconoclasm . It not only con dem ned the depic-
tion of Chris t an d th e sain ts but also called for the de-
struction of existing represent ation s of th ese subje cts, in
any medium. Th e effect of icon oclasm on th e course of
Byzantine art can hardl y be overs tated. It lasted for
rou ghly a century, and th e art of the Byzantine em pire
after Christ ian images were once again legalized was
markedly different in character. I During its form ative
years, the art of Christian Egypt participated first in
Rom an and then in Byzantine visual culture. But by 726
Egypt was no longer part of th e Byzantine em pire. In 641 it
had been taken over by th e armies of Islam. The Copts
were thus not obliged either to destroy their im ages or to
cease making new one s during th e iconoclastic period. In
medie val Coptic art, then, we have a vital continuation of
the earliest Christian arti stic traditions, uninterrupted by
iconoclasm.
Th e paintings dating to 123211233 in th e Churc h of
St. Anto ny are th e outgrowth of early Chr istian art in the
Medi terranea n region. The Co pts sustained their commit-
ment to religio us images in the face of Byzantine icono-
clasm, as well as Islamic prohibitions against religious im-
ages.' The major subjects in Theodore's program have a
long pedigree, visible in early monastic art and contin uing
6.1 in Egypt after the po litical separation of tha t country from
George (pa rtial view) and Byzantium. Because so much new Coptic art from the pe-
Pho ebarnrnon ( N25, N26 ; ADP/SA riod after the Islamic con quest has come to light in recent
1999 ) years, consideration of this neglected top ic is now possible
to an unprecedented degree .' The scope of this chapter
permits only a brief discussion of it, but one that I hope
will engender futur e studies. Much less clear in this evalu-
https://coptic-treasures.com/
91
Elizabeth S. Bolman
ation of the place of Theodore's program in Mediterranea n
art is the relation between Coptic and Crusader art: The
question of the ties between the paintings in the Church of
St. Antony and th e Muslim tradition is also essential to
any discussion of postconquest Cop tic art , and William
Lyster treats it in dep th in th e next chapter.
Early Byza nti ne Egypt
By far the most numerous and important examples of
early Byzantine mon astic painting co me fro m Egypt. This
preponderan ce has to do both with the strength and vital-
ity of early monasticism in Egypt, and also with its dry
climate , ideally suited for preservation.' The Kellia (cells)
provid e us with th e largest number of early Coptic monas-
tic paintings. Excavations revealed only a few depictions of
Christ, saints, martyrs, and apostles, but a rich arra y of
decorated crosses.' Two sites with an exceptional range of
figural paintings are the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit
and th e Monastery of Apa Jeremiah at Saqqara. Few pre-
cise dates exist fo r early Chr istian art in Egypt, but th e
pain tings in both monaster ies are roug hly dated between
the sixth and eighth centuries.' Almost all the paintings
from the se three locations were found not in churches but
in monastic oratories, or rooms for prayer." Some of the
funct ions of th e oratory are th e same as those of a church.
Prayer was the central activity in bo th spaces. Certain basic
architectural and artis tic simi larities exist as well, particu-
larly the significance of the eastern wall. We know that this
wall was the focal point of the room because prayer was
undertaken facing east, the direction from which it is be-
lieved that Christ will appear at the Last Judgment. Also,
th e apse is located in th e cente r of the eastern churc h wall,
 T H E CH URC H OF ST. ANTONY

6 .2 U P P ER LEFT an d the niche-in a sense a mini ature apse-exists in the

Phocb am rnon, ca. sixth cen tury, eastern or atory wall. The subjects of the paintings in th e
wall pai n ting, chapel 17, I3awit apse and niche are similar: Christ in Majesty predomi-
nates, sometim es combined with other figures or group-
6.3 RIGHT ings." Technically, the paintings in both venues are made
Sisin n ius, ca. sixth cen tury, wall of inexpe nsive secco painting on plaster, which is no t sur-
pa int in g, chapel 17, Bawit prising, given th e mon astic environm ent. None of th ese
mona steries and ch urches .had the benefit of imp erial
6.4 BOTTOM patronage. Although we should not overlook the differ-
Ch rist in Majesty above th e Virgin ence between the mon astic oratory and the church, in th e
and Chr ist Ch ild with th e apostles, virtual absen ce of extant painted chur ches from ro ughly
ca. sixth cen tury, wall painting, the first millennium in Egypt, we have no choice but to
roo m 6, Bawit consider or ator ies in their stead. It is interestin g th at signi-
ficant icon ographi c parallels exist between th ese early
6.5 U P PE R RI GH T paintings fro m oratories and th e 1232/1233 paintings in th e
Virgin and Chri st Child, ca. sixth Chur ch of St. Antony."
cen tury, wall pain ting, chapel 28, A few examp les from Bawit illustrate th e th ree most
Bawit commo n iconographi c th emes found in the Monastery of
St. Anto ny: equestrian mart yrs, standing mona stic saints,
an d Christ in Majesty sur rounded by the four incorpor eal
beings. Or atory 17 includes equestr ian mart yrs, among
them renderi ngs of Phoibammon and Sisinnius, who are
both depicted in the Church of St. Antony (N26, figs. 6.1,
6.2; N23, figs. 4.8, 6.3) . Standing saints and patriarchs ap-
pear in or atory 56, amo ng them the earliest kno wn image
of St. Antony (fig. 8, int roduction) . The enthroned Chr ist
in Majesty, surrounded by th e four incorporeal beings, is
likely th e most popular image from orator ies at Bawit and
Saqqara and is often shown by itself in a niche. I I Th e best-
preserved examp le is from Bawit, room 6 (atypically, it was
not located in an ora tory) , an d is now in the Coptic Mu-
seum, Cairo (fig. 6.4).12 It contains all of the essential ele-

https://coptic-treasures.com/

6 .6 LEFT
Virgin an d Christ Ch ild (N36),
with view eas t into the sa nc tuary
(ADP/SA 1999 )
6.7 RI GHT
An ton y, Athanasius, and
Pachornius, ca. ten t h century, wall
pa intin g, Teb tun is, Fayoum (T he
Griffit h Instit ute, Ashmolean
Museu m, O xford )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THEODDRE 'S PROGRAM IN CONTEX T
ments we see in the Ch ur ch ofSt. Antony (SI , fig. 4. 28, and
with variations, C2, fig. 4.38): the two-zoned composition,
with Christ in Majest y above and other figures below. As in
room 6, these are usually the enthroned Virgin Mary and
Christ Ch ild.
Some less common themes from Theodore's pro-
gram were also ch osen for th ese early m on astic environ -
ment s. The Virgin Mary hold ing a clipeus, or shield, with
th e ima ge of th e Ch rist Child was fo und at Bawit, where
th e Virgin grasps th e clipeus fro m th e sides and posit ion s
it slightly off cen ter (fig. 6.5). The com posi tion is similar to
th at in the ch urc h (N36), but th ere th e Virgin's hand s are at
th e base of th e mand orl a, and she hold s th e ima ge cen-
trally (fig. 6.6). 13 T he jeweled cross th at we see in th e Deesis
Cha pel in th e Ch urc h of St. Anto ny (C1; fig. 4.40) also has
numerou s antecedent s in th e ora tories of both th e Kellia
and Saqqara. l'The th ree Hebr ews (K6; fig. 4.24) were pop-
ular in earlier centuries, as th eir ap pear an ce at Saqqara and
another mon astic site, Wad i Sarga, suggests. IS Some scenes
from th e Old Testament, prefig uring the sacr ifice of Christ
on the cro ss, were also included in the monastic oratories
of early Byzantine Egypt. On e well known to us fro m
Saqqa ra and beyond Egypt in th e same tim e period , and
also in th e thirteenth-century paintings at the Monastery
ofSt. Antony, is th e sacrifice of Isaac (S38; fig. 4.32).16
Postconquest Egypt: The Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
Tenth- and eleventh -century paintings in churches have
been p reserved in Egypt and also include many of the ele-
ments we see in th e paintings of 1232/1233 in the Chur ch of
St. Antony. Some of th e paintings found at Tebtunis in the
Fayoum, which were photograp hed but no t preserved, are
93
dated by an inscription to 953 (A.M . 669) .17 Leroy has
pointed out that th e paintings in the South Chur ch at th e
Monastery of th e Martyrs (Deir al-Shoh ada) were painted
some tim e before the year 1000; he suggests a da te of ca.
950. 18 Another striking monastic church program from
th is period has . been recently uncovered at the Naq lun
Monastery in th e Fayoum . The paintings o n the no rthern
nave wall and in the apse date between 1022-1032. 19
Equestrian martyrs' figur e amo ng th e sta ndard sub-
jects at Tebtunis and Naqlun. These include an imposin g
paint ing of Th eodore Stra telates ph oto graph ed at Tebtun is
(fig. 4.10) , which is sim ilar in iconography to the painting
of thi s saint in th e Mo nastery ofSt. Antony (N22; fig. 5.3).20
In bo th pain tin gs the saint is mu ch larger than th e othe r
figures. From below th e horse's head, th e widow impl ores
the saint to rescue her two sons, who are pos itioned below
th e horse, along with th e snakelike d ragon. The m ost sig-
nificant difference is th at at Tebtunis th e dragon rea rs its
head up above the widow and is therefore not speared at
the same ang le as in the Church of St. Antony. A close pre-
decessor to th e painting ofSt. Mercurius (K3; fig. 4.26) is at
Naqlun, on th e northern nave wall." The saint's black
horse and elaborate weapon ry, as well as th e un seated em-
peror Julian th e Apostate, app ear in both com po sitions.
Standing and seated m on astic saints and patriarchs
figur e prom inently in ch urc h painting during th e tenth
and eleventh cen turi es. The same few person ages are sin-
gled out rep eatedly, and placed with care, to express th e
stature of Egyptian monastici sm and the Coptic Churc h.
As in th e Ch ur ch of St. Anto ny, standing monastic saints
lined th e walls at Tebtunis. The status of Anto ny as th e
father of monasticism is underscored in both programs. In

6.8
Athanas ius (52; AD P/SA 6 5165 98)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
th e earlier program, in stead of th e usu al inclusion of th e
Virgin Ma ry in th e zo ne ben eath th e enthro ne d Chr ist in
Majes ty, we see th e en thro ne d Patri ar ch Atha nas ius,
flanke d by th e stand ing figures of Anto ny an d Pachom ius
(fig. 6.7).22 Athana siu s represents th e Coptic Ch urch,
An tony th e origin of m on ast icism , and Pachomius th e
orga n ization of th e asce tic m ovem ent in to a ceno bitic
form ." In th e Ch urc h of St. Anto ny, the painted figure of
Antony stands on th e eas te rn nave wall, o n one side of th e
entrance to the kh urus (Nl ; fig. 7, introd uction ). Atha na-
sius is also show n en th ro ned in th e ch urch (S2; fig. 6.8),
but he is located in a nich e, beh ind th e so uthern altar in
the sanctuary. Pachomius's important co ntrib ution to
Egyptian monasticism is exp ressed in h is pairin g with
Anto ny at Tebt un is, and it is signa led in the Red Sea church
by his placem en t on the undersid e o f the archway separat-
ing the western and eastern ends of the nave (N28; fig.
94
4.18). When moving from one half of the nave to the other,
one walks below and between the two figures of Pacho-
mius and Shenoute, which formally mark the transition
from the pa in ted theme of martyrs to that of their mon-
ast ic successors.
A compositiona l p redecessor to th e two figures of
Mark th e Apos tle (s u; fig. 4.36) and Atha nasius (S2; fig. 6.8)
in th e Ch ur ch of St. Anto ny can be found in th e early-
eleventh century paintings in th e sanctuary at Naqlun
(fig. 6.9).24 The two enthro ned figur es are set wit hin
n iches, as we see them in th e Mo nastery of St. Anto ny, but
at Naqlun th ese niches are within th e central sanctuary
apse. Th e iden tity of Mark is definit e in the earlier pro -
gra m, but not that of Atha nas ius." In th e Churc h of St.
Anto ny, th e n ich es act as sma ll, m iniature apses placed di-
rectly to th e east o f each of th e two later al alta rs in th e
sanc tuary. Atha nas ius is also sing led ou t fo r prominen ce in
th e apse paint in g of th e So uth Church at Esna, whe re he
sta nds to o ne side of the ent hroned Christ. 26 T h is th em e of
patri ar chs of the Co ptic Church is expa nded at th e Mo n-
astery ofSt. An to ny. Ma rk, th e first patriarch , and Athana-
sius, Anto ny's biographer, are given th e grea test promi-
nence (Sl1, S2). Exclud ing th e Virgin Ma ry and Ch rist
Ch ild flan ked by th e arc hange ls Gabriel and Michae l, all
of th e stan d ing figur es in th e lower zo ne of th e sanctuary
ar e patriarchs. Only one patri arch is Syrian, Severus (S3),
included for his clo se ties to th e Coptic Ch ur ch and his
doctrinal po sition." The monastic forefathers Antony (x i )
and Pachomius (N28) also fill key positions in the nav e
program , but here as in th e sanctua ry they are joined by
a ho st of oth er monastic exem plars. Based on th e extan t
evide nce, th e Egyp tian characte r expressed in abbreviated
form at Tebtunis seems to have been enlarged in later pro -
gra ms, parti cul arl y in th e Ch ur ch ofSt. Anto ny but also in
th e Mo nas tery of th e Roman s in th e Wadi al-N atr u n,
The subject ofAbra ham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Mo n-
astery of St. Antony (K5; fig. 4.25) find s its on ly known
Egyptian parallel in th e Syrian Mo nastery," Its date has
still no t been fixed, but it was covered by a layer of plaster
da ting to th e th irteenth century," Its basic ico nographic
format, show ing th e three patriar chs seated on a continu -
o us throne and holding th e d im inuti ve figure s of th e
saved, is the same in both paintings. At th e Syrian Mon -
aste ry, th e saved are naked and numerou s, whil e th ey are
fewer and clo the d in the Chur ch of St. Anto ny. Bot h of
th ese co m posi tions depi ct th e saved freely disposed in th e
lap s of th e patriarchs and beh ind th em . This presentation
is not foun d in Syrian or Cr usa der depiction s of the same
mo tif, whic h m ost often show the heads of the saved or

6.9 LEFT
At ha nas ius (?), 1022- 1032,
paint in g, Naq lun (Co ur tesy
W. Go dlewski)
6.10 CENTER
Claud ius, twelft h cen tury,
wall painti ng, Monaste ry of
the Mart yrs, Esna
6 .11 R IGH T
Paul and Anto ny, ca. 1200, wall
painting, Ha ikal of 51. Mark,
Monast ery of 51. Macarius, Wadi
al-Natrun
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE O D OR E' S PRO G RA M I N CO N TEX T
th eir entire bodies held within pieces of cloth, stretched
wall between the patriarchs ' hands." In Byzantine art, the scene
is commonly reduced to show onl y Abraham of th e patri-
archs, but also includes th e Virgin Mary," Its pr esence in
Egypt could be eithe r a result of its co ntinuation fro m
early Christian art o r a feature th at Coptic artists borrowed
from Byzantine and Crus ader art . A fourth-century refer-
ence to a painting of the patriarchs, by Epiphanius of Sal-
amis, shows that it existed in art well before iconocla sm ."
Fina lly, we turn to the m ajor composition of Christ
in Majesty, so prevalent in all period s of Co ptic ar t. In the
upper zone of th e apse at Tebt unis, above Antony, Atha n-
asius, and Pachomius, part of a painting of Christ in Maj-
esty was visible at the time of excavation (fig. 6.7).33Ch rist
is framed by a star-studded mandorla, sup ported by th e
four incorporeal beings and flank ed by th e sun and moon.
All the se details can be seen in Theodore's ren dition (SI;
fig. 4.28) as well. The inclus ion of stars on the wide band of
the mandorla seems to be a new elem ent in the tenth and
eleventh centuries.
The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Severa l major painted churc h programs exist from the
twelfth and th irteenth cen tur ies, most not ably in th e Mon-
astery of th e Martyrs in Esna and th e Mo nas teries of St.
Macarius and of th e Roma ns (Baram us) in the Wadi al-
Natr un. The popularity of th e subjects chose n for earlier
monastic orato ries and ch ur ches co ntin ues in thi s later
period: equ est rian martyrs, stand ing saints, event s fro m
th e O ld Testament, th e Virgin Mary, and Chr ist in Majes ty.
T he equestr ian martyr Theo dore Stratela tes from the
North Church at the Monastery of th e Martyrs near Esn a
95
14
is dated by an inscription to either 1129/1130 or 1179/1180.-
Claud ius and on e anon ymous equestrian saint, likely of
the same dat e, also jo in Theodore in protectin g th e sanc-
tua ry at Esna (fig. 6.10). Th eir placem ent echoes a sim ilar
arra nge me nt in th e Mo nastery of St. Antony, where
Geo rge and Mercurius perform this apotro paic function
( K3, K8; figs. 6.24, 4.26). In the Mon astery of St. Antony,
the saints Theodore and Claud ius are located on the west-
ern nave wall (N19, N22; figs. 5.3,4.12), where they are part
of th e gro up that is guardi ng the door.
Standi ng sain ts are included in th e paint ings in th e
Mo nasteries of St. Macarius and ofthe Ro mans, altho ugh
in neither case are th ese saints located in the nave. The
paintings in the sanctua ry of Mark, in the for mer, are most
likely dated to th e late twelfth or early thirteenth century."
In th e Monastery of St. Macarius, several standing saints
bear a close iconographic similarity to tho se in the Chur ch
of St. Antony, including a paired Paul and Antony (fig.
6.11 ). Mo st notable is Macarius the Great, with a cherub,
stand ing in front of a mountainous background (fig. 5.19),
th at is very close to th e one seen in Theo do re's progra m
(N33; fig. 4.19). In what are probably late- thi rteen th
century pai ntings in the Monastery of the Roma ns, we
enco un ter several saints familiar to us from th e Church of
St. Anto ny, includi ng Anto ny th e Great, Paul th e Hermit ,
Macarius the Great, Pacho mi us, Barsum th e Syrian, pos-
sibly also Moses the Black, and finally the two Rom ans
after who m th e monastery was nam ed, Ma ximus and
Dornitius."
O ld Testame nt scenes of sacrifice are included in the
Monasteries of St. Macari us and of the Rom ans, as they
are in the Monaster y of St. Antony. All three depict the ex-

6 . 12 L E FT
Melchizedek and Abraha m (543)
6 .13 C EN T ER
Melch izedek and Abraham , late
thi rteenth centur y, wall paintin g,
sanctuary of the Ch urc h of th e
Virgin, Mon astery of the Rom an s,
Wad i al-Na tr un
6 .14 UPP E R H I GHT
Mclchizedek , ca. 547, mo saic,
sa nctuary of San Vita le, Raven na
6 . 15 L OW EH H I G H T
Living creature with th e head o f a
man ( 51; A DP/SA 6 5190 98 )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH Of ST . ANTONY
ceptio nally rare icon ograph ic rep resent ation of Melchi-
zedek as a naked (o r barely cloth ed ) hermit with lon g hair,
pre senting a cup to Abr aham (S38; figs. 6.12, 6.13) .37 Mel-
ch izedek is usually shown dre ssed as a prie st or a king, in
both th e Western and Byzantine tradi tion s (fig. 6.14). The
much more common sacr ifice of Isaac (S39) and Isaiah
and the burning coal (S42) are sim ilarly represented in th e
Mo nas teries of St. Macarius and of St. Anto ny.
Th e repr esent ation al type of Chr ist in Majesty shown
at Esna and also in th e Chapel of th e Virgin (the north -
western gallery chapel) in th e Monastery of St. Mercurius
in Old Cairo is close to that seen in th e Monastery of St.
Anto ny (SI) . Fro m th e perspective of iconograph y, th is
subject is probably th e most stable and co nsistent of any
throughout the history of Coptic art. In th e pa intings at
Esna, Cairo, and th e Chur ch of St. Anto ny, th e four incor-
poreal bein gs have three sets of layered wings with eyes,
each set of which is painted with a solid color. In the
Mo nastery of St. Anto ny th e inn ermost wings are ocher,
th e int erm ed iate layer is blu e-gray, and th e outer mos t
layer is red (fig. 6.15). Thi s stylization, to gether with th e
stars in the mando rla of Christ, are th e most not able icono-
graphic changes we see in pain tings of Chr ist in Majesty
from its early app earan ce in the monasteri es at Bawit (fig.
6.4 ) an d Saqqara.
The single closest para llel to the two- zon ed com posi-
tion of th e Christ in Majes ty above the Virgin Mary an d
Child flan ked by arch an gels (51 ; fig. 4.28) in th e Chur ch of
St. Antony belo ngs to the twelfth century an d can be
found in th e Mo nas tery of th e Martyrs at Esna . In add itio n
to the sim ilarities of frontality, location under a Christ in
Majesty scene, and the archangels' pose, the position of the
 THEOOORE 'S PROGRAM I N CONTEXT

6. 16 L EFT

Angel, detail from Virgin and

Ch rist Child with arc hangel s,
twe lfth cent ury, wall paintin g,
Mon astery of the Martyrs, Esna

6 . 17 RI GII T

T he archange l Gabriel (5 1; A DP/SA

12 519 1 9 8)

6,1 8 B ELOW

Niche of the precious cross (c i:

A DP/SA BW 144:23)

Virgin's ar ms ma kes th is co mpar ison particularly close.

T he arc ha ngels sta nd looking straight ahea d, guar dians
for th e pair bet ween th em , with th eir wings he ld ou t stiffly
at th eir sides (st; figs. 6.16, 6.17). The upper sections of th e
wings are patterned and fram ed with a bo rd er. T he tap er-
ing o f th e wings is rendered with sim ple vertical bands. All
th e ange ls hold discs in their left han ds, wear recta ng ular
crowns, and have mantles fastened on their right sho ulders.
Another subject that req uires a brief note here is the
composition called the Deesis, or petitio n for forgiveness of
sins. It consists of a central figur e of Christ, flan ked by th e
Virgin Mary and john th e Baptist, each of who m turns
slight ly towa rd Chr ist with hand s raised in sup plicatio n.
The Deesis is included in the programs in the Mo nastery of
St. Macarius (fig. 5.18) and in th e Monastery of St. Anto ny
(C2, C3, ClO; fig. 4.38 ). In the Monastery of St. Macarius, it
is set bet ween windows. The figure of Christ is standing,
and, uncharacteristically, is position ed below the Virgin and
john. These two are bu st-length portraits in medallions. In
th e painting in th e Mon astery of St. Antony, Christ is en-
throned, and the Virgin an d john are shown full-length.
Th eodore has inclu ded two unusual elem ents: the four
creatures, in what is best describ ed as a standing position ;
and the juxtapos itio n of the Deesis with an elabora tely
painted cross in th e lower n iche (fig. 6.18).
A late- eleventh o r twelfth-cent ury Coptic exam ple
th at has often been associa ted with Theo dore's paintings
is found in th e White Monastery near Sohag." In the so uth
sem idome in the White Monastery churc h, the figur es of
Mar y and john th e Baptist flank a cent ral mandorl a (fig.
6. 19). T h is field is not, however, filled with th e figure of
Ch rist in Majesty, as it is in th e Mon astery ofS t. Anto ny. In

https://coptic-treasures.com/
97

6.19
Deesis, with the Cro ss. late
elevent h or twelfth century. wall
pain tin g. White Mon astery. Sohag
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURC H OF ST . ANTONY
th e White Monastery th e depiction of a cross draped with
cloth fills the space, the same motif th at we see in the
Deesis Chape l in th e Church of St. An to ny, but in th e
composition in th e Mo nastery ofSt. Anto ny bo th Chr ist in
Majesty and the draped cross are included (c i) . In both
paintings, angels suppor t the mand orl a, two at the White
Mo nas tery and four in the Deesis Chape l. The fabri c
draped cross is not rare in Coptic art , but on ly in th e Mon-
astery of St. Antony and the White Monastery is it associ-
ated with the Deesis. Several examples have survived in th e
Mo nas tery of Apa Fana , near Min ya, and in th e Red
Mo nastery near Sohag."
Th is iconographic review from early monastic orato-
ries and from churches shows that many of th e subjects in
the program at the Mon astery of St. Ant on y have been
used continuo usly in Coptic church decoration from th e
sixth or seventh century through the thirteenth century.
Foremo st among these are equestrian martyrs, standing
saints, th e enthroned Christ in Majesty and the enthro ned
Virgin and Child. 40 As we have seen in chapter 4, their
cho ice and disposition was mean ingful. It would be mis-
leading, howe ver, to focus solely on the perp etu ation of
traditional representations in Theodore's program. Omis-
sions are also part of th e construc tio n of meaning in thi s
mon astic art, and repay scru tiny.
It is telling to consider which paintings, com mo n
elsewhere in Co ptic ar t, are missing from th e Churc h ofSt.
Anto ny. Th e most salient absence is of th e apos tles, ex-
cepting only Mark (S11 ; fig. 4.36). Standing rows of apos-
tles are common in the early Byzantine period, as well as in
postconquest Co ptic painting. We find them in the ca. 950
paintings in the sanct uary of Benjamin (Monastery of St.
Macarius), in the elevent h-ce ntury paintings in th e sane-
tuary at Naqlun, in the paintings of ca. 1200 in the Chapel
of the Virgin in the Churc h of St. Merc ur ius (O ld Cairo),
and in th e late-thirteenth century paint ings in the sanctu-
ary at the Mo nastery of the Rom ans. Th e absence from
Theo dore's program of all of the apostles but Mark is
meaningful. Tradition has it that Mark brought Ch ristian-
ity to Egypt. His successors are the Coptic patriarch s, and
many of th e most famou s of the se are included in th e sanc-
tuary at th e Monastery of St. Ant on y (fig. 4.43). One is
Severus, patriarch of Antioch in Syria (S3; fig. 7.14). He is
important to the Copts for his objection to the Co uncil of
Chalcedon, a position which th e Copts also held." Es-
teemed Co ptic patriarchs, such as Cyril of Alexandr ia,
were likely intended to be depicted on the northern sanc-
tuary wall, where a framework for them was begun, but
were never co mpleted." The selection of Mark and the
Co ptic patri archs was sure ly not intended to min imi ze the

6.20
Christ Pantocrator in central
sanctuary dome (S12; ADP/SA 1999)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THEODORE 'S PROGRAM IN CONTEXT
status of th e oth er apostles but sim ply to stress, once again,
th e richness of Egyptian Christianity. In this way, th e pro -
gram of the sanctuary in th e churc h continued th e ge-
nealogical them e of th e nave: as Coptic mon ks carri ed on
the work of the ma rtyrs, Coptic patriar chs carried on the
work of the apos tle Mark.
Beyond Egypt: Byzantine and Crusader Art
Clear evidence exists in Theo dore's pain tin gs of elements
draw n fro m posticon oclastic Byzantine art. The relation
between th e Co ptic paint ings in th e Mo nastery of St.
Anto ny and both Byzantine and Cru sader art, however, is
a com plex topi c, which will require much future work . At
this point, it is po ssible on ly to show a few of the ways in
which the art of Byzant ium, and possibly also th at of the
Crusa ders, was used by Theodore in the Church of St.
Antony. Ano ther issue that can on ly be touched on here
is the possible use by Byzan tine and Crusader ar tists of
Co ptic icon ograph y, perhaps fro m th e Mo nastery of St.
Antony itself.
An analysis of Theodore's interest in Byzantine art
mu st begin with a recog nition of th e fact th at many of the
sha red features in these two traditions come fro m their
past. Standing saints , for exam ple, are a regular component
of mid dle and late Byzantine (pos ticonoclastic) church
99
programs, as they are in Coptic church programs." Neither
drew on the other, but both grew out of the common cul-
tural environment in late ant iquity. Furthermore, some
subjects that were commonly featured in the early period,
such as eques trian martyrs, stopped being a standar d part
of the Byzanti ne program after iconoclasm. They were re-
sumed within th at tra dition-for example, in Greece-
but not as a continuation of their own past. Their reap-
pearance is th e result of interac tion with th e Cr usaders. "
In Co ptic art, pa intings of equestrian mar tyrs exist from
all period s and were clearly par t of a contin uo us tradition.
What we mu st identify, for our analysis of Th eodo re's use
of Byzantine art, are aspects of his program that were not
part of th e shared heritage but were newly develop ed in
posticonoclastic Byzantine ar t.
The first of th ese is th e image of the Christ Pant ocra-
tor, or rul er of the un iverse, shown bu st-length, in a
medallion (S12) . In th e Churc h of St. Antony thi s painting
is located in th e center of th e dom e, over th e altar (fig.
6.20) . In Byzantine art, it is closely tied to dom e architec-
ture. The existence of th e dome itself, in th e Chur ch of St.
Anto ny, is not indicative of Coptic architects' borrowing
fro m Byzan tine.pr actice. Domed architecture in Egypt be-
came com mo n in th e Fatimid period (eleventh and twelfth
cent ur ies), and by the thi rt eenth century it was a standard
part of churc h architecture." In Coptic churc hes, such as
th e Chur ch of st. Anto ny, the Church ofSt. Sergius in Old
Cairo (rebuilt in the Fatim id period), an d man y others,
do mes were bu ilt over the sanctuary. Th ey are att ached to
a trad itional basilican struc ture-that is, to a churc h with
a rectangular nave and a dom inant focus on th e eastern
end. The middl e Byzantine dome with the ima ge of th e
Christ Pant ocrato r is part of a completely different archi-
tectural system, one that places the major dome over th e
naos, or nave." The image of Christ is therefore cent ered
over a space that is accessible to the congregation, and not
over the celebr ant s aro und the altar." The domes in the
Churc h of St. Antony deri ve from arc hitectur al develop -
ments in Egypt an d the Islami c world. But the inclusion of
the bust-length image of Christ in the center of that dome
is not com mo n in Egypt. The medall ion of Ch rist Panto-
crator in th e do me of the Churc h of St. Anto ny, with its
encir cling band of angels, is bor rowed from Byzantine art
an d placed in a different position in this Co ptic program.
A second clear exam ple of a detail taken from middle
Byzan tine art is th e inclu sion of th e Deesis in th e side
chapel (C2, C3, cio : fig. 4.38) . As we have seen, the Deesis is
a com pos itional type tha t shows a frontal, enthro ned

6 .21 LEFT
Deesis, 1183, wall painting,
Hermitage of 51. Neo phyt us,
Cyprus (Cou rtesy of Dumbart on
Oa ks, neg. H 6 3. 2 )
6.22 RI GH T
Detail o f Chr ist ad dressing Pishoi
( N7; ADP/SA 2 Sl53 97)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST . AN TONY
Christ flanked by the standing figures of the Virgin Mary
and John the Baptist." A representative Byzant ine example
can be found in the Hermitage of St. Neophytus on
Cyprus (fig. 6.21 ). It is an ima ge of en treaty or petition, di-
rected to Christ and pr esented on behalf of the faith ful by
th e two peopl e who were closest to Christ on earth.P It is
standard in the Byzantine sphere and seems to have been
con sidered particularly appropriate for sma ll chapels in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries." We find it in just
such a sma ll chapel in th e Monastery of St. Anto ny. In thi s
instan ce, the inclusion of th e subject and also its presen -
tation in a side chapel may be an indication of borrowing
from middle Byzantine practice.
Another example of an iconographic detai l bro ught
int o Co ptic art at a late date is the diminutive image of
Christ, leaning out fro m heaven to address or point at
saints and martyrs below him. We see him in severa l places
in Theodore's program-for example, above Pishoi the
Great (N7) and the brot hers Piroou and Athom (N16). In
the first of these, Christ leans from our right, above Pishoi,
and points down to him (fig. 6.22) . In the second painting,
100
Christ is positioned betw een the brothers and extends
a hand to each figure . Thi s device for showing Christ
appearing from heaven is commonplace in Byzantin e and
Crusader art by the thirteenth century. It appears in what
may be a tenth-century icon of the Virgin Mary from
Cyprus, and also in the mosaics from before 1143, in th e
Chur ch of St. Mary's of th e Admi ral in Palermo (fig. 6.23).
In bot h th ese examples the figur e of Christ em erges from
th e upp er corne r of th e field. In a twelfth-ce ntury illumi -
nation in th e Homili es of Gregory of Nazianzos, Chr ist is
shown in a half-circle, emerging from the center of the
upper border." Crusader manuscripts that are contempo-
rary with Theodore's paintings also include this image."
Although the Crusader artists no doubt took this feature
from Byzantine art, we cannot know whe ther Theodore
learned of it from that source or through an intermediary.
Clear and demonstrable evidence that Theodore and his
team drew on Crusader art has yet to be identified.
Byzantine vita icons of saints furnis h us with a final
example of Theodore's familiarity with posticonoclastic
art. Numerous large-scale icons of standing saints survive

6 .23 LEFT
Virgin Mary an d George of
Antioch, wit h Ch rist, before 1148,
mo saic, 51. Mar y's of the Admiral,
Palermo
6.24 RIG H T
Geo rge and scenes of his martyr-
do m (K7- K9) , d uring conservatio n
(ADPISA 7s 97)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THEODO RE'S PROGRAM I N CONTEXT
fro m th e thirteenth century," T hey are frame d with sma ll
scenes show ing events from th eir lives. The painting of
George in th e khurus (K7-K9) shows a similar com bina-
tion of iconi c and narrative art in a single composition
(fig. 6.24). In th e painting in the Church of St. Antony,
George is on ho rseback, an d a narrative even t is shown in
the lower zone of the central field. In these respects, th e
painting is un like Byzantine biographica l ico ns. But the
essential effect of this painting of George is icon ic, and th e
central image is fram ed to th e right and left with small nar -
rative scenes. Those to our right ( K9) relate directly to th e
life of George. Th ose to our left (K7) do so only indi rectly,
th eir major connection bein g to th e painting of th e three
Hebrews ( K6; fig. 4.24).54The princip al device of framing a
large iconic image with scenes from the life of the saint is
th e same, however. A discussion of thi s subject is not com-
plete without noting that we do not see narr ative ima ges
around the figure of the most important saint in the
church: Antony. The sing le image of Antony in the Church
of St. Antony (m) includes onl y th e subtlest details of nar -
rative: his placement next to Paul, and th e crow between
101
th e two ascetics. Vita icon s of Anto ny co uld have existed in
thi s period, but we have no evidence of th em until th e
fifteenth century, and they seem to have been rare until th e
seven teenth cen tury."
Represen tations linked to the major feasts of th e
church, such as the Nativi ty and the Baptism, are charac-
teristic of m idd le Byzantine art. They are conspicuo usly
absent from Theodore's program. We see partial feast cycles
in the thirteenth-century paintings in the Monasteries of
th e Syrians and th e Rom ans, howev er. It is difficult to
evaluate th e significance , if any, of their absence from th e
Ch urc h of St. Anto ny. Cer tai nly, th e unpainted higher
zones of th e nave walls and dom es co uld have accommo-
dated th em .
As even thi s br ief study shows, th e iconography of
th e Ch rist Pant ocrator in th e dom e, th e Deesis, th e small
pointing figure of Christ, and biographical scenes derive
from the middle Byzantine world, not from the common
heritage of the Coptic and Byzantine traditions." Theo-
dor e and other Coptic artists were famili ar with Byzantine
art, at least to some extent. In th e 1232!I233 paintings, th e
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY

Byzantine elements are incorporated effectively and do

not stand out as interpolations from another realm. Th e
degree to which Chri stian artists outsid e of Egypt were
drawing on Coptic painting is more difficult to add ress at
this point. But a previously unpublished icon from the
Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai (fig. 6.25) sug-
gests that this subject is worthy of closer study. It shows
St. Macarius the Great standing in a frontal position, with
his hand in the grasp of a cherub, as we see him in the
pain tings in the Mon asteries ofSt. Macariu s (fig. 5.19) an d
of the Roman s in the Wadi al-N atru n and in th e Mo n-
astery of St. An to ny at the Red Sea (fig. 4.19). Because
Macari us th e Grea t lived in Egypt an d founded his famous
mo nastery there, and because this iconographic type is
uncommon elsewhere, it seems most plausible to imagine
th at Egypt was its source." Connections between the
Mo nastery of St. Antony and that of St. Cather ine can be
assumed, provi ding a regular passage for artistic cross-
fertili zation . Not only did a chapel dedicated to St. Anton y
exist in th e vicinity of th e Mo nastery of St. Catherine, but
the Sinai foundatio n owned land s along the Red Sea coast,
and so pilgrim s and itin erant artists are likely on ly two of
th e categories of travelers who would have been in bo th
mon asteries.58
Th e iconographic pr~g ram in th e Church of St.
Antony is in man y respects representative of Co ptic mon-
astic art , from its beginnings. Such traditional figur es as
martyrs, saints, and patriarchs are arranged to accentuate
the monastic life, as exemplified by the father of monasti-
cism , Antony the Great. Eleme nts from th e posticonoclas-
tic Byzantine world also play a role, but not a domi nant
on e. Th eod or e and his team of artists were active partici-
pant s in th e com plicated visual culture of th e Mediter-
ranean region in th e thi rt eenth century.

6.25
Ico n of 51. Macarius and the
cherub, ca. thirteenth cent ury,
Monastery of 51. Catherine, Mount
Sinai (Co urtesy of th e Michigan-
Princeton -Alexandria Expedition
to Moun t Sinai)

https://coptic-treasures.com/
102

CHAPTER 7 REFLECTIONS OF THE TEMPORAL WORLD
SEC ULAR ELEMENTS I N THEODORE'S PROGRAM
Theodore painted a vision of etern ity in th e Church of St.
Anto ny, but within that vision are reflections of the tem-
po ral world in which he lived . H is program of 1232/1233
contains eleme nts that correspo nd to Egyptian society
in th e thirteenth century, when Muslims, Christians, and
Jews all part ook of th e same ar tistic and cultural milieu . I
Because these elements deri ved from a shared tr adition,
which transcended religious differences, they are described
here as being secular. Of course, each religious community
of medieval Egypt also maintained a separate sphere in
which its own unique customs and beliefs were pr eserved.
Th e Monastery of St. Antony is an example of such exclu-
sivity, but it is instructive to note that Theodore neverthe-
less integrated detail s from contemporary society into the
paintings he produced for the monastic church. The secu -
lar elements in th e 1232/1233 pro gram have received little
attention, yet without an understanding of the predomi-
nately Islamic culture of Egypt, and of the ways th at Chris-
tian s participated in it, a fascin atin g aspect of th ese paint-
ings is igno red.
When Theo dore painted the Church of St. Antony,
Egypt had been under Islamic ru le for nearly six hundred
years. Throughout that time, Christians and Mus lims had
lived as neighbors in the Nile Valley during periods of bot h
intense friction and relative calm. The Copts were a close-
kn it community but participated as administrators, mer -
chants, craftsmen, and peasants in the broader society
within which they lived. They were classified by the Arabs
as ahl al-dhimma, a "protected people," whose faith was to
be respected. Christians and Jews were "People of the
Book," the recipients of scriptures from the same divine
sour ce that inspired th e Qu r' an. As protected subjects, the
https://coptic-treasures.com/
10 3
William Lyster
Copts were granted personal security, freedom of religion,
and a degree of autonomy in the conduct of their commu-
nal affairs. They were also obliged to pay additiona l taxes
and accept certa in legal and social restric tions . Theory and
practice did not always coincide, however. Discrim inatory
measures were frequently not enforce d, while in some pe-
riods th e ph ysical safety of the Copts was at risk.'
After the Arab congtI est, the Byzantine system of tax-
ation was adopted largely unchanged and left in the hands
of the Copts, who were to staff the Egyptian fiscal ad mi nis-
tration for centuries. Official records were first kept in
Greek, as they had been under the Byzantines, but in 705
the Umayyad govern or 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd ai-Malik issued
an edict imposing Arabic as th e language of govern ment.
Th ereafter, Coptic officials had to speak the language of the
Q uran if they wished to keep th eir adm inistrative post s. It
was an important step in the spread of Arabic among the
Christians of Egypt. In tim e, Arabic completely replaced
Coptic as th e mother ton gue of the Nile Valley.'
The ado pt ion of spo ken Arabic by th e Copts paved
th e way for their use of it as a literary language as well. By
the tenth century, Christian writer s in Egypt were produc-
ing both translations of Coptic texts and original composi-
tions in Arabic. Under the Fatim id caliphs (969-1171) an d
the Ayyubid sultans (1171-1250), Christian Arabic literatur e
flourished to such an extent that it completely eclipsed
the writing of Coptic. Efforts were taken to preserve the
language th rou gh th e com pilation of Copto -Arabic dictio-
naries, but the last substantial Coptic literary work dates
from the fourteenth century:
The gradual Arabization of the Copts involved not
just a lingu istic tr an sformation but also th e adoption of

7·1
Gra ndfathe r of Mer curius being
attacked by cynocephaloi (K3;
ADP/SA 1 S172 97)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
Arab manners, customs, and dress. Th e sumptuary laws
that were promulgated throughout th e medieval period
indicate that th e religious comm unities of Egypt all wore
similar clothing (fig. 7.1). These regulat ions were aimed
at segregating and humbling non-Muslims. On e law com -
pelled Chr istians and Jews to wear colored turbans (blue
and yellow, respectively) in or de r to distinguish th em
from Muslims, who wore white. Th e frequ ency with which
th ese laws were decreed suggests th at, until at least the
fourtee nth cen tury, they were rarely enforced for long." In
1138, for example, Ridwan ibn al-Walakh shi, the Sunni
Mu slim wazir of Caliph ai-Hafi z, removed Coptic officials
and renewed the usual sum ptuary laws. Ridwan had com e
to power by overthrowing his pred ecessor, a Christian
Armen ian. His persecution of non-Muslims was used to
consolidate his position and win popular support. It quickl y
subsided once the wazir had achieved his objectives .'
In spite of such periodic setbacks, the Christians of
Egypt enjoyed a lon g period of relative peace and prosper -
ity between the tenth and fourteent h centuries. They were
part of a sophisticated and wealthy society. Egypt was a
major int ern ation al power, and Cairo was one of the great-
10 4
est centers of trade in th e world. The Copts held key posi -
tions within the government of Egypt. Their main area of
competence was as tax collectors and scribes in the civil
service, but particularly capable individu als could achieve
even greater authority. During the reign of the Fatimid
caliphs, th e Copts were particularly favored." Th e churc h
enjoyed an increa se in its revenues, resultin g in th e con -
struc tion or restoration of numerous churches, including
most of those of Old Cairo ." This same medieval era of
pro sper ity also witnessed what seems to have been a resur-
gence of the production of wall paintings in the churches
of Egypt." The work of Th eodor e in the Churc h of St.
Anto ny is th e best-preserved example from this era of
Coptic painting.
It is evident from Th eodore's work in th e remote
Mon astery of St. Anton y that he and his workshop were
profession al painters who were prepared to travel long dis-
tances in order to accept comm issions. Not on ly were the y
trai ned in th e Cop tic iconographic trad ition, Th eodore
and his men probably had ampl e opportun ity to observe
earlier examples of wall paintings throughout Egypt. The
images in Theo dore's program are rendered accordi ng to

7.2 LEFT
Head of Mercurius's hors e (K3;
ADP/SA 1 SJ72 97)
7.3 !lI GH T
Mercurius, ninth or tenth century,
ma n uscri pt illumination , Egypt
(Vatican City, Co dex Vatican
Copto 66 , fol. 287v)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
REFLECTIONS O F THE TEMPORA L WORLD
th e Coptic tr adition of painting, in which iconographic
subjects oft en remained un changed for centur ies. This
depend ence on a pictori al traditi on , rath er th an on obser-
vatio n fro m life, can be seen in Theo do re's handling of the
horses of th e equestr ian saints. The upper portion of their
heads is turned toward the viewer, showi ng both pairs of
eyes and ears, but the mo ut h is presented in profi le (fig.
7.2). This distinct ive man ner of drawing a horse's head
may have its or igin in Byzantine imperial portraits, such as
a gold medallion (electrotype) of] ustini an (ca. 527-538) in
th e British Mu seum, whe re th e head of the em peror's
horse turns slightly to reveal both eyes (fig. 7.18). Altho ugh
th is position ing of th e ho rse's head is only occasionally
found in classical or Byzantine ar t, it was evidently popu-
lar amo ng th e Copts, especially in th e more exaggerated
form that we see in Th eod or e's wo rk. It was em ployed in
the sixth- or seven th- century wall paint ings of equestrian
saints in Chapel XVII at th e Monastery of Apa Apollo at
Bawit (figs. 6.2, 6.3) and in textile designs of the same
period. " So mewhat later, th e th ree-qu arter profil e is found
in wall paintings of ho rses at Na qlun and Esna (fig. 6.10).
It also appears in a number of manuscript illum inations
105
of eq uestrian saints produced befor e the eleventh century
(figs. 4.11, 7 .3) .11
A par ticularly telling indi cation of Theodo re's reli-
ance on traditio na l forms is the way in which he positio ns
the legs of his horses. Most of th e horses are shown raising
two legs, both on the same side. This pose could not have
been observed from life, for a horse attem pting it would
top ple over. The painting of Sisinnius in Chapel XVII at
Bawit also shows his horse in this position (fig. 6.3). The
other hor ses in the same chapel are depict ed more accu-
rately, with only one leg raised. The particul ar sta nce of
Sisinnius's mount may have been a misreading of this more
tradi tio nal form, but whatever the origin, the pose seems to
have entered th e tradition of Coptic painting at an early
date. It was adopted at Naqlun for the hors e of St. Pijosh
and was eventually used by Theod ore as his prin cipal
meth od of depicting the horses of equestrian saints."
Onl y two of the horses in the Church of St. Anto ny
are shown in a different pose. Theodore Strate lates (N22)
and Sisinnius (N23) are both d ragon slayers guarding the
entrance of the churc h (figs. 7.15, 7.25). Their horses rear
up on their hind legs above serpe nts, which are being
 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
7.4 L E FT speared by the saints. Although thi s pose is anatomically
So ld ier und er Pho ebammon (N26; more correct than the more commonly depicted one , it is
ADP/SA 1999) un likely to have been drawn from life. It too has a prec e-
dent in Coptic art -witness a traditional equestrian image
7.5 RI GH T often found on sixth -century Coptic textile panels." Given
Pasicrates (K9 ; ADP/SA I S 16 2 97) the conservative character of th ese paintings, it come s as
no surprise that this rearin g pose fro m late antiquity was
part of Th eodore's arti stic repertoire.
Despite th e tr adition al nature of Coptic painting,
there are det ails within Th eodore's program that are dr awn
from contemporary life. They are incorporated into the
timel ess realm of Coptic religious art but reflect th e eno r-
mo us cha nges that had taken place in Egypt since th e Arab
conquest. These elements are mi nor details that do not af-
fect the Christian iconography of Theodore's program, but
they do enrich it and distinguish it from early Coptic
painting. Examples include the style of arches painted to
frame saints, the use of Arabic calligraphy, and some of the
cost umes and eleme nts of dress worn by figures in the
paintings. Although they show the influences of the pre-
dominantly Muslim culture of the time, these details are
essentially secular in nature. In the thirteenth century, the
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities of Egypt were
part of the same society. They all spoke Arabic, wore the
same style of clothing, and used the same construction
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106
techniques in th eir religious and secular buildings. Each
religious comm unity employed and contributed to th e di-
verse cultural heritage of medieval Egypt. Scattered thr ou gh-
out Theo dore 's program are details th at offer us a glimpse
of thi s pluralistic society.
Turb ans are perhaps the most obvious example of
medieval secular eleme nts in th e pr ogram of Theod ore.
Th is distin ctively Arab style of headd ress is worn by four
of th e minor figur es associated with the equestrian sain ts.
Their turbans give us no indicatio n of their religious affili-
ation, however. One of the figures is identi fied as a pagan
soldier (N26 ; fig. 7.4), one as a Jew (N2Sj fig. 7.22), two oth-
ers as Chr istians (K3, K9j figs. 7.1, 7.5) . In the th irteenth
cent ury, this form of headdress was particularly associated
with civilian administrators, who were known as "men of
the turban.':" As such, it indicated a position of social sta-
tus in medieval Egypt, not religious affiliation. IS Theodore
employs turbans in his program to convey this same con-
temporary usage. The turbans worn by his figures indicate
their membership in the civilian or military elite, and thus
enhance their authority, whether as enemies of the church
or as influential Christians. The turban worn by Pasicrates
(K9; fig. 7.5) identifies the biographer of St. George as a
member of the influential scribal class.
One of the means by which contemporary elements
 REFLECTIONS OF THE TEMPORAL WORLD
7.6 LEFT may have entered th e Coptic tr adition is suggested by
Sisoes (N9). detail with arch . Theodore's attention to detail, apparent in such diverse
cap ita ls a nd im post blo cks elements as arcades, furniture, and horse trappings. His
(ADP/SA 8S 97) paintings of the arcade s framing th e monastic saint s in the
nave include small, rectangular impost blocks between the
7.7 R IG HT capital s and the springing of the arche s (fig. 7.6). It is a
Capi ta l, Mosq ue of Salih Tala'i ' , detail without any iconographic significance, but it indi -
1l60, Cairo (EAP/ARCE EG 5 BW cates an awareness of contempo rary architectural practic e
12/95 ) in Egypt. The riwaqs (arcades) of the Fatim id mo squ es of
Cairo often em ployed wooden tabliyas (impost blocks)
as a struc tura l feature that increased th e stability of th e
arcade by pro viding a cushion between each capital and
arch." At th e Mosque of Salih Tala'i " (u60), th e tabl iyas
comprise three layers of wood, all carved with five- point ed
leaves (fig. 7.7) . Theodore seems to be suggesting a similar
type of carved, wooden impost block, except that in the
Church of St. Antony the examples are also gilded and
painted. The th ro nes in Theodore's program follow estab -
lished Copto- Byzant ine prototypes, but th ey are shown
with such care that every inlaid panel, balustrade, and car-
penter's joint is precisely ind icated. Theo dore may have
been worki ng with traditiona l paint ed mod els, bu t his de-
tails suggest a familiarity with actual th rones of thi s type.
His spiritual father, Bisho p Gabrie l of Petpe h, mentioned
in the two "signature" inscriptions (N3S, 538) , may have
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107
possessed a similar episcopal th rone." Theodore's paint-
ings of the mounts of the equestrian saints depi ct th eir
harnesses, from bit to filet-string, with an accuracy that
impli es a practical knowledge of horses. The saddl e of
Theodore Stratelates (N22; fig. 7.15), for example, is held in
place by a double girth, a precautionary measure to pre-
vent the rider from losing his seat in the heat of battle."
Perhaps a similar attention to detail on the part of
earlier Coptic artists caused th em to gradually incorporate
secular elem ent s into th eir work. A concern for accura cy
when painting an arcade could lead a paint er to adopt the
pointed arched he knew from cur rent churches. A desire
to rend er horse equipme nt correctly might have enco ur-
aged ano ther artist to add a large saddle blank et of the
kind worn by the mounts of contemporary notables. Once
a new element was used, other painters would copy it in
their own work. It would then be passed on to their fol-
lowers. Some of the secular detai ls in Theodore's program
may have been regarded as tra dit iona l by 1232, having been
emp loyed by Coptic artists for more than a century. The
use of turbans is one such examp le. The early-eleventh
century wall painting of Athanas ius at Naqlun shows the
great Alexandrian patriarch wearing a turban (fig. 6.9).19
The head dress is perhaps intended to indicate his episco-
pal authority, in which case it is used to convey social sta-
 THE CHURCH Of ST . ANTONY
7.8 LEFT tus in a manner simi lar to that found in Theodore's pro-
Arcad e, Mo sq ue o f Salih Tala"i' , gram two hundred years later.
1160, Cairo ( EAP/A RCE EG 5 BW Other secular details could have entered the Coptic
(4/95) tradition closer to Th eod or e's own tim e. Unfo rtunately,
th e scarci ty of surviv ing medieval Coptic wall pa int ings
7.9 RIGHT makes it im possible to distinguish to what extent Theo-
Moses the Black (N30), detail dore was an inn ovator, whe n it came to includ ing contem-
showing a rch an d capitals (A DP/SA porary elem ents in his program. Wh at seems clear from
May 98) his work is th at the ado ption of such eleme nts into Coptic
painting was a slow process. Many of the secular details in
his pro gram can be dated on stylistic gro unds to the era of
the Fatimid caliphs, who were over thrown sixty- two years
befor e Th eod or e was active in th e Churc h of St. Ant o ny.
The painted arcades surro unding th e saints in the
nave will serve as an examp le. Altho ugh th e use of an arc h
or a niche to frame a sacred im age is a feature of Copto-
Byzantine art th at predates Chr istianity, the arcades in
Theo dore's pro gram are rend ered in a style remi niscent of
the archi tecture of the Fatimid per iod . Before the Arab
conquest, the Rom an round arch was sta nda rd in both
Coptic arc hitecture and Co ptic paintings of arcades. In
Theodore's program, onl y two examples of the round arch
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108
are found in the nave (N4, N5; fig. 5.12). They are painted in
such a sim plified form that they seem·to have been added
as an afte rthought. Instead, mo st of Theodore's arches
have profiles with a pron ounced point (fig. 7.6) .20 This
for m of arch had been em ployed in the Islami c arch itec-
ture of Egypt since the ninth century (fig. 7.8).21 Ma rble
colum ns of different hu es support the arcades. Many have
stylized Corinthian capitals (fig. 7.9), but some have clock-
form ed (bell-shaped) capitals and bases (fig. 7.6).22 Egyp-
tian artisans produced columns with clock-formed capitals
thro ughout the medieval perio d." Muslim bu ilders gene r-
ally preferred to reuse marbl e columns and capitals fro m
pre-Islam ic buildings. The Corinthian order was parti cu-
larly po pular, or at least easily obtainable, but a delight in
var iety seems plausible as a moti vation for its regular in-
elusion ." In th e Mos que of Salih Tala'i' in Cairo (1160) no
two cap itals are the same (figs. 7.7, 7.8).
Were it not for the images of the saints, the paint ed
arca des in the nave of the Chur ch of St. Antony could
easily be a depiction of a riwaq in a Fatimid mo squ e. The
pointed arc hes, the orna mente d im pos t blocks, and the
lack of homogeneity of column and capital types in Theo-
 REfLECTIONS Of THE TEMPORAL WORLD
dore's program all closely resemble similar features in the
twelfth-century mosques of Cairo. It is unlikely, however,
that the arcades painted by Theodore were directly influ-
enced by Fatimid arc hitecture. The for ms were probably
draw n fro m Copt ic churc hes that were erec ted at the same
time. Amo ng the most celebrated from th is period are
those of Abu Sarga, Sitt Barb ara, and al-M u'allaqa in Old
Cairo. The se three medieval churc hes retained th e tradi-
tiona l basilican plan used by the Copts since th e fourth
century, but with the addi tion of more current architec-
tural forms, such as the poi nted arch ."
The spand rels between mo st of the arc hes in Th eo-
dore's program are decorated wit h a vine -and-leaf design,
a ubiquitous feature in classical and medieval art and
archit ectural decor ation . In the exam ples found in th e
Chur ch ofSt. Antony, th e central element is usually a large
leaf framed by a heart -shaped vine (fig. 7.6) .26 Often th e
leaf is br oken open, providin g another fram e for a sma ller
offshoo t. Other vines grow fro m the center, producing
leaves sha ped to fill th e corne rs. This playful use of vine-
and- leaf designs has close parallels in Fatimid luster-
painted ceramic s (fig. 7.10), but it co ntinued to be popular
during the Ayyubid period of Th eodore. In the thirteenth
century, similar vine-and- leaf designs were used as archi-
tectu ral decor ation in m iniature s and wall paintings pro-
du ced by both Chr istians and Mu slim painters in Egypt,
Syria, and Iraq."
Theodo re's adoptio n of co ntem por ary motifs is lim -
ited. His use of pointed ar ches indi cates an awareness of
contem po rary architectura l for ms, but these same forms
7-l0
Luster pa inted bowl, eleventh o r
twelfth cen tury, Egypt. Stattliche
Museen ZlI Berlin- Pre ussischer
Kultur bes itz (Muse um fur
Islam ische Kun st , inf o). 35/64)
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109
had been constructed in Egypt for centuries. The vegetal
decoration on the spandrels had a wide pop ularity in
Theodore's day but also represented a time-honored style.
In contrast, Theodore seems to be unfamiliar with more
recent artistic tr ends, such as the com plex geometric de-
signs and elaborate ara besq ues develop ed by the Fatimids
and their eastern M uslim neighb ors. Coptic painters even-
tuall y adopted th ese newer styles, but they are not part of
Th eodore's arti stic vocabu lary.
Anot her indication of th e con servatism of Theo-
dore's program is that all of the important inscr iptions
are in Coptic. Th ere is nothing sur prising about this in a
medieval Coptic churc h, but in 1232 many Copts spo ke
Arabic as their first language. The th irteenth century was
also a great era of Christian- Arabic literatur e." Th e lim ited
use of Arabic by Th eod ore is th erefore significant. Th e
extent to which th e Coptic com m unity had been Arabized
by his tim e is suggested by th e names of the don ors
record ed in the memo rial inscriptio ns (N3 1, K4).29 Most of
the indi viduals are nam ed after Christian saints, including
Peter, Mich ael, Mark, and John; some have what may be
Co ptic names, such as Setakleh (?) and Fmon (?); but
about a qu art er o f tho se menti on ed have nam es conform-
ing to Arabic usage. Archdeacon Salib, who is mentioned
in both inscription s, has ,a na me th at means "cross" in
Arabic. H is nam e would immediately ident ify him as a
Christian in Arabic-speaking co mpa ny. The same is not
tru e of al-Razi, ho wever. The nam e is probably a variant
of al-Radi (the Satisfied), which could be used by either
Christians or Mu slims. A number of the other don ors have
kunyas (Arabic for mal names), whereby th e indi vidu al is
identified by the name of his so n, such as Abu al-Faraj
(Father of Relief) , Abu Ghalib (Father of [the] Victor ),
and Abu ' Uz (Father of Affluence). It is not always clear
whether these names indicate actual parentage or were
used metaphorically. The y also give no indica tion of reli-
gious affiliation .
Th e only Arabic used in Theo do re's program is the
single phrase al-Fadi (,,:?,J WI ; the Redeemer). It is em-
ployed pr imarily as a decorative mo tif, albeit one that
contains an encryp ted prayer. The phrase is foun d on arch-
itectural eleme nts , on thr on es and footstoo ls, and on vari-
ous textiles depi cted throughout the churc h (fig. 7.U). It
is always repeated, formin g a contin uo us line of text. The
inscription is written in kufic, the style of Arab ic cal-
ligraphy favored by the Fatim ids. The form used in Theo-
dore's program combines eleme nts from naskhi, a cursive
script, which under the Ayyubids replaced kufic as the pre-
domi nate style of calligraphy in Egypt. This blend of kufic
 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY

and naskhi was widely employed in inscriptions on Fatimid

textiles of the twelfth century."
Luster-painted ceramics from the same period are
often decorated with similar repeated words or phrases
written in kufic, such as al-surur (joy) or al-yumn (good
fortune) . The inscriptions are apotropaic, warding off ma-
lign influences and bringing good luck to the owner. The
use of al-Fadi in the church is an interesting Christian
ada ptation of this style of calligraphy. The obsc ure manner
in whic h the p hrase is wr itte n is also characteristic of
inscri ptio ns on Fatimi d lusterware. Arabic p hrases are
sometimes wr itten in such a decorative man n er that the
m ean ing of th e wor ds is not im m ed iately clear. A lus ter-
painted plate in the Benaki Museum, for example, is deco-
rated wit h the repetitio n of two words: one un deciphered,
th e other al-yumn (fig. 7.12).31
The m ethod of wr iting al-Fadi in the Ch urc h of St.
An to ny is an example of such a cryptic style. The alif ( I),
lam (J), fa (...J), and alif follow each other in th e expected
man n er, but th e da l (..l) grows out of th e top of the seco n d
alif. The last letter, ya (~), is wr itten as an alif, which also
serves as th e first lett er of th e nex t repe tition . This blend-
ing of th e first an d last lett er of the phrase is a reference to
th e tr aditional Ch ristian concept that Jesus is the alph a
and the omega, the first an d last lett ers of th e Greek alpha -
bet. The bibl ical source is Revelation 22:13, "I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the First and the Last, th e Beginning and
the End, " wh ich in th e Ara bic translation read s, "I am th e
7 . 11 ABO V E Alif and the Ya.,,32
N iche of the pr eciou s cross (c i), Perhaps the most int ere sting usage of al-Fadi in
detail of drap ed textil e featuring Theodore's program is its appear anc e on tir az bands worn
th e Ara bic phrase al-Fadi (ADP/SA on th e rob es o f an gels, patriarchs, bishops, and figur es
lOS 16 3 97) from the Old Testament. Tiraz (from th e Persian tarazian,
to em broider) was an official, honorific textile denoting
7. 12 RI GH T high rank or ro yal favor; it usually featured inscriptions
Luster painted plate, elevent h pr aising th e ru lin g dyn asty." Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) , the
cen tury, Egypt (Benaki Museum, Arab historian and philosopher, ob served : " It is part of
Athens, inv. 216 ) roya l an d gove rnment pomp and dynastic custo m to have
the names of ru lers . . . put on the silk, brocade, or pure
silk garments that are prepared for their wearing. ... Royal
fabrics are em bellished with such a tiraz, in order to in-
crease the prestige of. .. those whom the ru ler distin-
guis hes by bestowin g on them h is garment when he wants
to honor them or appoint them to one of the offices of the
dynasty. ,,34
The simplest form of tiraz used by the Fatimids was a
band of embroidered silk, backstitched on earlier fabrics,
which was attached to a court robe. In the Ayyubid period,
this form of armband was a standard element in popular

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no

7·13
Miniature by Yah ya al-Wasiti in
the Maq amat of al-Hariri, 1237 Iraq
(Bibliotheque National, Par is, MS
Arabe 5847 fol. 59r)
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REF LECTIONS O F T H E TE M PO RAL WO RLD
dress th rou ghou t the Islamic world. They are shown on
th e robes of men and women of all ranks an d occupa tions
in Arab miniatures of th e thirteenth century (fig. 7.13).
Th ese "p ublic" ('amma) tiraz band s came in thr ee styles:
plain , with inscription s, or with floral motifs. They con -
tinued to be popular under th e early Mamluk sultans but
app ear less frequ ently o n noncourt rob es after the mid -
fourteenth centu ry,"
In Th eodore's program , tira z bands follow th e earlier
khassa (pr ivate) mod el designatin g pos itions of authority.
Twelve of the saints depicted in the church wear ban ds of
this kin d just below their sho ulders (fig. 7.14).36Those who
are identi fiable by inscrip tions are all bishops and patri-
archs, and it seems safe to assume th at the three anony-
mou s saints in thi s gro up also held episcopal rank. Under
th e Fatimids, the leaders of the religious comm uni ties of
Egypt were always present in atte ndance at court. They
protected the interests of their community while serving
as guarantors of their peopl e's loyalty. In abo ut 1070 the
sixty-sixth Co ptic Patriarch Christod ulos relocated th e pa-
pal seat from Alexandr ia to Cairo to be closer to th e center
of power." In th e Church of St. Anto ny, th e bishop s' tiraz
bands suggest that these men are court officials as well as
th e pastors of th e Coptic comm un ity.
The word tiraz also referred to the royal production
of all textiles used by Mu slim courts. Besides rob es of var-
iou s types, th e tiraz worksho ps produced numerous other
woven goods, including turbans, curtains, banners, sad -
III
dleclot hs, cushion s, and tents. Nasir- i Khusraw, an Iranian
traveler visiting Egypt in the reign of al-M ustans ir (1036-
1094), descri bed a Fatimid procession featuri ng "ten thou-
sand ho rses with gold saddles and bridles and jewel stud-
ded reins all of them with saddlecloths of Byzant ine
brocade woven seam less to order. In the borders of the
cloth are woven inscriptio ns bearing the name of the sul -
tan of Egypt.?" In the Chur ch of St. Anto ny, th ree of th e
equestri an saints have saddlecloths with similar epigraphic
decoration (figs. 7.19, 7.22, 7.23).39The tiraz inscriptions of
the bishops and military martyrs, however, do not nam e a
secular monarch but declare allegianc e to the Lord Jesus
Christ, "the Redeem er."
Apa rt from the occasional tiraz band, th e celestial
being s, standing saints, and biblical figur es in Theo do re's
program are show n wearing app roxim ation s of late an-
tiqu e dr ess. Thi s con servatism in the depiction of fashion
do es not app ly equa lly to the equestrian martyrs. Previous
scholars studying these pa intings have identified the mili-
tary vestments of the soldier saints as being from the Hel-
lenistic and Roma n periods." In fact, most of the military
costumes found in Th eodore's paintings suggest a later
date. Much of the equipment is Byzantine, but some of it
derives fro m the more current Turkish style that was in-
troduced int o Egypt by the Ayyubids. Theo dore draws
up on both of th ese milita ry tradition s in his paintings of
equest rian saints in the Church of St. Anto ny. Th e Byzan-
tin e style is best repr esented by Th eodor e Stratelates (N22),
while Mercurius (K3) mo st closely resembles the Turkish
mod el.
Theodo re Stratelates (fig. 7.15) is d ressed in a manner
almo st iden tical to that of Basil II (d. 1025), as sho wn in a
miniature pa inting celebra ting the emperor's victory over
the Bulgars (fig. 7.16). Both the saint and the em peror wear
kn ee-length tunics, high boots, and military cloaks. Each is
armed with a lan ce and a sword . Over the tu n ic, each one
wears a lamellar cuira ss comprising sma ll, recta ngu lar
plates laced together by leather thongs. This form of armor
was called a klibani on in Byzan tium, a name derived from
the Latin clibanarius (a heavily equippe d cavalryman) ." In
a Byzantine ivory icon fro m th e second ha lf of th e ten th
cen tury, St. Demetriu s wears a kliban ion over a secon d
suit of lam ellar ar mor that covers his up per arms and ex-
tends to his thighs (fig. 7.17). Apart from th is extra pro-
tection , his costume is nearly the same as th at worn by
Th eodore in the Church of St. Antony.
Th e ho rse equipment used by Theodor e Stra telates is
also recog nizably Byzantine. Similar tra pp ings are show n
on equestrian portraits of the Emperor Justinian (d. 565),
7·14
Severus and Dioscoru s (53- 54;
ADP/SA 11598 )

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7.15 LEFT
Th eod or e Strat elates (N22; ADP/SA
1999 )
7.16 CENTER
Mi niatur e of Basil II, Psalter of
Basil II, ca. 976-1025, Co nstan tino -
ple (Bilioteca Marciana, Ven ice)
7.17 RIGHT
Ivory icon o f St. Demetrius.ca.
950-1000, Byzan tiu m (T he Clo is-
ters, Th e Me tro po lita n Mu seu m
of Art , New York, 1970 .324 .3)
Justinian on Hor seback, ca.
527-538, gold meda llion (electro -
typ e), Byzanti um (© The British
Mu seum, London , 071962)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
REFLECTIONS Of THE TEMPORAL WORLD
such as the Barber ini Ivory in the Louvr e and the gold
med allion in the British Muse um (fig. 7.18).42 The saint's
embroidered sadd lecloth is small; a teth ering rop e is
wrapped three times around th e neck of his hor se; and
rows of med allions are susp ended from th e harness." This
last feature is on e of a number of ways in which the martyr
adopts imperial attributes." Another example is the sash
worn by Th eodore. It is tied with the knot used by Her-
cules to secur e th e paws of a lion's skin around his chest.
Th e Hercu lean knot was tho ught cap able of pro vidin g
protection from dan ger in battle, and so Roman em perors
and generals wore it as a talisman and an indic ato r of
rank." A sculptur al gro up from Aphro disias in Turkey
depicts Nero (d. 68) weari ng such a knotted sash. The
Christian Emperor Honorius (d. 423) is shown on a carved
ivory in the Aosta Cathedral Treasury with a sash tied in
the same manner." Basil II, however, does not wear a
knotted sash in the miniature from his Psalter (fig. 7.16),
which suggests tha t the Herculean knot may have fallen
out of use in the Byzantine army by the early eleventh cen-
tury. Nevertheless , it continued to be depicted on icons
of military saints during the Mid dle Byzantine period
(fig. 7.17).
Mercurius (fig. 7.19), on the other hand, is dressed in
the mann er of a thirteenth-century Ayyubid amir. He
wears a quilt ed coat known as a kazaghand . It fastened
113
down th e front and had a slit at th e back fro m hem to
crotch, so th at it cou ld be worn on hors eback. An outer
shell of silk bro cade conc ealed various layers of mail and
padding." Usama h ibn Munqidh (d. 1188), the Arab lor d
of Shayzar in Syria, describ ed a kazaghand in his memoirs.
It "enclosed a Frankish coat of mail extending to the bot-
tom of it, with another coat of mail on top of it reaching as
far as th e middl e. Both were equipped with th e pro per lin-
ings, felt pads, rou gh silk and rabbit s' hair." 48 The saint
wears a lam ellar cuir ass over his kazaghand. Th is form of
armo r was known as a jawshan in Arabic and was identical
to th e Byzantine kliban ion. The lamellae cou ld be made of
iron, horn , or hard ened leather." Chr istian and Muslim
cavalry troops of the perio d also both wore cloaks, leg-
gings, and boots. Mercurius's leggings are quilted, and
patches of the same material cover his elbows. His head-
gear seem s to be a kalawta, the small woolen cap worn by
Egypt's military aristocracy. f'Sisin nius (N23; figs. 7.25, 7.28)
is the on ly other eques trian saint in Theodore's program
with a similar cap. Unfortunately, this painting is severely
damaged, making it impossible to determine whether he
also wore a quilted coat.
In accordance with Coptic iconography, Mercurius
is armed with two swords and a lance, but he also carr ies a
composite bow, the Turki sh weapon par excellence. Nine
pieces of wood, reinfo rced by horn, form ed the body. The
7·19
M ercurius (K3; ADP/SA 55147 97)

https://coptic-treasures.com/

7.20 LEFT
Det ail of Blacas Ewer, 1232, Iraq
(© Th e British Mu seum, London,
OA 1866 .12-29.61)
7.21 RI GHT
Inl aid branze ewer, 1246!I 247, Iraq
o r Syria (T he Walters Art Gallery,
Baltimo re, in v, 54-456)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
REFLECT IONS OF TH E TEMPORAL WORLD
alternating stiff and flexible elements used in the bow's con-
struction added considerably to its power. The composite
bow was the most effective weapon developed before the
invention of firearms. It had a range of five hundred me-
ters and could penetrate body armor at shorter distances."
Mercurius carries his bow in Turkish fashion in a case
hanging behind his saddle. The tail of the saint's horse is
also knotted in a distinctively Turkish manner. Knotted
hor setails were common throughout the eastern lands of
Islam in the thirteenth century. They are often shown on
Islamic ceramics and metalwork of the period (fig. 7.20) .
Muslim cavalry tro op s of the same tim e also used large
saddlecloths for display and to shield their horses from the
sun (fig. 7.21).52 Mercurius's saddlecloth reflects this tradi-
tion. It is ornately decorated and completely covers the
back of the horse. St. Phoebammo n (N26 ; fig. 7.23), an-
other examp le of this Turkish type of equestrian, has an
equally elaborate sadd lecloth. The diamond-shaped studs
may suggest tha t an under layer of leather was secured to
the blanket in order to pro tect the horse from arrows.
Earlier Coptic paint ings p rovide pro totypes for the
use of both the Byzantine and the Turkish military equip-
ment in the 1232/1233 program. Coptic equestrian saints
115
had been painted in the Romano-Byzantine manner for
centuries, and most of the iconographic details employed
in the Church of St. Antony derive from this ancient tradi -
tion. Man y of the Turkish elements are also found in ear-
lier Coptic paintings. The three equestrian saints in the
Mona stery of the Martyr s at Esna all sit on large saddle-
cloth s (fig. 6.10). Two of them, Theodore and an ano ny-
mou s saint, wear quilted armor similar to that of Mer-
cur ius in the Church of St. Antony," A photograph taken
at the end of the nineteenth century of a monastic church
at Tebtunis shows one of the horses of the equestrian saints
with a knotted tail." The dates of these wall paintin gs are
not certain, bu t they seem to have been made before the
thirteenth century. 55
The military costumes represented in the paintings
of Theodore Stratelates and Mercuri us derive from two
distinct traditi ons, bu t the elements from each one are
comb ined in both saints. Mercurius wears the Roman
knotted sash with his otherwise Turkish costume. Theo-
dore Stratelates resembles a Byzantine emperor, bu t he
also has a composite bow, a shield inscribed in Arabic, and
a horse with a knotted tail. None of the dress of the eques-
trian saints in Theodore's program belongs exclusively to

7. 2 2 LEFT
Ge o rge ( N25; ADP/SA 1999 )
7.23 RIG HT
Pho ebammon (N26; ADP/SA 1999 )
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
one style. For exam ple, St. George (N2S; fig. 7.22) is dressed
as a Byzantine soldier, but his horse is equipped in Turkish
fashion. "
The overlapping of elements from th e two military
traditions depicted in the church is by no means uniq ue to
Theodore's program. Mus lim and Christian warriors in
the age of th e Crusades sometimes adopted the arms and
armo r of th eir opponent s. Usamah ibn Munqidh's padded
kazaghand contained a Franki sh (Crus ader) coat of ma il.
By the second half of the twelfth century, so me Cru sader
knights had adopted a simi lar Muslim style of padded
armor, which they referred to as a jazerant." This borrow-
ing of military equi pment is also seen in the art of th e
period . A Byzant ine soldier saint in a twelfth- century mo-
saic in Cefalu Cathed ral is dr essed in the same manner as
is Theo dore Stratelates, with a tunic, cuirass, an d knotted
sash, but he also holds a circular shield with a pseudo-
Arabic inscription aro und the rim , similar to those carr ied
by some of th e equestrian saints in th e Churc h of St.
Anto ny." The com posite bow was not widely used by the
knights of western Europe, but after the Cru saders en-
countered armies of mounted Turkish archers, the bo w
116
began to ap pea r in th eir paintings of milita ry saints. An
icon at the Monastery of St. Catherine por trays SS. Sergius
and Bacchu s as Byzan tin e horsemen armed with Turkish
bo ws (fig. 7.24).59 They resem ble turcopoles, the light cav-
alry troops of Byzantine an d Crusader ar mies that used
Mus lim equi pment." The icon appears to have been one
of a gro up produced by Syrian Orthodox painters for Cru-
sader patrons in the thirteenth century. It has been sug -
gested that Latin settlers in Syria adopted Eastern eques-
tri an saints becau se of their local rep utations as effective
spiritua l prote cto rs again st th e th reat posed by Islam."
The saints ' role as spiritual defenders of the Latin King-
do m is emp hasized in th e icon from the Monastery of St.
Catherine, which arms Sergius and Bacchus with composite
bows, the chief weapon of the Muslim oppo nents of th e
Crusaders.
The serpents under Theodore Strate lates (N22) and
Sisinni us (N23) may be ano ther exam ple of the cultural
fusion of th e period (figs. 7.15, 7.25). Both saint s are re-
nowned in th e Cop tic t radition as d ragon slayers." They
are the on ly equestrians in the church shown spearing ser-
pent s. Their placement above and adjacent to the entrance

7.2 4 LEFT
leon of Sergius and Bacch us,
thi rtee nth cen tury, Monastery
of SI. Catherine, Mo unt Sinai
(Co ur tesy of the Michigan-Prince-
ton-Alexandria Expedition to
Mount Sinai )
7.25 RIGHT
Theodore.Strutelares (partial view)
and Sisinnius ( N22- N23; ADP/SA
1999 )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
REFLECTIONS OF THE TEMPORAL WOR LD
of the church at the northwest corner of the nave suggests
the y had a prophylactic role, protecting the chur ch from
evil. This entrance was enlarged some time after 1233, re-
sulting in the destruction of mor e th an half of th e paint ing
of Sisinn ius. When the painter Th eodore worked in the
church, there may have been a much lower entrance at th e
same site. If so, the drago n-slaying equestrians would have
been th e first saints a visitor enco untere d after entering th e
doo r. An anecdo te abo ut the Fatimid Caliph al-Arnir (d.
1130) suppor ts th e noti on that the th irteen th -century en-
trance of th e church cou ld have been very low. The caliph
is said to have stayed in Coptic monasteries while out
hunting. He was once invited to visit a monastic church,
"but he found the doorway, which was closed by an iron
door, too low for him, and as he would not consent to
enter with a bowed head, he turned his face to the outside,
and his back to the door, and crouched down, until he had
entered."?'
The Hellenistic and Roman image of a horseman
killing a serpentine adversary was probably first emp loyed
as imperial iconography by Constantine (d. 337) to symbol-
ize his victory over Liciniu s. This Constantinian com posi-
117
tion was known throughout the late Empire by a coin type
depicting an equestrian emperor rearing in triumph over a
serpent." The dragon-slaying saints in the Church of St.
Anto ny illustrate th e tenacity of this image in Coptic art.
Theo dore, however , makes one very significant modifi -
cation to this traditional form. In his paintings, the ser-
pent s are kno tted. In Islamic astro logy of the same time,
the kno tted dragon represented invisible planets associated
with the nodes of the moon's orbit." It was a symbol of
eclipse and evil fortune. Muslim rulers often em ployed the
motif in the thirteenth century as a talisman protecting
entrances. The knotted dragons above the main gate of the
Ayyubid Citadel of Aleppo (1209) are the most celebrated
example (fig. 7.26) .66 Theodore may have adapted this con -
temporary symbol of eclipse to the traditional image of the
dragon slayer in order to emphasize the powers of th e
equestrians, painted to frame the entrance to the nave."
Neither of the two equestrian saints, Victor (N20; fig.
7.27) or Menas (N21), carr ies arms or wears armor. Each
holds a cross in his right hand instead of a lance. Although
both paintings are damaged, it appears that the saint s are
dr essed as prin ces rath er than as soldiers. Victor was a

7.26 ABOVE
Knott ed Dr ago ns ove r the
entra nce of th e Ayyu bid Citadel
of Aleppo. 1209 . Syria
7. 27 BELOW
Victor (N20; ADP/SA 1999)
7 . 2 8 ABOVE RIGHT
Sisinnius (N23)
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T HE C H U RC H O f ST . AN TONY
Roman officer martyred for renouncing his
rank in favor of devoting his life to Christ.
Menas is usua lly depicted as a military saint
in Co ptic iconography, but one version of
his legend states, "He withdrew from his
regiment to a solitary retreat where he re-
mained in tra nq uillity, worshipping God with his who le
heart. ,,68The two martyrs are clearly lin ked in Theodore's
program. Thei r horses face each other, while a single gro om
stands between them ho ldin g the rein s. Wh atever th e
hagiographic significance of this pairing, th e nonmartial
character of th e saints is suggested by the manner of their
dr ess. Victor, the bett er preserved of th e two, wears Arab-
style tr ou sers, known as sirwal, under his robe. They were
woven with an extre me ly wide cro tch, which made th em
ideal fo r horseback riding. Muslim soldiers tucked the sir-
wal into th eir boots or covered th em with leggings. Victor,
however, wears slipper-shoes of a kind favor ed by the civil-
ian population of the thirteenth century," The legs of his
sirwal hang free.
Th e equestrian saints in the Chur ch of St. Anto ny are
supplied with some Mu slim equipme nt, but th ey rema in
essentially Copto- Byzantine hor sem en in th eir pose and
iconographic det ail. Th eodore seems to have been less tied
to traditio n, however, when pa inting the small narrative
liS
figur es usually found beneath th e equestr ians. These fig-
ures are used to depict scenes from the life of each saint.
Although dr awn from Coptic literary sources that describe
events dating to late Antiquity or earlier, ma ny of the
figur es are d ressed in th e fashion of Theod ore's own tim e.
This is particularly tru e of the Rom an and Babylonian sol-
diers, who are paint ed in th e military cost ume of the con-
temp or ary army of Egypt (N26, K7-K9).
Th e Ayyub id sulta ns redefined the visual appearance
of th e Muslim ruling elite of Egypt by wearing clothing
that followed Tur kish fashion . The dre ss of this milita ry
aristocracy was thereby distinguished from that of the
civilian popul ation , who continued to wear lon g robes and
turbans in the Arab style (fig. 7.13) .70 The traditional cos-
tume of the Turk was designed for horseback riding. It
con sisted of a tight tunic with a wide skirt reachin g to the
knees. Th e tunic button ed diagon ally across the chest and
was worn over trousers. High boots or leather leggings
were common, but sometimes the legs of the trousers were
secured with cros s-garters. Turkish headg ear was also dis-
tinctive . Unlike the turbans worn by their subjec ts, the rul-
ing elite favored a variety of caps. Military comma nders
(ami rs) wore the sharbush, which the Mam luk histo rian
al-Maqrizi (d. 1441) describes as "a th ing resembl ing the
crown, as if of tr iangular shape, put on the head without a
kerch ief (being woun d around it).? " It was often trimmed
with fur and included a metal plaq ue positioned above the
forehead. All ranks wore the kalawta, a lighter wool cap,
usually yellow or red, which feature d a broad- ban ded bor-
der. Just as th e turban was associated with civilian officials,
so th e kalawta becam e the sym bol of th e military aristoc-
racy, who occasio nally were called, as a class, m ukalwatun
(people of the kalawta). " Turkish soldiers could also be
 RE FLECT IONS O F THE TE MP O RAL WOR LD

. ./

7 .2 9 RIGHT identified by their long hair, which they often wore in

Miniature in the Maqarnat of braids. Male Muslim civilians shaved their heads."
al- Hariri, ca. 1220-1 230, Irag In Theodore's pro gram, the figures dressed in this
(Bibliotheq ue National, Par is, MS Turki sh fashion are identified by Coptic inscription s as
Arabe 39 29 , fo!. 7Y) soldiers. They are described as centurions, quaestionarii,
and lance bearers." The terminology reflects Roman m ili-
7. 3 0 BELOW tary rank and fun ction , but their costumes are portrayed
Pages of Me rc uri us (K3; AD P/SA 14 in the style of the thirteent h century. The centurion be-
S17 197) neat h Phoebammon (N26) wears a Turkish tunic with tiraz
bands on the sleeves (fig 7.23). He is the only soldier in the
churc h with a turban, a detail suggesting he is an Arab
rather than a Turk or Kurd. The other military men wear
triangular caps, which are probably kalawtas (K7, K8, and
K9; fig. 7.31). The equestr ian martyrs Sisinnius (N23; fig.
7.28) and Mercurius (K3; fig. 7.19 ) wear similar caps. All
the soldiers have long hair, and most have beards . The few
..,
beardless soldiers (K7, K9) in the program may be ghilman
(pages). In Ayyubid military society, the bodyguard of the
sultan was usually composed of Turkish mamluks (mi li-
tary slaves), brought from the steppes as boys and trained
as soldiers . Those of particular ability or beauty staffed the
palace, serving the sultan as cupbearers , sword carriers,
and poison tasters. On comp leting their period of tra ining,
the young mamluks were manumitted and given permis-
sion to grow beard s. They were the sultan's most loyal fol-
lowers and were commonly promoted to high rank. Arab
miniature paintings often show ghilman standing in atte n-
dan ce aro und their lord . Two examples from separate thir-
teenth-century editions of the Maqamat of al-Hariri fea-
tur e clean-shaven pages with their hair plaited in long
braids, wearing garments in the Turkish style. In the first
painting, und ated, a single page stands behind the throne
of his master (fig. 7.29 ). He wears a point ed kalawta cap.
The second painting, from 1237, features a seated am ir
with six armed attendant s, all of whom wear fur-lined
sharbushes (fig. 7.13).
The two figur es standing behind Mercurius (K3) are
dressed in the same fashion as the soldiers depicted in the
rest of the church (figs. 7.19 , no ). They can be safely iden-
tified as the pages of the equestrian saint. They are the only
soldiers among the nonsacred narrative figures who are
depicted as Chr istians. Both have crosses on their caps and
banners. The other military men are all enemies of the
faith. Euchius (K8, fig. 7.31), who is shown being speared
by St. George while in the act of burning a church, is
identified as a "wicked soldier." The swallow-tailed ban-
ners held by the pages of Mercurius are a recognizable mil-
itary flag of Theodor e's time. Battling horsemen depicted
on a thi rteenth-century pilgrimage canteen, in the Freer

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119
 ~l .....
I
J
"
I I ,
I l (
0'I {
,.-
~
0/

7.3 1
Palace of Nebuchad nezzar (K7),
between the thre e Hebr ews (K6)
and George (K8; ADP/SA 1999)

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 REfLECTIONS Of THE TEMPORAL WORLD

7.32 RI GH T Gallery, carry mu ch larger standa rds of the same shape."

Palace of Nebuchadnezzar ( K7). This canteen, made of brass inlaid with silver, is one of a
det ail of upper level (ADP/SA 7 group of metal objects pro duced in Ayyubid Syria that
5 14 6 97) combines Islam ic cour tly them es with images taken from
Christian icon ograph y." Th e Crusader icon of Sergius and
7.33 BE LO W CEN TE R Bacchu s from the Monastery of St. Catherine shows a sim-
Palace of Nebuchad nezzar (K7), ilar lance sta ndard, except that it has three extending pen-
detail of midd le level (ADP/SA 8 dants (fig. 7.24) . An anonymous French chronicler of the
5146 97) Crusa ders' struggle against Salah ad-Di n, the founder of
the Ayyubid dynasty, remarked circa 1191 that "the Amir
7.34 BOTTOM Taqadin, a close relative of Saladin, disp layed in a most cu -
Palace of Nebuchadnezzar ( K7), riou s mann er, a pair of drawers upon his banne r."n Th e
detail of botto m level Crus ader historian may have been referring to a double-
windsock banner. The shape would have been muc h the
same as those held by the pages of Merc uriu s.
In mo st ofTh eodore's program, narrative figures and
elements are used to convey details from the lives of th e
saint s. Menas , for example, is identifi ed by his camels, Vic-
tor by the man ner of his death, Mercurius by th e wicked
king he killed. The Palace of Nebuchadnezzar ( K7; figs.
7.31-7.34) is on e of the mo st elaborate examples of thi s
style of painting in the Churc h ofSt. Antony. Although the
palace is par t of the narrative of the three Hebrews (K6), it
occupies its own distin ct pan el on the north wall of th e
khu rus. The paint ing is uniqu e in Theo dore's pro gram in
th at it contains no.sacred images. The palace is populated
only by figures repr esenting th e for ces of iniquity. The
domed monastery of the Anato lian Fathers on the oppo-
site wall of the khurus (K3, K4; fig. 7.19) serves as a holy
coun terpoint to th is dom ed palace of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar's palace is part of a larger composi-
tion derived fro m the Boo k of Dani el, in which the paint-
ing of the three Hebr ews (K6) is the most imp ort ant com-
ponent. This latter image, on th e west wall of the northern
side of th e khu ru s, shows the three young men standing
with an angel in th e fiery furnace. The palace is placed on
the adjacent north wall, san dwiched between the three
holy youths and th e equestrian por trait of St. Georg e ( K8;
fig. 7.31). The two par ts of th e composition are show n in
different scales. The Hebrews fill the entire pictorial panel ,
while the palace and its inh abitants are shown in th e mu ch
smaller size used for narr ative figures. Despite this discrep-
ancy, th e two sections are linked in both time and space.
In the pictorial logic of the composition, th e furnace is
part of th e palace, and Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers
are shown reacting to th e miracl e occurring with in it.
Schematic arc hitect ur al elements are used to divide th e
composition at K7 into three registers, where differen t
events occur simultaneo usly. The lowest level is a vaulted

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121
 T HE CHURCH Of ST . ANTONY

dungeon that contains the furnace depicted at K6 on th e

adjacent wall (fig. 7.34); an arcade outlines the middl e level
(fig. 7.33); and th e upper floo r of the palace con sists of a
domed throne room, where the Babylonian king sits in
state (fig. 7.32) .
This composition has the largest number of narrative
figures in a single image in the church. They are also the
most animated . Babylonian soldiers are shown crowded
around the mouth of the furnace in the vaulted dungeon .
They are depict ed in ranks, with the heads of tho se behind
appear ing above th e figur es in the front row. The soldiers
look at each other, expressi ng astonishment that the He-
brews remai n unharm ed. One of them extends his hand
toward the flam es as if to test the heat. The passions of the
Cop tic martyrs ofte n contain anecdotes of soldiers se-
verely injured in this manner. Saints Cyriacus and Iulitta
were thrown into a cauldron of molten copper, but thanks
to divine protection, it felt as refreshing as dew from
heaven. When a few drops splashed on the watching gov-
ernor, however, he was burned to the bone." We see that
news of the miracle in the furnace has spread through the
palace. Soldiers on the middle level whisper abo ut it
amo ng th em selves. Members of the royal guard inform
th e king. He places his finger to his mouth in ama zement.
The Palace of Nebuchadnezzar shares a number of
features with Arab miniature paintings of the thirteenth
century. The arti st, whether Th eodore or a member of his
team, seems to have been familiar with contemporary
book illustrations. Byzantine illuminated manuscripts
produced between the ninth and twelfth centuries exerted
a profound influence on th e development of miniature
painting in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, the Crusader states,
and the Arab world." Th e pr odu ction of Arab illustr ated
manuscript s seems to date from the second half of th e
twelfth century. Copies of medi cal and scientific works
based on Greek originals were pop ular amo ng th e literate
m iddle class. Illustrated editio ns of secular literary works,
7·35 however , best represent the Arab style of min iature paint-
Manuscript illumination in the ing. A favorite illuminated book of the period was the
Gospel of Matthew (approach to Maqamat (assemblies) of al-Hariri (d. 1122).80 It con sists
Jerusalem . entry to Jerusalem, wise of fifty tales about an eloq uent rogue named Abu Zayd
and foo lish virgins, blessing at (Father of Anyone), who uses his astonishing pers uasive
Bethany. washing of the feet, and abilities to extract money from gullible listeners in differ-
Last Supper ), New Testamen t. ent parts of the Islamic world. The painters of the Maqa -
1249/1250. Cairo (© Institut mat were less concerned with the linguistic fireworks of
Catholiq ue, Bibliotheque de Fels, th e text than with depi ctions of daily life. Thei r miniatures
Paris, MS copte-arabe 1, fol. 19r) are set in mosques, palaces, taverns, libraries, slave mar-
kets, and rural hamlets, providing what Richard Etting-

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122

Miniature by Yahya al-Wasiti in
the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237,
Iraq (Bibliothcque National, Pari s,
MS Arabe 5847, fo!. 122V)
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REFLECTIONS OF THE TEMPORAL WORLD
hausen and Oleg Grabar refer to as a unique mirror of
contemporary society." The best-known manuscript of the
Maqamat, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris,
was cop ied and illustrated in 1237 by Yahya al-Wasiti of
Iraq."
Illustr ated manuscripts produced by Ch ristians
living under Mu slim rul e were another sour ce of inspir-
ation for Arab paint ers." Th e earliest known Egyptian
manuscripts with miniatures from thi s period are Coptic,
including a lavishly illuminated gospel book written in the
Bohairic dialect in 1179/1180 at Darnietta." Eastern Christ-
ian painters may have serve d as int erm ediaries between
Byzantine and Islami c art, but the traffic of cross-cultura l
excha nge went both ways. T hey also bo rro wed freely from
contem porary secula r illuminations found in wor ks of
Arabic literature. A Cop to-Arabic New Testament pro-
duced in Cairo in 1249/1250 contains miniatures that are a
fascinating blend of Christian and Muslim styles of paint-
ing (fig. 7.35).85 Jesus and his disciples wear biblical cos-
tumes and are placed against a golden background, evoca-
tive of Byzantine icons and mosaics. But other elements
are drawn from contemporary Muslim society. Figures are
depicted wearing turbans and seated cross-legged in the
Arab manner. Soldiers are shown in the military garb of
the period. Arabesques and geometric patterns, derived
from Islamic art, are used as borders and decorative de-
tails. The thi rt eenth -century m iniatures ofIraq, Syria, and
Egypt are so closely related in theme and style that the
painters, whether Christian or Muslim, must have been
123
part of the sam e artistic milieu." Th e Ma qama t copied and
illustr ated by al-Wasiti (1237) and th e Cairo New Testa-
ment (1249/1250) were produced by men of different
faiths, living in separate parts of the Arab world, but the
paintings have stylistic feature s in common that transcend
religious and geographical boundaries. Some of the artistic
devices employed in these two manuscripts are also found
in the painting of the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar in the
Church of St. Antony.
Many of the m iniatures of al-Wasiti are set within
buildings, which are symbolized by schematic arches and
domes. In a few examples, the figures inhabit more than
one level of the building. One of Wasiti's most ambitious
architectural paintings is of a palace of an Indian potentate
(fig. 7-36). The wife of the king is shown giving birth in a
chamber on the ground floor. Female attendants wait in
side rooms. Her husband sits enthroned upstairs. Abu
Zayd and a companion calculate the child's horoscope in
domed rooms flanking the throne hall. Red bands indicate
the separate rooms on each level, which are ornamented
with simplified architectural elements. The parable of the
wise and foolish virgins in the Cairo New Testament is set
in a similar two -story building (fig. 7.35). The foolis h vir-
gins wait below, outside a closed door, while th e bride-
groom and wise virgins celebrate in an arcaded upper
cha mber. Th e painter of Nebuchad nezzar's palace uses th e
same two-dimension al architectura l frame. Another close
parall el is visible on th e south side of th e khurus, where
Basil and Gr egory stand underneath a domed building
sur mo unted by a cross (K3, K4; fig. 7.19) . The visual ana l-
ogy to th e illumination from th e Maq aniat is particularly
clear in th e tall narro w shape of th e dom ed side ro oms on
the upper level of th e Indi an palace.
A n um ber of al-Wasi ti's mi niatur es feature crowds
of peop le. They are depicted in th e same ma n ner as the
mob of Babylonian soldiers ou tside of the fiery furnace.
The double-paged painting of the "twenty-first session,"
for example, shows a huge crowd standing at the door of a
mosque listening to a sermon (fig. 7.13). The individuals
are shown in five rows rising one above the other. We see
the full bodies of the figures in the bottom row but onl y
the heads of the men behind them. The painter of th e
Cairo New Testament uses this same device when depict-
ing the apostles around Jesus (fig. 7-35) . This figural group-
ing can be found in manuscript.illuminations from the late
antique and me dieval worlds, both Western and Eastern,
but is not a feature of Coptic wall painting of any period. "
It therefore seems probable that Theodore and his team of

7.37 ABOVE
Miniature by Yahya al-Was iti in th e
Ma qa ma t of al-Hariri, 1237, Iraq
(Bib lio theq uc Natio nal, Paris, Ms.
Arabe 5847, fol. 14V)
7.38 BELOW
Sella ClITIIJis in the Monastery of
51. Anto ny (A DP/SA BW82.6)
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THE C HU RC H O f ST. A NTO NY
standard feature in manuscript illuminations, so it could
1 have been familiar to the painter of Nebuchadnezzar from
r·
both life and art. The Monastery of St. Antony possesses
an actual example of a sella curulis (fig. 7.38 ). It is perhaps
too small ever to have served as a functioning stool, but it
.:
may have been used as a kursi (throne) for the Bible.
What do these elements from thirteenth-century
Arab illuminated manuscripts tell us about the team that
painted the Church of St. Antony? Hunt has identified a
,, workshop of Christian painters based in Cairo and active
~1 . circa 1220-1250. 96 She believes that this group produced
wall pain tings in monastic churches, icons, and illumi-
nated Bibles, including the Cairo New Testament. Apart
from these religious commissions, the painters also appear
to have ma de illustrated editions of Arabic secular litera-
ture, such as a copy of the Maqamat, dated 1222/1223,
which is now in Paris." The painting of Nebuchadnezzar's
palace suggests that at least one member of Theodore's
team was also creating similar secular manuscripts.
The paintings of the Church of St. Antony are uniq ue
ar tists would have been familiar with this conventio n in that they co nstit ute an almost complete program of
either from seeing, or mor e likely from actua lly pr oduc- Co pt ic painting from the medieval period. The absence of
ing, illustrated books. com para ble mater ial makes it is difficult to determine to
Two other features seen in the paintings in the khu- what extent Th eod or e's emp loyme nt of secular eleme nts is
rus show a fam iliarity with contem po rary illuminated typ ical of Egyptian Chr istian' art in the th irteenth century.
manuscripts. The first, Nebuchadnezzar's gesture of plac- Earlier surv iving paintings' suggest th at the ado ption of
ing his finger to his mouth, is recognizable as a conve ntion co ntem po rary moti fs into the Co ptic tradition was well es-
expre ssing amazement." It is em ployed by al-Wasiti in tablished by th e time Th eod ore was active, while later
fourteen sepa rate illustrations of the Maqamat" His fig- works indi cate that the pr actice was to continue into the
ure s use it to convey their wonder at th e eloquence of Abu
Zayd (fig. 7.37) . Th e gesture later became commonplace in
Persian miniatu res." The second eleme nt is the king's
throne, which is unlike any othe r in the church (fig.v. jz).
It is a sella curulis (curule seat), th e folding stool used by
Roman empero rs on state occasion s." Thi s type of throne
becam e less com mo n in th e later Em pire but seems to have
enjoyed a revival amo ng Muslim dignitaries." It is fea-
tured in a number of miniature paintings from the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. The 'Abbasid caliph is shown on
one in a Byzant ine chronicle copied in Palermo circa 1175.
In contrast, the same painting depicts the emperor on a
large wooden thron e." Badr ai-D in Lu'Iu ', the lord of
Mosul, sits on a sella curulis in two frontispieces from a
multivo lume edition of The Book of Songs of al-Isfahani,
dated 1218/1219.94 An illustrated copy of the Materia Medica
of Dioskorides, produced in Iraq in 1224, has a medical
attendant seated on the same type of folding stool while
stirring a poultice in a large basin. " This type of seat was
clearly in common use in th e Muslim wo rld and was also a
12 4
 REFLECTIONS OF THE TEMPORA L WORLD
fourtee nth century. 'f lt seems likely that there was not hing
par ticu larly unusual in Theodore's use of current elements
in his religious paintings. The fact that his program is se-
curely dated, however, allows us to examine these secular
details in the light of the predominately Islam ic Egyptian
culture of the same time.
One of the most characteris tic features of Theodore's
work is his conservatism in th e use of contem po rary mo-
tifs. Some of the secular eleme nts in his program can be
dated on stylistic grounds to the prev iou s cent ury, when
Egypt was ruled by th e Fatimid caliphs. Examples includ e
the pointed arches and the vegetal decoration of the paint ed
arcades of th e nave, as well as the turbans and tiraz band s
worn by certain figures to indicate position s of authority. It
is imp ortant to rem emb er th at th ese architectura l forms,
decor ative mo tifs, and details of dress would not have been
regard ed as novelties in Theo dor e's day. In 1233, they had
been used in Egypt for centur ies and would continue to be
employed throughout the medieval and early modern pe-
riods. We should th erefore see th ese secular eleme nts as
being in cur rent use when The odore painted the Chur ch
of St. Anto ny.
In some aspects of his program, however, Theodore
seems almost consci ously retardataire. This is especially
true of th e single Arabic inscription, al-Fadi. The use of
the kufic script and the cryptic m ann er in which the
phrase is written recalls Arabic calligraphy of th e eleventh
or twelfth century. In contrast, Theo dore shows no aware-
ness of th e more contemporary cursive Arabic scripts,
even thou gh earlier Coptic artis ts had employed them .
The frontispiece of the illuminated Coptic gospel book
produced in 1179 /1180 at Damietta, for exam ple, shows the
enthroned Christ fram ed by an inscription in the cursive
naskhi script." Theodore's use of an earlier form of Arabic
calligrap hy highlights th e difficulty of dating Coptic paint-
ings solely on stylistic analyses of secular elements. Walters
suggests th at th e paintings at Tebtunis of Theodore Strate-
lates and an anonym ous equestrian were produced circa
950 -1050, based on th e kufic script found on both saints .!"
Although such a date is consistent with similar Fatimid
tiraz inscriptions, Theodore's work indicates that the same
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125
style of Arabic script cou ld still have been in use in Coptic
painting more than a hundred years later.
It is nevertheless apparent that secular elements con-
tinued to enter Coptic religious art under the rule of the
Ayyubid sultans. The military equipment of the equestrian
saints in the Church of St. Antony is the best example of
these more recent additions. The qu ilted armor, large sad-
dlecloth s, an d kno tted horsetails are all features that reflect
the intro duction of Turk ish-style cavalry troop s into Egypt
after 1171 by Salah ad -Din and his successors. Th e cha nge
in military equipme nt th at occur red during the Ayyubid
period is imp ortant for determining when medieval Cop-
tic depiction s of equestrian saints were pro duced. The
painting of Theodore Stratelates in the Monas tery of the
Martyrs at Esna , for example, has a date that can be read
either as A.M. 846 (1l29/1130) or as A.M. 896 (1l79/n80). 101
Based on the saint's qu ilted armor and large saddlecloth,
the later date, which cor respo nds to the early Ayyubid
period, seems more likely !"
Still other secular elements may have entered Coptic
art in Th eodor e's tim e, such as the details derived from
Arab min iature paintings found in the palace of Neb-
uch adn ezzar. In part icular, the king's gesture of amaze-
ment, his folding throne, and th e manner in which his
soldi ers are shown crowded-around the mouth of the fur -
nace are not part of the Coptic tradition. Instead, they
represe nt cur rent secular painting, which was being pra c-
ticed throu ghout the Arab world in the first half of the
th irteenth cent ury. Theodore 's suggested link with th e
production of miniatures, therefore, may have been a
means by wh ich new secular elements were introduced
into Coptic religiou s painting.
The inte gration of secular element s into the Coptic
tradition certainly did not end with Theodore. An espe-
cially con servative feature of his program is that it does not
contain any arabesqu e or geometric patterns of th e kind
that rep resented the most advanced style of Islamic art of
his day. Yet as Bolman and I dem on strate in the next cha p-
ter, within less tha n fifty years, another Chr istian painter
in the Church of St. Antony used these very motifs to dec-
orate the vault of the khurus.
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CHAPTER 8 THE KHURUS VAULT
AN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SYNTHESIS
On the basis of style and ornament, the paintings in the
ceiling zone of the khurus do not belong to the Coptic
tradition as exemp lified by Theodore (fig. 8.1). The work
of two pri ncipal art ists can be identified in this sma ll space,
with distinct artistic genealogies. An O rna mental Master
specialized in abstract designs pop ular in the Islami c
world, and a Figural Master worked in what may generally
be describ ed as a Byzantine manner. The works of both
also include features belonging to additional cultures and
region s. It is unlikely that one artist completed the entire
area, simply because none of the decorative elements in
the Ornamental Master's work appears in any of the sec-
tion s with figural paintings. Based on the technical obser-
vations of Luzi and De Cesaris, it is apparent that th e
whol e area was painted at on e tim e.' The painters were re-
sponsible for discrete sections of th e khurus. Each one
worked in a style th at was cur rent in the thirteenth century
and that was as distinct from th e other as both were fro m
Theo dore's earlier pr ogram .
The kh urus is the transitional space in Coptic
churches between the nave and th e sanctuary (fig. 21, in-
troduction). In the Chur ch of St. Antony, the khurus is
entered through a large archway containing a wooden par-
titio n. Beyond the partition is a rectangular room. Its cen-
ter is covere d by a high, vaulted roof, supported by four
arches. The two largest arches direct one's view from the
8.1 nave to the central sanctuary. The side arches frame the
Upper zone of the khums viewer's entrance to the north ern and southern ends of the
( ADP/SA 1999) khurus, each of which gives access to th e lateral sanctuar-
ies. The weight of th e vault rests on the two largest arche s
that separate the nave from th e sanctuary. Each one sup-
po rts a cur ved tymp anum of plastered br ick. Seven rectan-
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127
Eliza beth S. Bo lman and W illia m Ly ster
gular palm trunks have been placed on top of the tym -
pan a in an east-west orientation. Th ese beams form the
frame ofthe vaulted roof. The interstices between the beam s
are filled with wooden planks, and the ent ire ceiling is
covered with plaster. The vault has an irregular profile .
The basic shape of the khurus vault was alread y present
when Th eodore was active in the church. The cur rent en-
semble of palm trunks, wood en panels, and plaster may
belong to the new campaign, but could also pred ate it.
Rows of round windows sepa rate it from the side walls of
the khurus, and these regular, simple windows certainly
predate the painted pha se now visible.'
Before the work of the anonymou s masters, the arch-
way leading fro m the nave to th e khurus was heightened.
Its new pr ofile allowed the khurus vault to be seen easily
from th e nave. Th e paint ers then covered the vault in pIas-
ter that is distinguished from earlier layers in the chur ch
by a faint pinkish cast. This plaster was also applied on th e
domes and around the frames of Theo dore's paintings.
Figures from the earlier program that transgressed the
frame were covered over. Thi s is mo st evident in the lower
zone of the khurus, where the pages of Mercurius (K3; fig.
7.19) and th e figure of the rich man in hell next to Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob in Paradise (K5; fig. 4.25) were com-
pletely obscured. Luzi and De Cesaris have hypothesized
that this was motivated by a desire to make the appearance
of the church interior neater , including regularizing the
borders and frames of the earlier painti ngs.
The conservators have suggested that only a relatively
short span of time separated the work of Theodore and
that of the later painters. The y observed that the accum u-
lation of soo t and dirt was slight on the sections of Th eo-
 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
8 .2 A UOV E dor e's 1232/1233 paintings that were covered over with th e
The archangel Gabriel new plaster. Th e plaster was, in effect, clean. We know that
( KI6; ADP/SA 1999 ) the monastery was inh abit ed and th at th e Chur ch of St.
Anto ny was in use at th is time. How lon g would th e plas-
8.3 UELOW ter of Theo dore's level retain th is pr istine con ditio n if ex-
Th e archangel Michael posed to th e smo ke of incense and lam ps and the du st of
( K1S; ADP/SA 8 5164 97) th e Egyptian desert? Certainly not more than fifty years
separated th e two campaigns, but it is possible that they
were painted only a decade apart.
At perh aps the same tim e th at th e khurus ceiling was
being prepared, an arc hway was cut between the south-
western corner of the nave an d the annex. We do not know
wheth er a door or iginally existed here, but because this
archway destroyed at least two figur es from Theo do re's
program (betwee n Nl6 and N18; fig. 4.4), its later date is ap -
parent. Stylistic and material evidence make s it clear that
the paintings in this archway were made somewhat later
th an those in th e upper regions of the kh ur us.'
The Figural Paintings
Paintings of human, ange lic, and divine beings cover two
areas in th e khurus ceiling: the underside of the arch be-
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128
tween the nave and the khurus (KI5, K16) and th e western -
facing wall above the archway between the khurus and th e
sanctuary (xu, K12, KI8). The first of these areas is filled
with two enormous archa ngels, Gabriel (on the left, or
northern side; fig. 8.2) and Michael (on the right, or
southern side; fig. 8.3). They exemplify many of the char-
acterist ic features of style seen in th is program and serve as
representatives of the larger grou p of figural paintings.
They stand in a static, frontal position against an intensely
saturated ora nge-red background. In their left hands, each
holds a white disk paint ed with a red cross and letters sig-
nifying the ph rase "Jesus Chr ist is victor ious." In their
right hands th ey hold tall, golden-colored staffs sur-
mounted with crosses. Their wings arch elegantly above
their shoulders and sweep do wn almost to their feet. Like
their pose, their curved faces are virtually identical: bro ad
through th e eyes and forehead and taperin g gracefully to
the chin, so th at each visage is longer th an it is wide (fig.
8.3). Their expressions convey an intensity an d other-
worldliness th rou gh th e calligraph ic sweep of their dark
eyebrows, slightly furro wed bro ws, and their eyes, which
are almost com pletely do mi nated by large, dark pupils.
The planes of the face are buil t up with numerous thin
bru shstro kes that are visible from several feet away but are
not apparent fro m floor level. The artist has shaped th e
forehead, cheeks, chin, and ' neck with a combination of
white and pink shades. Dark ou tlines delineate th e eyes,
nose, and Adam 's appl e, which are given depth and defini-
tion with narrow areas of shadow (for example, below th e
brows), and dark pink lines (sha ping th e pou ches below
the eyes). Their ears are shown as downward sloping loops.
Their hair is composed of thick strands of dark brown out-
lined in black and enlivened with lighter strands, appear-
ing at th e top to be loosely braided, and terminating in
rounded curls along th e neck and shoulders. Th eir lon g

Eastern wall of the khums
( Kll- KI2. KI 8 ). with the sanctuary
apse in the backgrou nd (A DP/SA
1999 )
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THE KHURUS VAULT
hands may be th e most refined features in these pain tings.
The attenuated index finger of each ang el's right hand is
particularly effective as a device lead ing the viewer's eye to
the face.
When caught by th e came ra from a position directly
in front of each figur e, th eir bodies app ear to be of norm al
height, but a bit stocky in th e waist and hip s. Thi s effect is
no t app arent from th e floor of the nave, where the promi-
nent arch and ind irect point of view elongate the figur es.
Thei r faces, too, appea r cons idera bly lon ger and more na r-
row from the nave floor th an they do fro m a raised, head -
on view obtainable only with th e aid of scaffolding. The
location from the floo r of th e churc h is th e principal o ne
from which th ese figur es were meant to be seen.
Th e im posing angels cast no sha dows on the intense
red background. Th ey have conside rable presence witho ut
conveying real physical substance. Th eir rigidly fro ntal
poses, and the completely two-dim ension al patt ern ing of
such areas as the decoration at the bottom of thei r lon g
tunics, or th e band aro un d their wrists, contra dict any
sense of mass conveyed by the folds of clothing and faint
129
shadows on the ir faces. They do no t stand on any ground ,
bu t hover above us in the archway.
Th e western-facing wall at the back of the khurus is
oddl y shaped (fig. 8.4). Th e pointed arch leadin g to th e
sanctuary cuts int o it, making th e center considera bly
more narrow th an th e sides. The upp er edge describes a
curve that is less sharp than the archway itself but is com-
plicated by th e beam s that suppo rt this ro ughly barr el
vaulted space. The arti st has depi cted two scenes in thi s
awkwar d space. Th e scene at the right shows the thr ee
wom en at th e tomb (K12), as they confro nt an angel and
realize th at Christ has risen from the dead. The tomb of
Chr ist (KU) divides thi s event from the meetin g of Ch rist
and the wome n in the garden (KI8) . The rendering of th e
faces and hands of the women and angel in th ese two
scenes is by the same hand as that of the archangels
Michael and Gabriel (K15, KI6) . Variation s also exist be-
tween th e paint ing of th e archa ngels and the rest of the
figures, pa rticularl y in the face of Christ, which is bu ilt up
of very pro mine nt lines. Altho ugh the basic delineation of
the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears is simi lar, their
 THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
8.S LEFT effect in th e face of Chr ist is somewhat harsh. Also distin ct
Angel of th e stone (K12) from th e archa ngels are th e pro portions an d poses of th e
figures on this wall. Their bodies are short. They are not
8.6 R IGHT show n fron tally, and their varied pos itions express inter-
[con of the archa ngel Gabriel , action. Some of them stand , albeit un easily, on th e mo un-
ca. 120 0 , Cyprus (Cour tesy of tainou s gro und under their feet. The alternating intensity
A. Papageorghiou ) in the colors of their draperies an d the occasional use of
thin black lines give th ese figures a greater sense of mass
than the archangels have. No abstract, completely two-
dimensional pattern on their clothing disturbs thi s sense
of volum e, although the stability of the two standing fig-
ures in the meeting of Christ and the women in the garden
is undermined by the fact that each one extends a foot into
the red border of the painting.
The scene of th e women at the tomb is a masterpiece
of compositional ingenuity. The une ven, cramp ed space is
filled with a cascade of figures, gracefully disposed along
the descending archway. Th e angel sits with his feet on top
of the stone that had sealed the tomb, thus fitting easily
into th e reduced space at the cent er of th e wall. He gestures
toward th e tomb with his left hand, form ed by a lon g curv-
ing line that leads the eye toward the sepulcher. Sunlig ht
damage suffered over the centuries has bad ly eroded the
beige paint of this hand. With his right hand, the angel
po ints to the letters written in Coptic in fron t of him: "an
angel of the Lord." He and the first of the women look at
each other, while the second of the women turns her face
toward the thi rd. The raised hands and furrowed brows of
the women express surprise and distress at this apparition,
and at the empty sepulc her.
Th e tomb presents us with a problem. It is impos-
sible to know whether th e painted lower zone and the
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130
opening above it combined to show the tomb. The lower
sectio n clearly shows th e tomb and the two pieces of fabric
left inside it by Chris t. The actual opening above the tomb
was at one time a window into th e sanctuary, on which
side it was bricked up , plastered over, and painted in 1232/
1233. The question is why th e opening onto the khums
was left open. Luzi and De Cesaris have pointed out that
no light would have come through it from above, because
an earlier , low wooden ceiling blocks it off. They also not e
that the opening is framed with a solid red band, identical
to that which borders the entire double composition. Ex-
pressing the opinion that it would have been easier for the
artists to close this space up and plaster it over, they con -
jecture that it was important in some way. One suggestion
is that it held an icon that was framed by the painted wall.'
The meeting of Christ and the women in the garden
is somewhat less successful as a composition than its coun-
terpart. The standing Christ has a large head and a com -
paratively short body, and even so he doesn 't fit the space:
his left foot rests on th e border, ou tside of the scene. He
holds th e book of the Gospels with his left han d in an
imp lausible grip. With his right, he gestures to the two
Marys. The pos ition of his ring finger is rende red as if it
were bent sideways instead of forw ard. As with many of
th e hands in th ese paintings, the palm is displayed; finger-
nails should not be visible, but they are. The poses of the
two women are not as graceful as the group of thr ee on th e
right. The standing Mary presents an un gainly silhouette,
as does th e cro uching woman at Christ's feet. An awkward
empty space fills th e center of the scene. In several places,
corrections made to the composition are visible. A line of
preparatory dr awing, tracing a larger cur ve for Mary's
head, is app arent through th e yellow of her halo. Addi-
tionallines, showing earlier efforts at drawing Chr ist's halo
and right hand, are seen through the background color.
Sunlight and th e passage of time have dam aged thi s com-
position considera bly. The red of the Virgin's dress has
flaked off, showing part of the kneeling woman that would
have originally been covered. The base of a palm tree rises
behind Christ, but its upper green fronds have been de-
stroyed. Altogether, th is composition does not give as
fluid and un ified an impression as does that on the right .
Certainly, some of th is effect is due to the loss of compos-
itional elements, perhaps in the center of the painting, and
the appearance of underpainting and corrections , which
would not have been visible originally.
Again, we know from the layer of plaster on which
these scenes were painted that they must have been made
 THE KHURUS VAULT
after the 1232h233 program. Their style and techniq ue are
markedly d ifferen t from the work of Theodore. In color,
also, they stand apart. The bright orange-red of the later
pai ntings is in con trast to the da rker red of 1232/1233. The
brig ht blue used for the clot hi ng of four of the nine figures
in the paintings of the upper khurus is nowhere present in
th e earlier program, where a less intense blue is used spar-
ingly.' Both palett es include strong yellow and ocher to nes,
but th eir gree ns differ conside rably. Th eodore's are either
olive or , used sparingly, an int en se, bright green.t Th e hu e
found in th e upper section of the khurus is either a dark
blue-green (in th e background), or a light mint gree n (in
th e abstrac t ceiling pattern s).
In style, painting tech nique, co lor, and even subject
matt er, th ese paintings do not belon g to th e lo ng-standing
tr adition of Co ptic painting in Egypt, exemplified so
ma gnificently in the pain tings of Theo dore and his work-
shop. Several qu estions ar ise from thi s observation . To
what tradition or traditions do the figural paintings be-
lon g? Who painted th em , and when? How do the y come to
be here, in th is remote site in th e Egyptian desert?
THE F IGU RA L MASTE R
The works of the Figura l Master belong to th e larger
sphere of the Byzantine world. This env ironment ex-
tended beyon d th e territories held at an y given time by the
em pire itself, interacting with art produced at places re-
mote from Cons tantino ple, like th e Mon astery of St.
Catherine on Mo unt Sina i and th e Crusa der kingdoms of
th e East. One such region , no lon ger part of Byzantiu m
po litica lly by the thirteenth century, but still creating art in
the Byzantine tradition, was Cyprus. From th e tenth cen-
tury to 1191, Cyprus was an important territory for Byzan-
tium . After 1099 the imperial fleet was stationed at the is-
land, which was a commercial center and also a common
rest ing point for pilgrims on their jo urney to the Holy
Land. In 1191 it was conquered by Richard the Lion Heart,
who sold it first to the Knight s Templar, then, when th ey
gave it back, to Guy de Lusignan , a Frankish kn ight. Guy's
brother estab lished the Kingdom of Cyprus in 1197.7 The
development of art on Cyp rus in th e ensuing centuries
is co m plicated. Befor e th e Crusade r takeover, ar tistic pro -
du ction was related to current trends in Constantinople.
After 1191 th is source was cut off, and in the thirtee nt h
century Cyp riot artists co ntin ued to elaborate on earlier
Byzantine sour ces, of th e Co m ne nian period in the twelfth
century," Other elements- for exam ple, fro m Latin pa-
tro ns, an d Syrian m on astic ar t -have also been iden tified :
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13 1
On the basis of style and painting technique, the
closest analogies to the work of the Figural Master come
from the island of Cyprus and the Monastery of St. Cath-
erine on Mount Sinai in the late twelfth and the thirteenth
century. Parallels are revealed when we compare an icon of
the archangel Michael from the Katholikon of the Monas-
tery of Hagios Chrysostomos at Koutsovendis of ca. 1200
with the pa int ings in the up per zone of the khurus (figs.
8.5, 8.6).10 Altho ugh th e arc hangel of th e icon has sma ll
pupils and red cheeks, in co ntr ast to th e large pupils and
white chee ks of th e Figura l Master's work, almos t every
other feature of comparison is ide ntical: th e fore head, fur-
rowe d with two principal lines (the u pper line traci ng a
m ino r, downward curve, and the lower, lon ger line a high
curve arc hi ng over th e eyeb rows, dipping as it meets at th e
bridge of th e nose); the sha pe of th e eyes, rendere d with a
th in red line near th e crease of th e upper lid; th e pou ch
below th e eyes, which follows th e same line as well; th e
thin, lon g no se; the sma ll mouth; th e do wnward loop of
the ears and the Ada m's apple. Th in lines build up the
plan es of th e face on th e icon and the faces of wome n and
archa ngels in th e wall pa intings. The hair of th e angels is
ide ntical as well: loosely braided, with two sma ll tufts of
hair th at extend from the center of th e for ehead and curve
tow ard the viewer 's left; strarrds of brown hair, outlined in
black and marked with highligh ts. The long hands and
narro w fingers are also very similar, as is shown by a com-
par ison of the right hand of the archa ngel Michael fro m
th e icon, wit h the right hand of the Virgin Mary, who
stands to th e left of Christ in th e painting in the Church of
St. Antony. Th e outlines, proportions, and form are the
sam e. Altogether, the style is characterized by a curvilinear
approa ch to th e sha pes of the various part s of the body,
which is always interestin g, and never completely regular.
The sim ilarities between the Cypriot icon and th e figural
painting in the khurus ar e striking, especially when we
cons ider that one is a painting on a wooden panel, meant
to be seen from nearb y, and th e others are wall paintings,
in a co mp letely differen t scale and medium, an d in tended
to be viewed from a considerable distance.
The thi n, simply arching eyebrows of the icon at
Koutsovendis are repeated in the same feature of th e angel
on the stone, by the Figura l Master. The ot her pain ted sub-
jects in th e khu rus have expressive, angu lar eyebrows, and
th ese also we can find in Cypriot paintin gs. The depiction
of th e imp ression left by Chris t's face o n th e mandylion,
from the Churc h of the Archangel Michael, at Kato Lefkara,
exemplifies the more dramatic type (fig. 8.7). No te the

8.7 LE FT
Mandylion of Chr ist. end of th e
twelfth century. wall painting.
C h urch of the Archangel Micha el.
Kato Lefkara (Co ur tesy of
Annemarie Weyl Carr)
8.8 RI GH T
T hree women at th e tomb (K12)
_ sim ilar, as both figures assume a position directly facing
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
deep u shape form ed between the two eyebrows, and com-
pare it to the same shape form ed o n th e face of th e woma n
at th e extre me right, in the th ree wome n at the tomb (fig.
8.8) . A feature th at is characteris tic of Cypriot painting is
the wide space at the inn er corner of th e eyes, show ing th e
tear du cts. II The face of Chr ist in Kato Letkara illustrates
this peculiar ity.
The Virgin Mary at th e far left of the khurus wall ex-
hibits so me ties to an icon now in the Mo nastery of St.
Cather ine (figs. 8.9, 8.10), which may also have been
painted by a Cypriot master. The pose of th e two figur es is
neither the viewer nor Christ, but mid way bet ween th e
two, with hands outstretched. Th eir heads are inclin ed at
the same angle. Th e icon form s part of a Deesis com posi-
tion, in which the gesture is a reque st for intercession . Be-
cause th e wall painting depicts a differ ent subject, the pose
may be understood her e to suggest greeting. Th e faces of
the two are sim ilar in sha pe, particularly their definition:
slightly angular at the top, undulating alon g the right side,
and curv ing ar ound a smo oth, fleshy chin and up along
th e wide expanse of th e cheek to th e viewer's left. The main
points of difference between the two faces are the mouth
and the sides of the nose. In th e wall painting, th e Virgin's
top lip is rend ered with a simple, thin line, which is in co n-
trast to the slightly protruding upp er lip seen in th e icon.
The icon rema ins un studied, bu t likely dates to th e th ir-
teenth century, " Its existence in the collection at Sinai does
not mean that it was made there, but the wide tear ducts
may point to a Cypriot or igin.
As we have seen, the face of Christ in the Church of
St. Antony is ren dered in a more linear manner than the
ot her faces in the khurus (fig. 8.ll). The painter has used
thicker, more prominent lines. The cheeks are o utlined in
a brown and pink oval, whic h curves down from the
po uches under the eyes and is filled with mostly straight
lines set at an angle to the rest of the lines of the face. Kurt
Weitzmann identified this feature on several icons in the
132
Monastery of St. Catherine. He expla ined it as a device
brou ght either by a Venetian painter, worki ng at Sina i, or
by way of a pa nel pai nting from th e Veneto . 13 Equa lly com-
pelling parallels, or perhaps even more compelling ones,
exist in the Byzant ine art histo rical record. This type of
rendering appears as early as 1060, in a mosaic icon of
the Virgin and Ch ild in the Greek Or tho dox Patriarchate
at Istanbul and in the face of the Virgin Mary from the
late- twelfth century Byzantine mosaics at Torcello (fig.
8.12).14 Other details of Christ's face are read ily found in
the Byzant ine tradi tio n, in icons at the Monastery of St.
Catherine, and also o n Cyprus. The narrow face, long
str ands of twisted hair , with two shorter tufts descend ing
into the center of the forehead, the short beard and mu s-
tache are all commo n traits seen in numerous images be-
lon ging to the late twelfth and th e'thirteenth century. IS The
flaring ends of the cross in Christ's halo in th e khurus
image are a mor e exaggerated version of what we see in
several of th ese paintings as well. 16
Three other stylistic features remain to be discussed.
One is th e appearance of short bodi es and com paratively
large heads on all of the figures in th ese paintings except
the two archangels. Thirteenth-ce ntury Cypriot painting
gives us exam ples of these somewhat un gainly propor-
tions. Th e wall paintings in th e Churc h of th e Pan agia at
Mo uto ullas, dated to 1280, provide a host of exam ples."
The same paintings include another distinctly Cypriot ele-
ment, the use of red backgrounds, which also set off the
mandylion in Kato Letkara (fig. 8.7). Not only is the back-
ground of the paintings of the archangels Michael and
Gabr iel brig ht red, bu t so is the inner face of that same
wall, with an elaborate arabesque (K14). 18 The third feature
has thus far proven impossible to place, and that is the ren-
dering of drapery. It is characterized by the juxtaposition
of dark areas with either light shades of the same color, or
perhaps a semitransparent white which alters the darker
shade. Most of the folds are long and vertica l and parallel
each other. Occasion ally, angular folds are rendered with V
 THE KHURUS VAULT

shapes. The fall of the maphorion aro un d two of th e five

fema le faces is jagged and ang ular. as was stan da rd in
Byzantine art in thi s period . The thre e other faces lack this
distinctive feature and appear with lines o n th e fabr ic
about th eir head s. as if th eir head coverings were fold ed
but nonetheless circumscribed an unbroken, curving line.
This tr eatment of th e maphorion is less common, but
can be seen in Byzantine or Byzant ine-inspired art-for
exam ple, in an icon of th e Crucifixion of ca. 1270, in the
Mo nastery of St. Catheri ne."
The style of th e paintings by th e Figura l Master in the
Chur ch of St. Anto ny belo ngs to the artistic sphe re of
Byzantium. We know th at these works of art were pai nted
sometime after 1233, the date of the earlier program by
Theo dore and his workshop. Yet they relate not to devel-
op ments in Byzan tium proper in the th irteenth cen tury
8·9 8.10 but to an earlier Byzantine style that was still a primary
Meet ing of Christ and the women Icon of th e Virgin. ca. thirteen th source of influence in Cyprus in the thirteenth century.
in th e garden ( KI8). detail of Mary century. Mon astery of 51. Cather- Numerous details in the rendering of the Figural Master 's
(A DP/SA 12 516 1 9 7 ) ine, Mount Sinai (Co ur tesy of th e faces and hands make this assertio n possible, as do the
Michigan-Princeto n-Alexa nd ria short proportions and large heads (excepting the arc h-
Exped ition to Mount Sinai) ange ls in the khu rus archway). The Cypriot image that is
closest to the khums paint ings, however, the icon of th e
arc hangel Gabriel, is not completely cha racteristic of the
art of th at island. " Th e definiti on of th e khurus figur es'
drapery is not closely tied to any identifi able tradition, and
perh aps we should conclude that the arti st studied Cypriot
paintings but was not shaped in that environment alon e.
Another possible network of co ntact that seems to have
op erated in this period existed between monasterie s and
was not mapped o ut alon g the territori al lines of secular
powers. The ties to Cyp rus and Sinai may be accou nt ed
for within this mod el." When we expand our view of th e
khur us paintings from the figur al subjects to include th e
work of th e Orn amental Master , it is appa rent that an even
broader contex t for these painti ngs mu st be considere d.
We know, from the conservation work, that the per iod
of time that elapsed between the work of Theodore and
8.11 th at of th e Figura l Ma ster was not great. This observation
Face of Christ (KI8) acco rds well with the stylistic comparisons we have made,
so we can conclude on both counts that the paintings in
8 .12 RIG H T the upper section of the khurus were created in the thir-
Face of th e Virgin Mary. late teenth century.
twe lfth centur y, mosaic, Torc ello
(Co ur tesy of Dumbarton Oak s) ICO NO GRA P H Y

The two archa ngels ns mg inside the archway be-

tween the nave and the khurus forcefull y announce the
Byzantine character of the po st-i zjj paintings, wearing as

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133
- THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
8. 13 LEFT they do the cere mo nial dr ess of Byzantine archangels and
Th e archa ngel Michae l, late twelfth em perors (fig. 8.13), and carrying disks." Th ese roundels
cent ury, marble, Co nstantinople are also held by the angels in the 1232/I233 paintings (s i,
(Staatliche Muse en Zll Berlin- lower zone; figs. 4.3S, 6.17), where they look m uch like
Pru ssischer Kulturbesitz, Mu seum Co ptic euchari stic loaves, with th eir impressed center and
fur Spatantike und Byzantinische upraised circular edge. In the case of th e later paintings in
Kun st, inc, 2429A) th e kh urus arc hway, the ren der ing of the image recalls
loaves from the Byzantine Orthodox tradition, par ticu-
8 .14 ABOVE RIGHT larly the design and the smoother sur face (figs. 8.14, 8.1S).
Disk held by th e archan gel Gabriel Two event s from the life of Christ are told by the
(KI6) paintings on the eastern wall of the khurus vault ( KIl , K1 2,
K18; fig. 8.4 ). Both are recounted in the Gospel of Matthew
8 .15 BELOW R IGHT (Mt 28:1-9 ) and have been shown in Christian art since its
Greek Orthodox Eulogia loaf earliest centuries. The three women at the tomb ( KIl, K12 )
are depicted on the right, and the meeting of Christ and
the women in the garden ( K18) , which happened shortly
after the first encounter, appears on the left. These are
paintings of event s that pro ved that Christ was th e so n of
God. He rose from the dead (witness the em pty tomb ) and
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H4
met and spoke with two women who kn ew him. In thi s
painting, as is often the case in artistic repr esent ation s of
this subject, a monogram identifi es one of these wome n as
the Virgin Mary (fig. 8.9), altho ugh the Gospel accou nt de-
scr ibes her as Mary, mother of lam es." Her inclusion
makes th e recog nition of th e risen Christ even mor e cer-
tain, for who would kn ow him bett er th an his own
mother, who had seen him crucified? These visual proofs
of Christ's resurrection combine with th e scenes of the
three Hebrews in the furnace ( K6; fig. 4. 24) and Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in Paradise ( KS; fig. 4. 2S), in the lower
portion of the khurus, to make a coherent statement about
salvation. The three young men function as a typo logical
prefiguration of th e resurrection of Christ, pro ving the re-
ality of salvation for the Christian faithful ." The vehicle is
Jesus Christ, who is shown above, and the goal is the par-
adise of the patriarchs included acros s the khurus from the
three yo ung men . Th e pictorial pro gram s of both zone s,
though painted at different points in time and in distinct

8 .16 TOP
The women at the tomb and the
meetin g of Christ and the women
in th e garden, 58 6 , manuscript
illumination, Rabbula Go spels,
Syria
8 .17 BOT TOM
Crucifixion, detail, 1183, wall pai nt-
ing, Hermitage of SI. Neo phytus ,
Cyprus (Co ur tesy of Durnbarton
Oaks, 1163.83)
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T H E K HURUS VAU LT
arti stic traditi on s, are unified by thi s them e, com bining
events fro m both th e Old and th e New Testa ments.
Reading from right to left, the two scenes follow the
narrative seq uence of events in the Gospels. This ordering
recalls the right- to- Ieft placement of the three patriarchs
below, and for the same reason." The person who planned
the choice and disposition of the scenes was a native
speaker of Arabic and was accu stomed to reading from
right to left. Not onl y is th e standard organization in
Christian art of th ese two events left to right, but th e
figures within these scenes also usually face in the opposite
dir ection from the depiction her e. A detail from the Rab -
bula Gospels of A. D . 586 of the women at the tomb and
the meeting of Christ and th e women in the garden sho ws
th e typical organization of the two events and also of the
iconographic elements in them (fig. 8.16). The women ap-
proach the angel from the far left. He sits facing left, with
his back to the tom b. The op en door of the tomb sends out
rays of divine light, which immobilize th e soldiers. Christ,
135
facing right, strides toward the two women who kneel at
his feet. Small detai ls, such as the inclusion of the soldiers,
and the scro ll in Christ's hand in place of the bo und codex,
differentiate these subjects in the Rabbul a Gospels fro m
those by the Figura l Master of the Mo nastery of St. Anto ny.
But despit e th e passage of rou ghly seven hundred years,
the iconography of th e two is astoni shin gly similar-only
reversed.
The poses of the three women standing before th e
angel express anxiety and agitation, with their upraised
hands and creased brows. Thi s emotional group would
also have reminded the sophisticated medieval viewer of
Christ's death, through a visual analo gy with paintings of
thr ee women at the Cross. Th e tight gro uping, the alter-
nating directions of the women's heads, and even some
of their upraised hands are parall eled in numerous paint-
ings of th e Cru cifixio n. One slightly earlier exam ple can be
found in the Hermitage of St. Neo phyt us, on Cyprus (fig.
8.17), and in both composition s th e th ree women form a
single mass." The y all expr ess constern ation, with the ir
fur rowed bro ws and upraised hands. Particularly striking
are the alternating directions of their faces-the first and
third look at the ange l or Christ, and the middle woman
looks back at th e thi rd. Henry Maguire has studied the use
of comparison in the litera.ttu e and ar t of Byzantium and
has observed th at "co mpa rison was an essential part of th e
ment al equip ment of any ed ucated Byzantine. This habit
of com pariso n is very important for an understandi ng of
Byzantine art, because it was especially applicable to visua l
media."z7The visual sim ilarity between th ese scenes would
have em phasized both the plan inh eren t in all of th e events
of Chr ist's life, and th e m iraculou s fact of his resur rect ion.
A secon d source for the Figura l Master's work is tied
to on ly two details in these pa intings, but it suggests some-
thing very im portant for our understanding of th e artistic
milieu of Christian Egypt. The first detai l is the pose of the
angel on the stone. In Byzantine and Western medieval
pa int ing, the angel in this scene always sits with his legs
han ging down over th e side of the sto ne. In the two
ro ughly contempo rary Co ptic wall paintings of th is sub-
ject, the angel also sits with his legs over the side of th e
stone." In onl y one exam ple is the angel sitting kn ees up,
with his feet restin g just below th e top of the tomb, a bit
lower than we see in the khurus, where the angel's feet
are actually on top of the sto ne. This image is from a gos-
pel manuscript that was mad e in Cairo in 1249/1250. 29 The
manuscript is unusual and fascinating because it is clearl y
a Christian book, but it is painted in a style which owes a

8. 18
Heading of th e Gos pel of Luke
(a n n u nciatio n to Zachar ias,
an nu nciatio n, and visitation ),
manuscript illumin ation , New
Testam ent , 1249/ 1250 , Cairo
(© In stitut Catho liq ue, Biblio-
th equ e de Fels, Paris, Ms. copte-
ara be 1, fol. 106r)
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
great deal to th e Islamic artistic tr aditi on . Peopl e of impor-
tan ce, such as Pilate, are shown seated in an Eastern man-
ner with their legs up on the seat of a throne or chair."
The precise position of the angel in the khurus painting
appears in illumination in this manuscript from Cairo de-
picting the Virgin of the Annunciation (fig. 8.18). 31 One
knee is raised , with the sole of the foot flat on the ground
(o r stone), and the second knee is lower, with the sole
of the foot facing outward, and placed adjacent to the
first foot.
Th e seco nd det ail th at connects th e Figura l Master 's
work with Christian painting in Cairo ca. 1250 is th e ren-
derin g of th e mountainous gro und on which th e Byzan -
tin e-inspir ed figure s in th e Church of St. Anto ny sta nd.
This terrain is show n as an assemblage of discrete, essen-
tially flat eleme nts with und ulating tops . They give the
appearance of being stacked up on top of each other. They
can also be found in the illuminations of the Cairo New
Testament of 1249/ 1250 (fig. 7-35), and their origi ns lie in
the Islami c and anc ient Near Eastern worlds. One well-
known exam ple comes from a wall painting at Samarra
dating to 836-839.32 We have also seen this mo tif in the ear-
lier paint ings in the church by Theo dore (fig. 8.19).
Th e Figura l Master's work shows his parti cipation in
the Byzantine cultural sp here in the th irteenth cen tury.
Deta ils of style an d iconography tie him to Cyprus and
also to works of art now in th e Mon aste ry of St. Catherine
136
on Mount Sinai . The closest Cyprio t examp le is not repre-
sentative of art from Cyprus, how ever, and his rendering
of drapery is unusual. His inclu sion of iconographic fea-
tures from the art of the Isiamic world shows his famil -
iarit y with it. Therefore he cannot be identified completely
with anyone place. His paintings were definitely mad e for
an Eastern Christian audience that was accustomed, by
centuries of Arab rule, to reading texts and images from
right to left. Thi s organization al strategy may have been
the Figur al Master 's own choice or may have been deter -
min ed by the monastic patrons of the paintings.
T HE ANNEX A RC HWAY: A LATE R A D D ITI ON
At first sight, th e paintings of two archa ngels in th e
underside of th e arc hway between the nave and th e annex
(AI, A9; fig. 8.20) look almost identical to the two that pre-
cede . the khurus ceiling ( KI5, KI6; fig. 8.1).33 All four are
frontally positioned in static poses and hold disks or orb s,
and crosses on tall staffs. The y are d ressed identically. Each
pair depic ts Michae l and Gabriel. One clear variation is the
painting of the young Chri st as Emmanuel, in the disk held
by Gabriel, in the annex archway. The corresponding disk
held by Michael (AI) has the same inscript ion as the two
shown in th e kh urus.
Desp ite these sim ilar ities of pose and iconography,
the annex arc hway was not painted by the same artists
whose ima ges and patterns float above our head s in th e
8.19 8.20

Sam uel (N6; AD P/SA 4 5152 97) A n !1ex a rc hangels (AI, A9; AD P/SA

65 16097)

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8.21
Detail of the archa ngel Michae l
( K1S; ADP/SA 10 516 4 97 )
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THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
khurus. Differences in style are great. O ne nonstylistic fea-
ture that makes the different authorship of th e two com-
position s obvious is th e arrange me nt of the inscriptions
framing th e an gels' heads. In th e arc hway pre ced ing th e
khurus, th e inscriptions are organiz ed in vertical sections
that are read fro m left to right (fig. 8.21). Th e identifying
words "the Archa ngel Michael," for example, are divided
up into four part s: the archa (at th e farthest left), ngel (to
th e right of thi s, but still on th e left side of Michael's head ),
Micha (directly to th e right of the angel's head ), and el (to
th e far right ). Th e same phr ase is divided into th ree sec-
tions in the annex archway, and tho ugh th e two segme nts
of th e word archangel are read fro m left to right , they are
on the right side of Mich ael's head (fig. 8.22). His name is
written out in a lon g vertical band at th e far left. Arabic in-
scriptions and narr ative scenes in th e khurus paintings
run from right to left, and Coptic inscripti on s run from
left to right. The annex archangel inscriptions do neith er
con sistently, but combine both systems in a confusing
mixture. Also, altho ugh the formation of many of the let-
ters is similar in the khurus and annex arch paintings, th eir
spacing in the annex composition is too close, and the
overall effect is not as elegant.
The outlines of the angels' faces in th e an nex arch-
way are of an unr elieved regularity. Their eyes, noses, and
138
mouths are sim ilarly precise and even in form ation , giving
th ese figur es a wooden effect that is sha rply at odds with
th e archa ngels in th e khurus. These two lack the graceful,
stylized swooping lines of the forehead, and also of the rib-
bons which appear behind the khurus angels' heads and
flare to th e sides. Th e proportions of such elements as the
hand s, th e crosses on th e top s of the tall staffs, the wide
bodi es, and the fussy shaping of the drapery folds into
overcomplicated patt ern s make it absolutely clear th at the
same hand did not paint all four archa ngels.
Th e artist of th e later pair did not have access to scaf-
folding for his work of studying the khurus angels, as is
revealed by the yellow tr iangles of the angels' loros, wit hin
which are set smaller triangles of blue." In th e khuru s
loros, the red design on the yellow was paint ed as a con-
tinuous pattern, and the blue triangle was added after-
ward, obscuri ng th e central section of the motif. In th e an-
nex paintings, the yellow triangles were divided into four
separate triangles first. The central one was painted in
blue, and th e three sur ro unding shapes were indi viduall y
decorated with red lines, and each was furn ished with a
border around all th ree sides. This is obviously the work of
someone who was observing th e khurus archan gels from
th e floor of th e nave and copying them after the scaffold-
ing in the khurus area had been taken down.

8.22
Deta il of the archa ngel Michael
(AI; ADP/SA I 516097)
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THE KHURUS VAULT
Analysis of th e compos ition of the pigment s in both
gro ups, undertaken by Luzi and De Cesar is, shows them to
be identi cal. Because pigment s were not purchased ready
made but were mixed and pr epared by each team or indi -
vidual artist, the con servato rs assert that it is impossible
that centuries or even decad es passed between the painting
of the two archways. Additional observation by their keen
eyes provides evidence for a likely scena rio. Underneath
the paint of th e angel Gabriel's feet in th e annex appear
traces of one of th e many paintings of crosses fram ed by a
circle of leaves and pom egran ates, which are found
throu ghout th e church. These crosses are otherwise pos i-
tion ed below th e paintings (figs. 4.2-4.4, 4.16). In th is case
the cross was painted before the archangel. Also, an angu-
lar, jagged line of damaged and lost paint cuts across the
archangel Michael. It was caused by its insecure adherence
to a poor-quality plaster rep air job .
Based on combined evidence from con servation and
stylistic analysis, we can propose the following chronology
for th is archway. At some point after 1233 it was cut into
th e south nave wall, destroying some of the paintings of
Theodore. Most likely, the work was carried out at the
same time as the enlargement of the khums arch, but the
one leading to the annex was not painted. The art ists, who
worked on the Byzantine-inspired paintings in the khums,
139
finished and left th e mon astery. The annex archway set-
tled, and small cracks app eared. At some point before or
after this damage, the cross was paint ed on th e inn er sur-
face of the archway at the west. The cracks in the wall were
filled in with inferior-quality mortar. On e member of the
previous team, perhaps the least skilled, returned within a
few years to paint the second archw ay, using leftover pig-
ment s. Altern atively, a visiting artist or a resident monk
underto ok th e task, using th e pigment s made by the earlier
artists. It seems unlikely that th e time difference between
the creation of the two pairs of archange ls was large, be-
cause the same pigment s were emp loyed in both sections.
Despite th is, the variations of style and renderi ng between
the two groups of paintings are so great that we consider it
possib le that the annex pair were painted decades or cen-
turies after the khums arch angels.
. On e important iconographic featur e distinguishes
the later pair of archangels from their model. Instead of
depicting both of them hold ing the white globe or disk
inscribed in red with a cross and the abbreviation for
"Jesus Christ is victorious," the later artist has painted a
pale green, monochrome portrait of the young Christ (fig.
8.23). This bust- lengt h portrait includes the same hand
gesture of blessing that we see in the Christ of the Figural
Master. The flaring cross of th e halo is similar as well, but

8.23 BELOW
Th e arch an gel Gabriel (A9 ), deta il
of han d with medallion , part ially
clean ed (ADP/SA 97)
8. 24 R IGHT
Icon of the ar chan gel Michae l,
ca. 1474 , Ch ur ch of Archan gelos
Pedoula s, Cyprus (Co urtesy of
A. Papageo rghio u)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CH UR CH Of ST. AN TONY
this young Christ holds a scroll and not a cod ex. This is an
image of Christ as Emmanuel, the "preexistent logos," or, in
other words, Christ of the incarn ation." The iconographic
combinat ion of the archangel Gabriel, or Michael, or both
toget her hold ing a medallion with a bust-length image of
Christ is called the Synaxis of the Archangel s. Th e earl iest
surv iving exam ple of it dates to th e eleventh century, al-
tho ugh it has been suggested th at th e type was first for m u-
lated in the ninth century." It was clearly created in th e
Byzantin e realm sometime after Egypt was lost to the em -
pire." N umerous icon s of the Synaxis of th e Archangels
exist from Cyp rus and elsewhere, from th e thirteenth cen -
tu ry on , and th e subject was included in wall paintings
in th e thirteenth and fourteenth centuries." The closest
visual parallel is a much later icon of th e subject from th e
Churc h of th e Archangelos Pedoulas, on Cyprus, which is
dated to ca. 1474 (fig. 8.24). The color and pose of th e
figure of Christ are virtu ally identical in the icon and th e
wall painting in the Churc h of St. Anto ny.
The Ornamental Paintings
Th e Ornamental Master painted two areas in the upper
khurus: the vault ( K13, KIl, K19~K47; fig. 8.25 ) and its east-
ern-facing wall ( K14; figs. 8.26, 8.2 7). The ceiling of the
vault is divided into rows of windows or long painted pan -
els. Seven rectangular palm trunks project down from the
ceiling, each one providing thre e additional sur faces for
decoration. The khurus vault is thus divid ed into thirty-
on e decorative bands, including the Coptic inscriptions
( K13, KIl) painted on the lateral walls beneath th e vault.
The sequence of bands is arranged symm etric ally, so that
the north and south sides mirror each other.
The eight areas of ceiling between th e palm trunks
are the widest bands in the khurus vault. Windows occupy
half of them . At the lowest po int in the arc of th e vault, just
above the Coptic inscript ion s, are a series of round win-
dows. (K19, K47) . Rows of hexagonal windows flank the
beam at the top of th e vault ( K31, K35). The remain ing fou r
areas of ceiling rep eat a uniform design consisting of a
fram e of interlacing lobed medallions and a network of
ara besq ues ( K23, K27, K39, K43).
Next in size are the bott om surfaces of th e seven
pal m tru nks, painted with fou r types of bands. The lowest
two beams are decorated with an Arabic inscript ion that is
interrupted at regular interva ls by circu lar medallions
containing crosses ( K21, K45). The second set of palm
trunks has a flo ral pattern with alternating red , blue, and
pa le green blossoms, interspersed with crosses in ro un d
8.25
Gene ral view of the khums ceiling
(AD P/SA 1999 )

https://coptic-treasures.com/
8.26

Spiral ar abesq ue ( KI4), weste rn wall

of the khu m s (AD P/SA 1999)

https://coptic-treasures.com/

8.27
Detail of spiral arabe sque ( KI4)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE KHURUS VAU LT
medallions ( K25, K4 l) . Th e th ird pai r of beam s features
a black and whit e geome tric design edged with red , with
more med allion s displaying cro sses ( K29, K37). Another
geometric patt ern composed of shapes resembling arrow-
heads embellished with arabesques is painted on the cen -
tral beam ( K33). This motif occupies the apex of the vault ,
and becau se the sides mirror each other, it is not repeated.
The sides of th e palm trunks offer th e smallest sur-
face area for decorati on. Th ese fourteen painted bands are
the sim plest in the vault . The most prominent are deco-
rated with three interlacing scrolls (K26, K40 ). Half of the
bands of this group are a sim ple undulating vine -and-leaf
pattern (K24 , K28, K30, K32, K34, K36, K38). The bands least
visible from the gro und have been pai nted a monochrome
red or white (K20, K22, K42, K44, K46).
The finest work of the Ornamental Master is a spiral
ara besq ue o n the western wall of the vault (KI4 ; fig. 8.26) .
It is painted above th e arc h separat ing th e khurus from th e
nave and is visible on ly to a viewer standi ng in the khurus
or sanctuary looking west. Th e raising of th e archway left
con siderably less space here th an on th e opposite wall,
where the Figura l Maste r painted the th ree women at the
to mb (K12) and Chr ist and the two wome n (KI8) . A Co ptic
inscription frames the edge of the arc h ( KI4), leaving a
crescent-shap ed area beneath th e vault for th e arabesque."
Two levels of vine scro lls are placed on a red field. Tightl y
143
coiled white vines with small leaves form the background.
Th e upp er level has looser yellow scrolls and large stylized
leaves of various sha pes. The painter shows real ma stery
at fittin g th e rhythmic curls of the yellow vines to the irreg-
ular space of the wall. He does miscalculate once, however,
in the middle of the southe rn side Of the composition,
where th e circle is distorted (fig. 8.27).
TH E ORNAMENTAL MASTE R
Based o n th e observations of Luzi and De Cesaris,
the Ornamental Master worked in the Church of St.
Antony within fifty years of Theodore. He was therefore
active so metime between ca. 1233 and 1283, a per iod of
great artistic vitality th rou ghout the Islamic world . During
this time, local art isans were sponsored by both royal
patrons and a pro sperous urban mid dle class. The y ex-
celled in the production of ceram ics, inlaid metalwork,
carved wood , an d ename led glass. In spite of th e tradi-
tional suspicio n of figurative art in Islam, an exp losio n of
such image ry was produced in Egypt, Syria, Iraq , and Ana-
tolia betwe en the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Arti -
sans delight ed in the representatio n of astro logical sub-
jects, real or myth ical anima ls, and scenes of prin cely
entertainment. Figure s even adorn the coins and public
monument s of the Ayyubids and ot her neighboring Mus-
lim dynasties."

8.28
D'Arenberg Basin, ca. 1240- 1249,
Syria (Co ur tesy of the Freer
Gallery, Sm ithso nian Institution,
Washin gton , D.C., inv, F 1995.10)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
The same period saw an eno rmo us grow th in inter -
national trade . Merchants enjo yed an extr aor dinary de-
gree of freedom of movem ent . Goo ds wer e tran sported
across political and religiou s boundaries, oft en regardless
of the hostiliti es between govern ments. The Mediterran-
ean linked western Europe to the Levan t. Th e Red Sea gave
Egypt access to th e spice mark ets of the Indies. Camel car-
avans, following the pilgrim age ro utes to Mecca, carr ied
goods between No rth Africa and Iran . Em ba rgoes on ex-
ports or imports were rare. Christian and Mu slim govern -
ments were mu ch more likely to exercise th eir right s as
first bu yer th an to ban merc handise."
A characteris tic feature of the age was the remarkable
degree to which Muslims, Christians, and Jews shared the
same secular culture. Th e artistic by-products of this plu -
ralism are sur prising to anyone conditioned to view the
arts of Islam and Chri stendom as separate and mutually
exclusive categories . The d'Arenberg Basin (fig. 8.28), in
the Freer Gallery, for example, was made in Syria for the
Ayyubid Sultan al-Salih Ayyub (d. 1249), who is referred
to in the inscriptions as "the defender [of the faith], the
warrior [of the frontiers], the supporter [of Islam] . .. th e
beloved of the Co mmander of the Faithful [th e 'Abbasid
caliph] .,, 42 Yet th e basin is decorated with five scenes fro m
the life of Christ and an arcade of standing saints. It also
144
features more traditional Islami c subjects, including in-
scriptions in different Arabic calligraphic scripts, bands of
arabesqu e, depicti on s of polo matches (a favo rite spo rt of
the sultan), and proc ession s of rabbits, griffins, and other
lucky anim als.
The paintings of the Ornamental Master in the khu -
rus vault are ano ther exam ple of the way in which Chr is-
tian s and Mu slim s were part of the same cultura l mil ieu.
Altho ugh most likely a Copt, the Orn ame ntal Master
work ed in a contempora ry decorative style ori ginating in
the Islami c wo rld. His reper toire of arabesq ue and geo-
metric paintings and epigraphy was currently popular in
Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. The painted designs of th e Orna-
mental Master are decorative motifs without any religious
significance. In the thirteenth century, they were employed
on religious and secular objects and buildings. Most of
them were developed for Muslim patrons and are thus
iden tified as part ofIslamic ar t. The designs, however, per -
tain not to the religion of Islam but to the predominantly
Mus lim culture that produced them . The y are essentiall y
secular in nature and were employed by Christians as well
as Muslims. The same is also true of Arabic calligraphy,
which originated as a means of writing the Qur'an in a
script beautiful enough to do justice to the words of God
but was also used for secu lar inscriptio ns." The d'Aren-

8.29 ABOVE
Woode n inlay on Minbar of
Ma mluk Sulta n Lagin, 1296,
Mosq ue of Ibn Tulun, Cairo
8 .30 BELOW
Wooden pane l from doors in the
Mu 'a llaqa Church, ca. 130 0 , O ld
Ca iro (The British Mu seum ,
Department of Medieva l and Later
Ant iquit ies, London , inv. 1878, 12)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE KHURUS VAULT
bid Sultan al-Karnil in 1211.44 A similar arabesque was em-
ployed on two astrolabes prod uced in 1228 and 1236 by
'Abd ai-Karim al-M isri (the Egyptian) ." A mi niature from
the Paris Maqamat of 1237, painted by Yahya al-Wasiti
probably in Baghdad, depi cts a veiled wom an wearin g a
red cloak decorated with a white spiral arabesque." The
continuing popularity of thi s design in Egypt among both
Musl ims and Christians at the end of the thirteenth cen-
tury is demonstrated by the minbar (pulp it) presented to
the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo by the Mamluk Sultan
Lagin (1296) (fig. 8.29) and the carved wooden door panels
from the Mu 'allaqa Church (ca. 1300), now in the British
Museum." In the Coptic example, spiral arabesques are
used as a background for crosses (fig. 8.30 ) and for scenes
from the Gospels.
The painter's other arabesque design is used four
times on the khu rus ceiling (K23, K27, K43, K39). Its central I.
berg Basin and the facade of the funerary complex of the
Mamluk Sultan Qalawun (1285) in Cairo both have in -
scriptions praising their royal patrons. Th e Ornamental
Master uses a similar cur sive Arabi c script for writing th e
Psalms in th e khurus vault of the Ch urch of St. Antony.
Th e Ornamental Master was obviou sly trained in a
different tradition from th at of Theodo re, but the styles
of th e two painters were contemporar y. Th eodor e worked
in a conservative Coptic traditi on of figural , religious
painting. The Orna mental Master practiced a style 'of orn-
ame ntal art curre nt in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Documented
examp les of mos t of his patterns were in use in 1233. He
cou ld have painted the khurus vault immediately after
Theodore's depa rture. On the other hand, his decorative
vocabulary was to remain popular in Egypt well into the
fourteenth century. The motifs employed by the Orna-
mental Master therefore do not provide us with a precise
framework for dating the paintings in the khurus.
D E COR ATIV E MO TI FS
The arabesque on the western wall of the khurus
(KI4 ) is the Ornamental Master's largest and most str iking
composition. His spiraling vines and prominent leaves re-
semble those carved on th e wooden cenotaph presented to
th e Mausoleu m of Im am al-Shafi' i in Cairo by the Ayyu-
145
8·31

Deta il of decorative band s on the

khurus ceiling ( K21- K29; AD P/SA 85
149 9 7)

https://coptic-treasures.com/

8.32 ABOVE
Blacas Ewer, 1232, Iraq (The British
Mu seum, Londo n, in v. OA 1866.12-
29·6 1)
8.33 BELOW
He xagonal patt ern (d rawing afte r
Prisse d 'Avennes 1877, pI. 58)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE KHURU5 VAULT
eleme nt is a chain of lob ed medallions form ed by blu e
in terlacing band s. Weaving between th e medallion s is an
ara besque com pose d of two leaf-sprouting vines, one
painted white and the other och er (fig. 8.31). Both of these
o rna mental elements were popular in th e Near East in th e
th irteenth century. Variations of the arabesque network
are found in illustrated Syriac m anuscript s, such as a
gospe l book produced in Mos ul in 1220, which has a
miniature of the entry into Jerusalem that is framed by the
motif." The d'Arenberg Basin is decorated with a more
elaborate versio n of the design aro und its base (fig. 8.28) .
The exterior of the basin is divided into four ho rizon tal
registers by thin bands of silver. The bands interlace at reg-
ular intervals, formin g lobed medallions similar to the
central elem ent of the khurus chain. Met alworkers of Iraq
and Syria often shaped interlacing borders in this manner.
The Blacas Ewer in th e British Museum, made at Mosul in
1232, features an interlocking chain of qu atro -lobed me-
dallions on its neck that is identical to th e one found in
the khurus (fig. 8.32).
147
The Ornamental Master emp loyed the interlacing
medallion s as a fra me for his ara besque. Co ntemporary
metalwork ers, however, usually filled medallion s with mo-
tifs different from tho se of the rest of the decorative band.
The upper register on the exterior of the d'Arenberg Basin
has an Arabic inscription in a plait ed kufic script that is in-
terspersed with lobed medallions containing scenes from
the life of Christ. The Blacas Ewer exhibits med allions
filled with geometric designs that punct uate inscriptions
and figurative scenes (fig. 8.32). The Ornamental Master
uses medallions filled with crosses in the same way on
six of the decorative bands of the khurus ( K21, K25, K29,
K37, K41, K45). In th e Bahri Mamluk period (1250-1382),
leading amirs possessed heraldic blazons denoting ele-
vated rank that were often disp layed on inlaid metal work,
cera mics, an d enameled glass. The base of a brass candle-
stick made ca. 1290 for Amir Kitbugha, now in Baltimo re,
has a bo ld cursive inscription interrupted by rounded bla-
zons containing a bar placed over a stemmed cup, indicat-
ing that the owner had been a saqi (cup-bearer) of the sul-
tan . The Ornamental Master's use of similarly shaped
medallion s filled with crosses was likely a Christian adap-
tatio n of this Mam luk decorative practice."
The geometric designs on the medallion s of the Blacas
Ewer are variations on th e one pain ted o n band s K29 and
K37 in th e kh ums(fig. 8.3{) . They are based on th e hexa-
gon and what has been term ed the root three system of
proportion. " The se hexagonal repeat patt erns were evi-
dentl y popular in th e thirteenth century," The exam ple in
the khums is more com plex than th ose found o n most
metalwo rk of the per iod . A diagram of the expanded de-
sign, derive d fro m a later Cairene architectura l source,
para llels the form seen in the khums ceiling (fig. 8.33). 52It
is also found on a paint ed wood en ceiling from the early
fourteenth century in th e Qa'a of Ahmad Kuhya (fig. 8.41).
This ceiling shares a number of decorative moti fs in com -
mon with the khums vault.
8.34 LEFT

Arrowhea d moti f (K33)

8.35 R IGHT

M adra sa of Ma mluk Sulta n al-

Za hir Baybars, 1262/1263, Cairo

8.36
In terlacing vine scroll s (K26)

8.37
Interlacing vine scrolls, 13 0 0 ,
Minbar ofMamluk Amir
Baktirnur, Mo squ e of Salah Tala'i ',
Cairo (Drawing by Agnieshka
Dobrowolska)

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 THE KHURUS VAULT

Another geometric design used by the Ornamental

8.38 ABOVE RIGHT
Canon table, Eusebia n prol ogue,
wit h portra it of Car pa nios, Armen-
ian man uscript illum inatio n,
1300-1307, Cilicia (Glajo r Gospels,
Ar me n ian MS I , UCLA, p. 5)
Master is painted on the central pa lm trunk at the highest
point of the vault ( K33; fig. 8.34). Red arrowheads, outlined
in yellow, point in alternating directions on a blue field.
Each one is filled with an arabesque. A variation of th is de-
sign is found on the surviving portion of the Madrasa of
the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo (1262/ 1263;
fig. 8.35). It is carved in stone above the lint els of the re-
cessed windows . The stone lint els are decor ated with
hexagonal repeat pattern s.
The int erlacing vine scro lls on bands K26 and K40
(fig. 8.36) are found on an inlaid censer made in Dam ascus
in th e early thirteenth cent ury, wh ich is now in the Aro n
Collection." Alternate versions of the motif com posed of
two undulating scro lls are emp loyed as decorative borders
in the Sircali Madrasa (1243) and th e Karatay Madrasa
(1253) of Konya in Turkey." The minbar don ated to th e
Mosque ofSa lih Tala'i ' in Cairo by th e Mamluk Amir Bak-
timur in 130 0 features the same three-scroll int erlace as the
one used by the Orna mental Master (fig. 8.37).
Most of th e designs used by th e Ornamental Mas ter
seem to have been d rawn fro m th e Islam ic world. The al-
terna ting red, blue, and pale green blosso ms on bands K25
and K41, however, may have originated in th e Arme nia n
kingd om of Cilicia. Th e earliest example can be found in a
gosp el book in the Walters Art Gallery. It dates to 1262 and
thus fits within the tim e period we are suggesting for th e
khurus ceiling program ." The motif is frequently used in
Armenian books to decorate columns and other architec-
tural element s framing th e canon table s, as can be seen in
an exam ple from the Glajo r Gospels (ca. 1300-1307; fig.
8.38) .56 With slight changes, this floral mo tif is found o n
the ceiling of th e Qa'a of Ahma d Kuh ya (ca. 1310), in-
dicatin g that it was em ployed in Egyptian art at abo ut the
same tim e (fig. 8.41). It is int eresting to note that th e flo ral
motif was used in both real and imaginary ar chitectura l
deco ration.
INS CRIPTIONS
Th e use of inscription s in the program of the Orna-
mental Master is another departure from the tradition ex-
emplifi ed by the 1232h 233 paintings. Inscriptions do not
have much of a decor ative function in Th eodore's pro -
gram. Th eir purpose is to convey information . Most iden-
tif y the figures in the paintings and are not part of th e pic-
torial composition but are written wherever space allows.
At times, they resemble graffiti. Theodore's memorial and
dedicator y panels are given more pr ominence but are
equally lackin g in decor ative em bellishments (N31, K4).
Th e two most visua lly im pr essive insc riptio ns fro m th e
1232/1233 program each for m a single line of text painted in
white on a long blu e band. Both are located in the centra l
sanctuary in position s of obscurity. A dedicato ry inscrip -
tion (S1.l4) is placed at the base of the ap se hidden behind
the alta r. A continuous memorial (S33-S36) is painted be-
neath the Twenty-four elders in the upp er zone of th e
sanctuary," Theodore's sole use of Arabic is the encrypted
prayer al-Fadi (<"S'J W I, the Redeemer) ."
Th e Ornamental Master placed greater em phas is
on inscriptions in his decor ative program. Two of th e
woo den beam s in th e khu rus vault are de voted to an
Ara bic inscripti on (K21, K45). Th e letters are white, out-
lined in red, on a blu e band (fig. 8.31). They are writt en in
naskhi , on e of the six styles (al-aqlam al-sittah) of curs ive
calligraphy develop ed in Iraq in th e tenth century. Th e in-
script io ns are severely dama ged, making it difficult to
decip her the com plete text, but th e southern one has been
identified as verses from Psalm 121 (122).59 Three red me -
daliions containing yellow crosses interrupt the inscription
on each beam. The medallions do not correspond to
breaks in the text. Rather, they serve a decorative fun ction,
havin g been painted at regular intervals along the band, to
which th e inscription was then added. Both th e text and
the medallions procl aim a Christian message, but th e
prominence given to the inscription, and the use of a con-
temporary Arabic script, show participation in the same
traditi on that inspir ed mo st of the decorati ve motifs in th e
program of the O rname nta l Master.

https://coptic-treasures.com/
14 9

8·39
D'Arenberg Basin, ca. 1240-1249,
Syria, interior view (Co ur tesy of
the Freer Gallery, Smit hsonian
In stitu tio n, Washin gton , D.C.,
in v. F 1995.10)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
T H E CH URCH OF ST. AN TONY
Th e Fatim ids (969-1171) established the Cairene tra-
dition of placing inscriptions on public bui ldings as deco-
ration and as a means of conveying religious and political
messages." Their publ ic texts are writte n in ku fic, an early
Arabic script develop ed in th e Iraqi town of Kufa. Theo-
dore wrote his single Arabi c phrase in a form ofkufic. Th e
Ayyubids (1171-1250) cont inued the prac tice of using
architectural inscriptions but favored th e mor e recentl y
develop ed cursive scripts. Their first publi c inscription ,
recording the foundation of th e Citadel of Cairo in 1183,
is writte n in naskhi, th e Arabic script used by the Orna-
ment al Master." Thereafter, the curs ive scripts replaced
kufic as th e predominate form of Arabic calligraph y in
Egypt. Under the Mamluks (1250- 1517), continuou s in-
scription band s becam e a standard decorati ve feature in
the Islamic architec ture of Cairo . The funerary complex of
Sulta n Qalawun (1285) has a foundation inscript ion, which
run s the length of the facade, a distance of more than sev-
enty -five meters. The interior of the tomb chamber has an
equally monumental inscription giving the names and
titles of the sultan."
The Ornamental Master painted the first substantial
Arabic inscriptions in the Chur ch of St. Antony. Although
they are Arab ic translations of psalms, their calligraphy
and decorative form derive from contemporary Muslim
models. The d' Arenberg Basin has a similar naskhi inscrip-
tion that is also interrupted by medallions (fig. 8.39 ). On
th e facade inscription of th e Qalawun complex, the spaces
between th e upright lett ers are filled with knots and simple
150
vegetal motifs resembli ng those used by the Ornamental
Master." These two Mus lim inscriptions were prod uced
abo ut forty-five years apart. It was duri ng th e same time
span that the Orna me ntal Master was active in the Churc h
of St. Anton y.
Th e Arabic inscriptions of the khurus are part of th e
decorative scheme of the ceiling zone. They are employed
as one of man y types of ornamental bands. This new dec-
orative emphasis is also seen in th e three Coptic inscrip -
tions of the upper khurus ( K13, K14, K17). The y resembl e
th e two inscription bands painted by Theodore in th e cen -
tral sanctuary. White letters formin g a single line of text
are placed on a blue band. The Ornamental Master, how-
ever, took this traditional form of inscription and mod-
ernized it. The Coptic inscriptions of the khurus are large
and prominently placed. The letters were carefully form ed
in a more calligraphic style than that used by Theodore.
The Ornamental Master also painted a background of dec-
orative vegetal elements.
The northern and southern inscriptions are painted
along the top of the walls and th us become the lowest reg-
ister of bands decorating the ceiling zone ( K13, K17). They
are set on a background of spiraling yellow vines. On the
west wall, beneath th e arabesque, th e inscript ion follows
th e con tours of th e archway leading to the nave (KI4) . It is
interrupted at th e apex by a medallion bearin g a cross. Th e
letters are pain ted closer togeth er than on the side inscrip-
tions, leaving less room for vegetal decoration . Th e three
bands are a continuo us inscr iption from Psalm 86 (87). 64
The sequence is noteworth y. The psalm begins on th e
northern wall (KI7) . It is read from left to right toward the
sanctuary. The second part begins on the opposi te wall
( KI3) and reads from the sanctuary to the nave. Th e third
installme nt is above the arch th at leads back to the nave
(K14) . To read th e complete inscri ption requi res turning in
a full circle.
The five inscr ipt ions in the ceiling zone of the khurus
are an intrinsic part of the Ornamental Master's program.
He appears to have been equally capabl e of using both
Coptic and Arabic calligraphy as part of his decor ative
scheme. There may have been a third painter specializing
in inscriptions, but if so he was working with the Orna-
ment Master. It is less clear who painted the inscription of
Psalm 83 (84 ) on the opposite side of the archwa y over-
looking the nave (N37) . Its red background and braided
border are not used for the inscriptions in the khurus. The
letters of th e archwa y inscription are distinguished by
unique decorative flouri shes-the O's contain crosses, for
exam ple, an d the A's end in bird heads-that are not seen

8·40
Fro ntispiece of the Epistles and
Acts, showing sta nd ing saints,
ma nu scri pt illum ination, New
Testament , 124911 25°, Cairo
(Cairo, Co ptic Museum, Ms. Bib.
94, fol. 131V)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE KHURUS VAULT
elsewhere in th e upper zone of th e khuru s." The deco ra-
tive use of the inscr iption, however, is in keeping with th e
aesthetic of the khurus program. The red band is set
against th e white plaster of the upper level of the nave. It
dr aws the viewer's attention upward into the khurus vault.
Beneath the inscription, on the underside of the arch, are
th e arch angels painted by the Figur al Master. Beyond the
archway can be seen the ornamented ceiling and the paint-
ings of the three women at the tomb and the meeting of
Christ and the women in the garden.
T HE K HU RUS VAU LT
Th e ba rrel vault covering the khurus was probably
present in the Chur ch of St. Antony when Theo dore was
active in 1232/1233. It was no doubt originally int ended to
symbolize Noa h's ark, and thu s em phasizes th e ch urch's
role as the ship of salvation ." The Ornamental Master,
however , took this traditional Coptic architectural form
and transformed it by painting th e khurus vault in a man-
ner suggesting the ceiling of a palace. The spiral arabesqu e
above the archway leading to the nave (K14) is often em-
ployed in min iature paintings of the period to embellish
the facades of schematically repre sented palaces. The khu -
rus arabesque is thus an actual example of arch itectural
decoration known from contemporary art. A copy of the
Maqamat of al-Har iri pro duced in Baghdad (ca. 1225- 1235)
has a number of miniatures showing palaces with archways
decorated with spiral arabesques." An illustrated Copto-
Arabic New Testament produced in Cairo in 1249/1250
I,
uses nearly identical architectural elements decorated
with spiral arabes ques as frames for por tra its of the evan-
gelists (fig. 8.40) .68The Armenian Glajor Gospe l in th e col-
lection of th e University of Californ ia employs a similar
architectural setting for its canon tables. On several folios,
the spandrels of th e arches are paint ed with the same
type of spiral design (fig. 8.38).69 Th e placement of thi s
style of arabesque above archw ays seems to have been
widely associated with palace architecture in the thirteenth
century.
Mam luk literary sources descr ibe the palaces in the
Citadel of Cairo as being elaborately decorated. The histo-
rian al-'Umari visited the Striped Palace of Sultan an -
Nasir Muhammad soon after it was completed in 1315 and
wrote that the facade is "built of black and yellow stone,
and within are dadoes of marble and gold and floriated
mosaic s, heightened with mother of pearl and colored
paste and various colors. The ceilings are all gilded and
paved with lapis lazuli. The light comes through windows
filled with colored glass from Cyprus resembling necklaces
of precious stone. All the floors are paved with marble of
incomparable quality transported from all the countries of
the world.'?"
The construc tio n and the decoration of th e khurus
vault are con sistent with ce ntempo rary palace archit ec-
ture. A large reception hall known as a qa' a was the cent ral
arch itectural unit of medieval Egyptian palaces. It con sists
of two or more raised, covered chambers (iwans ) that open
on to a lofty, central cour t ( dll rqa'a), The ceilings of the
durqa' a and the flanking iwans are mad e of carved and
painted wood. Two types of wooden ceilings seem to have
been favored by Mamluk build ers." In th e Qa'a of Muhib
ad-Din al-M uwaqqi' (ca. 1350) wooden beams project
down from flat wooden ceilings." The method of con-
struction closely resembl es the one used in the khurus. In
Mam luk examp les, the beams are often palm tru nks
dressed with panels of imported wood. " The khurus,
therefore, can be seen as an inexpensive version of these
p al ~ti al ceilings. Th e Qa' a of the Palace of Amir Bashtak
(ca. 1339 ) has wooden ceilings of a different type. The iwans
are covered with rows of paint ed, hexagonal coffers that
form miniature domes." The Palace of Amir Taz (ca. 1352)
contains both of these styles of ceilings." It also has an in-
teresting blending of the two. The painted, wooden ceiling
of the maq'ad (raised reception room ), which overlooks
an inner courtyard of the palace, consists of projecting rec-
tangular beams altern ating with rows of recessed, square
coffers." Thi s same combination of beam s and coffers is
also found in the Qa'a of Ahmad Kuhya (ca. 1310).77

8 .4 1 OPPOS IT E
Ceiling in th e Qa 'a of Ahmad
Kuhya, ca. 13 10 , Ca iro (Co ur tesy
of Bernard O'Kane )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
Both of these architectura l types are incorporated in
the construction of th e khurus vault. The altern ation of
palm trunks with recessed wooden panels is in the style
of th e Qa'a of al-Muwaqqi', Th e rows of hexagon al win-
dow s flanking the central beam of the khurus are deeply
recessed, suggesting the coffered ceilings of th e Bashtak
Palace. These windows show such contemporary taste that
it is likely that the Ornamental Master suggested their ad-
dition to the khurus vault.
The closest surviv ing example of the Ornamental
Master's style of decora tive painting in the khurus is found
in th e Qa'a of Ahmad Kuhya (fig. 8.41). The ceiling of the
chamber, located between the current street entrance and
the southern iwan, is made of projecting beams sepa rated
by rows of recessed woo den pan els. It is larger and mor e
elaborately ornamented than the khurus vault , but both
share a remarkable number of decorative motifs, includ-
ing the black and white hexagonal pattern, the alternating
arrowheads, the "Armenian" floral design, an arabesque
network, and two varie ties of und ulating vine and leaf.
The se striking similarities suggest that the two painted
ceilings might even have been produced by th e same work-
shop, which could have been active between ca. 1283, our
latest date for the Ornamental Master, and ca. 1310, the
date suggested for the ceiling of Ahmad Kuhya."
Th e inscription s in th e program of th e O rna me ntal
Mas ter also emphasize the palatial nature of the khurus.
The archway overlooking the nave is framed by a Coptic
inscription (N37) read ing, "How worthily beloved are your
dwellings, [O J Lord, God of Powers. My so ul . .. " There
was no t room for th e com plete second verse of Psalm 83
(84), " . .. yearns and pin es for your courts." The three
Co ptic inscripti on s at th e base of th e khurus vault are fro m
the first verses of Psalm 86 (87). "His foun dations are on
th e holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more
th an the dwellings of Jacob . Things have been spoken
abo ut you, [city of God]" (KI7, K13, KI4).79 The legible por-
tion of the two Arabi c inscriptions (K21, K45 ) is Psalm 121
(122):3-6.sO The first verse of the same psalm begins, "I was
glad when th ey said unto me, Let us go to th e ho use of the
Lord ." All of th ese inscriptions ar e appro priate for th e
khur us, because th ey dr aw atte ntion to its role as the en-
tra nce chamber of the sanct uary in the ho use of God. The
orna me nta l vault serves as a visua l expression of the same
role. It is decorated in a style appropriate for the en tra nce
corridor of a palace."
It seems certain that the Ornamental Master was a
professional painter of ceilings. H is knowledge of contern-
152
porary mo tifs suggests he catered to cosmopolitan tastes.
He prob ably wor ked in Cairo, the only major city in me-
dieva l Egypt. The O rna mental Master was mos t likely a
Copt, but he could have had Muslim as well as Christian
client s. Houses of the wealth y were decorated in the same
manner regardless of th e religiou s affiliations of the ow n-
ers." His work at th e Monastery of St. Antony may have
been spo nsored by a satisfied Coptic patron .
The pain tings in the ceiling zone of the khurus belong
to an eastern Mediterranean arti stic world that enco m-
passed var ied religious and secular territories. The y have
close stylistic and iconographic ties to two cultures. One is
a Byzantine artistic realm , particularly as found on Cyprus
and in the Monastery of St. Catherine. The second is a
more avant-garde Islami c art bein g made in Egypt, Syria,
Iraq, and Turkey. The work of the two khurus painters is
para lleled in illuminated manuscripts of the period . The
pose of the Figura l Master's seated angel (K12) is em ployed
in the Cairo New Testament of 1249/1250, while the spiral
arabesque of the Ornamental Master is found in that Chris-
tian manuscript, and also in Arab miniatures from the first
half of th e thi rteenth cent ury. Anot her Coptic Gospel
book , dated to 1205 and or iginally in the Mo nastery of St.
Antony, includes illuminations in a Byzantine mod e." We
have suggested that th e florai motif found in the khurus
ceiling der ived ultimately from Armenian illum inatio ns
mad e in th e Kingd om of Cilicia. Manuscr ipt painting,
however, is only one of the numerou s media in which the
artistic vocabulary of th e th irteenth century is expressed,
as the range of comparanda in th is cha pter shows.
In th is context, it is interesting to note that Hunt
has also identifi ed ties between painters active in Egyp t,
Cyprus, and Armenia." She compi les evide nce for th e as-
sertio n that the same men worked on large-scale wall
paint ings (specifically th ose in the Mo nastery of the Syri-
ans, Wadi al-N atrun ) as well as on icon s and manuscript
illuminations." Hunt characterizes these paint ers as be-
lon ging to "a works ho p of Christian artists fro m different
backgrounds, who ha d previously worked at different cen -
ters. Th e relation ship is pro posed here with a wide spec-
tru m of art in the Eastern Mediterra nean of the twelfth to
early thirteenth centuries. Such a melan ge is explicable at
Deir es-Suria ni, where the vario us Chr istian comm unities
coexisted and ma intained contacts outside of Egypt.,,86
The same m ight be said of the khurus ceiling painters , of
a slightly later date. This characterization of Christian art
in Egypt would not be complete without reference to
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8.42
Arabesque ( KI4), detai l
(ADP/SA 17 516 2 97)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
154
THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
Robert Nelson's evaluation of manuscript illumination in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centur ies, becau se although
we have sometimes identified artistic synthesis in the khu-
rus paintings (for example, the an gel of the stone, K12),
mo re often we have found artistic coexistence. Nelson
prese nted a mo del for Coptic book illum ination th at can
usefully be adapted for art in oth er medi a in th is per iod .
Th e progression of Coptic illuminations "cannot be seen
as a continuous evolutionary development , but rath er is
characterized by a series of discrete accommodations to
the artistically more powerful cultures of Byzantium and
Islam .'?" We wou ld suggest on e modification to Nelson's
description. Instead of seeing th e khurus paintings in th e
Mo nastery of St. Anto ny as "acco mmo dations to" Byzan-
tine and Islamic art, we sho uld rather view them all as par-
taking in a shared visual culture, in this period. In fact,
even the discrete characters of Byzantine and Islamic art
have recent ly come under scru tiny. Ant hony Cutler has
revealed significantly blurred boundaries between the art
of these two civilization s."
The inability to categorize the khurus ceiling paint-
ings neatly into one region or tradition is characteristic of
twelfth - and thirteenth-century Mediterra nean art. It fits
completely into an artistic world th at had perm eable
boundaries. On e example of this is the Cappe lla Palatina at
Palermo from th e mid -twelfth century. Its mosaics are
Byzantine, its ceiling paintings are Muslim, and its patron
is the Norman King Roger II. Crusader-period icons made
in a Byzantine style, but with Latin rath er th an Greek in -
scriptions, are ano ther instan ce of thi s fascinating and
polyglot visual culture. We canno t say an ythin g abou t th e
ethnicity of th e two masters who painted the uppe r zone of
the khuru s in th e Chur ch of St. Antony. They may have
been Copts, but if so, the Figural Master probabl y under-
went train ing in Cyp rus or Sinai, while the Ornamental
Master seems linke d to Cairo . As has been demo nstra ted
in the chapters on the 123211233 program, the master
painter Theodore was aware of artistic developments in
the Byzantine, Crusader, and Islam ic worlds. His style was
nevert heless emphatically Egyptian Christian. The paint-
ings in the khurus ceiling, on the contrary, cou ld have been
found as easily in Jeru salem or Dama scus as here in the
eastern desert of Egypt (fig. 8.42).
 Adriano Luzi and Luigi De Cesaris

C HAPTE R 9 CONSERVATION OF THE WALL PAINTINGS IN

THE MONASTERY OF ST. ANTONY AT THE

RED SEA

9 ·1
Virgin Ma ry (N36) , before cleaning
The conservation of the pain ting s
in the Mo nastery of S1. Antony re-
quired a stay of more th an twelve
months, extending over a period of
1
th ree years between 1996 and 1999.
The project was planned and dir-
ected by the authors of this chap ter,
who were assisted by Alberto Sucato
(all mission s from 1996), Gianluca
Tancion i (all missio ns fro m 1997),
Emiliano Alban ese (third and fourth
mission s), Stefano Fulloni (fifth mis-
sion), and Mass im ilano Gusmaroli
(first mission ).
In 1992 we were requested by
th e Cop tic authorities in charge of the monastery to pre-
pare a prelim inary study on th e paintings in th e churc h
and th e conditio ns of th e entire arc hitectura l complex.'
Our in- dep th investigation was cond ucte d d uri ng th e
gro up's first period at th e mon astery in Decem ber of that
year. The ma in focus of the study was the state of the
paintings and the techniques required to conserve th em.
After examining pr eliminary photographic document a-
tion , we executed clean ing tests on areas that represent ed
various states of rep air in the church. Thi s procedure en-
abled us to identify th e meth od s of int ervention we would
use. Our study of th e paintings was also an excellent op -
portunity to obtain an initial understanding of the materi-
als used by the artis ts in the thirteenth century. As an es-
sential prelude to our work on the pictorial surfaces, an
architectural study was carri ed out in 1994 under th e di-
rection of Michae l I. Kujawski.' It was aimed at verifyi ng
the static equilibrium of the walls and stru ctures support-
ing the pa intings. With that study, the preliminary phase
of the project was concluded, and the way was open for
restoration work .
During our examination of th e Churc h of S1.Antony
in 1992, it was immediately evident that the whol e com-
plex, and in particular the cycle of thirteenth-century
paint ings, was in serious freed of conservation. Pho to-
graphs taken over th e previou s twen ty years reveal a pro-
gressive and rapid deterioration in th e paint ings them-
selves.' Apparently, a desire to red iscover obscure d textual
and icon ographic eleme nts in the cycle, and also to photo-
graph and document them , had led to several previous at-
tem pts to clean th e pain ted surfaces, attempts that, sadly,
onl y caused fur ther damage. These degenerative factors
seem to have had an especially negative effect on th e in-
scriptions found in the paintings, many of which have
been compromised or parti ally lost.
Other circ umsta nces that have accelerated the deter-
ioration of the paintings can be blamed on the un avoidable
da ily use of the environment for religiou s purposes, in-
clud.ing repairs and reno vation; shifts in temp erature
and humidity, which would have fluctu ated depend ing on
the number of people in the church; and the presence of
carbon depo sits from the smoke of incense and candles.
The church's paintings and numerou s inscriptions were
often inexpertly tou ched up , or even over-painted (fig. 9.1).
Some of these maintenance operations were carried out
with inappropriate materials, which in specific instances
have completely changed the nature of th e sur faces of the
walls. A decisive eleme nt affecting th e state of conse rvation
is th e seepage of rainwater on th e painted sur faces. This

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155

Conservatio n record, Mercurius
( K3),3.6.1
CONOITION OF PREPARATORY LAYERS
Wear of the intonaco
(top layerof fine plaster)
Deep lacuna showing the arriccio
(base layer of course plaster)
',','.
:::::: Deep lacuna showing themasonry
Pick holes on the intonaco
https://coptic-treasures.com/
THE CHURCH Of ST . ANTONY
damage is marked in the centra l part of th e khurus, where
the water has penetrated wind ows and openings.
After careful study, we identifi ed certa in fundamen-
tal pr obl em s threaten ing th e paintings and th e enviro n-
ment as a who le. A major co ncern cen tered on th e frag-
ment ary sur faces of th e pictorial layer , or iginating fro m
stru ctura l m od ification s made to th e building. Closely
related to thi s was the probl em of falling plaster, and th e
presence of some exte nsive areas of earlier repai r of th e re-
sulting gaps. A thick layer of carbon black and incoherent
deposits covered the interior walls and vault s of th e
church, rendering the sur face illegible. The paintings were
further obscured by the pre sence of superim posed sub-
stances used to brighten th e im ages and by the numerous
inscriptions and graffiti, up to a height of approximately
two meters above ground level.' Finally, in certain areas,
such as the Deesis chapel, dam age to the plaster caused by
insects had resulted in further loss of the pictorial layer.
The condition of the painted wall surfaces was car efully
document ed before and d urin g con servation , as is show n
here for St. Mercurius ( K3; figs. 9.2-9.7, 9.10 , 9.11).
Preparatory Survey
ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTU RE
The mural suppo rt of th e churc h cons ists of raw
bri cks, made up of local soil and gravel combined with
plant materials added as reinforcem ent. The mortar used
to join th ese bricks is made of materials similar to th ose in
the raw bri cks themselves, but with a much lower perc ent -
age of plant fibers . As far as it has been possible to see,
irregular lith ic elements, suc h as sed ime ntary limestone
fro m th e surro und ing area, are also present in certain
points of the wall, as well as a number of ligneous ele-
ments, which occasionally serve as architraves over doors,
windows, and frames for niches but which are also used
as strengthening elem ents for the structure. The walls have
generally been coated with a rough layer of sienna-colored
plaster, of variable consistency, to render the surface more
even.
The mural structure of the cupolas covering th e nave
and sanctuary is also raw br ick covered by plaster. The
centra l vault of the khurus is made up of seven palmwood
beams set longit ud inally to the axis of the church, and in-
serted into the brickwork (figs. 8.1, 8.25). The beams in the
lateral areas of th e khu rus, which are made from different
typ es of wood, are salvage materials th at were insert ed int o
th e verti cal walls transversally to the axis of th e church. A
fram ewor k of wove n palm leaves is fixed to these beam s to
support a covering of plaster.
A considerable nu mb er of stu cco fragm en ts were
found in th e window embr asur es of th e nave, khurus, and
sanc tuary," The shapes of th ese pieces suggest th at th e
window frames were m ade before being set in place. This
observation is particularly no tewo rthy in the upper zone
of th e khurus, where th e two rows of ro und windows at th e
base of th e vault (K19, K47) were certa inly coeval with th e
wall struc ture and were probably m ade in a co unter mo uld
to provide th e p recise thickness of th e frame . Vario us
pieces of colore d glass, in round and ang ular shapes, were
then add ed while th e plaster was still fresh fro m th e
mould. Th e visible pa rt of th e fram e was th en worked in
gesso, using a spatula. Each row of windows was made
from two separate mo lding s that were connected at th e
center by wooden hin ge pins. Th e completed window
frames were finally placed in th e khurus vault, and th eir
upper and lower edges were hidden by a layer of plaster.
The two rows of coffered windows at the apex of th e vault
(K31, K35), made of stucco obtained from a mixture of so il
and plaster, wer e pre sumably also made on site, using
hexagon al co untermo ulds with pairs of cylindr ical holes
set at intervals between them.

9·3
Conservation record , Mercuriu s
(K3),3. 6.2
CONDITION OF PREPARATORY LAYERS
Lack of adhesion between layers
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CONSERVATION OF THE WALL PAINTINGS
PL A S T ER LAYE RS
The surface of th e entire arc hitectural complex com-
prises overlapping layers of plaste r, sim ilar in appearance
but with vary ing percentages of com po ne n t eleme nts . The
mi xture, m ad e up of gesso, calcit e, and organ ic fibers, is
white with a light amber sha de given by th e vegetable con-
ten t.' It is possi ble to ide ntify four separate layers of plas-
ter that were applied between th e sixth and late-thirteenth
centuries. The two mo st extens ive phases of intervention
both date to th e end of thi s period. For th e sake of conve-
nience, th ese two major layers are categorized as the Cop-
tic phase (dated 1232/1233) and the Byzantine phase.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that the
layering of plaster can be quite complex. Because of thi s, it
is necessary to describe the succession of painting phases
in greater detail. The oldest extant painted plaster in the
Church of St. Antony has been assigned to the sixt h or sev-
enth century," It shows Ch rist with the apostles framed by
roundels on the underside of the archway leading into the
Deesis chape l (C4-C9). T he plaster supporting th e im age
was made using an ochre-colored mortar, to a thickness of
157
3-4 mm , containi ng few orga nic fibers and characterized
by a low level of gesso. A seco nd layer of plaster, subse-
qu entl y painted, was added to th e churc h at an unknown
date. Traces of this pictorial program have been identified
in th e nave and in the Deesis chapel. These two earl y
phases pre cede the paintings dated to 1232/1233 and the
so mewhat later, Byzantine-inspired paintings, whi ch are
visible today. The multiple layers of painted plaster created
a palimpsest that we were able to correlate in m an y parts of
the build ing. For example, we were able to determine from
the three plaster sequences covering the archway of the
Deesis chapel that the current thirteenth-century painting
within the chapel was executed on a plaster layer superim-
posed on a previous pictorial phase, even though on ly
traces of the underlying work co uld be seen through the
num erous small gaps in 1232/1233 painti ng.
The plaster of the Coptic phase-on which is found
the pictorial decoration of the whole nave, the lower area
of the khurus, the sanctuary, and the chapel-has an over -
all thickness and composition that is more or less uniform
in all the areas. The layer found in the bowl-shaped vault
of the Dees is cha pel is thin , with a de pth of 2 to 5 m m, laid
over older paintings, which were first chiseled off. It has an
extremely im precise surface, no doubt due to underlying
irregularities and hollows th at may have created d ifficulty
in applying th e m ortar to the co ncave wall. Whe n th e con-
diti on s of th e older plaster were co nside red goo d, the nor-
mal layer of plaste r was repla ced by on e mad e up of gesso
and calcite with a thi ckn ess of 1 to 3 mm laid directly over
th e underlying plaster. O n closer inspec tion it appears
rough an d sligh tly lacking in homogeneity. T his method
was used extensively in th e nave." W hen gaps appeared in
this thirteenth -century layer, earlier painti ng freq uen tly
eme rged.
The Co ptic plaster layer of 1232/1233 was app lied
after a campa ign of arc hitectural modi fication s had been
carried out in the church, including the filling of several
windows with raw bricks, which were plastered over. The
Byzaptine phase of intervention, likewise dating from the
thirteenth century, also involved structural changes to the
church, most notably the opening of a new arch between
the so uthwestern corner of the nave and th e annex leading
to the Deesis chapel (A I , A9) . 1O A new layer of plaster was
th en introduced on th e undersid e of the archwa y between
th e nave and the annex ( AI , A9 ); the archway between the
nave and the khurus (Kl5, K16); and the entire upper sec-
tion of the khurus. It thus forms the foundation for the
work of th e artists identified as th e Figural and Ornamen-
tal Mas ters by Bolma n and Lyster in chapter 8. Co mpared
with that of the earlier phases, the Byzantine plaster is
 T HE CHURCH OF ST . ANTONY
9·4 mo re refined in compos ition, mo re com presse d, with a
Conservation record, Mercurius finer granulation and a higher percentage of plant fibers.
(K3),3.6.3 The un painted sections of the church, including the cupo-
las and the lower sections of the walls, were also covered
CO NDI T IO N OF THE PAI NT lAYERS with thi s plaster. It was at this time that the final arrange-
ment of the unitary program currently visible throughout
~ Wear
the complex was achieved. II
~ Lacuna
During the conservation work it was also noted that
~ taskof cohesion the Byzantine plaster covere d the top and bottom margins
of the Co ptic paintings in th e nave, the lower area of the
khurus, and th e sanctuary in a fairly regular manner. Dur -
ing work on the up per portions of the paintings on the
north wall of the nave, a number of inscr iptio ns came to
light beneath the plaster. They named th e figures illus-
trated in the paintings below and mu st or iginally have
served as captions on th e unpaint ed Co ptic plaster above
the pictori al band (fig. 4.19 ). In the khurus, the paintings
of the rich man in hell, to the right of th e three patr iarchs
(K5), and th e two pages of Mercurius (K3 ; fig. 9.2), th ou gh
in a perfect state of co nservation, were com pletely ob-
scured by the Byzantine layer. These figures were painted
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o utside the frames of the larger pictorial compositions. We
can conject ure that bot h the captions in the nave and
figures in the khurus were covered over in an attempt to
br ing greater order and uniformity to the painted program
of the churc h."
We know that the Byzantine layer of plaster was don e
within a relatively short per iod of tim e after the comp le-
tion of th e Coptic phase. When we un covered paintings
fro m 1232/1233 that had been plastered over, the y were re-
vealed to be almost completely free of smoke and di rt. This
remarkable state of cleanliness suggests a passage of tim e
of less th an half a century between the two ph ases.
Pictorial Layer
For the sake of convenience, the pictorial layer of th e
successive ph ases will be dealt with using the following dis-
tinction, which is similar to th e one previousl y used fo r
the plaster: the early paintings (ca. 55°-700); the Coptic
paintings (1232/1233) ; and th e Byzantine paintings (ca.
1235-1285). All of the paintings in the church are done in
the secco technique. We will examine the distinctive fea-
tures and painting techniques of each phase, paying parti c-
ular atte ntio n to both pr eparatory dr awings and th e final
execution of the paintings.
Early Paintings
The early painting on the underside of the arched
entra nce of th e Deesis chape l shows Christ and the apos-
tles frame d in ro undels (C4-C9; figs. 3.3, 3.4) .13 Irregular
areas of color were used to define faces, clot hing, an d
backgro und, which then received brushstrokes of thicker,
denser color. The mantle of Christ, for example, was first
painted yellow, before a reddish-brown color was super-
imposed. " Tiny decorative elements were then added,
using black and white pigment. Flesh tones were created,
using a background of pale ochre, on which foreheads and
lips were defined in red an d eyes in white. Finally, all the
figurative elements were finished with a black outline."
Th e slight differences in diameter of the roundels,
their irregularities in outline, and the lack of symme try in
th e frames lead us to think th at th ere was no planned divi-
sion of th e space before painting comme nced. Traces of a
pr eparatory drawing in red, executed using a brush, can,
however, be identified along the outline of the red cloaks
of th e apo stles.
Coptic Paintings
Ana lysis of th e bind ing agent of th e paint has yielded
th e presence of animal proteins and traces of po lysaccha-

--- - -- - - -- - -- - -----------
9 ·S
Co nservation record, Merc ur ius
CONDI T I ON Of THE PAINT LAYERS
m Continuousorganic deposit
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CONSERVAT ION OF THE WALL PAINTINGS
rid es. At th e moment, th e o nly binding agent that d iffers
from the homogeneous on e used generally is beeswa x,
em ployed for a particular type of green that is very bri ght
and sem itransparent. This color, which is used for finish -
ing tou ches, was prob ably applied hot. In fact, th e thick-
ness and irreg ular ap pearance suggest rapid applicatio n
using a not particularly fine brush , in orde r to prevent th e
bindi ng agen t fro m coo ling down too quickly.
T he pictorial layer is genera lly applied in flat fields of
color of a certain thickness, which in some cases overlap
by several centimeters. Each area of co lor define s som e
aspect of the larger painting, including faces and clothes,
architectural details, and background. On these homogen-
eous fields, all the other decorative elements were gradu -
ally added in more detail, with increasing care. A char-
acteristic of the technique of these painters is an almost
transparent brushstroke that ad ds sha di ng to d raperies
and architectura l elements. In the final stages of work, th e
pain tings were defined even more. Not onl y were edges
outlined precisely in black , but fine wh ite lines were add ed
as a finishin g touch th at fur ther en ha nces the pictori al
159
image . This white pigment was also used to highlight
many of the decorative elements and inscriptions in the
program. "
It is int eresting to observe the meth od used to paint
flesh. Th e face and hand s were first outlined in yellow.
Thi s preparato ry painting was th en filled in with an ochr e
co lo r, and the lines were carefully painted over in the same
pigment to give more prec ise definition to the eyebrows,
eyes (sha ded on upp er lids), mo ut h, an d fingers . At thi s
po int , using an even thinner and more pr ecise black line,
th e painters drew in th e eyes (genera lly a single arc fro m
th e eyebrows to the tip of the nose ), the irises, an d the
profile. Fina lly, white was adde d to the bea rd , earlobes,
an d eyes.
We did not identify a systematic method of dividi ng
the space on the wall before the painting of the 1232/1233
program. Rather, the lack of unifo rmi ty in frames and
architectura l elements leads to th e suppositio n th at th e
layout for the paintings was develop ed as the work pro -
gressed. Th e extensive gaps in th e pictorial layer revealed
that the preparatory paintings were applied by fast but de-
cisive brushstrokes of yellow. In alm ost all the cases we
cou ld determin e, th is preparatory stage was followed
faithfully in th e executio n of th e final painting." In a few
cases, such as th e twen ty-four elders of th e apocal ypse
(S33-S36), we found hol es 'w here nails were used to anchor
string that guided th e formation of th e red frames sur-
rounding the paintings. We assume that the frame con -
taining Christ Pan tocrator (S12) was ma de with a com pass,
although the central ho le has not been found.
Whil e working o n th e equestrian martyrs in th e
western half of th e nave, we found traces of earlier paint-
ings beneath Theo do re Stra telates (N22) and th e hor se of
George (N25), which suggests th at th ere may be a co nnec-
tion between th e iconographic layout of th e underlying
paintings and th at of th e 1232/1233 program. IS A red in -
scription ident ifying Claudiu s (NI9) on either side of th e
saint's head m ay be another indi cation of thi s relation. T he
wor ds AG IOC KLAYTIOC can be perceived because of th e
thinness of th e overlying paint. " They were pro bably writ-
ten as a temporary mark identifying the subject.
By zan tine Paintings
In the areas painted with figurative scen es-the west-
ern-facing wall of the upper zone of the khurus (xu , K12,
KI8), the un ders ide of the archway between the nave and
th e khurus (K15, K16 ), and th at betw een the nave and th e
ann ex (AI, A9) -system atic mean s of transposition of th e
drawing do not appear. The on ly exception is th e use of a
 T HE C HU RC H OF ST. AN TO NY
compass for the ro undels decorating the garments of the
arc hangels, and perh aps also for the two globes th ey hold.
It is pr ob able that th e geometr ical irregularity of th e sur-
face and the execution of a com plex series of figures in
such a confined space result ed in th e im mediate elabora-
tion of th e pictorial eleme nts. Numerous cha nges in th e
program , both after the pre paratory dr awin g (halo of
Christ, K18; fig. 8.11 ), and following th e application of paint
(overlapping of Mary Magdal ene's mantle and the Virgin's
dre ss, K18; fig. 8.4), suggest that the composition was fully
defined onl y during painting.
Analysis shows the presence of animal proteins in th e
Byzantine binding agent. The techni cal methods em-
ployed during painting, which can easily be compared
with those used on icon s from the sam e period, make it
possible to identify this binding agent as egg yolk. Th e pig-
ments are more finely ground than th e on es used during
the Coptic pha se, resulting in a transparency that allows
plant fibers in the und erlying plaster, as well as prepar a-
tory draw ings, to show through on occasion. The se deli-
cate layers of pigment were ap plied a number of tim es to
obtain more intense shades of color. Th is characteristic
layerin g is not seen in more com pact and th icker areas of
color, such as the blu e of Mary's dr ess. In th ose instan ces,
a light er shade of the color, obta ined by mixing th e pig-
ment with white, is used to define dr ap ery or light falling
o n rocks."
A series of steps was requ ired to produce flesh ton es
on faces and hands. After th e application of th e pre para-
tory d rawin g, which was tr aced in brown an d is still visible
in areas, the background color was added in a solid field of
transparent ochre. Once th is initial ph ase was com pleted,
the shaded areas of the face and hands were added by ap-
plying additiona l tra nsparent layers of color on top of o ne
anot her. Next, th e outlines were redraw n and underlin ed
with decis ive black lines. The app licatio n of th e paler areas
of flesh then followed, with the painters maintaining the
transparent ochre background in man y areas while else-
where painting over it with th in stro kes in a variety of
shades of pink mixed with white . Thi s application takes
the characteristic form of thin par allel lines, almos t like a
network of brushstrokes, which at times leave th e underly-
ing dr awing visible and at other tim es cover it. This proce-
dure was used to deline ate form s in all th e area s that tend
to catch th e light, such as the brows , th e cheekbo nes, and
th e eyes them selves (fig. 8.3). Th e calligraphic and geomet-
ric appea ra nce of thi s technique whe n viewed close at
han d is transformed, when viewed from a distance, int o an
extremely effective sense of volume and contrast betw een
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160
areas of light and shade. Certain facial features were then
retraced, using a dark pigment to define anatomical de-
tails. At times a naturalistic effect emerges-for example,
in the Virgin's eyebrows, where the use of alternati ng par -
allel dark and light lines is effective in depicti ng the brows
themselves. A similar effect is used to strengthen th e dar k
tones in the iris of her eyes."
Sim ilarities in the composition of th e two pairs of
archangels caused us to wonder wheth er the y had been
traced using a template." Altho ugh certain correspo n-
dences exist between the outlines of th e faces and haloes of
th e arch ang els between the nave and khurus ( KIS, K16;
fig. 8.1), substa ntial differences are also evident. Somewhat
closer analogies were found between the pro files of th e
other two Byzantine archangels o n th e archway between
the nave and the annex (AI, A9; fig. 8.20) . Their overall
outlines are very similar, especially in the faces, lower bod -
ies, and wings. If models were used in either case, they
mu st have been ad apt ed to the irregularities in the archi-
tectural struc ture and modified during pain ting. This is
noti ceable both in the use of different decor ative det ails
and in the pre sence of adaptations and resizing, which un -
derstandably would have occurred at th e tim e of painting.
Finally, a special wax treatm ent used on the arch-
angels between th e nave and a.rlnex (AI, A9) req uires dis-
cussio n. Th is wax was app lied ho t, with a brush, in a rapid
mann er that at times left vario us areas of paint un covered.
We found no trace of dirt between th e wax and th e pictor -
iallayer, which means th at the fixing-encaustic operation
was carried o ut very shortly after pain ting. It mu st be
specified that the paintings o n th e arc h were app lied to a
sur face th at had been plastered for some tim e. Under the
pictorial layer, a cross that was paint ed when th e archway
was still otherwise un decorated can be seen near the right
hand of one of the arc hange ls (A9) . At the time of th e final
pictorial phas e, the wall had cracked and been repaired,
with heterogeneous materials different from tho se used for
the plaster on wh ich the arc hangels were painted. Th ere is
thus an interesting palimp sest, not of layers of plaster, but
of pictori al layers: the cross painted in red with a wax-ap-
plication of gree n; a prot ective layer of wax; th e pictorial
layer with the archangels; and a wax coatin g."
A very different working meth od is found on the
decorative bands of the khurus vault (K19-K47; fig. 8.25) .
Th e geometric, arabesq ue, and vegetal pattern s were tran s-
posed usin g a com pass and guidelines of fine cord imp reg-
nated with red. In th e large arabesque on the easte rn-fac-
ing wall of the upper khurus (K14; fig. 8.26), however,
preparatory methods are less evident. The geometrical ir-
 CONS ERVATION OF TH E WA ll PA INTINGS
9.6 regularity of the surface made the use of systematic instru-
Co nservatio n record , Mercuri us ments (thread and compass) difficult when laying out the
(K3), 3.6.5 composition. In all probability the compass was simpl y
used as a measuring device to fix the reference points re-
PREVIOUS TREATMENTS quired to trace the spiral s, and perhaps to draw the circle at
the center of the inscription. The gaps in the pictorial layer
c:J Nai l hole
have allowed us to observe that the pr eparatory drawing
iIIlIIl Oyerpainting was painted in yellow.
~ Gypsum-based fi lls
State of Preservation
O ur ana lysis of the conditions includes assessme nt of
architect ura l struc ture, plaster layers, pictori al layers, and
pr eviou s interventions (figs. 9.2-9.7, 9.10, 9.11)24
ARC H ITECTURAL STRUCTU RE
Modi fication s made to the extern al stru cture of th e
vault s resulted in an increase in weight th at caused com-
pr ession of the original mud bricks and the cracking of
some of th e walls. Alteratio ns in th e static equilibr ium are
especially evident in the khurus vault, where there is frac-
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161
turing and deformation of the pain ted wooden beams above
the long itudinal window on the north side. The wide gap at
the bottom of the scene showing the three women at the
tomb (K12; fig. 8.24) was certainly caused by compression
of the central area of the wall. A large central crack in the
eastern wall (xn , K12, K18) is also apparent. Equally evi-
dent is the longitudina l crack ing found througho ut the
arc hway between th e nave and th e khurus (K I 5, K16 ; fig. 17,
introduction ). A similar situation can be found in th e
sanctuary on the two side walls suppo rting the central
cupola, and again on th e northeastern wall, where th e
com pression has caused three extensive gaps at approxi -
mately 1.5 m above floor level. Severe areas of plaster de-
tachm ent in the nave were caused by comp ression of th e
walls. The dam age is particularly apparent in th e paintings
of Sheno uda, Pach om ius, and Barsaum a (N28, N12, NIl;
fig. 4.22) on th e archway. The entrance of the Deesis chapel
has been reduced by approximately 30 em of its original
height due to stru ctur al modification s.
Stability of the walls has been fur ther compromised
by changes to the int erior of the church, especially the
creation of niche s below the painted zone in th e nave at
th e center of the west wall (N20, N21), the northeastern
corner (N34) , and under the dedi catory inscription (N31).
The introduction of such wooden elements as iconostasis,
beams, and doorways also damaged the sur face of the walls.
Example s can be seen in the nave between N23 and N24
(arc hitrave of the entrance door); at N31 (where the door
was transformed into a cupboard); and at N7 and N32 (the
insertion of the first of the two wooden screens ). Further
examples were found in th e khurus on the walls at K5 and
K6 (beams inserted abo ve the paintings, and long shelves
added at their base); below K4 (insertion of a met al chest );
at K7 (introduction of a cupboard); at K9 (a new architrave
above the paintings); and at Kl and KlO , where the wooden
entrance to the sanctuary and the overlying beam in the
arch abut. In many cases later insertions have been re-
mov ed, and the plaster repaired (for example, Kl) .
PLASTER LAYERS
A widespre ad loss of adhesion between th e various
layers of plaster, as well as fro m the supporting wall, could
be seen in th e proximity of th ese arc hitectura l mo d-
ifications. " Particularly extens ive and deep were the de-
tachments of the plaster on the wall bearing the Easter
cycle in th e khums (xu , K12, K I 8). The two side walls that
suppo rt th e vault and bear the Cop tic inscriptions also
revealed serious detachment, in thi s case caused by rain."
At the lower level of the khurus, the plaster on the walls
 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY

Partial or total loss of the layers of plaster also oc-

curred in the form of deep gaps (fig. 9.2)28 This damage re-
sulted from a number of causes, including the opening of
niches close to paintings, the insertion of wooden elements,
and the sealing off of windows before the paintings were
applied. In the latter case, the loss of plaster is to be attrib-
uted to the more fragile conditions of unbaked bricks used
as fill.
In some areas of the church, loss of cohes ion of the
plaster caused the subse quent crumbling of the inert mate-
rials between the orga nic fibers. This ph enomenon is
mainly evident in the areas on the side walls of the upper
por tio n of th e kh urus, and in th e Deesis chapel. When the I ,

com pression of th e wall structure is particularly severe, th e

plaster debris has been deposited inside the deeper cracks.
We also discovered fragments of plaster that bor e
traces of pain tings and had been detached acciden tally, or
as a resu lt of hu man int ervention, in th e window embra-
sures of the d ru m of the cupo la in th e central sanctuary.
Ano ther painte d fragment, from K7 and K8, was found
dur ing the removal of th e cupboard.

P ICTORIAL LAYER

Total or partial absence of the picto rial layer is evi-

dent throughout the paintings. The damage is gener ally
a
very extensive, and is due to number of factor s:

1 Infiltration of rainwater from the windows in the

khurus, in the drum of the sanctuar y, and in the
9·7 depicting George (K8) and Mercurius (K3) also suffered
nave at N3, N19, N21, and N33;
Conservation record , Mercurius from loss of adhesion, which in all probability is due to the
(K3),3. 6.6 presence of sealed -off windows (fig. 9.3) .27 In the sanctu- 2 Humidity in the upper part of the sanctuary, where
ary, detachment was evident in the semidome of the cen - the hermetic sealing of windows interacted with the
PREVIOUS TREATMENTS tral apse and along the central and lower area of the north particul ar thermohydrom etric conditions of the site,
and east walls. In the nave a particular type of detachment in particul ar, the great differences in temperature
Fixative and wax
between plaster and wall could be found where the win- typical of the desert environment;
~
cc
cc Cement-based fil ls
o dows have been sealed off (an operation that took place
3 New layers of plaster superimposed on earlier levels
during the th irteenth century).
could also accentuate the gaps. A representative case
In th e Deesis chapel, th e paintings on the archway
can be found in the arch band of the chapel (C4-C9),
showed an alarming degree of detachment, caused by
where the already precarious state of preservation
structural modifications to the walls. The loss of adhesion
of the original painting may have been compromised
here depended on th e particular characteristics of the
further by the two subsequent applications of
application techniqu es used and the presence of earl ier
undecora ted plaster, one irregular, and the other
layers of plaster. In this case, the thirteenth-century level
particularly fine.
was laid over two previo us plaster levels that in all proba-
bility alrea dy presented a delicate state of balance. A num- Other damage to the pictorial layer includes:
ber of holes made by insects were also found in th e chapel. 1 Raised flaking of the paintings, which is especially
Feeding on the organic fibers in the wall, they tunneled present close to the perimeters of the gaps in the
through the unbaked bricks of the structure, exacerbating pictorial layer, and where the pigments were applied
plaster detachment. in particularly thick layers;

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162
 CONSERVATION OF THE WALL PA INT INGS
2 Poor adhesion of the pigment to the support, caused
by a lesser amo unt of gypsum in the components
making up the original plaster (C4- C9);
3 The use of wax in the application method, resulting
in widespread damage. In the pain ting of the arch-
way at the entrance to the annex (AI, A9), tears and
flaking of the pictorial layer have occurre d at poi nts
where the wax covering is thickest.
4 Spider webs and butt erfly nests, generally present
in the upper areas of th e church, and in the Deesis
chapel.
5 Small corrugations in the sur face of the pictor ial
layer resulting from a white coating of soluble salts,
such as sulfates and chlorides, located along the
edges of the plaster fill ings, and in the areas most
affected by abundant and persistent infiltration of
rainwater. These localized ph enom ena are found in
the sanctuary, the khurus, and parts of th e nave
walls.
6 The sliding of the pictorial layer, another type of
damage always associated with the presence of
water. It was less widespread , but was found in th e
upp er area of the khurus, by the longitudinal
windows, and on the east wall of the nave.
7 Mud deposits caused by rainwater , found in the
vicinity of windows or in relation to faults in the
roof.
Chromatic alterat ion of the paintings has also oc-
curred over time. Colo rs obtained by adding white lead
oxidize when exposed to heat, resu lting in a more exten-
sive browning." Thi s phenomenon can be seen on the
white s used in the upper zone of the khums (K11, K12, K14,
K18; fig. 8.S), and to a lesser extent in the Coptic inscription
and depiction of the archangel Gabriel (K16). The color
chang e app ears in correspondence with th e area s th at
would have been expose d to th e di rect light of th e sun
when the windows were in use." A simi lar disco loration
occurred at th e lower areas of th e pa int ings, where th e heat
of cand le flam es caused the oxidation of th e yellow ochre
pigment." The alterations to th is pig ment, however, are
limited."
A m ore widesprea d phenomen on is atm osph eric
particulate and carbon residue deposited on the surface of
th e paintings. Th ese par ticles form because the ch urc h is
situa ted in a desert enviro nme nt, where almost-consta nt
winds carry extremely fine sand and organic dust. The car-
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bon resid ue is likewise due to th e ritual use of incense,
candles, and oil lam ps during liturgical practices. The
buildup is more accentuated in those areas where the walls
are not perpend icular but lean outwards-for example, in
the area depicting the Coptic patriarchs in th e sanctuary
(S5-S7) and the paintings of Merc ur ius (K3; fig. 9.5) and
George in the kh ums (K8).
PR EVI OUS I NT ERVENTI ONS
Another asp ect of th e general dark en ing of th e sur -
faces is caused by th e presence of residu al m aterial (in-
cluding oils, waxes, and resins) from inadequate previou s
restoratio n works, presumably applied to brighten or con-
solidate the paintings. Th ese substances are widely located
along th e whole lower strip of paintings in th e ch urc h
and are particularl y thi ck on th e wall of th e apse in th e
sanctuary (si) .
Th e use of water and popular solvents during at-
tempts to clean the paintings is particularly significant in
th e depictions of St. Paul and St. Antony (x i, N2) in th e
nave. A related problem is the lack of cohesion of th e pic-
torial layer resulting from the pul verization of pigment s.
Thi s ph enomenon mainl y arose fro m incautious sponging
and other exposur e of th e surface to water during per iodic
attempts to im pro ve legibility of the figurative an d written
elements. .
Repairs made d uring var ious stages of maintenance
caused abras ion and wear. Th e dam age is particularly
evide nt on th e lower levels of th e paint ings, because th ey
are more accessible. In some cases, traces from th e tools
used to lay on the new mortar can be identified. Repair of
cracks using materials unsu itabl e because of thei r hard-
ness and components altered the original physical equili-
brium of the plaster layer. Variou s types of plaster have
been identified, bu t they can not be related prec isely to the
pha ses of intervention. It is possi ble, however, to identify
three types of gypsum -based plaster (two grayish-wh ite,
the third pinkish in color) , as well as a ceme nt-based type.
T~ese all overlap extens ively onto the pictorial layer, coat-
ing it with d rips and sp lashes of mortar; only a few areas
were later rei nteg rated with ro ugh pa inti ngs. For the ex-
act location , reference should be ma de to th e graphic doc-
um ent ation (figs. 9.2-9.7, 9.10, 9.11). T he lack of care that
characterizes all th ese repairs leads us to suppose th at th ese
were lim ited and unplanned m aint enan ce operations.
The poss ible pr esen ce of earlier consol idation work
is indica ted by large bulges in th e kh ums (K3-KS, K8) and
th e Deesis chapel, and by d rippings from a gypsu m- based
mortar in proximity to several ho les in areas where exten-

Virgin Mary (N36), with over-
paintin g half-removed
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THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
sive detachment of the preparatory layers from the sup -
port has occurred. Evidence of occasional anchoring has
been identified in the khurus along the entire edge of the
vast gap in the plaster, in the scene showing the th ree
women at the tomb (xu , K12). Small anchoring points were
made using bridges of cotton and what is presumably
vinylic resin.
After the com pletion of the 1232/1233 program, there
were successive repainting opera tions that resulted in rad-
ical changes to the appearance of Theo dore's work. These
later interventi on s were part icularly obvious in the figures
of Theodore (N22; figs. 5.2, 5.3) , George (N25), Antony and
Paul (xi, N2; fig. 15, introd uction), the Virgin Mary in the
nave (N36; figs. 9.1, 9.8, 9.9) , and Merc uri us in the khurus
(K3; fig. 9.6). Port ions of the orig inal paint ings were com -
pletely hidden, such as the bow of Theodore, the decora -
tive motifs on George's saddle, and the marble-inspired
decor ation on the column beside the Virgin. Some details
were modified; for example, the mantles of Theodore and
George were lowered by several centimeters. Others were
completely changed: the tip of George's sword was turned
into drapery, and the white mane and tail of his hor se were
changed to red. Emblematic of these over- paintings is the
transform ation of the faces of Theodore's figures. In the
case of George, the Virgin (fig. 9.8), and Paul, the facial
featu~es have been moved by a few centimeters. The on ly
pictoria l repairs made by painting on fresh, white gyp-
sum-based plaster were foun d on the wall depicting
Antony and Paul and in the lower area of paintings on the
southern nave wall. It shou ld be noted that both the upper
and the lower area of the sanct uary have been exempted
from any repainti ng, possibly because they were reserved
for the celebrants.
The oldest paintings in the Church of St. Antony
9·9
Virgin Mary (N36), with all of th e
over paint ing removed

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 THE CHURCH Of ST . ANTONY
were discovered on the underside of the archway leading
Co nservation recor d, Mercur ius into the Deesis chapel (C4-C9; figs. 3-1, 3.3, 3.4). On thi s
surface a number of pictorial interventions succe ssive to
the original painting have been identified. The se at times
PRESENT TREATMENT almost amount to revisions and are extremely interesting
because they date from a very antique period. A con sistent
~ He-establishment
layer of dirt can be seen between th e ori ginal pigm ent and
1111 Stabilization B the later pictorial revisions, clearly indicating tha t the ear -
liest painting on the arch band had been exposed for a lon g
perio d before being refreshe d.
During the course of th e early restoration of the
pain ting, th e red bo rders of th e roundels surro unding th e
apostles were emphasized, as were almost all the black out-
lines. In th e to p portion of th e ro undels, the orig ina l back-
ground of light blue was painted over with a darker shade
in which a slightly green color prevails. This int ervent ion
is more evident on the west side. The face and hand of
Christ and the face of James show a reworking of the flesh
to nes that changes the original ochre tints to a slightly pink
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166
color. It is parti cularly int erestin g to ob serve how th e
lower part of Peter has been covered by a layer of grayish-
white, on which th e confused lines of th e hands, bible, and
keys have th en been summa rily outlined. Within the
roundels of Peter and Jam es, various traces of black letter-
ing, contem porary to th e repa inting operatio n, have been
identifi ed. It is important to underline that during resto ra-
tion it was decided to preserve the preceding interventions
because of their particular antiquity.
Operations Performed
Considering th e delicate state of preservation and the poor
legibility of the entire pictorial cycle, we thought it was
advisab le to proceed with all the phase s of conservation in
lim ited areas at one time. This process facilitated recovery
of every fragment, even in places where there was signi-
ficant damage to pictorial layers, such as in th e upp er part
of the sanctuary or in the episodes relating to the life of
George (K9). Our intervention usually consisted of the fol-
 CONSERVATION OF THE WAll PA INT INGS

R EMO VAL O F O L D OV ERL APPI N G P L A ST ER AN D

S P LAS HES O F MOR T AR

Th e plaster was rem oved mechanically using a

scalpel and mechanical precision devices. Thi s operation
required particular attention in order to ensure that even
the smallest fragments were recovered from where th e
plastering overlapped the painted sur face (fig. 9.13).

9.11 A BOV E lowin g phases: (1) preliminary clean ing of th e surface,

Conservation record, Mercurius (2) rem oval of the old overlapp ing plaster and splashes of
(K3),3. 6.8 mortar, (3) precon solidation of the pictorial layer, (4)
readhesion of flakin g areas of pictorial layer, (5) conso li-
PRESENT TREATMENT dation of areas of plaster at risk and readhesion of fallen
mw
Will Stabilization A areas of plaster bearing trace s of pictorial layer, (6) clean-
ing, (7) con solidation of deep and sur face detachments of
G Mi~rofills plaster, (8) repair of plaster, (9) consolidation of the pic-
ml Stabilization of the paint layers tori al layer, and (10) picto rial reintegration of gaps (figs
I
• Tralteggio reintegration 9.10-9 .13).

9 . 12 ABOVE RIG HT

Adr iano Luzi at work (ADP/SA 16

PR ELIMI N ARY CLEAN ING OF T H E SU RFACE

Before commencing conservation operations it was

necessary to perform mechanical removal, using soft sable
/
brushes, of the incoherent deposits on the whole surface,
S19298)
in particular on the nonperpendicular walls (fig. 9.12). The
9 .13 BE LOW RI GHT strips used for provisional an choring of areas at risk during
Albe rto Suca to at work (ADP/SA 3 th e eme rgency interventions in 1992 were also removed,
s 19 4 98) using an orga nic solvent (nitre thi nner).

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 THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
9·'4 PR E CONSOLIDATION OF THE PICTORIAL LAY ER
Em iliano Alba nese at work In certa in restricted areas it was necessary to carry
(ADP /SA 2 S ' 94 98) out preconsolidation using an acrylic resin solution (2 per -
cent Paraloid B72 in a nitre thinner) . More specifically, this
was used to treat the black identification inscriptions writ -
ten in Coptic and some of the black outlines around the
figur es. In some cases, it was considered advisable to ex-
tend precon solid ation operation s to th e who le surro und-
ing area-for examp le, in th e vicinity aro und th e inscrip -
tion at the base of th e cupo la in the centra l sanctu ary, an d
of over- paint ed images. The precon solidation was particu -
larly necessary for th e paint ings on th e archway of the
Deesis chapel (C4-C9) , where th e desire to preserve th e old
pictorial repa irs made it necessary to repeat the operation.
R E A D H E S I O N OF FLAKING AREAS
OF PICTORIAL LAYER
Flaking areas of th e picto rial layer were m ade to
readhere by infiltration of an em ulsion of acrylic resin ( 15
percent Primal A C3 3 in water) and the gentle pressure of
the spatula. At tim es, in more delicate areas, a sheet of sili-
con pape r or of polyethylene was int erposed to facilitate
adhesion.
C ON SO LI DATION AN D REA D HES I ON
During th e first stage of operation s it was pr eferr ed
to limit consolidati on only to areas of plaster th at were at
risk, using injections of an emulsion of acrylic resin (20
percent Primal A C 33 in water) and a limited am ount of
plasterin g (fig. 9 .14). The mortar used was sim ilar in both
appearan ce and composition to the original one, based on
gypsum and sieved soil in a ratio of 1:2.
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168
The areas of painted plaster that had fallen due to
human causes connected with normal use of the site were
replaced using a layer of mortar made of sieved soil and
gypsum in a ratio of 1:1. This operation was also guara n-
teed by the use of ad hesion points, formed by limit ed
infiltration of an emulsion of acrylic resin (20 percent
Prim al AC33 in water). The backs of th e fragments were
tr eated with a solution of acrylic resin (3 percent Paraloid
B7 2 in nitre thinner) before being replaced.
C LEAN ING
The method used during this phase of the operation
was det ermined according to the substances to be re-
moved and the resistance of the pigment s, the latter being
determined by the state of the pictorial layer and by the
technical char acteristics of th e paint ing. The layer of co-
herent deposits and carbon black was rich with greasy sub-
stances. It was also cha racterized by a composite but al-
most homogeneous nat ur e. A method was develop ed that
simultaneously used solutions and solvent s with different
polarities, in a variet y of con centrations and combina-
tion s. Of fundamental importance was the use of acetone
to speed up the time of evaporation of the partiall y polar
solutions. The organic solvent was added to the solutio n in
proportions of fro m 20 to 60-percent. In some cases the
operations were performed by immersing the swab first in
th e polar solutio n and then in the organ ic solvent. When
confronted by a more cohere nt layer of dirt, the surface
was treated using a brush or tissue with organic solvents
(nitre thinner or a mixt ure of nitre thinner, amyl acetate,
and dimethylform ami de in a ratio of I:Vd '2) (figs. 9.15,
9 .16) .33 Then the po lar solution was app lied on a swab
before evaporation of the solvent itself. In areas where the
pictorial layer showed a relatively good state of preserva-
tion (xu, K12, K15, K16, KI8), the polar solution (which
always includ ed aceto ne ) was sim ultaneously buffered
with white spirit.
When confro nted with over-p ainting, and oily or
res i n~ us substances, mixt ures of organic solvents were
used (Did ax, that is to say, dimeth ylfom am ide, nitre thi n-
ner, acetone, and xylol in the amounts of 3 5 cc, 15 cc, 10 cc,
10 cc; and nitr e thinner, dim ethylfomamide, and water in
a ratio of 11:3 :1 ). Greasy substa nces and wax were removed
using chlorin ated solvents, in some cases warmed in a
double boiler to a temperature of approximately 4 5 ° c.
Where the wax was of considerable thickn ess (due to
splashing from candles), clean ing was facilitated by warm-
ing th e surface using th erm ocaut ery before removing the
wax mechanically or with solvents.

9. 15 LEH
Luzi at work in th e sanct uary,
re mov ing thi ck deposits from the
archa ngel Ga br iel (51; ADP/SA 2
519298)
9.16 RIGHT
The arc ha ngel Gab riel (51) with
one remaining uncl ean ed str ip
(ADP/SA 6 Sl92 98 )
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CONSERVA T ION OF THE WAl l PA INT INGS
CONSO LI DA TI ON OF D E EP AND SURFACE
D ET A C H M E N T OF T HE P LASTER
After cleaning, all the areas of discontinuity between
layers of plaster were identifie d by lightl y ta pping th e sur-
face. and then drawing a map to indica te hollows. Deep
cracks and bul ges were treated using injections of mortar
based on gypsum and sieved soi l, with the ratio of charge
to binding agent determined according to each individual
situation. Where necessary, adhesion was first guaranteed
by means of localized injections of an emulsion of acrylic
resin (20 percent Prim al AC33 in water), in some cases
charge d with inert substa nces (calcium car bo nate) .
R EP AIR OF PLA ST ER LAYE RS
Gaps in the plaster and pictori al layers were first
tr eated with a solution of acrylic resin (3 percent Paraloid
B72 in nitre thinner) . They were then filled with a mortar
as simi lar as possible in both appearance and consistency
to the original. The composition was adjusted according
to the size of the gap. Deep gap s were repaired usin g un -
baked bricks, covered by a mort ar made up of sieved soil
169
and gypsum in a ratio of 2\-'2:1, whereas small amo unts of
plaster based o n gypsum and cellulose derivatives (in the
same composition ratio) were used for surface gaps as a
bindi ng agent.
Surface plaster ing was performed to level, with th e
aid of a scalpel an d abrasives. The plastered surfa ce was
treate d to give an effect simi lar to that of the origi na l, but
distinguishable by its greater regu larity and homogeneity.
For the coffered ceiling of the khurus, the gaps were re-
paired using a morta r made from sieved soil and gypsum
ina ratio of 5:2, laid o n in successive layers, using shaped
or cylind rical acetate counter mo lds in th e dam aged areas
to re-cr eate the static continuity of the ori ginal stru ctur e.
In the deep crack s local sto ne material was used as filling,
to reduc e th e humidity co ntent. In this case, surface treat-
ment of the plast ered areas was performed during the pe-
riod of dr ying, using spatulas of different sizes.
C ONS O LI D AT ION O F TH E PI CTORI AL LAYER
The pictorial layer, where necessary, was consoli-
dated using a solution of acrylic resin (3 perce nt Paraloid
 TH E CH URCH OF ST. AN TONY

B72 in nitre thinner) appli ed slowly with a brush at least

Luigi De Cesaris at work twenty-four hours after the cleaning operat ions had been
(ADP/SA 10 5102 96 ) completed.

PI C TORIAL R E I N T E GRATIO N O F GAP S

Pictoria l rein tegration was carried ou t using water-

colors, and in the waxed area s, gloss paint s, varying the
type of in tervention according to th e size and position of
the plastered gaps (fig. 9.17). Large areas of missing picto r-
ial layer were tr eated in lower tones, a method which is
designed to reach chromatic values sim ilar to those of the
general state of conservation of th e damaged surface by
appli cation of a succession of thin layers of color, thus
minimizing the visua l imp act of th e gaps in th e painting.
Restoration of all gaps has not been dealt with in the sam e
way, but all can be recognized by the un iformi ty and homo-
geneity of the repaired surface. In so me cases, repairable
gaps have been drawn in, using vertical dashes, according
to the technique called tratteggio (fig. 9.U).

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170
 PART III

THE VIEWER'S RESPONSE

Past and Present

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https://coptic-treasures.com/

CHAPTE R 10
OPPO SIT E
Angel. Deesis Chapel (C2)
IO . I ABOV E R IG HT
Gene ral view of the monastery.
looking northeast. 1930-1931
(W hitt emo re Exped ition.
Co urtesy of Dumbarton Oaks,
A13)
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Gawdat Gabra
PERSPECTIVES ON THE MONASTERY
OF ST. ANTONY
M E DI EVAL AND LATER I NHAB ITANTS AND VIS ITORS
The roughly eight hundred- year span between the early
thirteenth century and the pre sent is a fascinating one in
the history of the Monastery of St. Antony, with periods of
great influence and others of hardship and even abandon-
me nt (fig. 10.1). During th is time, most of the paintings we
see in th e Churc h of St. Antony were first created and
cher ished, then dam aged, and fina lly resto red once again
for our enr ichment. Mo st of th e buildings that we see
tod ay in the mon astery were also constru cted in thi s era.
Many individua ls who sepa rately and collectively sus-
tained monastic life in the Monaster y of St. Antony are
responsible for the pr eservation of this site, and for the
extrao rdinary fact that a nearly com plete pro gram of
medieval wall paintings has survive d to th e twen ty-first
century.
in th e monastery. Not on ly were the majority of paintings
A Brief History of the Monastery of St. Antony now visible created then , but th e manu scripts from th is
In the thi rt eenth century, the Mo nas tery ofSt. Antony was period bear witness to the literary activities of th e mon -
one of the most im portant ascetic com m uni ties in Egypt. astery's monks.'
Abu al-Makarim, writing ca. 1200, wrote that it was inhab- The following centuries were significantly harder for
ited by "many monks" and that there was nothing like it th e monastic community. Ogier VIII, Seigneur d'Anglure,
elsewhere in the country. I Although its significance un - not ed in 139S!J396 that more th an a hundred monks lived
doubtedly derived from its foundation by Anto ny the in the monastery, but by 1422 Ghilleber t de Lannoy coun-
Great, the "father of monasticism ," it was sustained and ted only fifty.' Despite th e rapid decline in the number of
amplified by a series of spiritual leaders who came from its monks, the monastery was still inhabited by important
community. Some of the se led the Coptic Chur ch, and figures. One was its abbot, Andrew, whom Patr iarch John
others were sent to Ethiopia. Th e first Coptic patriarch XI cho se to represent him and the Copts in the Council of
elected from among the monks of the Monastery of St. Florence in 1440.4
Antony had been Khail I (744- 767), and after an in terval The patriarch Gabriel VI (1466-1475) came from the
of five centuries another monk of St. Antony, Gabriel III Monastery of St. Antony, where he had been a monk and
(1268- 1271), was chosen as patriarch. The thirteenth and then later the abbot of the monastery. This demonstrates
fourteenth centuries can be considered a golden age of art th at the mon astery was still contro lled by the mon ks in
173
 THE V IEWER'S RESPONSE
the late fifteenth century, before being occupied by bed-
ouins. The drastic deterioration of the monastery at the
end of th is cen tury is illustrated in a colopho n written by
Patria rch John XIII (1484-1524) in the manuscript Vatican
Co ptic 9 in th e year A.M. 1222 (A.D. 1506). The following
passage reveals the situation clearly: "W hereas th e mon-
astery of our holy father Antonius, known as th e mon astery
of Al ' Arabah in the desert of Al Kulzum inh abit ed by
monks, was vacant without residents, ravaged by the
Arabs , and this book was [then] taken from the hand of
the Arabs, who ravaged the place utterly.'"
We do not know exactly when or how this happened.
The majority of scholars conjecture that the bedouins
massacred the monks in 1484. The year 1484 was men -
tioned first by Rufailah , and was then followed by many
scho lars, although others prefer 1493. 6 No contemporary
source has yet come to light to support either of these two
dates.' There can be no doubt, however, that bedouins pil-
laged the monastery and that it rem ained in ruins for
many years. It is unl ikely that this occurred during the
pontifica te of Gabr iel VI.8 The colop hon written by John
XIII documents that at first the monastery was emptied of
its m onks, then plundered by the Arabs, and after that the
manuscript was taken fro m th eir hands. The sequence of
events sho ws that there was neither a sudden attack on th e
monastery no r a massacre of its monks by th e bedouins.
Rath er, conditions declined rapidly in th e monastery, and
the bedouins contro lled it after its total abandonme nt.
The reclam ation of th e manuscript fro m th e bedouins in
150 6 indicates that th ey were no t the main barrier in the
way of repo pul ation of th e mon astery.
It was Patriarch Gabr iel VII (1525-1568) who im-
proved th e fortunes of th e mon astery: "T his father spared
no effort in th e recon struction of th e monaster ies and th e
churches, restor ing and for tifying th em , one of them is
this ho ly comm unity, known as Dayr al-'Araba, the abo de
of our great father Antonius; for it was he who reopened it
in his Patriarchate-may God protect it [the monastery],
inhabited, forever and grant the abundance of its monks-
after a long pe riod of tim e, in which it had remained in
ru ins and no one was able to reopen and repopulate it ex-
cept this father. " 9
The text shows th e significance of the "abundance"
of monks for the monastery's security. Because Patriarch
Gabriel needed only twenty monks to reinhabit the Mon-
astery of St. Antony, it is clear that the number of bedouins
was not fearsomel y lar ge. to Gabriel VII must have known
of the situation of the monastery during the patri arch ate
of his immediate predecessor John XIII. Certai nly, Gab riel
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174
read John XIII's colophon, for he acquired the manuscript
in November 1525, just two months after his consecra-
tion." One of the Arabic graffiti was inscribed in the
Churc h of St. Anto ny on the twenty-seco nd of Baram hat,
A.M. 1260, which corres ponds to March 18, A.D. 1544. Be-
cause th e graffito docum ents th e visit of a gro up of pil-
grims, the m on astery mu st have been restored before that
date." Additio nal help identi fying the date of th e mon-
astery's repopulation by m onks comes from th e gift of an
icon by King Lebna of Ethiopia. He died in 1540, so the
monastery must have been reop ened before th at year. "
Since its reestablishment by Gabriel VII, the monastery has
been continuously inhabited.
Th e monks of the Monastery of St. Anto ny were a
powerful force in dete rmining the histo ry of the Coptic
Church for about two centuries following its repopulation .
Eight Antonian monks in unbroken succession became
patri archs, from John XVI (1676-1718) to Cyril IV (1854-
1861).14 During these centuries the monasteries of the
Wadi al-Natrun, which had provided numerous patriarch s
in the past, were in a dilapidated state, and new spiritual
leadership was drawn instead from the Monastery of St.
Anto ny, where the conditions were comparatively better. "
Ma ny scho lars consider the advent of Muham med
'Ali in 1805 as th e beginning of mo dern Egyptian history.
The sho rt int erval of tim e that pr eceded his ascension to
the th rone of Egypt was among th e most difficult perio ds
in Egyptian histo ry. The inhabitants of Egypt suffered an -
arc hy, plunder, and hunger, and the regular prog ress of
caravans fro m th e Nile Valley to th e Mon astery of St.
Anto ny ceased. Colophons in manuscripts from th e
monastery's library docum ent this situation .
In the same year [that is, A.M. 1521, or A.D. 1805] there
were twenty-five monks at the monastery, for it was an
end of tim e. They were in great hardship because of the
Bedouins. The caravans to the monastery were inter-
rupted, and even the news. And all the inhabitants suf-
fered severe trouble . The entire land of Egypt was
devastated and it was without control. This happened
during the pontificate of Anba Mark, the hundred and
eighth patriarch of the fathers, the patriarchs. One [of
the bedouins] tried to make a hole in the enclosure wall
at night but did not succeed. They [the bedouins J re-
opened the eastern spring. It was in every respect a bad
year for the monks, who were dwelling at the
monastery, especially because of the interruption of the
caravans."
This cha llenging tim e was the last during which the
 MED IEVAL AND LATER INHABITANTS AND VISITORS
10 .2 monks had to defend themselves again st serious threats by
Portra it of Pope Cyril IV (ADP/SA 2 the bedouins.
57396) The lon g patriarchate of Peter VII (1809-1852) coin-
cided with th e relatively liberal reign of M uham med 'Ali,
makin g it possible for th e pope to improve th e conditio ns
of th e Co pts and th e Co ptic Church ." Peter's pat riarchate
paved th e way for his successor, Cyr il IV (1854-1861), one
of th e m ost import an t reformers and greatest figures in th e
histo ry of th e Coptic Church (fig. 10.2) . Cyr il is still known
as the Father of Reform for his work. Education was the
main focus of Cyril's activities, for clergy and lay adults
and also, remarkably, both boy s and girls. IS In September
1856 he was entrusted with undertaking an official political
mission to Ethiopia on beha lf of Sa' id Pasha , the ruler of
19
Egyp1. Cyril was enthusiastic abo ut restoring Co ptic
mon asteries and churches."
T he dilap idated cond itio n of the m on astery de-
scribed in the colophon was consistent with the troubled
state of Egypt in 1805. The enclosure wall had proven to be
the decisive factor for the pro tection of th e mon ks and
prob ably influ enced Patriarch Cyril IV to rebuild and ex-
tend the area of th e walls in the mi ddle of the nin eteenth
century. As part of this effort, the so uthe rn wall was ex-
tended , so as to incorpor ate th e spri ngs directly into th e
monastery as a protection against future attac ks. It is said
that Sa' id Pasha ordered at his own expense th e comple-
tio n of wor k on th e renewa l and enlarge me nt of th e enclo-
sure wall of the Monastery of S1. Antony during Cyril's
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175
mission in Ethiopia. If thi s really happened, it would be
the first time that a Mu slim ruler financed the construc-
tion of part of a Coptic religious complex."
A Dive rse Christ ian Communi ty
One of the most interesting features of the Monastery of
S1. Antony is th e mul ticultural and mu ltiet hnic character
of its Chris tian co mmuni ty. Copts, Syrians, Ethiopians,
Franciscans, and perh aps also Arme nia ns visited an d lived
th ere at one tim e or ano ther in th e medieval and later pe-
riods. Except for th e Fran ciscans, all these Christians
shared th e doctrinal position of th e Co ptic Church. Such
was its fame and significance within and o utsi de of Egypt
that it was a regular destin ation for study and pilgrimage.
THE SYR IANS
T he Syrian Church is im portant in the history of th e
Cop tic Church because of two factors. First, the re were
long-s tan d ing goo d relations between the two mono-
physite sister churches of Alexandria and Antioch, rela-
tions accent uated by their isolation from m uch of th e rest
of th e Ch ristian world after th e Arab occupation of Syria
and Egypt in the seventh centu ry," Second, th e Syrians'
purchase of one of the monasteri es of the Wadi al-Natrun
from the Copts an d its conversion into a Syrian m onastery
in the eighth cent ury gave them a permanent base in Egypt.
Altho ugh they no longer inhabit it, this site still bears the
nam e Deir al-Sur ian, "the Mo nastery of the Syrians." 23
A curio us m arginal note in 'a Syrian ma nuscript
raises the possibility of the occupation of the Monaster y of
S1. Antony by Syrians, so metime before 1232. It says of
Constantine I, the abbot of th e Syrian monastery at the
Wadi al-Natrun (ca. 1235-1 245):
[When he] was fed up (sic) with the abbacy, that is, the
dangers and insults from the monks who were of an evil
spirit [he] departed, that is, fled, to the Monastery of
Abba Anton ius and took the book of Mar Isaac with
him to read and delight in it and then return it to this
monastery. It chanced that he fell sick in the monas tery
of the glorious Mar Antonius and died there; and the
book, the pair of this, remains there to our day. . . . Let
the Syrian bret hren who come after us to this monastery
know that in the Convent of Abba Paulus, beside the
Mo nastery of Mar Anto nius, which belonged to the
Syrians like this, there are many Syriac books still. But
because of what was to come [?] the Syrians were driven
thence: the Egyptians took it, but . .. there is none to
examine them and release it from their hands."
 T HE VIEWER'S RESPONSE
We do not know whe ther the Syrians con tro lled th e
Monastery of St. Antony. Even if we were to take the im-
plications of the note at face value, th ree observatio ns
sho uld be made. Ibn al-Qunbar, who died in 1208, was ex-
iled to th e Mo nastery of St. Anto ny by th e ord er of th e
Co ptic patriarch Mark III (1l67-1189) in A.M. 890 (A.D.
1174 ).25 In 1210 a monk of the Mon astery of St. Antony was
made abun of the Ethiopian Church." These two events
would not have occurred without the Coptic patriarch's
control of the mon astery. Altho ugh the marginal note sug-
gests that tens ion existed between the Coptic an d Syriac
communities, evidence of peaceful coexistence between
th e two also exists. In the second half of the thirteenth cen-
tury, a monk of the Monastery ofSt. Antony became patri -
arch of the Coptic Church as Gabriel III (1268- 1271).27 He
was known as the Syrian , likely because of his origins, and
his case is not an exceptional one." Also, two Syrians are
included in th e painted pro gram of 123211 233: Severus of
Antioch (S3; fig. 7.14) and Barsum (NIl; figs. 4. 22, 14.3 ),
whose scroll includes an inscription in both Coptic and
Syriac. Epigraphic eviden ce for the pre senc e of Syrians at
the Monastery of St. Antony exists in Garshuni, which is
Arab ic written in Syriac characters." In 1393 a Syrian monk
at the monastery co pied a manuscript in Ga rshuni, so Syr-
ians were clearly at th e very least lon g-t erm visitors to th e
Mo naste ry of St. Anto ny."
T HE ETH IOP IANS
The tradition of consecrat ing a Co ptic monk to be
abun of Ethiopia or iginated in the middle of the fourth
century, when Patriarch Athanasi us (328-373) consecrated
Frumentius as that country's first metropo litan." This
prac tice con tin ued un til an agreement was reached in July
1948, giving the Ethiopian Church autonomy. " Goo d rela-
tio ns between the two churches have often been affected
by the distance separating them and by the Mu slim ru lers
of Egypt, without whose approval th e new metropolitan
could not go to Ethiopia. It was in th e early thirteenth cen -
tury th at we hear for th e first tim e of a mon k fro m the
Mo nastery of St. Anto ny being consec rated as abun of the
Ethiopian Churc h. Th e consecra tion of thi s monk, named
Isaac, as metropolitan of Ethiopia took place on th e sev-
enth of March 1210, during the pontificate of Patri arch
John VI.33 At th e same tim e, John also sen t Joseph to be a
pri est for the Ethiopian Church." The fact that both Isaac
and John were monks from the Monastery of St. Antony
suggests its high status." Ano the r monk from th e
Mo nas tery of St. Antony of im portance to th e Ethiop ian
Church was the Coptic Patriarch Gabriel III (1268-1271).
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He was held in special reverence by the Ethiopians, whose
Synaxarion commemorates him ."
Evidence exists for a significant and sustained Ethio-
pian prese nce in the Mo nastery of St. Anto ny itself. Around
140 0 a cer tai n Sem'on tran slated the Arabic Synaxa rion of
the Copts into the ancien t Ethio pian language Ge'ez
there." At o ne tim e or another in the medieval period , Syr-
ian and Ethiopian monks lived togeth er at the Monastery
of St. Anto ny. In particular, th e community seems to have
included a considerable number of Ethiopians in the mid-
dle of the sixteenth century. The numerous graffiti in
Ge'ez are a testament to their place as part of the commu-
nity. About 1520 the monastery served as a stopping point
for Ethiopian royalty on a pilgrim age to Jeru salem . Th e
Ethiopian king, Lebna Dengel (1508- 1540), pr ovided th e
monastery with an icon (fig. 10.3) . Moreover, an Ethiopian
monk wro te a tr eatise on penan ce at the monastery in
1561.38 Joh ann Michael Wansleben, who visited th e mon -
astery in October 1672, mention s Ethiopians th ere." In
1841 Patr iarch Peter VII (1809-1852) consecrated An-
darawus, a young Co ptic monk at the Mon astery of St.
Anto ny, as a metropolit an (Salama Ill ) for the Ethiopian
Church." Wh en Cardinal Gugliemo Massaia was in the
monastery in 1851, he saw the cell of Anba Andaraw us,
whose nam e was writte n in English as well as in Italian on
its doo r." These tr an slations 'may reflect the con flict of the
different Chris tian mission aries and foreign po litical
influ ences in Ethiopia." At th e same time , Daoud, the
abbo t of th e Mona stery of St. Anto ny; was sen t by Patr i-
arch Peter VII to Ethiopia on a mission with ecclesiastical
and political aims ." Having spent eighteen months in his
mission , he returne d to Cairo on July 17, 1852, and found
that Patriarch Petrus VII had died. Abbot Daoud became
the patriarch of the Co ptic Chur ch in 1854 and was sent
again in 1856 by Sa'i d Pasha, the ruler of Egypt, on a po lit-
ica mi ssion to Ethiopia." The se so urces show that , begin-
nin g in th e thirteenth and continuing at least through th e
nineteenth century, the Mo nastery of St. Antony played
a significant and ongoi ng role in the close relationship
betwee n th e Co pts and the Eth iopians.
THE ARMEN IANS
Arme nia n Christians began living in the Nile Valley
in late antiquity. Th e monastic center of Nitria received Ar-
men ian monks during the fourth and the fifth centuries,
and the re was an Armenian mona stery near th e Monastery
of John the Little in th e Wadi al-Natru n, which may have
been established as early as the eleventh century. It was
already in ruins sometime before 1441.45 Armenian inscr ip-
10·3
Icon given to the Monastery of
51.Antony by King Lebna Dengel
of Ethiopia, ca. 1520 (ADP/SA 1

s6496)

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 THE VIEWER 'S RESPONSE
tions belong to wall paintings of th e Monastery of Anba
Shenuda (the White Monastery) near Sohag and bear
witness to the Armenian influence in Egypt during the
Fatimid period." The Arme nian pr esen ce receded int o
insignifican ce during th e reign of Saladi n (1171-1193) .47
Assessing the pre sence of Arm enian s within th e
Monaster y of St. Antony is problematic. Two Armenian
graffiti in the Deesis Chapel, also known as the Chapel of
the Four Living Creatures, read: "Holy, ho ly, ho ly, Lord ."
As the paleograp hy of the inscription is characteristic of
th e thirteenth century and thus contem porary with the
paint ings, Coquin and Laferriere suggested an Armenian
painter for the chapel, but van Moorsel and Bolman have
refuted this attribution." Close examination shows th at
the words are not part of the formal inscriptions of the
paintings, which are in Coptic. It is now apparent that
these two phrases were written after the paintings were
comp leted. The y joi n several exam ples of newly found Ar-
meni an graffiti in the nave of the Church of St. Antony, all
of which attest to an Armenian presence there. "
THE FRAN CIS CANS
The history of the Franciscans in Egypt can be traced
back to the thirteenth century. In 1219 Franc is of Assisi was
present at th e Crusa ders ' siege and cap ture of Dami etta
and met the Ayyubid Sultan al-Kamil." Dur ing th e
Mamluk period (1250-1517), the Franciscans contin ued
their activitie s, providing spiritual care and assistance for
Catholic foreigner s in Egypt and for pilgrims on their way
to and from th e Hol y Land. Some of th e friars suffered
martyrdom during th is period."
By the seventee nth century, th e Monastery of St.
Antony had become the destin ation of ma ny pilgrims. In
that century, a number of Francisca ns decided to enter the
mona steries of St. Anto ny and St. Macariu s to learn Ara-
bic. The Mon astery of St. Antony was used by th e Francis-
cans as a language schoo l fo r the preparatio n of their mis-
sionaries to the Or ient, and in particular to those to
Ethiop ia. In 162511626 Father Bernardus left his mark in
differ ent places at the Churc h of St. Anto ny, as well as at
the Church of St. Mark ." More graffiti by him have been
uncovered as part of th e conservation work in the Chur ch
of St. Antony," Document s dating to 1639 record th at the
expenses for two or thr ee Franciscans at th e Monastery of
St. Antony were fort y scudi , which were to be paid to th e
Coptic monks ann ually," But the Franciscan m issions to
Ethiopia were not successful, and most of the friars were
killed by Ethiopians, were taken captive by th e Turks, or
died of disease.55 Jean Coppin states th at in 1638 the Frenc h
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178
priest Agathange visited th e Monastery of St. Anto ny,
where he stayed four months, with the goal of conver ting
the monks to Catholicism." His efforts were un success-
fuL57 He and the pr iest Cassien th en left for Ethiopia,
where th ey obtained the cro wn of martyrd om. Mark III, a
monk of th e Monastery of St. Anto ny who later becam e
the metr op olitan of Ethiopia, kne w them well in Egypt,
but he was unable to help them. " The prie st Antonius
Gonzales, who visited the monastery in 1665, reports that a
Franciscan priest had been studying Arab ic at the mon-
astery for some years." When the Franciscans stayed at the
monastery in the sevent eenth century, they were author-
ized to celebrate the mass in the Church of St. Mark."
European Travel ers and Weste rn Schol ars
St. Antony was well known in Europe, thanks principally
to the biography written by the Patriarch Athanasius (326-
373) , as Vivian discussed in chapter 1. Th erefore it should
come as no surprise that many European travelers visited
the Monastery of St. Antony d uri ng the Middle Ages and
afterward (fig. 10-4).61 The monastery was a goal of reli-
gious pilgrimage before the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641,
and by the fourteenth century it had become one again."
European travelers, among others, visited the monastery
on their pilgrimage to the Ho ly Land and to the Monastery
of St. Catherine. Travelers who called at th e mon astery on
Sina i but did not visit the Mo nastery of St. Antony were
neverth eless aware of its location in the eastern desert."
Moreover, because of St. Antony's fame, some travelers,
such as Ludo lph von Suche m and Nicco ldi Poggibon s in
the fourt eenth century, referre d to and even described the
monastery, although it seems that they did not actua lly
visit it."
One of the earliest descri ptions of the mo nastery is
attri buted to Ogier III, Seigneur d'Anglur e, He also visited
the Holy Land and th e Mo nastery of St. Catherine, and his
pilgrim age lasted from June 15, 1395, to July 22, 1396. Ogier
was impressed by the monastery, which he foun d more
beautiful th an th e Monaster y of St. Cathe rine in every re-
spect: except for its churc h. In particular, he ad mired its
garde n. He noted that mo re than on e hundred monks
belonged to th e community, and he described them as
being holy and conducting a good life. Th ey did not drink
wine and were generous to the pilgrims, they performed
the service with chants, and they seemed devoted to their
language."
Ghillebert de Lannoy visited the monastery in 1422,
and its beautiful garden full of palms and fruit trees pleased
him as well. He mentioned a bu ilding that resemb led a

10·4
Gener al view fro m th e
mon astery walls, looking south-
west, 1876- 1878
https://coptic-treasures.com/
MEDIEVAL AND lATER INHABITANTS AND VISITORS
castle and was constructed around a spring." De Lannoy
noted that there were on ly fifty monks in the monastery,
half of its late-fourteenth-century figur e. By that tim e some
of th e m on asteries of Wadi al-Natru n were com pletely
aba ndo ned, and th ere were on ly a few monks in th e fa-
mo us Mo nastery of St. Macarius."
Two Euro pea n travelers, Jean Co ppin and Joh ann
Wans leben, separately provide a co nsiderable amo un t of
inform ation about the monastery during th e seven teenth
centu ry. In 1638 Coppin remarked that all of the buildings
and th e gardens were sur rounded by a wall abo ut five
hundred paces lon g an d between twenty-six and twenty-
seven feet high, and th at visitors were drawn up over the
enclosure by a pulle y." Visiting th e Ch urc h of St. Anto ny,
he reported that it was not very larg e and that a wall sep-
arated th e church from its choi r, probably referring to th e
wood en iconostasis scree n that separates the nave from
th e khurus. He noticed th at th e alta r area was appro pri-
ately decorated with several images of the saints, in which
he saw a Greek influ ence. Th e belfry was but a simple wall
pierced with windows, where th e bells were hung. Coppin
adm ired a lon g vaulted passage, sixty paces in len gth , for
179
conducting water from th e spring, which was then locat ed
outside th e enclos ure of the monastery," He no ted the
presence of forty broth ers, amo ng them twenty-two m onks,
and state d that at o ne tim e th ere had been three hundred
residents in the mo nastery , each with his own cell. 70
In autum n 1672 Joh ann Wansleben spent two weeks
in the mo nas tery. His observations pro vide us with th e
most significant in form ation abo ut its state in the seven-
teenth century."
There is no gate to the monastery, one enters in by a
pulley, men and beasts are all drawn up over the wall.
In the middl e is a Dungeon, and round abo ut ma ny
houses where the monks live.. . . Here are thr ee
churches, the chief is that of S. Anto ny; it is little,
but very ancient; and as the monk s told me, it is the
same that S. Anton y built, and the only thin g of the
mon astery th at hath escaped the rage of the Arabian s.
Within are pictures of man y saints, painted in an antick
and simple fashion: The smoke of the frankincen se that
is burnt there at Divine Service, hath made them appear
as black as a chim ney [fig. 10.5]. Near this churc h is an-
 THE VIEWER'S RESPONSE
10,5 other dedicated to S. Peter and S. Paul, within [which ]
East wall of the khurus vault, a little tower, and one bell, about a foot and a half in
1930- 1931 (Whittem or e Expedi- diam eter, serves to call the monk s to th e Service of
tion . Cour tesy of Dumbarton God, and to th eir other imp loyments. There is no oth er
Oaks, BI58!J5 9) bell in all Egypt. The third chur ch is in the garden, ded-
icated to a lay monk , called Mark, who died with a rep-
utation of holiness; his bod y is kept there. In themiddle
of th e mon astery there is a square tower, with stone
walls, very stro ng; in this tower the mon ks keep all their
provisions, and their best moveab les; and they fly to it
when the roguish Arabians threaten them: They then
draw the bridge, and beat th em off with stones from
the platform.
Claude Sicard, a French Jesuit, pursu ed mi ssion ary
activi ties in Egypt between 1712 and 1726. In 1716 he had th e
first known plan of the monastery prepared, probably by
an Armenian icon pa inter. It is ro ughly d rawn and impre-
cise, but mos t of the details are accurate. " Richard Pococke
pub lished a vers ion of Sicard's plan in A Description of the
East (1743). Although professionally redrawn, it exagger-
ates the errors of the original (fig. 10.6) .73 Sicard noticed
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180
that there was a chapel in the garden dedic ated to St. Mark,
"the hermit and disciple of St. Antony." He saw thirty
cells, a refecto ry, a bakehouse, a mill, and offices th at were
arr anged in little streets. In th eir mid st stood two ch ur ches,
one dedi cated to Sts. Peter and Paul, th e other to St. Anto ny.
T he two churches were connec ted by a covered pa ssage.
Sicard also noticed that th e walls of th e churches were cov-
ered with paintings that were obscur ed by the sm oke from
th e incense used during th e divin e offices."
Most information for the history of th e Monastery
of St. An to ny during the nineteenth century comes from
Europea n travelers, includi ng Count de Forbins (1817),
Abra ha m Norov (1834), Henry Tatta m (1839), Sir Gar dner
Wilkinso n (1843), Porphyriu s Uspensky (1845), Cardina l
Gugliem o Massa ia (1851), Greville J. Chester (1870), Georg
Schwein furt h (1876, 1877,1878), and Michel Iullien (1883).7S
Several of th ese visitors had scho larly int erests, ant ici-
pating th e intense periods of study in th e monastery be-
ginning in the twentieth cen tury. Sir Wilkinso n poi nted
out that the Monastery of St. Antony was the principal
monastery in Egypt, especially because the election of the
patriarchs was made from among its monks. " Porphyrius
-
10.6
Map of the monasteries of
SI. Antony (below) an d SI. Paul,
1743 (Courtesy of Adriano Luzi )
https://coptic-treasures.com/
MEDI EVAL AND lATER INHABITANTS AND VISITDRS
Us pensky, a Russian archimandrite and ecclesiastical writ-
er, came to Egypt to acquire manuscripts. Uspensky be-
lieved that a union between the Russian Orthodox Ch ur ch
and the Coptic Ch ur ch was possible. He visited th e mon-
astery in 1850. Daoud, the abbot of the monastery and the
future patriarch Cyril IV (fig. 10.2), accompanied him. In
1865 Uspensky published his account of the journey in Rus-
sian." In his unpublished m anuscript on th e histo ry of the
monasteries of St. Antony and St. Paul , Alexander Piankoff,
also a Russian, translated so m e passages from Uspensky's
bo ok into Eng lish, which "a ltho ug h full of naivet es, are
neverthe less val uable." The following selections contain
interesti ng details about the monastery and shed light on
th e state of resear ch o n it in the nineteenth century:
All the bui ldings in it as in all the Egyptian Monasteries
are grouped toget her in a North-West corner. The rest
of th e space is taken by th e garden . Besides the na rrow,
gloomy and untidy cells of th e mon ks scatte red witho ut
or der, th e main bu ildings are: the cathe dral church with
the adjo ining Church of St. Antony, the vestry and the
library in the crenellated tower, th e dining hall, a store-
181
house thre e floors high, a little house for the patriarch,
an isolated church dedicated to St. Mark in th e North -
East corn er of the gard en, and the well. . .. Th e Church
of St. Antony is entered from the North. It is subdi-
vided, accord ing to the Coptic custo m, into three par ts
by little stone walls not higher than two Arshins. In the
first part of the church on the Western wall is seen a
Latin inscription of Bernard us Ferulensis, from Sicily,
who visited th e monastery in 1626, and on the left wall
is represent ed an iron helmet with decoration s on it like
four green ser pents . .. . In the second part of the
Church, under the three steps which lead into the pas-
sage before the altar is the grave of St. Antony. But they
are not sure themselves, whether th is grave contains th e
relics of th e Saint of God or no t. The th ird part of
Church, just before the altar, is intended for the readers
and singers, and is very dark . Its ceiling is made of palm
boards and has th e shape of a barrel vault. Here, on
both sides of th e high arch is a Cop tic inscription . The
letters are very large and are like our Slavonic scr ipt. I
have copied on ly one part of it, as it was very diffi cult to
sta nd on a ladder and to write in darkness. The sanct u-
ary itself is 'small and dark, it is subdivided into thr ee
part s by ston e walls with communicating doors. It is
badly lit th rou gh little. dim windows which open in th e
little cupola. Almost all of th e churc h has been paint ed
over at different period s. On th e walls and under th e
arches o ne sees darken ed faces of prophets and apos tles,
tho se of saints and martyrs on hor seback. The painting
is very bad. In places are Coptic inscriptions. The
mon ks told me th at the churc h was consecrated in old
time s to the Panagia [the all holy Virgin Mary].. . . To
the South- Western part of this church adjoins a littl e
chapel, qu ite dark, in the nam e of th e four beasts which
in Jerem iah represent symbolically the four Evangel-
ists. ... Very wonderful is the architecture of th e
Churc h of St. Antony. Th e first two part s of it and the
sanct uary are covered up by thr ee cupo las, quite similar
to overturned funnel s [figs. 2.4, 2.5J. On the roof of the
church, they have a sharp outline and are only two
Arshins high. When seen from the inside each of th em
is resting on a sto ne circle with windows and window-
frames composed of little circles of glass. The cupola
above the altar is smaller than the rest. It was the first
tim e in my life that I saw funnel-s haped cupolas."
The Jesuit Michel Iullien visited the Church of St.
Antony in 1883 and remarked that "the walls of it are cov-
ered with paintings in th e old Byzantine style, whe re o ne
 THE VI EWER 'S RES PONSE
.....'
II
I
I many pho tog raphs (figs. 10.8, 12-4) . The duke cou nted
. .I
fj
~~'<J "if ~ - •. - - ,-,c...1e. _
_ ,? e-{ . Q a.f r- • .:.. ~4.H t.. ~ /,.. ""1.. r;,_.·....,
r r r»
10·7 recognizes, in spite of th e ravages of tim e, warriors , angels,
Entra nce to th e Churc h of the apostles, and the Infant Jesus borne on th e arms of His
Holy Apostles and the keep, Hol y Mother. . . . The paintings appear to us to belong to
1876 -1 878 the first centuries of Byzantine ar t. They m erit study by
some scho larly archaeologist.?"
Acco rd ing to Georg Schweinfu rth, wh o visited th e
monastery three times, in 1876, 1877, and 1878, th ere were
fort y monks in th e monaster y. He lamented th e fact that
visitors, even Greek patriarchs and Russian arch ima n-
drites, had scratched th eir names on th e painted walls of
th e Old Ch urc h. Schweinfur th also inc orrec tly att ributed
th e wall paintings from th e ch urch to the first cent uries of
Ch ristian art." His drawin gs of th e monastery show arc hi-
tectural features th at have since been changed, and also
show monks wearing turbans (figs. 2.10, 10.4, 10.7).81
It was not until the twentieth century tha t scholarly
studies began to appear about the monastery, especially on
the wall paintings of the Church of St. Antony and on
some of the manuscripts belonging to the library." Josef
Strzygowski was the first scholar to visit the monastery
after 1900. He described som e of the equestrian saints, and
published a description and an illustration of the six-
teenth-century Ethiopian icon given by King Lebna Dengel
(fig. 10.3).83The first detailed description of the Monastery
of St. Antony in Arabi c was published by Labib Habachi
and Zaki Tawudros, who visited the monastery in 1927.84
Joh ann Georg, Duke of Saxon y, visited the m on astery in
1928 and published a short description of it, including
https://coptic-treasures.com/
182
• eighteen m onks and four no vices at th e mon ast ery. The
figure of eighteen monks th at he m enti oned might be
wrong, for Sima ika, who visited the monastery in 1929,
m entions seven ty monks." According to Johann Georg,
• their knowledge of theology was me ager. Their food con -
sisted mainly oflentils and olives, grown in th e monastery,
and the monthly caravan provided them with their re-
maining needs. The bedouins lived on food from the
monastery," The duke stated that the Monastery of St.
Antony was the most valuable monastery he had seen in
the Orient. " He reported inspecting the keep, where he
admired a precious medieval icon of the Virgin Mary. The
hegumenos of the monastery gave it to him as a present.88
In 1930-1931an expedition of the Byzantine Institute
of America under the leadership of Thomas Whittemore
made a trip to the monastery in Ford automobiles. They
carried out a survey of the monastery, including all of its
b uildings, took photographs, made a short silent film, and
copied some of the inscriptions and paintings (figs. 11, 18,
and 22, introduct ion, 10.5). The scholarly credentials of the
expedition were im pressive. It counted among its me m-
bers the arc hi tec t Oliver Barker, the art ist Netc he tai lov,
th e ph otographer Kazazia n, and th e epigraphist Alexandre
Piankoff. Unfortunately, ' th e results of the exped ition,
which wer e to have been p rinted in Oxford , rema ine d not
only unpublished but largely un availab le to scholars until
th eir removal to Dumbart on Oa ks and th e University of
Michi gan." The exception to thi s were three articles pub-
lished by Piankoff, who identifi ed with clarit y for the first
time th e th em es of th e wall paintin gs and provided a plan
locatin g them in th e Ch ur ch of St. Antony. Piankoff also
noted th e dating of on e of th e pa intings to 123211233.90The
con tr ibutions of Piankoff attra cted th e att ention of two
great specialists, Jules Lero y and R.-G. Coquin, who th en
studied th e wall paintings and inscriptions int en sively and
91
p ublished their res ults in 1976 and 1978. H. Romilly Fed-
den went to the Monastery of St. Antony in 1936 and pub-
lished a plan of it, which was drawn by the architect Has-
san Fathy in 1937.92 Fedden found ten prie sts and fifteen lay
brothers in the monastery." He commented that the paint-
ings "are in a very bad state. They are neither as aestheti-
cally interesting, nor as well prese rved , as those at St. Paul's
Monastery. Talbot Rice [a Byzantine art historian] places
them in the late Byzantine period, tha t is between the thir-
teenth and fifteenth century.,,94 Remarking on Pedden's
evaluation of the paintings, the historian Otto Meinardus
wrote: "To consider the wall-paintings of the Ch urch ofSt.
Anto ny aesth etically inferior to tho se in th e Cave Ch urc h
of St. Paul is to betray an almost unpardonable ign o-
-
MEDIEVA L AND L ATE R INHABITANTS AND V IS I TORS

Christians outside of the group formed by the Copts,

10.8
General view of the mon astery
from th e guest quar te rs to the
mountain, 19 28
rance .?" Feddens study of the monastery's churches, the
keep, the refectory, the springs, and the enclosure wall in-
cludes a list of the architectural activities at the monastery
during the second half of the eighteenth century: Has sa-
balla al-Bayadi rebuilt the church ofSt. Mark in 1766; Lut -
falla Shakir rebuilt the Church of the Apostles and the
eastern wall by 1772; Ibrahim al-Gawhari renovated the
96
monastery walls in 1783. According to Grossmann, only
the Church of St. Anto ny has any histo rical sign ificance,
and only th e sma ller keep "lays claim to a some what ad-
vanced age.,,97Th e contributio n ofMeinardus to th e mon-
astery's histo ry is useful, espec ially for th e descripti on s by
travelers." An exhaustive bibliography is to be found in
th e th orough acco unt of Stefa n Timm ." The Co ptic art
histo rian Bourguet also visited the site , and apparentl y
planned but never publish ed a co m plete study of th e
pa in tings in the Ch urc h of St. Anto ny,'?" Recent work on
the wall paint ings depe nds on th e first book devoted to
them by van Moorsel, wit h contributions by In nernee
and Gross mann, wh ich is sure to rem ain indispe nsab le
for many years to co me. '?'
The disparate sources drawn on here combine to pro-
vide us with impressions of the ascending and declining
fortunes of the Monastery o f St. Antony over the past eight
hundred years. Despite its remote location and depen-
dence on caravans for foodstuffs, its inhabitants often
played a major role in Egyp t and Ethiopia. At the begin-
ning of the period, ca. 1200, Abu al-Makarim wrote that
it was unparalleled among the monasteries of Egypt. The
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries witnessed the creation
of the major artistic and scribal work that still captivates
our attention today. Members of the Ch ristian communi-
ties that shared th e doctrinal views of the Co ptic Ch urc h
(monophysites) were a regu lar part of the monastery.
Syrians, Ethiopians, and Armenians also lived for periods
at the mo nastery and were regu lar visitors, causing Belon
d u Ma ns to write in 1547 tha t the Red Sea m onastery
was in ha bited by Chr istia n monks of different den om i-
nation s.!" Many of th ese inhabitan ts, and also visito rs,
wro te pr ayers and petitions on th e walls in the Churc h of
St. Anto ny, and Sidney Griffith has studied the se graffit i
(chapter 11).
Conditions at the monastery entered their wor st pe-
riod in the late fifteenth century, when it was abandoned
and then sacked by bedouins. Sometime before 1540 Patri -
arch Gabriel VII reopened it, and sinc e that time it has
been a continuously functioning monastic community.
Even during times of local and regional trouble, the
Monastery of St. Antony has retained its high status, as
witn essed by the fact that monks wer e selected from there
to lead the Coptic and Ethiopian Ch urc hes.
Western visitors provide us with the most specific
information about th e site and ph ysical condition of th e
monastery, and also occa sionally mention the paintings.
They note the verdant garden, three churches, a library,
and significant additions to the enclosure wall. Their eval-
uations of th e paintings vary, likely influence d to a certai n
exten t by th e significant accretions of soo t and dirt. T hese
were notable as early as 1627, whe n Wansleben d escrib ed
th e paintings as bein g "black as a chim ney."
Th e twentieth century marked th e beginnings of
ser io us scholarly interest in th e monastery and its paint-
ings, an interest th at has result ed in numerous studies,
includ ing thi s book. Visito rs have not been exclusively fo r-
eign, as a subseque n t chapter by Oram describ es. Since th e
paving of the Suez to Zafarana roa d in 1946, and subse-
quen t establishme nt of a h ighway between Cairo an d th e
Red Sea Coas t, Coptic pilgrims regularly visit th e m on -
astery, drawn by the sanctity of the place an d the spiritual
advice they receive from the monks. The advent of the
auto mobile has brought the modern world to the Mon-
astery o f St. Antony. The number of m onks and the size
of th e m onastery enclosur e increased exponentially in th e
last decades of the twentieth century. New guest houses
and gardens have been built, and a museum is being pre-
pared to exhibit the monastery's remarkable collection of
icons, textiles, and metalwork. A second and much larger
wall and mon um en tal entrance gateway enclose many of
the new structures, gardens, and a parking area. The large-
scale project to clean and restore the paintings in the
Ch ur ch of St. Antony is onl y one of many indications that
th e mon astery is enjoyi ng ano ther period of fru itfuln ess
and renown.

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183
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CHA PTE R 11 THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
GRAFFITI IN THE CHURCH OF ST. ANTONY
The following anecdote is recorded of the Caliph al-Ma '<
mun (813-833) whe n he was on a jou rn ey from Baghdad to
th e Byzantine frontier in the year 830. His traveling com-
panion left this account:
He and I entered an old church in Syria which had mar-
velous paintin gs and in which he walked around at
length. When it was time to leave he said to me, "When
strangers on journeys and people far removed from
their friends and compa nions enter a well-known place
and famous site, it is their habit to leave behind a record
of th eir presence in order to seek blessing in the prayers
of (other) strangers, travelers, and peop le bereft of their
kith and kind (on their behalf). I want to join in, so get
me a pot of ink." He then wrote the following verses
midway on the altar gate:
o strangers! May God grant you safe return
and may you soon meet your loved ones.
My heart has been afflicted with pity and fear for you;
may God heal it by bringing you to safety.
I wrote in order to support you;
so when you read it, know th at it was I who wrote it. I
Few of the hands that wrote on th e walls of th e Old
Chur ch of St. Antony belonged to so famous or so exalted
11.1 a personage as th e Muslim caliph, nor do th eir nam es
Graffi ti under Antony and Paul now claim any immediate recog ni tion in th e wide r world.
(N I -N2 ; ADP/SA BW, May 1999, 6 ) But it is immediately clear to th e modern visito r th at
earlier trav elers shared al-M a'mun's habit of leaving be-
hind "a record of their presence in order to seek blessing. "
Even in its present state of restoratio n and spotlessness,
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185
Sidney H. Griffith
the church's walls car ry hundreds of graffiti in Arabi c,
Gars huni, Syriac, Eth iopic , Armenian, Greek, Latin, Rus-
sian, and a scatt ering of modern languages (fig. 11.1) . Al-
though it is impossible to catalo gue all of them here, a task
that will be carried out in other scholarly publications, a
survey will give the imp ression of th e rich testimony th ese
texts provide to th e devoti on of visitors over th e centur ies,
and th e popularity of pilgrimage to th e church from th e
thir teenth century to th e twen tieth .
To begi n with, one mu st say a word abo ut the graffiti
in general. They are to be distinguish ed from th e formal
inscription s, almost entirely in Coptic, th at are included in
the decorative programs on the up per walls an d the ceil-
ings of all the parts of the churc h. Unlike the inscriptions,
the graffiti, non e of which ar e in Co ptic, are occas io nal
texts, wri tten in the everyday langu ages of th e pilgrims,
as the opport unity presente d itself, on the lower walls,
mostly in the nave, bu t with some appearing in the khums
and in the sanctuary as well. People wrote them quickly,
wherever they co uld find a suitable space, sometimes in
close proximity to the icon of a favo rite saint o r patron.
Mos t of th em were writte n with pen and ink; some are in
charcoal or pencil ; a few have been in cised into th e plas-
ter.' On e assumes that over the centuries many graffiti
have been wash ed away when the walls were cleaned, and
m an y mor e were covered over by successive layers of plas-
ter an d whitewas h. Never theless, eno ugh of th em rem ain
to pro vide a fascinating record of the passage of numerous
visitors come to ask the forgiveness of the Lord for th eir
sins, and the blessing of St. Anto ny. Th e mo st expeditious
way to review th em here is by lan guage gro upi ngs.
 THE VIEWER'S RESPONSE

LS~ ~ I (Apa Bishoi ; N7); 0'"'.J7.J~ I (C laud ius ; N19);

0'"' ~ L. J.)
07 I..>~ (Victo r, son of Romanos; N20; fig.
11.2); ~ (M en as; N21; fig. 11.3); l...i...::....J7. L.H I ~.)J[:j
(T heo dore, the so n of John- that is, Theodore the Gen-
era l; N22); 0'"'.J7.J~1 (C laud ius, wri tten under th e por-
tr ait of Sisin ni us; N23); i J') I ~ l.: I (o ur two fath ers, th e
Roman s-that is, M aximus an d Domitius; N32).5
One of th e most impo rtant Arabic graffiti in th e
church is surely the long notice written on th e wall under
the portraits of S1. Antony and of S1. Paul, th e Hermit (m,
N2; fig. ILl ). It is almost more than a graffi to, having the
character of an official notice of the death and burial of
Patriarch Gabriel VII (1525- 1568), wh o was responsible for
the restoration of the monastery in the sixteenth century,"
The im po rtan ce of the text is indicated by the fact that in
the seventeenth century (A.D. 166311664) a monk copied
it into the manuscript of a Cop tic lectionary in the monas-
tery's library, and thereafter, information from it appeared
in other manuscripts.' The text says:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

11.2 Arabic Graffi t i
Graffito under Victor in the bath- By far th e largest number of graffiti in th e Ch urch of S1.
hou se (N20) An to ny are in Arabic. Although a few of the m ost impo r-
tant of th em, longer, mo re detailed, and m or e sophis-
ticated than th e other s, have already been publish ed and
ana lyzed, th ey will be repe ated h ere becau se of th eir hi s-
torical import an ce, du e to th e names and dates th ey con-
tain .' But the vast majority o f th e Arabic graffiti are only
a lin e or two : th ey are formulaic , as the rea der will see,
scar cely varying in th e choice of word s fro m one to an-
other, save for the n ames an d places of o rigin of th e pil-
gr ims, an d ot her parti cul ars. Yet these are th e graffiti th at
give the best sense of the frame of mind of the typi cal pet i-
tioner. In th e ense m ble th ey record a m ood of co mpunc-
tio n for sin and a confide nce in the intercessory p ower of
prayer for oneself and for others-mostly family members
living and dead-made in the church or to S1. Antony
personally. Although some of the these graffiti have been
written by monks, the vast m ajority of th em seem to be by
lay people.
One group of Arabic graffiti ser ve a practical purpose
for the visito r. On the low er registers of th e walls of th e
nave, under the portraits of several of the saints painted
high aloft, in a small, neat hand, someone has inscribed at
eye level the names of the saints portrayed above. At one
time, such n ames ma y have appeared under all of the por-
tra its. Four of them were recorded by ea rlier researchers!
After th e recent clean ing, seven suc h lab els are now legible:
Holy Spirit, the one God .
On Tuesday the blest, the 29th of the mon th of Babah
th e blest, in the year 1285 of th e righteou s martyrs,"
(May th e Lord bestow on us th eir blessings. Amen), th e
master, th e father, the great patri arch amo ng the patri-
archs, Anba Gabriel , the 95th of the fathers, the patri-
archs on th e Markan throne, died. Due to his righte ou s
resolve, his dem ise was in th e company of th e monks of
th is holy convent, at the lower mo nastery, on the sea-
shore . His pure body was transported to Misr [Cairo ],
the well-guarded, on th e 25th of the mo nt h of Hath o r,"
of th e year, the date of which is above. We conducted
th e funeral service in the church of th e great martyr,
Mercurius, in Misr, in which he was buried, in a new
grave under the body of Mercurius. " As for the num ber
of priests and bishops who atte nded his funer al, there
were 285.11 As for the people, their number was unlim-
ited. This fathe r occupied th e Mark an th rone for fort y-
three years." He sheph erded God 's people with the best
of shepherding, and he exerted a successful effort in the
rebuilding of monasteries and churches and restoring
them; he would even make them stronger-most of all,
this holy convent, known as th e monastery of the
'Arabah (Dayr al-'Arabah ), the home of our father
Antony. He was the on e who in his days opened it (May
the Lord give him perpetu al life and bring about pros-
perity and abun dance ), and he was fortuna te enough to

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186
-
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WAll

make it house mon ks again after an extended per iod of

ruin . No on e was able to open it and rebuild it except
[this father, whom the enemy of the good opposed] a
number of times during its ruin, but th e Lord, praised
be He, did not let the enem y's purpose be achieved in
this matter. He lived with the monks and was in this
monastery most days. By means of his prayers, may
the Lord God, praised be He, populate this holy mon-
astery to the last soul; may He give his soul rest in the
paradise of happiness . May He have mercy on His scribe
by means of his prayers. Amen. Praise be to God ever-
lastingly."

Three other dated Arabic graffiti to be found in the

church, all of them written on the wall in the year 1260 of
the martyrs-that is, A .D. 1544-call for special attention. "
First of all, the mention of the year 1260 of the martyrs in all
three of them possibly indicates the date by which Patri-
arch Gabriel's restoration of the monastery was complete.
And all of them begin with a formula ic phrase that is to be
found in scores of other, humbler graffiti on the walls,
"Remember, 0 Lord, your poor servant, drowning in the
sea of sin," ~ J .;l.iJ 1 ~I .;.JJ..;U:- '-;-'.; ~ ..;£JI
~ ~ I .; ~ Th is for m ula well expresses th e peniten t
attitude with wh ich the .pilgrim s who wro te gra ffiti cus-
tomaril y came to visit th e ch ur ch. Typ ically, they go on to
menti on th eir own name s and th e nam es of othe r me m-
bers of th eir families. Some times th ey m enti on as well
th e nam es of th e saints who se int ercession they seek. For
exam ple, th e first of the se th ree graffiti dated to A. D . 1544
is inscribed under th e portrait of St. Menas (N21; fig. 11.3),
on th e back wall of the nave, and in the text th e writer
m entions th e nam es of St. Ma rk, St. Geo rge, St. Menas, St.
John of Heraclea, St. Antony, St. Paul th e He rm it, and oth-
ers whose na mes are now effaced. IS It is noticeabl e th at
all th e nam es still legible are of saints represen ted in the
paintings on the upper walls. Clearly the inscriber was at-
tentive to the program of portraits in the restored church.
II) the second of the th ree graffiti , written under the por-
trait of St. Victor (N20) on the back wall, the petitioner
prays that God will protect Patriarch Gabriel, indicating
11·3 his awareness of the debt of gratitude owed to the church's
Graffito und er Men as's camel restorer."
(N21) The third of these graffit i, written on th e north side
of the archway into the khums, under the portrait of the
archangel at K16, is dated specificall y to "the zznd of
Bararnhat in 1260 of th e holy martyrs"- that is, 18 March
17
1544. An interesting feature of this graffito is the note
wri tten just above it, in whic h th e insc riber says he has

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 T H E VIEWER 'S RESPONSE
"writt en this at th e hands of th e m aster, the patriarch
(~~ j.b....;J1 ",-:..8 1 ~ I L>~I ~)," as if to exculpate
himse lf for the responsibility for writing on the wall, and
suggesting Patriarch Gabr iel's presence at the time of the
writing." In the body of the text, he mentions his own
nam e, Sergius C'>~Y-U) ' an d goes on to na me many of
th e people in his family. A line writte n on th e wall just
above th e seemingly exculpatory no te at the beginni ng of
the graffito, in m uch smaller cha racters, which Coquin
and Laferriere seem not to have not iced, says, "the
wretched Sergius wrote it (~ y-u ~I ~ ) , " as
if to answer any doubt abo ut whether or not the same per-
son was responsible for both the introdu ctory not e and the
body of th e graffito. " Finally, at the end of thi s interesting
text, in an app arent reference to monks on pilgrim age, the
writer penned the prayer that "Go d might bless breth ren
(;) ..,.:.. 1) for visiting St. Antony.,, 20
There are literally hundreds of Arabic graffiti on the
walls of the church, particularly in th e nave. The heaviest
conce ntra tion of th em are on the back, western wall, to the
right of th e door as on e now enters the church, and in the
no rth eastern corner, with a dense concentration under the
icon of th e Virgin Mary (N36) . Here, on severa l layers of
plaster, are graffiti in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Syriac charac -
ters, man y of them no longer fully legible, but all of them
testifying to the penitent sincerity of the pilgrims who
came to ask pardon for their sins.
The following graffito is inscrib ed under the portrait
of Patriarch Theophilus in th e sanctuary of th e church (S5):
Remember,O Lord, your servant, Makarius,
and remember, 0 Lord, your servant, Isaac,
and remember, a Lord, your serva nt, Abraham,
and remember, a Lord, our father, Solomon,
and remember, 0 Lord, our mother, the lady of the house.
Give our souls rest, a Lord, in paradise
today. Amen. Amen . Amen .
Evidentl y the brothers Makarius, Isaac, and Abra-
ham came on pilgrimage to the church and inscribed the
names of thei r family members on th e sanctuary wall, per -
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188
haps in th e hop e th at an officiating priest would remember
them in the course of th e divine liturgy. It is not iceable that
the mother's name is not given in public. This usage is in
accord with the practice of the Copts from the time of the
Islamic conquest up until the beginning of the twentieth
century,"
Very typical of many of the Arabic graffiti in its lan-
guage and motivation is the following text, inscribed un-
der the portrait of St. George (N25) on the nort hern wall of
the nave:
J.Jl.iJ l ~ 1~.1, ~ 1~~y.J ~ ~j l
~~
~~ ~ 4..l . # 1 y~..iJI,J"-7.~ 1
~~
~~ . # 1 ~~~ .JJW I ..::...,jl
.. ..::...,j l " .1, W I . . L -. ,
<.F uJ=-'
.. .J I ~ LJ-4 ~,J <t..J . # 1 <L1.I1
Remember, a Lord, your servant, the poorsinner, drowning
in the ocean of his sinsand crimes. Forgive him all of his
sins, in your mercy.You are powerful over everything.
Forgiveyour servant. the sinner Anton. You, a God, forgive
him and save him from all.
On e of th e numerous, short Arabic graffiti from un-
der th e port rait of th e Virgin Mary at N36, writt en in th e
upper left quadrant of th e upp er left cross, says simp ly:
Y.J ~ ~jl
c)~I,JJ ~.>-?'- ~ ¥
.J ~
Remember, 0 Lord,
your servant, George, and his father,
Mansur
Under the portrait of St. Menas (N21; fig. 11-3) on the
west wall of the nave, a church deacon penned the follow-
ing prayer for forgiveness:
Remember, a Lord, your poor sinful servant, drowning in the sea
of sins, who is not worthyto be called a deacon because of the
multitude of his sins. . ..
•
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WAL L
11.4 Finally, under th e por trait of Sts, Maximus and Do m-
Syriac gra ffito at th e en trance of itius (N32), on th e north ern wall of th e nave, is th e follow-
the churc h ing graffito, in which the petition er, Sergius, invokes the
intercession of th e fathers, the proph ets, the apostles, and
the martyrs, all th e saints pictur ed on the walls. He wrote:
0-<' <l.A1.:.. ~ j'-'J ~¥ y.) ~~JI
..::... ~.>..b
~li.....J IJ ~ W <LJ p lJ ~~ I
J I~IJ J....,.) I J 4-:U~ IJ ~~ I ..::...l.;J.~
... ~.J.iJ1
Remember,O Lord, your servant, Sergius. Snatch him from the
snares of Satan and forgive him disobedience and procrastination
by the prayers of the fathers, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs,
and the saints...
There are literally hundreds of pr ayers like these,
longer and shorter, on the walls of the ch ur ch. Man y of
them contain names , dates, and places from which the pe-
titioners came. Only a full catalog of them will reveal all
the information they contain about the devotees who in all
ages came as pilgrim s to the monastery. Perhaps these few
examples will suffice to give some sense of the religious
fervor that motivated the petition ers to inscribe the ir
pr ayers on the walls. No doubt the y hoped that later pil-
grims would join their pr ayers with tho se of th e earlier
ones, to create a community of int ercession, over time, to
pray for th e forgiveness of their sins from the Lord,
thro ugh the intercession of the prayers of the saints whose
portraits are on the walls.
Graffiti in Syriac Script
There is only one surely Syriac graffito at the church, but
there are several of them in Arabic in Syriac characters-
that is to say, in Carshuni writing ." As for the Syriac text
(fig. 11.4), it is a brief exhortation to the visitor, penned in
fadin g brown ink, on th e wall at eye level, by th e upper
right lintel of the door by which on e enters th e chur ch to -
day, at the northwest corner of th e nave. It says:
https://coptic-treasures.com/
l-nu; ~ J..>..H Q.Jq This isthe door full of love,
l-nu; Ll q.co ~o and within it is love.
~ ~ ] ~~ ~Cb. Enter, sinner; pray [much]
~, '1:..XJ ~ l-nu; for love from your Lord, full
l-nu; of love.
Other graffiti in Syriac characters inside the church
are actually in the Arabic language; Christians with a Syr-
iac liturgical and patr istic heritage often employed this
script from the sixteenth century onward. Three such
graffiti are still legible on the wall under the portraits of
Anto ny and Paul (xi, N2; fig. ILl), on the east end of the
nave, written to the side of and under the long Arabic
graffito that gives notice of the death and burial of Patri-
arch Gabriel VII. One of them, inscribed vertica lly, on the
lower right-hand side of the much longer Arab ic graffito,
directly under the portrait of 51. Paul the Hermit, says:
~ a=> l-=ul q~.r'" q~ '1~ ~; l
~/::..:;D '1~ ~l~ ~ 'P~
q.o ;~ ~im .coaoao . . . ..A.DJ~o
Uri q..J..OO........9 =~ [,/::..:;D] ~
Have mercyon yourservants,the sinners, by the prayer of Anba
.
Paul, the greatest of the anchorites, your se rva nts Matt hewand
Muqaddasi .. . East Syrian priests, from [Methed] of Persia, in the
23
year . ..
The same nam es, Matthew and Muqaddasi, also ap-
pear in another brief Carshuni graffito, written at a slant
under the longer graffito about Patriarch Gabr iel, just
under th e portrait of 51. Antony (x i ), The invocation asks
Abuna (our father) Antony (....cn....J ~ 1 j...Ja=>l) to have mercy
on the petitioners. A third Carshuni graffito in the same
location, with different petitioner names, asks both "the
great ones," 51. Paul and 51. Antony, to have mercy
( ~ .ro....J~1 l-=ulo ~a=> J.=O on them. All th ree of
these texts were presuma bly pen ned by the same gro up of
pilgrims. There are traces of other Garshunl graffiti at
other locations in the church-for example, on the wall
under the portrait of the Virgin Mary in the northeastern
corner of the nave (N36)-but not enough of it remains to
decipher the message. In the ensemble, these few texts
testify to the wide popularity of the shrine church among
eastern Christians, even beyond the bounds of the denom-
ination of the Copts.
Ethiopic Graffiti
The significance of the Ethiop ic graffiti in the Churc h of
51.Antony is in their age." Most of them are written, most
 THE VIEWER 'S RESPONSE

under the portrait of Maximus and Domitius (N32). It is

notable for its invocation of the blessing ofSts. Antony and
Paul, as well as for its allusions to im po rtan t figures in Ethi-
o pian mo nastic hi sto ry:

In the name of the Ho ly Trinity.

I, Galawdayos , and Gabra Qirqos,
Nabiyud, and Giyorgis came to the Monastery of
[Abba] Anto ny
on the i zth of th e month of Sane [june 6 or 16 ].
probabl y, in hands o f th e sixtee n th or seve n teen th ce n t ury. May th e blessing of O ur Father Anto ny and the
11 ·5
Ge'ez graffito under Maximus Perhap s th ey are evide nce th at Et h io p ian m onks lived in blessin g
the m o nastery. Tra di tion h as it th at th e M onastery of St. of our Father Pauli [Paul] be with us. Amen. And may
An to ny was th e o ne fro m whic h Co p tic m onks were cho- th e blessing of O ur Fathers
sen for the Eth io pian metropolitanate. So far, seve n Eth i- Abba Tak la Hayman ot of abundan t good dee ds
opic graffiti have been found in the church. It is inter esting and Abba Sarnu' el, an angel on earth,
to note th at five of th em are on the northern wall of th e be with us, for ever and ever.' 8 Amen and ame n.
nave, in th e gene ra l area un d er th e p o rt ra it o f St. Moses Let [it be
th e Black (N30), but they are ac tua lly w ritten u nder the so; let it be so.]
m emo rial inscrip t io n (N31), th e portrait o f Sts. Maxi m us
and Domitius (N32), th e portrait of St. Ma car ius th e Great
The sixteen th-cen tury Eth iopic texts th at appea r under
(N33), and the portrait of the Virgin M ary (N36).
the portrait of the Blessed Vir gin Mary (N36), one of th e
A particularly interesting Ethiopic graffito wa s writ-
most attractive spo ts for gra ffit i writ ers of all languages in
ten on the eastern face of the niche (blo cked -o ff doorway),
the whole church, implore the intercession of Mary, of St.
under the memorial inscription (N31). It was written in
Antony, and of Gab riel, probabl y th e angel Gabriel, whose
A.D. 1542, just a few years after Patriarch Gabriel VII's res-
namesake wa s 'Patriarch Gabriel VII, the church's restorer
toration of the church. The text reads as follows:
in t he very century whe n the pi lgrim who wrote th ese te xts
In th e name of th e H oly Tr inity. m ad e his visit:
I, [Arka] Mika 'e l," came to th is Mo nastery of
( A)
Antony. He [the Lord] has shown me that which many
0 , m y Lad y.
righteous people and
0 , m y Lad y.
mOnkS-1l3bllrall3 3d'6 and officials
M ay yo u not drive m e away from yo ur shadow.
-have not seen. Praise is fitting for
the giver of grace. You who
( 8)
read my [ ], pray for me to
God [his good [ ] Ch rist. Ab ba [Antony]
th ings] . May Go d preserve [ and] who is clothed in flesh . ° [who is] bo rn [ ]
you [in your cells] an d I take refuge in My Lady Mary.
strengthe n [your cells] for you like the house I take refuge in your holy body [so that you may
founded upon a rock. May he [the Lord] [multiply save ]
you very mu ch in it]' like th e mu stard seed m e fro m my ene m ies; and pr eserve [me]
sowed in the field of th e Gospel and wh ich the n
rose so high that it sheltered the birds of the sky. [Amen]
Forever and ever. Amen [and] and Amen. [Let it be so;] let it be so;
ame n. Let it be so; let [it be so.] I tak e re fuge with Ga briel, [ I pray th at]
27
In the year 202. Mary [may save ]
Another text (fig. 11.5), rich in personal nam es, which mel ].
was inscribed sometime in the sixteenth century, appears what.

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-
T HE HANDWR ITING ON THE WAll
Armenian Graffiti
Armenian graffiti are to be found in some half-dozen loca -
tions in the church." The most widely known of them is
the liturgical exclamation "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, " writ-
ten on both sides of the depictions of the angels carrying
the mandorla of Christ in the small chapel (C2).30 Unfortu-
nately, the Armenian graffiti at the other locations are very
difficult to decipher, due to the peculiarities of the script
and the colloquial character of the language. They are still
under study. But already it is clear that those who inscribed
them have recorded their pleas for the forgiveness of their
sins, and that they have sought the intercession of the
saints who are venerated in the church. For example, the
Armenian graffito written under the portrait ofPhoebam-
mon at N26, on the northern wall of the nave, clearly seeks
the intercession of all the saints.
11.6
Heraldi c drawings (A2-A3; ADP/SA
BW medium form at, Nov. 99, 1:3)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Medieval Western Graffiti
Texts and designs inscribed on the walls of the Church of
St. Antony by medieval noblemen from the west have a
strikingly different character from the graffiti left behind
by the pilgrims who wrote in oriental languages, " Visitors
who wrote in Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, and Ethiopic
wrote votive graffiti; that is to say, they inscribed on the
wall their prayers for forgiveness of sin and to seek the
blessings of God and his saints. Western noblemen, and
even clerics, by way of contrast, were more inclined to
leave beh ind a record of their own passage. They them-
selves, rather than the saints, are the focus of attention .
A startling example of this prac tice, still to be seen in
severa l locations in the church, is the name of the Francis-
can Frater Bernardus Ferulensis Siculus, who came to visit
in 1625 and 1626, and wrote his name and the date several
times in the church, in gigantic Latin characters, with no
word of prayer or intercession, or any other expression of
religious sent iment."
A fascinating class of graffiti left behind by western
nobles on their visits to the church of St. Antony from the
fourtee nt h to the sixteenth centuries is to be seen in the
heraldic displays, carved, scratched, painted, or draw n on
the walls at various location s (fig. 11.6). They are typical of
the practice of itin erant western nobl emen of th e period-
wheth er th ey were on Cr usade, making a pilgrimag e, or
just making th e grand tour- of leaving behind th eir
names, coats of arms, crested helmets, and th e sym bols
of th e chivalric ord ers to which they belong ed. Travelers'
accounts from the period make it clear that local sto nema-
sons and em blazo ners were often em ployed for fashioning
and installin g the se designs. The painted helmet with
plumes on th e north side of the nave (N27) is an especially
noticeable instance of this ph enomenon in th e Old Ch urch
of St. Anto ny. It displays th e heraldry of a German famil y
of counts, von Looz, a memb er of which could have visited
the church as early as the fourteent h century, " On the
western wall of the nave, under the portrait of St. Menas
(N21), there is the heraldic design of the Schinkel family,
together with the inscribed name of Detlev Schinkel, who
gave the year of his visit in Roman numerals as 1436:14
What is more, it is clear that Schinke l had been to the
Monastery of St. Catherine at Sinai, and to Cyprus, before
coming to the Monastery of St. Antony, as indicated by the
symbols of the chivalric orders connected to these places.
Other heraldic graffiti in the church can be recognized as
belonging to members of the medieval Voserie and Croy
families. All in all, from these and other heraldic designs
still waiting for identification, it is clear th at the Monastery
 THE VIEWER 'S RESPONSE
of St. Antony m ust have been freq uen tly visited by Euro-
pean nobles during the four teenth and fifteenth centuries.
What is more, in terms of the number of the heraldic
graffiti to be found here, the church is comparable to other
popular sites for the noble, western visitors of the Midd le
Ages, such as the "o ld refectory" at the Monastery of St.
Cather ine, or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Nineteenth- and Twentieth -Century Graffiti
In modern time s, foreign visito rs to the monastery contin -
ued to writ e their names on the church wall. Man y of
them, ho wever, were content to leave onl y th eir name s be-
hind, and so metimes the date of th eir visit, in marked con-
trast to the practice of th e Co ptic pilgrims in every era
who, in addition to th eir nam es, inscribed th eir prayers in
Arabic under the portraits of the saints whose int ercession
they sought for th e forgiveness of thei r sins.
An alm ost official-lo okin g notice in Greek appears
o n the wall und er the po rtrait of St. Shenoute (N28) , re-
cording the visit of the Greek Ortho dox patriarch of Alex-
andria, Kallinikos (1858- 1861):
nD 1859 M m ou
K a,\ALvL Ko ~ Il rrr pur py r]
A AE ~ av8pEL a ~
~ ETa r ns Luv0 8 w ~ a UTOU
Fprry opr ou Km fa~pLllA TWV LEp08w KOV
Km 8 E08wpou Pa ~ 80u xou 35
In May 1859 this patriarch visited th e mo nastery, to -
gether with the members of his syno d, Gregory, Gabriel,
and Theodore. In all likelihood, the visit was in connec-
tion with Patriarch Cyril IV's kno wn interest in fostering
ecumenical relations between the several Orthodox
chur ches present in Egypt, particularly the Armenian and
the Greek."
A well-known figure in the travel accounts of the
nineteenth century is th e Russian Arch imandrite Porphy-
rius Uspensky, who visited the Monastery of St. Anto ny
in 1850 in the company of the future Coptic Orthodox
Patr iarch, Cyr il IV (1854-1861).37 He wrote his name on the
western wall of the nave, where it is still to be seen, under
the portrait of St. Menas (N21). Archimandrite Porphyrius
was an avid ecumenist, who fostered hopes of restoring
ecclesiast ical comm union between the Coptic Ortho dox
Churc h and th e Russian Or tho dox Church." Ano ther
Russian visitor, presumably in the entourage of Archi-
mandrite Porphyrius, wrote his name, P. Soloviev, and the
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year, 1850, under the portrait of Phoebammon (N26) on
the northern wall of the nave.
Some modern visitors left their names in both
Arabic and Latin scripts. A case in point can be seen under
the portrait of SI. Menas (N21), where the name Georges
Hayati / ~ ~ C:: .).J-?'- appears. On the wall to the right of
the modern entrance to the church of SI. Antony, a num -
ber of mod ern visito rs have left their names. The most
promi nent of th ese person s are King Farouk (1935- 1952)
and his wife, Queen Faridah. Their nam es, th ough faintl y
written , can still be clearly read high on th e wall: J _9.) U
uIJ.J-'-""J ~ dLo J J':I I "Farouk I, King of Egypt an d
Sudan," and just above this noti ce th e additiona l phrase:
ii ..l7. ~ ~I , "Q ueen Farida h." There is no indication of
the dat e on which the royal coup le came to the mo nastery.
Hundreds of other less famo us nam es have been
writte n on the walls. A number of them were put th ere by
visiting serviceme n fro m abroa d. For exam ple, o n th e wall
to th e right of the modern entr ance, one can still read:
L. G. Philpott, RAO C, 25/7/40. And even mod ern monks
have not shied away from recording th eir pr esen ce in th e
mon astery by inscribing a graffito on the wall. O n th e
same space as th e servicema n's nam e there is the following
inscription: AbdeI Masih EI Antoni, 1934.
Reading the Graffiti
The hand that wro te on th e plaster of the wall of th e king's
palace in th e biblical narrative of the book of Dani el (5:5)
was a disem bod ied specter , and the words it inscrib ed were
m ysteriou s and threa tening ; on ly a prophet cou ld deci -
pher them. The graffiti on the wall of the Church of St.
Antony, by contrast, represent a rare connect ion people of
our day have with the hundreds of pilgrim s and visitors
who came to the church over the centuries. All who wrote
on the wall must have done so with the know ledge that
those who would come after them would be able to read
the record of their passage. In this way the handwriting on
the wall offers th e modern visitor a living con nection with
his or her pre decessors. It is evident that some came in a
spirit o"r prayer and devotion, and some came with a sense
of personal fulfillment, bent only on leaving behind a
memorial of their sojourn. All of them enab le the modern
pilgrim or visitor to enter a network of fellow travelers
who have come to a holy spot from many countries and
lang uage communities, over a lon g period of time.
The most immediately str iking impression o ne re-
ceives from the graffiti in the ensemble is of the variety of
languages in which they are inscribed, testifying to the
 THE HANDWRITING ON THE WAll
wide appeal of the holy place. The large number of them is
also immediately evident, and the significance of this real-
ization is enhance d when one recalls that the successive
plaster layers mu st hide many more hundreds of graffiti
th an can cur rently be read in the churc h. The fact that th e
pre po nderant majori ty of th em are in Arabic, and that in
formulaic fashion they impl ore the int ercession of th e
saints for the forgiveness of sins, testifies to th e lively faith
of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who se m embers over the
centuries have been the largest single group of pilgrims to
come to the church. The graffiti in Syriac, Ethiopic, and
Arm enian go together with oth er historical records to tes-
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193
tify to the presence in the monastery of monks and visitors
from the other churches with whom the Copts have his-
torically been in ecclesiastical communion, for whom the
Monastery of St. Anto ny has had a more th an ordinary
importance. In short, the presence of the graffiti helps to
brin g th e site alive in a way th at enables on e to learn some-
thing of th e thousand s of peopl e who since the th irteenth
century at least have entere d the church to pr ay, and to
view with awe the paintings of the martyrs, patriarchs, and
monks, whose portraits high on the walls still command
the attention of visitors, whether to give a focus to their
religiou s devotion or to excite their admiration.
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=
C HA PTE R 12 WINDOWS INTO HEAVEN
I C O N S IN MONASTIC LIFE TODAY
The monastic life in Egypt is experiencing a period of
renaissan ce. This is a result of th e general ecclesiastical re-
birth taking place am ong the Copts in Egypt and abroa d,
which is itself a result of th e ecclesiastical, spir itual, educ a-
tional, and administrative awakeni ng effected by th e pas-
toral care of Pope Shenuda III (Patriarch of the Sea of St.
Mark).
The monastic life in Egypt is Christianity trans-
formed into living practice. It was established by St.
Antony, the father of all monks, and has endured from that
time down to the present day. Th e monasteries are still
filled with monks and nuns from all areas of Egypt, living
according to original monastic custom and the traditions
and teachings received from the first monastic fathers
(fig. 12.1). In the monasteries, continued daily use is made
of the Coptic language, in liturgy, prayers, and sacraments.
Th e monks still live according to traditional monastic
laws in matters of daily work, prayers , and spiritual exer-
cises. Modern monasticism keeps to original monastic
pract ice in matt ers of metanoia (p raying mindfully with
peni tence), pros tration, work, and spiritual exercises. The
Cop tic Church believes that monasteries and the mon astic
life are like a fortress that preserves th e ent ire ecclesias-
tical tra dition . They are the spring fro m which th e whole
church drinks. The spiritual atmos phere special to the
monasteries is distributed to all areas of the country by th e
12 .1 pr iests, who begin the ir priestly lives in a monastery. They
Maximus and Do m itius (N32; dr aw as mu ch as possible from thi s dee p source of living
ADP/SA 1999) tradit ion, and with th is experience beh ind th em th ey begin
their missio n an d service.
In years gone by, the monasteries were no t charged
with the care of the regular believers, as they were tradi-
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195
Father Maximous EI-Anthony
tio nally cut off completely from the world and received
few visitors. Long distances separated monasteries from
cities, an d traveling was difficult. Mo nastic teachings also
advocated withdrawa l fro m th e world and all that is in it.
There are man y stories from the history of monasticism
and also fro m th e lives of the saints that reveal how com -
plete was th is separation between the monasteries and the
people . Many monks fled from peopl e, and it was a lucky
visitor who actuall y managed to arrive at a monastery for a
visit.
In the modern era, alongside ecclesiastical and mon-
astic renaissance, however, the economic, psychological,
and social pressures on people have incre ased significantly.
It has thus become inevitable that monasteries must open
their doors to all, because individuals have found that the
monasterie s with th eir saints offer a unique opportunity
for them to partake of spiritual blessings. When Coptic
Christians visit monasteries and the shrines of saints with
an avowedly spiritual aim, the y are able to wash them-
selves from th e inside, and find solutions to their prob-
lems, relief from the ir worr ies, and cures for their sick-
ne~ses. The monasteries an d monks have brought salvation
to many, an d they have lit the paths of man y more by be-
com ing an exam ple for them on th eir spiritual jou rneys ,
and even on th eir way th rou gh the world.
The Coptic Church is very pro ud that its mon ks have
stood behind the church and strengthened, sup ported,
nourished, and protected it, an d have participated in th e
service of its wide-ranging activities. The successful service
that contemporary monks have established reflects the
entry of more educa ted people into the mo nasteries and
th eir development of a ph ilosoph y combining the past
 THE V IEWER 'S RESPONSE

with the present, supported by the Holy Spirit and the figuration, His entry into Jerusalem upon an ass, His pain
prayers of the saints. wearing the crown of thorns, of Christ crucified or rising
A crucial aspect of life in the monasteries of Egypt is from the dead or ascending into the heavens, sitting as a
the liturgical life. The monks live this life believing in what judge on the Day of Judgment, or any of the other numer-
they are practicing with love and strength and piety, ous depictions of Christ.
know ing that th e goal of their faith is their own salvation. The monk also offers his prayers to the Mother of
Collective and ind ividu al prayers, and the service of Mass God, the Ho ly Virgin Mary, for she is the mo ther of the
with all its rit uals, constitute th e bas is up on which the Savior and one may always seek her inter cession. She oc-
monk build s his monastic life. Hence the monasteries are cupies a central position in the lives of Coptic mon ks, and
keen ly int erested in collective prayers, such as th e mid- no cell is witho ut an icon of th e Ho ly Virgin Ma ry. Th e
night hymn s sung in the Coptic language and acco mp a- mon k has a special love for her in his heart, for she is the
nied by tradition al Coptic melodi c compositions. Th e intercessor for all of humankind , and the monk presen ts
monks pr ay in two cho ral gro ups and express a deep and many prayers to her. Th e monk also dedicates his prayers
pr ofound spiritual harm on y. The Mass, too , is amo ng befor e icon s of th e angels, mar tyrs, an d saints. The mon k's
those ritu al liturgical services that still represent the basic cell is filled with many icon s, thou gh we sho uld rem emb er
part , indeed th e greatest part, of the mon astic life in all of that each monk has his own int imat e and beloved angels
th e monasteries. Th e monks live it, devot ing m uch atte n- and martyrs and saints. We find that he is particu larly de-
tion to its rituals, melodies, and language. This is all in ad- voted to their icons, and he keeps th em in front of him at
dition to the ar tistic an d ed ucationa l aspect s of the monks' all tim es, raising prayers and pleas for intercessio n to them
lives, in which they produce an d express th ose spiritual always.
feelings inside th emselves an d translate them in the for m Nor does the monk interact with th e icon o nly
of nu merous arti stic products. through pra yers. There are several ways of expressing de-
votion, such as lighting a candl e in front of the icon . We
Icons and Icon Making in the Life of the Monk find that man y monks light can dles in front of icon s in
The monk is an icon , pul sating with life, and wherever a th eir cells, particularly. icons of th e Holy Virgin, the
12. 2 RI GH T monk is found, icon s, too , are found in all their different
Icon of Paul and Anto ny (AD P/SA form s (panel painting, mosaic, wall painting, manuscript
857096 ) illumination, and so on ; fig. 12.2) . If it is true that on e can-
not find a Coptic Chur ch without icon s, it is also true that
on e cannot find a Coptic monk without icon s. Ind eed, the
monk is at one with his icon s, and thi s is att ributa ble to th e
clear relation between the monk and Heaven . In both their
limited exterio r form and their unlimited int erior perspec-
tive icon s resemble windows: ind eed icon s are' the win-
do ws through which th e monk gazes at Heaven.
Th e cell is th e place in which th e monk lives, by him-
self, all of his life. Inside thi s cell, which normally has
few window s, th e monk strives to see the heavenl y world
th rough th e windows of icon s. Inside the cell, the monk
sees nothing of th e world, fo r he has entered this enclosed
space and shut the do or. Rather, he gazes beyond the ph ysi-
cal realm to see the entire heavenly world. Henc e in that
special place in his cell where th e monk offers his pr ivate
pr ayers, we find vario us icon s hung in random ways.
Through th ese icon s, and d uri ng his prayers, the monk
strives to see Heaven . It is the ico ns which ope n his mind,
his sight, and his eyes so that he may gaze with devoti on on
an icon of Christ as a young child carried by his mo ther, of
His face on ly or Him among his students, His trans-

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12·3
Monks of the Mo nastery of
51. Paul at th e terrace near the
basket lift, 1930 - 1931 (Whitte mo re
Expedition. Courtesy of Dum bar-
ton Oaks , 835)
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WINDOWS I N T O H EAVEN
c: ..... :
-, '
mon astery's founding saint, the mon k's nam esake, or his
patron saint.
Ther e are ot her manife stat ions as well of monks' de-
votio n and tribute to icon s (fig. 12.3). We find that on those
holy days special to Christ, the Hol y Virgin, th e martyrs,
and those saints who hold a spec ial place with the indi vid-
ual monk, each monk lights can dles for the who le per iod
of th eir feast days. This takes place not only inside th e cell
but also outside of it, in one of th e cell's windows, in fro nt
of it, or at its ent ran ce. Monks also carry icon s in th eir
pocke ts, inserted within their Bible, th eir prayer book of
the canonical hours ihorologioni, their book for the mid-
night praises, and any other books they may possess.
For the monk, the meaning of the icon is not located
in its material or manufacturing techniques but rather in
the person whom the icon represents. For the monk and
the purposes of his interaction with the icon, it does not
matter whether the icon is made of certain materials, man-
ufactured in a particular way, and drawn with the quill of
an artist, or whether it is printed on paper or any other
material. The size, too , is not im po rtant; the mo nk inter-
acts with the sma ll, printed icon as he does with a large
icon made according to artistic specifications. Coptic
monks believe intensely that the icon is not the material it-
197
self, but the thing which is seen-a depiction of a living
person embo died in a visible form.
Monks believe in th e mirac ulou s power of icon s.
The y believe that icon s protect them from all kind s of dan -
ger and that th e presence of an icon blesses their cells.
They believe th at an icon sancti fies their lives and helps
th em in th eir search for holin ess. The monk fears th e icon
as he woul d a per son standing befo re him: hence he str ives
not to err in the pre sence of the icon, neither in tho ught
nor in deed. The monk takes refuge in the icon and seeks
its aid in his spiritua l life. Th e mon k also seeks int ercession
with the person depicted on the icon, believing in the
working of miracles, whether it be in the healing of illness,
or !n dispelling anguish or any other needed aid.
The monk speaks with the person of the icon, face to
face and in an audible voice (pray ing, seeking intercession,
requesting help, rebuking, thanking), believing that the
presence of the person is a palpable, visible, audible truth.
Thus the monk interacts with the icon not only in prayer
before it but in mutual contact. He often kisses the icon,
puts his han ds on it, kneels before it, or embraces it.
The Coptic monk also uses the icon to adorn his cell,
placing it on furniture or above his bed or next to his
books. The monk can find no better gift to give than an

12·4
Procession of monks, Mon astery
of SI. Anton y, 1928
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THE V I EW ER' S RESPON SE
icon. By giving it to others, he conveys his faith in it and
his relationship with it, making others cherish it and want
to own it. Monks throng around beautiful icons and they
want to purchase them, particularly if the y are made ac-
cording to traditional specifications.
Because of th eir love for icons, monks devoted them-
selves to the art of icon mak ing in the first centuries of
monasticism . Th ey painted the churches in their monas-
terie s and the ir manuscripts with icon s. The monasteries
avidly pr odu ced a great variety of icon s and pr eserved and
passed on the art of mak ing th em. Througho ut our his-
tory, ma ny monks and bishops were skilled artists who
made icons of all forms and types. In continuation with
this tradition , some mo nks and nuns have begun to devote
their attention to reviving th e production of icons, com-
bining the pain tin g of icons with their prayers and asceti-
cism. In th e past few years, we have witnessed a great num-
ber of m onks and nu ns in all th e monasteries taking up
icon dr awing, whether for their own monaster ies or for
sale to churches and individ uals. This renewed effort has
encouraged the spread of icons everywhere.
The production of icons is part of the or iginal work
of monks, for it requires time , patience, deliberateness of
spirit, and contemplation, all monastic virtues . This is why
the production of icon s is referred to as "monks' work." It
is one of the im portant facets of the monastic life, for it is
not merel y material work but spiritual as well. The monk
is able to imbue the icon with the breath of life, something
a lay person cannot do because the art of icon making is
one of the works of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides
the painter of the icon to fill it with the mark of the Spirit .
The icon is th e work not of th e monk but of th e Holy
Spirit, as is mu ch spi ritual writ ing; the mon k is a tool
in the hand of the Ho ly Spirit. This the monk achieves
through his spiritual life, led by the Holy Spirit.
Hence th e paint ing of icons is one of the ma nual
labors of monks that help to consecrate th e spiritual life
and lead the mo nk to live in holiness. The majority of icon
making takes place on days of fasting, which are consid-
ered the most holy and spiritual days.
Icons in the lit urgical life of th e Monk
An icon is an icon in any place and in any form in the life
of a monk. It occupies an important position not only in
=
WINDDW5 INTD HE A V E N
his personal life and in his cell but in his ritual and liturgi-
cal life as well. The liturgical life of the monk begin s as
soon as he sets foot insid e the monastery. When he enters
the church, he performs the liturgy of veneration and re-
spect and offers up his prayer s. When he stands before the
door of the temple (the sanctuary), he performs his prayers
of hum ility, accompanied by prostrations and prayers. He
then stands and prays, after which he begins greeting th ose
in the churc h. He greets those in heaven and th en th ose on
earth. He begins by greetin g the Lord Jesus and th e Holy
Virgin, the angels, the martyrs, and the saints th rough th eir
icons. The monk passes by th em, greeti ng each in turn and
taking from th em peace and blessings. He either kisses the
icon directly, if its location permits this, or, more often,
places his han d on the icon and then kisses his han d. He
then begins greeti ng those in the ch urch - the relics of the
saints, the ranks of the clergy, and his brother monks. Nor
is the monk's greeting to the icon limited to a kiss, but
there are also icons in the church before which the monk
can light a candle, praying for himself and others. The
lighting of the cand le befor e an icon is an act of faith in the
power and efficacy of its saint ly subject and an expression
of the belief th at th e candle is the oblatio n th e mon k can
offer to th e person of the icon every day and every moment
in which he sees the icon.
The monk strives to place in a prominent position
the appropriate icon for each particular feast the chur ch
celebrates, or the icon of a saint or martyr on his day, if it
is available. This is so that the monk can live with the per-
son of the icon in his remembrance, recalling his faith, his
struggle, and his prayers, making of him a living example
to be followed in the monk's own life. The monk breathes
in his pungent fragran ce. It is as if th e icon s are roses, and
the monk smells each day a different flower with its own
distingu ishing fragrance. Icon s parti cular to special occa-
sions are placed next to th e door of th e temple in front of
all, an d are amo ng the first icon s to be greeted by the
monk. The monastic priest performs a special ceremony
with the icons during the liturgical prayers, called the "in-
cense procession." This is a procession undertaken by the
monks during the liturgical prayers, whether it is offering
up incense dur ing the morning or eveni ng prayers or dur-
ing the Mass. In it the priest-monk passes by with an in-
cense bu rn er, giving and presenting incense before the
icon s in a prescribed ritual form. He prese nts th em with
incense, offering his prayers to th e person of th e icon ,
seeking succor in all his needs and the needs of those who
asked him to pray for them. This is an example of anot her
interaction between the monks and icons found in the
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199
churc h as a whole. Just as the scent of th e lives of those in
icon s was fragrant, so also does th e scent of incense pre-
sented to them repre sent their perfum ed lives.
In the monasteries, the monks pay close attention to
the festivals of the saints, because these remind them of
their own struggles . The monks perform a ritual parade of
the icon on these special occasions (fig. 12.4) . During th e
celebration of a festival of a martyr, saint, prophet, or angel,
the mon ks carry the appropriate icon an d circle the inside
of the church with it, having decorated it with flowers and
candles, chanting joyous songs. Each also carr ies a cand le,
illum inatin g him self as the perso n of the icon illuminates
others with his life. If the occasion is a celebrat ion for
the founder of the monastery, the monks, rad iant and joy-
ous, carry his icon and circumambulate both inside the
church and outside on the paths of the monastery, letting
everyone touch the icon and take its blessing with strong
yearning and faith. At the end of this procession, whether
it is during the evening prayers or the special mass held for
the person of the icon, one of the monks carries the icon
and stands with it at the door of the temple. Then, one by
one , the bishops and priest s begin offering incense to the
icon while the monks chan t the appropriate melodies.
After th e presentation of incense, the icon is placed in its
spot next to the door of the templ e, and a cand le is lit in
front of it for the duration of the celebration.
Wh en one of th e saints or martyrs or th e Holy Virgin
is honored, the monks stand before the icon, glorifying
it with the appropriate chants while some of the m read
about th e honoree's life. They conclude th e exaltation by
receiving a blessing from the icon.
During the Mass an icon of the Lord Jesus sitting on
the throne is placed in the eastern part of the temple,
because it is by liftin g our eyes to him in prayer that our
heart s are also raised to Heaven. The Lord Jesus is always
placed in the eastern part of the temple, from which he will
come, and also on the altar, where he is imminent.
On the altar is the "pedestal of the chalice," a box in
w~ich th e chalice is placed during the Mass. The box is
adorn ed on all four sides with icons. On the western side,
in front of the priest, appears an icon of the Last Supper,
and on the eastern side an icon of the Resurrect ion. On the
north side there is an icon of the Holy Virgin, and on the
south, the church's intercessor.
Whe n the mon ks want to pay trib ute to one of the
saints an d perform an exaltation, they put the icon before
the m an d present it with exaltations and th e appropriate
chants. In this case, the icon represents the presence of the
person in the midst of th e monks.
 THE VIEWER 'S RESPONSE

PASS ION WEEK

During th e week precedin g Easter the monks place

an icon of Christ in pain, or an icon of Christ crucified, in
the m iddle of the church, and they light candles and oil
lamps befo re it. When the monks enter the church, th ey
kneel before this icon and kiss it. This icon holds a special
place, for through it the monks are able to contemplate the
torments of Christ during His Week of Suffering. Accom-
pan ied by mou rnful chants, the icon helps to create an at-
mosph ere of living with Christ in his pain . Traditionally
worshipers do not kiss either each other in greeting or the
icons after Tuesday evening in memory of Judas's kiss of
betrayal. Monks also follow this prac tice and refrain from
kissing th e icon.

G OOD F R I D AY

On Good Friday, the icon of the Crucifixion is adorned

with all types of deco ration. The monks are extremely de-
voted to this ritual, staying up late Thursday night pre-
par ing th is and all the other icon s special to th is occasio n.
12.5 ABOVE Occasions and Celebrations
Icon o f th e baptism o f Chris t
(ADP/SA 8 s64 96) T HE FEAST OF T HE E P I P HANY

Dur ing the prayers for celebra tion of the Feast of the
12 .6 B ELOW Epiphany, we perform what is called the Mass of th e Bap-
Ce nser ( ADP/SA BW 74:19) tism al Font, or the Water Mass. In this mass, the mon ks
wear their sacerdotal vestments and go to the baptism al
font. Th ey stand before an icon of the Epipha ny in which
John th e Bapti st is show n bapt izing th e Lord Jesus in th e
River Jordan (fig. 12.5). Then the mon ks begin th eir pra y-
ers to con secrate th e water of the fon t.

PALM SUN D AY

We pr actice the rite of Palm Sunday by raising in-

cense early in th e morning (fig. 12.6 ). This magnificent rit-
ua l involves th e par ticipatio n of other icons, wh ich join
with us in celebrating Christ's entra nce into Jeru salem , just
as when Chr ist entered Jeru salem an d everyone celebrated
with him, even children. It is an open invitation to all the
inh abitants of heaven and the saints and martyrs to partic-
ipate (fig. 12.7). The rite begins with a series of twelve stops
or stations. The mon ks carry th e festal icon of Christ en-
tering Jerusalem to the praises of the people. They begin
before the sanctuary and proceed around the remaining
eleven prescrib ed icon s. At each stop the monks chant the
doxolo gy of Palm Sunday, read fro m the Holy Bible an d
offer up incense. They carry th e icon of the tr iumphal
entry, and the cross and palm branches. Fina lly they return
to th e altar wh ere the rite ends.

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200

12·7
Two living creatures with head s of
an ox and an eagle (C3; A DP/SA 6
S175 97)
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WINDOWS I N T O HE A VE N
Th ey prepa re the place in which th e Cru cifixion icon will
be put, paying close attention to all the details. They offer
any flowers, perfum es, and oils th at th ey possess. O n thi s
day th e mon astic priest present s th e icon with incense, and
th rou gh it th e monks live with th e crucified Messiah above
Golgot ha Hill. At the end of th e day Friday, th e mon ks
carry the icon in all its ado rn me nt and circu mambu late
the church three times, alternating betwee n sorrow and
joy. They are mournful for the crucifixion of Christ and his
sufferings, but they are overcome with the joy of redemp-
tion . (In some Egyptian villages, we find special conditions
governing who may carry this icon during its tour in the
church, and many compete for the privilege.)
TH E I CON OF T HE E N T O M B MEN T
The icon of the Entombme nt is used in the Coptic
rite to represent the burial and the resurrection of Christ.
It is a small icon , with a painting of th e entombment of
Chr ist on one side and, on th e other side, one of Christ
20 1
rising from the grave. When the liturgy of th e en tomb-
me nt is perform ed, the priest takes the icon and ado rns it
with fragrances an d flowers and wra ps it as Chr ist was
wrap ped in his shro ud. It is th en placed on the altar and
remai ns th ere Frid ay and Satur day, not being remo ved
until dawn Sunday morning.
THE ENACTMENT OF THE RE SURRECTION
In the ritual of the enactment of the resurrection, the
icon of the Entombment is unwrapped from the shroud to
symbolize Christ's rising from the dead. Afterward, the
monks celebrate the resurrection by circling the church
with the icon, chanting joyful songs of the resurrection .
During this tour, everyone kisses the icon, breathing in the
fragrance of resurrection through the smell of perfumes
and flowers. Once the parade is completed , the priest of-
fers incense to the icon before the door of the temple, and
it is placed the re, to remain for the duration of the celebra -
tion of Easter tide.
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 Eli zabeth E. Oram

CHAPTE R 13 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SAINTS

THE MONASTERY OF ST. ANTONY, PILGRIMAGE,

AND MODERN COPT IC IDENTITY

13·1
Mo nas tery site plan , existing
co nd itio ns, 1999
At two o'clock in the morning, I climbed onto a bus alon g
with fort y or more yo ung men and women and a few small
familie s to begin our two-day rihla (pI. rihlat) , or short
pilgrimage trip, to the Monasteries of St. Antony (fig. 13.1)
and St. Paul. We would be staying in the special guest
dormitories each mon astery had constructed outside its
walls for visitors. Most rihla pilgrimages do not include an
overn ight stay, but those to the Red Sea monasteri es ofte n
do, because the jo urney takes at least four hours, and there
are usually enough beds to acco mmo date all the visito rs.
Participants also want to feel that they have eno ugh tim e to
perform all of the religious activiti es, inform al and form al,
that are available to them at the Monastery of St. Antony,
especially the optional climb to the hermit's cave, which
can take several hours.
Peopl e piled onto th e bus, squeezing by each other,
juggling thermoses of tea and bags full of crackers, tanger -
ines, falafels, bean sandwiches, and ot her vegeta rian food.
Altho ugh we were no t in one of the liturgically prescribed
periods of fasting , many people had decided as a spiritual
gestur e to abstain from eatin g animal products during th e
trip. ' As people chose th eir seats and settled into th em, a
young man in his twenti es nam ed Maher made his way to
the front of the bus and took up a microphone, introduc-
ing him self as the trip leader. He began by leading us in the
Lord 's Prayer, starting out in a loud voice, "Abana alethi fi
as-sarnawat . . . " The enti re bu s quieted down instantly,
people turning their faces and hands upward in a posture
of prayer. Each finished the prayer silently, th en came a
collective "Amin" out loud, accompanied by genuflection.
Maher welcomed us again and began to explain the sched -
ule of our activities. We would arrive at th e Monastery of
St. Antony by 6 A . M. , in tim e to attend the mass conducted
by th e monks. Th e rest of the day wo uld be free time , dur-
ing which we might climb the mountain that runs up the
back of the complex to St. Antony's cave, or simply walk
around the places inside the monastery that are open to
the public. Every monastery has areas where the pilgrims
may move abo ut freely, but there are also zones reserved
only for the mo nks' use, and pilgrim s are expected to re-
spect these boundaries. .
People would also be able to use th eir free tim e d ur -
ing th e day to make arrangeme nts to meet with individual
monks. Some pilgrim s had come to see parti cu lar mo nks,
either because they were kin or because they so ught th eir
advice an d counsel on specific personal matt ers. Th e
majority simp ly wanted to interac t with any mon ks th ey
might see as th ey walked the gro unds, asking fo r th eir
blessing an d hoping to receive th eir grace (baiaka). Maher
finished outlining our sched ule by remin ding us that light s-
ou t was at 10 P .M., when the monastery shu t down its gen-
erators. Those who so wished could attend the liturgy the
next morning from its very sta rt, the matins pra yers (tas-
b i~ a) that would begin at 3 A.M . We would leave after the
mass ended at 9 A .M . for o ur next stop, the Mo nastery of
St. Paul, only a short distanc e away.
For the duration of the bu s ride we sang contempo-
rar y spirituals (taranim) , played biblical knowledge games
for small prize s, and bought raffle tickets from two girls
moving up and down the aisle for the most valuable prize,
a Virgin Mary clock embe llished with shells. As we neared
the monastery, Maher stood up again, this time with a
stack of photocopies. While passing them out, he explained
th at th is was the tamgid, or text of praise to St. Antony,

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 TH E VIEWER 'S RESPONSE

that we would be singing as a group in the church.' Maher brations draw thousands of participants, some of whom
read the text out loud once through, and then two young arrive as much as a month in advance with their families to
men accompanied us with the traditional cymbals (daff) camp out around the site. Most can attend only one of
and tr iangle (mutha lath) as we pract iced: these festivals a year and wait to perform certain rites or
praye rs, for it is believed that they will be mo re effective
In the Chu rch of the first Born In the congregation of the Saints d ur in g th e muli d . Amo ng suc h rites are th e bap tism of
He stands with great respect Penior' Ava Antonious children an d th e makin g of religio us vows called nadr."
He stands with great esteem Among those who wearthe Th e festival typi cally reac hes its clim ax on th e even ing be-
eskee rn" fore th e saint's feast day, called al-layla al-k abira, which is
At the rank of the cherubim Peniot Ava Antonious ma rked by processions, th e slaughtering of sacrificial ani -
With spirit-filled prayers With godly life story mals, and the con sumption of meat to break the fast. 'Aiyad
You consecrated the wilderness Peniot Ava Antonious resonate with the lifeways of rural populations an d ar e tied
Striving in prayers Tens and tens of yea rs to th e agricu ltural seasons of planting an d h arvest, o ften
With tears and prostrations Peniot AvaAntonious sym bolized by bringin g first fru its to be di stributed in th e
Monastic in your fasts For days and days on end nam e of the sain t." Th ey em bo dy a rich m ix of sac red and
Yo ur soul seeks no rest Peniot AvaAntonious. . . cultural activities th at func tio n to reaffirm both spiritua l
You are the power and the For those who seek an example ties with Go d and th e soc ial bonds of th e gro u p. T his typ e
symbol of traditional religious festival has been documented
Thedwellerof high mountains Peniot Ava Antonious amo ng M uslim, Christian, an d Jewish co m m un ities
Example of purity, The power of spirituality th roughout th e M iddle East, an d most aut hors agree th at it
And the peace of the wilderness Peniot Ava Antonious plays a critical rol e in main taining the cultural fabric o f
Like the odorof sweet incense Like the beautiful sound of tr aditional societies."
psa lms Rihla pilgrimage, by co ntras t, is a peculi arly modern
Your life story is a light Peniot Ava Antonious Coptic practice. It attracts primarily the youn g working-
You aregreat in tribulations You are wise in counsel class Co pts of the cities, the ch ildren of im m igra nts from
Intercede on our behalf Peniot Ava Antonious rural Egyp t who flocked 'to urban cen ters in the 1950S and
Can we follow your example? Can we traceyour every step? 1960s, whe n decreasin g land yields and increasing pop-
Pray on our beha lf Peniot Ava Antonious ... 5 ulation pressures forced ten s of th ou sands of Co pts and
M uslims to aba ndo n agricu lture an d become wage lab o r-
We were still cha n ting as the sun began to rise and ers. Rihla p ilgrim age differs fro m 'aiyad in th at it occurs
th e m onastery ap peared in the distance . At least ten other throughout the year (usually on Frida ys and Sundays), and
to ur buses were already pa rked outside th e walls, and att endance does not require great planning. Many rihlat
groups of people were streaming through the main gate on are organized only days before the y occur, either by church
th eir way to Mass . We pu lled up, disembarked, and joined youth groups or individuals who rent an independent tour
them on th is first step of our pilgrimage (fig. 13.2). bus and invi te friends. The target dest inations of rihla are
working Coptic monasteries, mo st of which had not pre-
A Modern For m of Pil gri mag e vio usly been asso ciated with 'a iyad and thus were unused
This type of pilgrimage, what I will hen cefo rth refer to as to welcomi ng large numbers of visito rs. The activ ities as-
rih la pilgrim age, is a m odern pheno me no n. Although s?c iated with rihl a are different as well: pilgr ims come not
it can be traced on ly to th e m id-1970S, it has become im- only to be in contact with a holy place, as they do during
men sely popular, especially amo ng you ng , urban, wor k- th e 'aiyad, but also to interact wit h livin g m onks an d to
ing -class men and wome n . Rihla pilgrimage differs from learn abo ut Coptic history by takin g tours of th e monas-
th e other most popular form of Co p tic pilgrimage, wh ich teries. And whereas 'aiyad reaffi rm ties between exte nded
is much old er and revolves arou nd local sain t festivals fami lies, ri hla pilgrim age fo rges new ties between Co pts
called mulids or ' aiyad." Th e ' aiyad tak e plac e annually at a who are increasingl y mobile and separated from on e an-
variety of ancient hol y sites, includ ing historic churches other, as the exodus fro m villages co ntinues. In short, rihla
and monasterie s that hold th e rem ain s of well-known pilgrimage is pa rt of a process th at is creating new co m-
saints, as well as gro tt os where it is believed th e Holy mu nal ties an d promoting a connection between co nte m-
Fami ly stayed during their sojourn in Egypt. ' These cele- porary Copts an d their history.

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13 · 2

View of th e monastery showing

the historic core , mode rn pa rking
area, and guest hous es, 1996
(ADP/SA aw 47:1)

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 THE V I EWER' S RESPONSE
The growth of thi s new form of pilgrimage has trans-
formed many monasteries, including th at of St. An to ny,
from isolated outposts to modernized centers of mass pil -
grimage. Most have had to construct new buildings and
introduce electricity and modern plumbing. The presence
of so many pilgri ms has further affected the un derstanding
of the monastic vocat ion. No longer lim ited to a person al
strugg le with temptat ion carried ou t in isolation , m on ast i-
cism no w entails new ro les fo r th e m onk as a tour guide,
teach er, and sp iritua l m entor. As a res u lt, in cr easin gly th e
philosophy of khidma, or service to the ch urch and its
co m m un ity, is highlight ed in mod ern Co ptic monasti-
cism, rathe r th an that of tawahliud, or th e ancho retic life.
Rihla pilgrimage has also cha nged th e m eaning and
experience of m on asteries for th e Co ptic laity. For th e old-
er generatio n, th ese were im portant sac red sites within the
Co pt ic religio us im agination but not places to be visited .
In upper Egypt, for insta nce, a fami ly whose son chose to
en ter a monastery wou ld give him a symbolic funeral after
his departure, expressive of his absolute separation from
"the worl d" an d his fami ly. Now roads, mass tr anspo rt,
and th e frequency of p ilgrim age trips h ave m ad e th e once-
rea l barri er of the desert int o a m etaphoric o ne.
The 'Copt ic Renaissance'
W hen the current po pe , She nouda Ill , ascended to th e pa-
papacy in 1971, he inherited a tro ub led generation . Th e
Egyp tia n defeat at th e hands ofIsrael in 1967 and th e death
of Pres ident Gama l Abde l Nasse r in 1970 had left the na-
tio n depressed. Accelerated pop ulatio n growth, rapid ur -
banization, and un em ployment wer e exacerbating the
challenge of revita lizing the country. The sense of frag-
mentation and anomie, espec ially am ong urban popula-
tions, was lead ing not only to a sense of dislocation but at
times to incidents of soc ial unrest. ' I And alt hough Copts
had always been patriotic citizens , th e growth of radic al Is-
lamicist movem ents th at called for a religiously based state
ma de Christians increasingly un sur e of their ide ntity as
part of the nation ."
In an attempt to strengthen th e Coptic community,
Pope Sheno uda in itiated a wide range of reforms and new
programs that greatly expa nded th e ro le of the ch urch. The
success of these programs in d rawin g Copts to th e church
and promoting a renewed in terest in Coptic history and
iden tit y is ofte n called th e Co ptic Ren aissan ce, or al-nahda
al-gibtiya. Th e admi nis tra tive, ed uca tio na l, and social re-
forms wro ught by Pope She nouda were (an d conti n ue to
be) th e most expansive the Co ptic Church has ever known.
But he built upon a spirit of change that had begun under
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206
th e previous pope, Kyrolli ou s VI (1956-1971). Kyrolli ou s
had enco uraged th e expa nsion of social ou tr each p rogram s
like th e rural diakonia, and educa tional initiative s such
as Sunday schools. There had also been a renewal of int er -
est in the monastic life, and a new cadre of educated and
socially concerned young men had joined monasteries. I )
Pope Shenouda continued to modernize and central -
ize the structure of the church. He created n ew dioceses
and bishophr ics, reor ganized churc h lan d s, an d instituted
a centr alized salary syste m fo r priests. He also began new
soc ial p rogram s that dist ributed finan cial aid to th e poor
and set up infirma ries next to ch urc hes to prov ide free
hea lth care." But his most exte nsive init iatives were dir -
ected at the youth, th e "new generation," or al-gil al-gadid.
It was this segme nt of th e Co pt ic population that was hi t
hardest by such socia l pressures as u nem ploym en t and
who were m ost vulnerable to feelings of dis loca tion, par-
ticu larly in urban centers like Cairo. For the m he insti-
tuted yout h groups and service programs organized into
units called 'il' ila (pI. ' ii'iliit) , or fam ilies. These "families,"
often nam ed for a saint (for example, the fami ly of St.
Abraarn), became invo lved in a range of activities that in-
cluded visiting .the sick and poor, putting on religious
plays, organizing outings, and inviting outsid e speakers .
As participation in the 'ii'i liit grew and their structure be-
came more reg ularized, th ey provided yo u th wit h an op-
portunity to travel throughout Egypt, meeting othe r
'ii' iliit on exchange programs and spiritua l retreats and
th rough Bible co mpetitions. T he activ ities sponsored by
the 'a' ilat provided a new place for Coptic yout h to meet
each other and form a sense of community.
Pope Shenouda's new program s also encouraged the
use of m od ern technology and secular acad emi c research
to promote a sense of community. He esta blished a print-
ing pr ess on the gro u nds of th e patri ar chate in do wntown
Ca iro and encouraged th e publicatio n of a variety of sim-
ply wri tte n wor ks on Coptic spiritua lity, hi sto ry, and lan -
guage for mass d istribu tio n. An audio library and later a
video library were established to circulate tapes of lectures
and serm ons, as well as religious movies. Originally,
movies were imported, but during the 1980s an indigeno us
Coptic film in dustry grew u p and began produc ing its own
videos, most often on the lives of Egyptia n saints.
Fina lly, there was a re newed focus on th e deve lop -
me n t of dep artmen ts of acade m ic research on what is
called collectively turiith, or Coptic h eritage. The Co ptic
lan guage began to be taught to children in Su nday school.
The In stitu te for Coptic Studies, which had been estab-
lished decades earlier but had fallen into a state of di sre-
 I N THE fOOTSTEPS O f THE SA IN TS
pair, began to attract new students. Master's degrees were
offered in subjects such as Coptic language, history, archi-
tecture, and art. The Department of Coptic Art , headed by
the renowned artist Isaac Fanous, was particularly success -
ful in turning out a new cadre of icon and mosaic artists
tra ined in the tenets of traditional Coptic art. Throughout
the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Coptic Church
ar t had been dominated by an im ported Italian ate style.
Churc hes began to rem ove this artwo rk and orde r icon s
from th e institute to replace it.
T hese new initiatives no t o nly m odernized th e
ch urc h, th ey shaped a new generatio n of Co pts. For al-gil
al-gadid, th e ch urc h becam e a soc ial and ed ucational cen-
ter. Linked th rou gh service activities, retreats, and outings,
and more aware of th eir historical iden tity th an previous
generations, al-gi l al-gadid responded enthusiastically to
the new sp iritual and social opportunities offered by rih la
pilgrimage.
Opening the Monaste ries to Modern ity
Unti l th e 19 70S Egyptian mo nasteries were for the most
part difficul t to reach , and they attracted few lay Copts as
visito rs. Those who did come were mostly Weste rn travel-
ers, frequently in search of texts and manuscr ipt s to take
with th em to the gro win g collections in Eur ope. Although
colo nial travelers marveled at th e desert settings, the archi-
tecture, and the libraries, th ey wer e oft en disappointed
with the monks themselves. Baron Von Tischendorf, for
instance, who traveled to the Monastery of the Romans
(Baramous ) at the end of th e nineteenth century, made
thi s typi cal observation:
Here the cells were the blackest of all. The superior here
had a peculiar custom; he sat beside me in the cell, and
as often as a pause was made in the conversation, he in-
terp osed the formula of welcome, Salam, Salam, and re-
peated the pantom ime of his hand s. What I inquired
for, and everywhere in vain, was manuscript accounts
of the history of the mona stery. But not a line of such a
record was known. Thu s they live carelessly from day to
day. To such an existence, what is the past and what is
the future? "
Such remarks are rooted in a larger colonia l d is-
course about Co pts as "Sons of the Pharaohs," or living
represe ntatives of Egypt's past, and thus imagi nary reposi-
to ries of key elements of history. In colonial narratives,
when Copts are perceived to fall sho rt in this role, either by
not con d ucting themselves "aut hentically"- the way an-
cient texts might indicate they did -or by not placing an
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20 7
emphasis on th e preservatio n of mat erial things such as
texts, th eir actions evoke disapp ointment in westerne rs.
T his is th e case in thi s reported int eraction, in which th e
monk's actions, intended to m ake the visito r feel honored
and welcomed, do not have the desired effect, but instead
provoke anger and the judgment that the monk cannot
d istinguish between the trivia l (hum an interaction ) and
the im por tan t (texts).
As th e co lonial presence in Egypt dw ind led thro ugh-
out the first half of th e twent ieth cent ury, Co pt ic monas-
teries faded fro m th e Western imagination as storeho uses
of texts an d ico ns for th e taki ng, and the jou rn eys thro ugh
the deser ts to see th em were mu ch reduced. Unt il the 19 70S
mos t mon asteries remained isolated and sparsely popu-
lated. The Co ptic laity had no tradition of visiting monas-
teries, and monasticism was understood to be a solitary
spiritual pursuit. But as al-gi l al-gadid took shape outside
the monasteries and the new cadre of monks grew into po-
sitions of aut hority within them, possibilities of opening
these places to the public began to be imagined. Particu-
larly appealing was the idea of bringing Copts directly into
contac t wit h their histo ry. As the scholar Dina EI-Khawaga
has point ed out regar ding th e Cop tic Renaissance, the very
idea of a ren aissanc e "im plies by definit ion an effor t of
rupture, of a selection of foundational or igins and a refor-
mulation bet ween the present and a specific past.?" Th e
opening of the monasteries and th eir subsequen t m od ern-
ization could be said to form part of this process, for in
them the laity experienced a new blending of modern
technology, ancient spirituality, and communal identity.
T he process of makin g m on asteries accessible to th e
public had of course been made easier by the general im-
pro vem en t of Egypt's road system. However, th e serv ice
road built out from th e m on astery to th e m ain road re-
main s a powerful symbo l of a new era for its resident s.
Guide books prod uced by mon asteries often begin with
th e story of how their road was built as a type of foun d ing
tale and go on to detai l the ensuing physical growth of the
site which happened as a result. The guidebook to the
Monastery of th e Romans, for instance, describ es the con -
struction of their road as the beginnings of a "revolution" :
For any "revolution" to succeed, whether it be . . . eco-
nomic, social or ideological, there must be easily acces-
sible roads to lead to those places where it is hoped the
revolut ion will spread. Thus the beginnin g of the "revo-
lution " in the Monastery ofBaramous (and what can be
said pertain ing to the Monastery of Baramo us might be
said about all the working Egyptian monasteries ) in the
 THE VIEWER 'S RESPONSE
13·3 era of Pope Shenouda III is rooted in this development;
Print ing press of the Monaster y of the construction of a road making exchange possible
51. Men a, Marriout between the world and the monastery. Thus the world
now drinks deeply from the spirituality of the mon-
astery and the monastery itself benefits from the nu-
merous scientific inventions which come to it from the
world."
This "exchange .. . between the world and the mon-
astery" initiated by the bu ilding of roads turned out, how-
ever, to be a comp lex interact ion with far-reaching con-
sequences. First, pressure to accommodate th e waves of
pilgrims who began to arrive an d the new availability of
"scientific inventions ... from th e world " began a pr ocess
of reno vation and modernization in all the monasteries.
Some made onl y modest architectural additions, where-
as in others, the older stru ctures all but disappeared
behind th e new construction. At the very least, electricity
and plumbing were introduced, new kitchen facilities in-
stalled, rest houses erected for pilgrims' overnight stays,
and, in some instances , new churches built next to the
anci ent ones, which could no longer hold the numbers
of pilgrims who came to attend the masses. A po rtion of
thi s ph ysical growth has also been du e to th e const ruc tion
of accommodations for the growing numbers of new
monks. Despite th e strict standards and lon g evaluation
perio ds, most mon asteries have waiting lists for admis-
sion. The population ofSt. Antony's has grown, for exam-
ple, from twenty -four in 1960 to sixty-nine in 1986. By the
time of my fieldwork in 1996, the monastery was reported
to have approximately ninety monks. Similar increases
have occurred in almost every monastery in Egypt."
Pilgrims have become a new source of income that
can be used to finance further projects within the monas-
teries. For centuries monks depended exclusively on char-
ity for support. Donations of money and also of goods
were collected by the maqarr, the monastery's outpost in a
nearby town, to sustain the monks. They also lived on the
proce eds from land s th at had been bequeathed to th em by
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208
ind ividuals (awqa]'). Charity, and especially the awqaf, are
still important forms of sup por t, but now in addition
mo nasteries produce a wide variety of goods for sale to
pilgrim s and for expor t. Several monasteries have also
acquired computers and printing presses and have become
active in producing pamphlets and guidebooks detailing
their institutional histories (fig. 13.3) .
Ot her kinds of income-generating projects have been
made possib le through the importation of new technolo-
gies for desert agriculture and animal husbandry. These
activities, which used to be limited to supporting the ali-
mentary needs of the monks, have been expanded into
small industries. The monasteries of the Wadi al-Natrun
in particular have been leaders in thi s field, importing
new variet ies of plants in order to increase the pro duction
of fruits and vegetables. The Monastery of St. Bishoi has
even starte d a fishery project an d has constructed a high
technology lake in the middle of the desert .
The financia l and architectural changes to the mon-
asteries have been accompanied by a deeper philosophical
change in the understanding of the role of the individual
monk. On th e one hand, he participates in new kinds of
collective work . with in the monastery, like large-scale
farming, technical projects, or service to pilgrims. On th e
oth er hand, he may be called beyond th e monastery to
serve the larger Coptic community, where he might act as
a priest to a congregation that does no t have on e, or in a
more elevated stage, as bishop to a diocese. Th e need for
new prie sts and bishops has grown dramatically in th e re-
cent past, as a result of th e multiplication of diocese under
Pope Sheno uda's organizational reform s an d of the enor-
mo us gro wth of the Copt ic community outside of Egypt.
Cer tainly, th e boundaries between the world and th e
monastery have becom e more porous. It is important to
note here, however, that although openness to contact
with th e laity and the concept of khidma have reshaped
mo dern monasticism, the ideal mo del of mo nastic life is
still a subject of discussion in man y monasteries. The re
continue to be monks who favor th e anchoretic life, living
outside th e monasteries in caves or man -made qalayat
(cells), and important religious figures who support this
ph ilosophy of isolation or tawahhud." I also occasion-
ally encountered pilgrims during rih lat who que stioned
whether monks had enough time for prayer, given the ex-
tent of their involvement in all the new pro jects in the
mo nastery. But these reactions were rare, and most often
the modernization of the monasteries was seen as an indi-
cation of the spiritual health of the Coptic comm unity as
a whole.
»
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SAINTS

Past a nd Present
To the Western gaze, which values "authenticity" and seeks
to di fferenti ate between the "ancient" and th e "m odern,"
th e developments th at have taken place in contem po rary
Coptic monasteries may seem like ad d itions, or overla ys,
both ph ysically discontinuous with the " real" monastery
and co ntradictory to the phi losophy of isolation and med -
itation upon which mo nast icism was initially built. But the
ma ny mon ks and pilgrims I spoke with d uring th e course
of my researc h did not make these sharp distinctions be-
twee n "tradition" an d "modernity," nor d id th ey descri be
feelings of contra d iction connected to the site of the mon-
astery. One m on k from th e Wadi al-Natrun responded to
my general questions about the "changes" in his monas-
ter y in this way:

I prefer to call them tapvwariit [developm ents] and not

13·4
Burial place of 51.An to ny. with a
mod ern image of th e saint and
writt en prayers left by pilgrim s,
before co nserva tio n
(K3, K4 ADP/SA 9 52 96 )
taghayyariit [changes], for just as the world has ad-
vanced, so has the monastery. In ord er to und erstand
life in the mona stery today, you mu st understand what
life was like in the fourth -century world. If you look at
the technology and the pace of life in the fourth- century
world, the move to the monastery was not that big. In
fact, in the fourth century, the technology and architec-
tu re in use in the monasteries was "state of the art." The
leap one has to make today, the things he leaves behind,
is much greater.
The younger monks who joined th e monasteries
recently even felt that their ability to pursue their vocation
was made possible only because m od ern technology m ade
life in th e monastery mor e efficient. O ne noted, "Ins tead
of spend ing four hours washing my clothes, for example,
I can spend the tim e praying. And if you think abo ut th e
number of visitors who co me here, how would we dea l
with th em all if we couldn't cook with electr icity and so
on? Abo ut one hu nd red tour bu ses show up every Frida y
and Sunday, carrying fifty visitors apiece. Think about it,
that makes abo ut five thousand visitors a week!"
The se indigenous reactions to th e int roduction of
technology into th e mon asteries point to a m or e funda -
mental difference in the way th at history itself is imagined
in relation to these sacred sites. Although the y may run
technologically sophisticated machinery, monks are also
understood to be "closer " to th e past. They are viewed as
guardians of important sites that hold the memories of
meaningful events and the bodies of saints an d martyrs.
The y are thought to be responsible for sustaining thes e
places particularly through conducting dail y masse s.
Externa lly, the y continue to be link ed with things anc ient ,
through their traditional vestm ent s and by giving up the ir
own names to adopt th e names of saints or ma rtyrs whose
qualities the y hope to bring alive in themselves." In shor t,
even as he participates in mod ern activities, the monk's body
and th e rhythm of his life are understood to be mimetic of
saintly bodi es and lives fro m th e past.
W hat we need to pay atte ntion to here is not th e
existence of th e episte mo logical catego ries of past and pr e-
sent bu t rath er th e relatio n between th em in th e Co ptic
religious imag ination. This bri ngs us back to th e int erac-
tion between Baro n von Tischendorf and the abbo t of
AI-Baramous. The Baron represent s a pecu liarly Western
set of beliefs about what history is, how it can be known,
and what on e doe s with th at kn owledge. Here histo ry set-
tle; in objects and artifacts th at can be scru tinized and
whose details can be woven into a mast er narrative. Thi s
Western scientific method revolves around the establish-
ment of criteria for distinguishin g, as I have said, the "au-
th enti c" from the "inauthentic" based largely on chronol-
ogy: often it is th e older that is considered m ore authentic.
Yet however it is evaluated , the past remains di stinctly in
th e past, carried objectively into th e present by art ifacts,
from which it can be exam ined and cataloged by scholars
who can "read" th eir mean ings. Within the Coptic reli-

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 T HE V IEW ER 'S RESPONSE
gious imagination, by contrast, it is prec isely the fact that
th e past can break thro ugh into th e present, in objec ts,
people, and places, that makes these th ings "tr ue." For in-
stance, anyone who has entered a Co ptic Church in Egypt
has seen new posters of the Virgin Mary, Chr ist, and saints
displayed alongside histo ric icon s (fig. 13.4 ). This visitor
will have seen th e Copts inside th e churc h walking by,
touching and pr aying in front of th e new one s with th e
same frequency as (if not som etimes mo re than ) th e old
ones. I have been with people who have rem arked that this
was an ind ication that Copts were not generally educated
about art and history and thus could n't tell the difference
between a poster and a "real" icon. But when I asked peo-
ple how th ey felt when they prayed in front of posters or
icons, they always said that it made no difference because
the y felt that th e holy figure was th ere, and that his or her
eyes were looking at the petition er, whos e prayers were
thus being heard . And so it is with modern technology
in the monasteries. It is not understood to challenge th e
authenticity of monasticism as mu ch as it is seen to enable
the powerful spirituality of the saints to be mad e available
to the Coptic community in th e present.
Ritual Practices at the Monastery of St. Antony
The Mo nastery of St. Anto ny provides an excellent exam -
ple of th e ways in which rihla pilgrimage has transform ed
a once -isolated site int o an imp ortant social an d spiritual
center for the modern Coptic laity. Western travelers who
were dr awn by its ancient buildings and tales about its
well-stocked manu script library had long visited this mon -
astery. Yet perha ps because of its location , rem oved from
th e pop ulation centers of the Nile Valley, it never devel-
oped a well-atten ded >aid festival, an d Cop ts them selves
had little contact with it. Today, th e Mo naste ry of St.
An tony is one of th e mo st popular rih la destinations. In
the past the monastery had to be ap proac hed from th e
Nile side, where tracks led from the towns of Boush and
Kuraim at through th e desert to th e site. The Suez-Ras
Gharib road was con structed in 1946 by th e Shell Cor po ra-
tion an d has been constantly imp roved, giving access from
the Red Sea coast and cuttin g the journey from several
days to several hours. Th ere have been improvem ent s in
the kitchen facilities, and th e construc tion of a large book-
store and male and female dormitories outside th e old
walls. Another addition common to mo st monasteries is a
new retaining wall that juts far out from the monastery
and encloses all th e land s th at it owns. In oth er monaste r-
ies thi s land has been used for large-scale farming proj ects,
but at St. Anto ny's it is almos t empty. Whe n I asked the
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monks what, then, the external retaining walls were for,
they answered that they had been built to ensure that
peace, tranq uility, and the desert would always surround
the monastery (fig. 13.2).
Unlike some other Chris tian pilgrimage traditio ns
th at prescribe a correct way of moving thro ugh a holy site
and a sequence of activities to be completed, th e pilgrim-
age to th e Mo nastery of St. Antony is not made up of a set
series of ritual actions that mu st be perform ed in order for
it to be cons idered successful. There is little regulation of
pilgrim s once they ar rive in the monastery, and large
gro ups quickl y break down int o smaller on es, mad e up of
friends and fam ily, who mo ve through the monastery at
th eir own pace. People spend different amo unts of tim e
engaged in activities, moving off alone and then coming
back together into gro ups, all of which gives pilgrim age a
fluid and som etimes disor ganized appe arance.
P RAYER
Prayer is a complex ritual action that can take man y
forms, fro m the deeply person al to th e highly form alized.
Pilgrims carry out both during their stay at the monastery.
Most trip s include at least one mass conducted by the
monks, which almos t everyone atte nds. The liturgy itself
is considere d to be a powerful collective ritual in which
prayer an d praise are sen t to heaven in th e same way that
incense floats upward towar d God. 21 Masses take place
more th an once a day, bu t th ere are two constrai nts on th e
number that may occur. First, a pr iest mu st cond uct a
mass, an d only a sma ll number of monk s are ordained as
pr iests. Second, masses cannot be held consecutively on
the same altar because ritually the altar must "rest" or
"fast" (y isii m) for at least six hours after the com pletion of
the service. Th us th e number of consecra ted altars in th e
monastery and the nu mb er of available priests limit the
schedule of masses durin g the day. But th e morning liturgy
of prai se, which begins at 3 A .M. and usua lly ends around
6:30 in the morning, is a constant featur e at the Monaster y
of St. Anto ny. The consistency of this par ticular mass is
quite im portant to pilgrims, whether or not they atte nd
the service, because it affects the way they imagine the ho -
liness of th e site. Man y menti oned to me that the y thought
one of the most impo rtant duties of th e monks was to con -
tinue to say this daily m ass, and th at part of th e miracle of
the place is that the mass has been said in th e same place
for hundreds of years.
W hether or not pilgrims attend th e formal mass,
they always enter the church to say a perso nal prayer in
front of the altar (haykal). Ritually, this req uires remov ing
 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SA INTS
one 's shoes and either standing with face and hands turned
upward or, alternatively, bowing to touch the forehead to
the ground at the steps leading to the altar screen. Usually
one begins with the recitatio n of the Lord 's Prayer an d ends
with a personal supplication. This prayer can be per-
formed in any of th e churches, but pilgrims seem to ex-
press so me preferen ce for the Churc h of St. Anto ny as the
"mos t ancient chur ch." This echoes a mor e gene ral feeling
th at the "layering" of pra yer up on pr ayer and mass upon
mas s through the centuries not onl y reconfirms the holi-
ness of the mo nastery's original inhabitant, St. Antony,
but also magnifies each indi vidual pra yer.
Prayer around the bodi es of th e saints interred in th e
mon astery is also an essential part of th e pilgrimage. Here,
too, th ere are two types of prayer: indi vidu al supplication
and a mo re ritualized gro up prayer. Next to th e haykal, th e
bodi es of saints provide the most powerful locus of baraka
in th e mon astery. Whereas entrance to th e haykal itself is
not perm itted, the remain s of saints are ope nly displayed
in wood and glass cases, called maqsurat. At any given
mom ent one can find many peopl e crowding aro und the
rnaqsurat, tou chin g th em , leaning over th em , kissing th em
and making personal supplications. A few pilgr ims spend
almost the entire time in front of these reliquaries, settin g
up blankets an d food on the floo r in th e corners of the
roo m, sim ply to be near th em and to absorb, in a sense, the
blessin g ema nating fro m the holy rem ain s. Fro m time to
tim e a group gathers to cha nt a tam gid to St. Antony or the
Virgin Mary. The cha nting of the tarngid is an important
mom ent during the course of the pilgrimage: attr ibutes
of the saint and events of his or her life are recalled, re-
mi nding peop le of the figure 's historicity as well as the
continued relevance of the saint's spirituality for the con -
temporary believer.
C ONSUM P TI ON
Part of every pilgrimage involves th e acquisition of
blessed items that can be taken ho me an d retain ed for
persona l use or given away to friends an d fam ily. These
mementos may be purchased at the bookstore or received
as a gift from the m onks. O ne of the most popular item s
for wome n are th e St. Anto ny headscarves, to be worn dur-
ing the Mass and com munion . I remember being struck by
th ese headscarves th e first few tim es I attended masses in
Ca iro . Looking out over th e wome n fro m the back th ey
provided me with a sort of visual map of the monasteries
th ey had visited, or an hon or roll of saints the y felt
especially close to. Such a "patro n saint" or person al int er-
cessor, is called one's shafi' in Arabic. Not all Copts have
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a sha fi', but many adopt one either because they are at-
tracted by the power of the saint's life story or becau se they
feel a certain saint has performed mir acles for them. Sev-
eral people I spoke with on rihla to the Monastery of
St. Antony had come becau se Antony was their shafi' and
they wanted to stre ngthen their relationsh ip with him by
visiting his "home.,,22 These peop le in particular seek to
acquire things bearing th e image of the saint to wear,
carry, and place around th eir hom es as a sign of their con-
tinuing devotion.
Sma ll vials of holy oil and cards with bits of haniu
(spices used to perfume th e rem ains of th e saints) are also
popular items to acqu ire o n pilgrimage. They can no t be
bou ght but are given out by monks. Ho ly oil, or sim ply
zayt, has been specia lly blessed in the monastery and is
considered to be particularly efficacious for those su ffer-
ing from certa in sorts of illnesses." Hanut cards are made
by tapin g sma ll pinches of the fragrant embalm ing spices
onto the reverse of cards that picture the saint. There is
usually plenty of hanu t available to make these cards for
visitors, because the remain s of the sain ts are ceremo n ially
rewrapp ed every year with new spices o n the saint's festival
day. Mo nks give zayt and hanut to pilgrim s at the close of
a co nversation , along with a final blessing .
C O N T AC T
An im po rtant part of the rih la to the Mo nastery of
St. Anto ny is the feeling of being quite literally in to uch
with the hol iness of the place. This holin ess or blessing is
loosely tran slated by the Arabic term baraka. Baraka is an
ind igenous concept found thro ugho ut Middle Eastern
cultures. It bears a family resem blance to the Western cat-
ego ry of blessin g, but also overflows that category, making
a simple translation difficult. 24 For Copts, one of the char-
acteristics of baraka is that it is gained by saints and mar -
tyrs through their virtuo us acts, both during their lives
and also after death, when it continues to reside in th eir
rem ains. Baraka is cons idere d to be so powerful that it
exu?es from these holy remai ns and imbues everything
around them with holiness as well. As the bodies of pil-
grims come in contact with th is baraka-filled place, th ey
hop e to incorporate a sma ll part of this holin ess int o
themselves by sitting next to it, by leaning on it, by tou ch -
ing and breath ing it. This is not to imp ly that th e experi-
ence of pilgrimage do es not encourage use of the m ind ; it
certai nly do es. As we have seen, the vast majority of pil-
grims em phas ized that prayer is the most important ritua l
act ion in which th ey par ticipate. However, th e desire to
obtain baraka reminds us that the pilgrimage exper ience
 THE VIEWER'S RESPONSE

for Cop ts encompasses not on ly the mind and heart but all
the senses. One perso n said to me, "It's like when someone
has been to Mass and th ey come home and you smell the
incense on them . The holin ess of th e saints is like that, it
can go into you like th at."
Pilgrim s also seek contact with th e monks. Like a
priest, a monk is understood by the laity to be two things
at onc e: an individual and an instrument of God . Some-
times, for instance, my informants complained about
some aspect of their local priest, but this never in any way
diminished their respect for him during Mass. "A priest is
a man," said one person, "but when he is at the haykal,
God works through him during the communion." Most
pilgrims hope to greet any monk and obtain his blessin g,
not for his individuality but because of his generic status as
an exemplary servant of God. In some cases pilgrims do
seek to meet with particular monks because the y have de-
veloped a counseling relationship with them over time. In
my experi ence, it was particularly young unmarried men
and women who sought counsel on matters in their lives,
often because th ey felt monks wou ld be more impartial
than the ir own family members, or even their local pries ts.
But on the who le, visitors will approach any monk they see
in or der to greet him , kiss his hand, and obtain baraka.

M I MES IS

The kinds of activities we have observed so far occur

in alm ost every Coptic mon astery duri ng rihla trips. But
the specificity of the pilgrimage to the Monastery of St.
Antony is to be found in the informal ritual of climbing
th e steep path up Mount Clysma to visit the cave of the
herm it himself (fig. 13.5) . There are no activities on other
pilgrimages to Co ptic mon asteries that require th e level of
exerti on tha t th is practice does." It involves three stages:
climbing th e path, entering th e cave to receive the bar aka
of the place, and leaving a sma ll wooden cross planted near
the cave. The effort of the climb is considered ritually inci-
dental to the goal of reaching the cave, for Copts have no
tradition of self-mortification as part of pilgrimage." But
on th e occasion s I climbed with other pilgrims, I found
that it was a critic al period of time during which people
13,5
thought about th e saint's great faith as well as their own
Group of pilgrims sett ing off for
lives, as they followed his trail up the mountain . On e
th e Cave o f 51. Anto ny gro up I accompani ed had grown weary about mid way up
the mountain, when the y began to marvel at the great faith
St. Antony must have had to com e all the way down from
his cave to get water, and then climb all the way back up .
As we continued to walk, peopl e began to tell th e stories

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p

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SAINTS

they knew about St. Antony and his life and then stories
about how the saint had touched their own lives. Physical
exhaustion merged with collective storytelling, and through
it, the saint's history and faith came alive.
Once at the top, pilgrims enter S1. Antony's cave to
receive the baraka of the place (fig. 1.3). They m ust make
their way down a narrow natural corridor in the rock
abo ut ten meters lon g in order to reach the inner cha mber
and the altar set up inside it. Several people told me that
th ey felt particularly close to St. Anto ny in thi s place, espe-
cially because his actual bod y, believed to be buried in th e
m onastery (fig. 13.4), is not accessible to pilgrims in th e
same way th at th e rema ins in the rnaqsurat are.
After visiting th e cave, m any people scavenge for bit s
of wood and craft th em int o a cross, which th ey plant on
th e hillside near th e cave ent rance . Looking out over the
rock-strewn cliff face one can see dozens of such crosses
thrus t between th e boulders and into cracks, ma ny of
th em falling apart only to be recovered by future p il-
grims and lashed int o new crosses (fig. 13.6). Placing th ese
crosses recalls oth er practices, such as writing messages to
th e saints in wax on the prot ective glass of th eir icons or
stuffing small handwritten messages int o the m aqsurat so
that they fall near the holy remains. They indicate a desir e is of little consequence to its practitioners. It has become a
on the part of the pilgrim not onl y to remember the life of powerful means for an urban generation to "drink deeply
the saint but also to be remembered. Further, the y dem - from the spirituality" of its collective religious past and use
onstrate the constant tension between the effacement of it as a resource to face the pressures of contempor ary
self through the promotion of a sense of communitas on Egyptian life.
the one hand, and the desire to mark one's individuality On our way back to Cairo, 1 asked on e of my fellow
and personal petitions on the other. pilgrims if she felt sad now that our trip was coming to an
end. She said that while she did wish she could spend more
The modern ph enom enon of rihl a has brought many tim e at th e monaster y, she felt peaceful going ho me. "I
ancient monasteries out of the Coptic religiou s ima gina - do not know what 1 would do if 1 could not go on rihlat
tion and transformed them into important new sites of from tim e to tim e," she said. "The pressur es we face in
spiritual and communal renewal. As the laity has come societ y are great, but the peace and baraka 1 gain from
into closer contact with the living history of the mon- spending time with the saints and learn ing about how they
asteries, the monastic vocation itself has been reim agined dealt with difficult ies, it helps me in my own life so mu ch."
to include an unp recedent ed com po nen t of social contact Rihla pilgrimage acts as a br idge, bringing the ancient Cop -
and service to the wider Coptic community. Although tic past and contemporary parish ioners together so that
rihla could be called a new or "invented" tradition, its age eacli. might sustain the other.

1) .6

Crosses at top of the mountain,

near th e Cave of St. Anton y

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 PART IV

THE INSCRIPTIONS

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 Birger A. Pearson

CHAPTE R 14 TH E COPTI C IN SCRIPT ION S I N THE CH URCH

OF ST. ANTONY

Although most of the Coptic inscription s published here

have been pub lished before, this study present s significant
new material. Alexandre Piankoff publi shed some of th e
inscription s between 1954 and 1958. 1 Then in 1978 Rene-
Geor ges Coquin and Pierr e-Henry Laferri ere publi shed
all of th e Coptic and Arabic inscriptions th at th ey could
see, based on whatever limited cleaning of the paintings
could be done for that purpose.' Paul van Moorsel was
able to prov ide additional epigraphic infor mation in his
detailed study of th e paint ings in th e chur ch. His work was
com pleted in 1986 but publi shed onl y in 1998.3 The recent
restora tion work don e in th e church has made it possible
to see mu ch mo re of the inscription s previously published,
as well as newly revealed inscriptions hitherto unpublished .
The Coptic inscriptions are of several kinds: inscrip-
tion s accompanying and identifying the figures portrayed
in the paintings; inscriptions describing or commenting
on aspects of narratives portrayed in the painti ngs or as-
pects of the figures' stories; inscr iptions with biblical and/
or litur gical texts; do nor inscription s; and "signatur e" in-
scriptions (fig. 14.1). In each of these five gro ups of inscrip -
OPPOSITE tion s interesting variatio ns occur.
Isaac. Sanc tuary. (S38) Biblical figures are usually identified by name, with
occasional reference to a function (for example, the proph -
ets in 545-550, or th e priest Melchizedek , 543) . Oth er fea-
14 ·1 RIGHT tures of a painting are also often labeled- for example, 51.1, where Antony is identified as "father of th e m on ks,"
One of Theodore's signature "the tree of Mamre" and the divine "voice" in 538. Mo nas- or 52.1, where Atha nasius is identi fied as "the apostolic pa-
inscriptions (S38; ADP/SA BW tic and ecclesiastical figures are identifi ed by nam e, pre- triarch of the city of Alexandria." Martyrs, concentrated in
14 8 :14) ceded by the honorific "Abba" (father). Mo nast ic figur es the western section of the nave (sometimes called the
so designated are conc entrated in th e eastern section of th e narthex), are identified by name , each preceded by th e
nave, ecclesiastical figures (patriarchs) in th e sanctuary. pr edication "ho ly is," usually followed by "the martyr of
Additional identifying feature s also occur-for example, Jesus Christ" and sometimes by the place where the sub-

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 THE INSCRIPTIONS
ject came fro m or was martyred. Some of the saints also
have invocations addressed to them-for example, Arse-
nius (NlO.2), Barsuma (N11.2), and T heodore Stra telates
(" the General," N22.3).
Narrative action, reflecting stories associa ted with
th e vario us figures, is ind icated in the inscriptions with the
use of a form of the Cop tic verb. The first of m an y exam-
ples is N2.2: "the raven brou ght th e food to Abba Pau!."
Biblical and liturgical inscriptions are plac ed at
strategic locations in th e church. Psalm 26:1 (LXX Ps 27:1:
"T he Lord is my light and my salvatio n, whom shall I
fear?" [RSV]) is prominently inscribed above th e arch
leadin g from th e nave into the annex and cha pel (N17) .4
Th e verse rep resent s th e faith of th e m artyrs po rtrayed in
th at section of th e nave. It might also be not ed th at Psalm
26 (27) is o ne of severa l used in th e service for the co nse-
cration of a church.' Th e other arch inscription in th e nave
(N37), abo ve the arch leading into the khums (choir, Greek
xopos ), is Psalm 83 (84): 1- 2. That psalm originally de-
scribed th e joy of the ancient worshipper in the Jerusalem
Tem ple, which is here repre sented as th e church. Simil ar
use is made of Psalm 86 (87), a song celebrating Zion
(Jeru salem ). Verse 1 is inscrib ed on th e north wall of th e
khurus, at the base of the vaulted roof (K17); part of verse
2 is inscribed on the south wall of the kh urus (K13); and
th e rest of verse 2 plu s part of verse 3 is inscribed on the
west wall, above th e arc h leading int o the nave (K14).
Psalm 86 is one of several used in th e dai ly offices (praye r
services) of th e Co ptic Ch urc h." The inscription enci rclin g
the base of th e central dome in th e sanct uary m ay be
ano ther passage from the Psalms, but there is too little of
it left to identify it. Ot her biblical texts occur within some
of the panels containing paintings of bib lical figures.
As m igh t be expect ed, inscript io ns consisting of li-
turgical phrases are concentrate d in the sanctuary and in
the chapel, th e foci of liturgical act ion in the vario us ser-
vices held in the church. The apse in the sanctuary an d the
niche in the chapel are dominated by th e figure of Ch rist
in majesty. On either side of the enthro ned Chr ist is
"Em ma nue l, our God" (51.2; C1.4), a phrase found in one
of th e prayers (" King of Peace") of th e eucharistic liturgy
(anapho ra), and also in th e fo rmula said at th e dist ribu-
tion of th e sacra me nt .' Christ's feet rest up on a foo tstoo l
on whic h is inscrib ed Isaiah 66:1 (" Heaven is my throne
and th e earth is my footsto ol," 51.7; C2.5). The Trisagion
(" Holy, holy, holy," Is 6:3), used in a number of places in
the Coptic liturgy, app ears several tim es in various fo rm s
(513,15,17, 19; C3.2, C3; ClO.2-3) . Th e opening verses of the
Gloria in Excelsis, or "Hymn of the Angels," also occur in
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the sanctuary and chapel (514,16, 18, 20; CJ.1; ClO.1). This
hymn is sung in the morning and evening prayers of the
Coptic church," The open ing passage of the Magnificat
(Mary's song, Lk 1:46-55) appears wit h the Virgin in the
chapel (ClO .9). The Magn ificat is sung in a n umber of
settings in the Coptic litur gy, including the services for
Ho ly Saturday, an d the Theotokia (hymns to the Virgin,
"Mother of Go d") are sung daily in the mon asteries
d uring th e month preced ing Christmas ," Th e Agnu s Dei
("Lamb of God," Jn1: 29) appears with John the Bapti st in
the cha pel (C).lO). Th e Agnus Dei is not part of the o rd i-
nary (invariable part s) of th e eucharistic liturgy of th e
Coptic Ch urc h (as it is in Western churches), but it is
reflected in th e use of th e term Amnos (Greek QIlVOS,
lamb ) for th e loaf used in th e service of Holy Com m un -
ion (anaphora) ." It is, of co urse, in corporated within th e
"Hy m n of th e Angels" as part of an invocation of Chr ist,
and occurs in some of the variable pr ayers offered at the
fraction (br eaking of th e 10af).11
There are four dedicatory or donor inscriptions in
the church, inscriptions co mmemor ating th e per son s who
contributed to th e cost of th e paintings (N31.2; K4.1; 51.14;
S33-S36.2) . These .in scriptions follow, in some resp ects, a
formulaic pattern found elsewhere in donor inscriptions
associated with church wall.pa intings. This pattern is best
illust rated by five inscript ions found at Dayr al Fakh ury
nea r Esna, pu blished by Rene-Georges Coq uin: (1) "the
Lord bless" (either as a wish or a pr ayer ) th e (2) "God-lov-
ing" don or s who have (3) "prov ided for" (c.Jf J1 po 0 'If!!l) th e
pain tin g(s), and (4) give th em th eir "recompense" in
heaven. " At the Monastery of St. Antony the first item of
the form ula (" The Lord bless") is found in K4.1 and 536,
repeated in K4.1. Item 2 ("God-loving") is found in N31.2,
item 3 (" provided for ") in K4.1, an d item 4 (" recom pense"
in heaven ) in N31.2 and K4.1. Ano ther feature found at the
Mo nastery of St. Antony is the use of the term memorial
(!!I€ N€ P<!?J,\€O'lfJ) for the inscription and the do nations, ex-
press ed in the following way: "Thi s memorial happened
throu gh (the beneficence of) . . . "(N31.2; 51.14; 533-536.2).13
T\v"o of the do nor inscriptions begin with an invocatio n
of th e Holy Trini ty (N31.2; 51.14).
Some thing of th e social backgrou nd of th e don o rs
can be seen fro m their names and titles. They include
m on ks, priests, and ot her clerics, all presumably associa ted
in some way with th e Mo nas tery of St. Antony. A number
of th em have Arabic names, an indication th at Arabi c was
th e dominant language amo ng th em , as it was by th at tim e
among Egyptians in genera !.
Especially interesting are the "signature" inscriptions
pi
TH E COPTIC INSCRIPTIONS
in the church, inscriptions in which the painter, Theodore,
identifies himself. In these inscriptions Theodore is clearly
following a well-established tradition, attested not only in
Egypt but in virt ually the entire Byzantine world of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. " These signature inscrip-
tions ofte n begin with "the hand of," and the painter then
expresses his sense of unworthiness ("t he sinful," "pitiful,"
and the like) as a "serva nt" of God. His humility extends
even to his own craft ("ha rd ly a painter"). Painters typi-
cally pr ay for God to " reme mbe r" th em and extend to
them his "mer cy" and "forgiveness" on th e day of judg-
me rit." O ur paint er, Theo dore, ad heres perfectly to th is
traditio n in his two signature inscriptions. In N35.3 he
identifies his "hand" as one of a "poor" and "sinful" per-
son, who cries out for God's "forgiveness." In S38.7 he asks
God to "remember" him, a "poor. .. servant." When he
refers to himself as an "apprentice painter" (S38.7), he is
clearly expressi ng his hu mility, for his paintings show him
to be a master. An inscription in the chapel might be un-
derstood in th is context as well: "Lord Jesus Christ, have
pity on me" (c2.6) . This "Jesus prayer" is commonly
found inscri bed on monastery walls, an d is indicative of
Theodore's piety.
From Theodo re's signatures we also learn some thing
of his own background: In both he identifies him self as
"so n" (disciple) "of Abb a Gabriel, the bishop of the city of
Etpeh." It is possib le that Theodore was not his original
name, for that name appears to be quite common among
pain ters of the period." The name of his hom e town is
more cor rectly rendered as Petpeh in Coptic, the name of
the ancient town of Aphroditopolis on the east bank of th e
Nile, not far fro m the Fayum. Th e Arabic name for th e
town is Atfih or Itfih. Th eod ore's faulty rendition of th e
nam e of his home town is likely an indi cation th at his first
language was Arabic, a dedu ction th at can be made as well
fro m th e langua ge of the inscriptions. I?
The lan guage of the inscriptions is nonsta ndard Bo-
hairic Coptic. That is to say, the inscriber clearly intended
to write Bohairic, the official language of the Coptic
Church since the eleventh century, but he was not com-
pletely successful in his attempt. There are two indications
of this. First, there are a number of "Sahidicisms" in the
language of the inscriptions." This pro bab ly indicates that
the painter wrote under the influence of the Sahidic dialect
of Coptic, the do m inant language of his native Nile Valley
for man y centuries. Second, th ere are nume rous errors
in orthography and grammar, indicating that th e pain ter-
inscriber had a deficient knowledge of Coptic. His com-
mand of Greek was even less, as we can see not only from
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numerous errors in the spelling of Greek words but also
from the idiosyncratic rendition of Greek case-endings. "
But Theodore's deficiencies in the knowledge of Coptic
and Greek should come as no surprise. By the thirteenth
century Arabic was the dominant language of Egypt, even
among Christians, and the knowledge of Coptic was in
steep decline, except among a few scholars." By the seven-
teenth century the Egyptian peop le's loss of their native
tong ue was virt ually complete, at least as a spoken lang uage.
Its continued limi ted use in th e litur gy of the church,
along with Ara bic, can be compared to th at of Latin in th e
Roman Catho lic Ch urch in the years just after the Second
Vatican Co uncil.
Texts, Translations, Commentary
Before we exam ine the inscriptions themselves, some pre-
liminary remarks are in order on the conventions used by
the painter-inscriber, and on the editorial principles that
govern my presentation. First, it should be noted that the
inscriber has followed well-established Byzantine-Coptic
traditions in the inscriptions that accompany the paint-
ings. Second, it should also be remembered that his com-
mand of the Copt ic and Greek languages was lim ited.
Thus numerous errors of gram ma r and or thography
occur in the inscriptions. •
As to the first observation , we note first the inscriber's
use of traditionai nomina sacra and other abbreviations,
based on centur ies-old traditions established in the copy-
ing of Greek and then Coptic manuscripts . Nomina sacra
(sacred names) are traditional abbreviations, marked with
a supralinear stroke (as was done with letters used as num-
erals) of divin e nam es and other religiou sly char ged
words. Th e oldest of these, attes ted in manu scripts going
back to the second century, are th e following four: ec for
SEOS., God; KC for KUPlOS-, Lord ; I"C ,IH , IHC for Tn c ouc,
Jesus; and xc for XpL<JTOS-, Christ." Case endings in Greek
are also ind icated in the nomina sacra, for exam ple, e"lf
(genitive), "of God." These four nomina sacra occur
among our inscriptions in the following forms (citing the
first occurrence of each):
e (NlO.2); e"lf (N36.1).
K C (NI9.1?, K3.2); K€ (S40 .1).
I"C (NI3.1); I HC (N31.2).
xc (NI3.1); x pc (N31.2); Jl X C (with Coptic definite
article, K4.1).
There are also specifically Coptic forms of "God"
and "Lord":
 THE I N SC RI PT I O N S
~t for ~NO'll"t , God (N35.3).
noc (NI7.1 for n GC ); n GC (N31.2) for n GOIC , the
Lord.
Other com mo n nomina sacra used from ancient
tim es include the followin g:
n Nb.. for TTVEU[1 a , Spirit (N31.2, there with €m for €e'll"
= ceove.a, Holy).
.M Hp for 11 T] T~ P, Mother (N36.1), writte n as a ligature,
the as a cross-bar joining .M and n.
~H:i\ for ' IE pOVaaA~ [1 , Jerusalem (N31.2).
'll"C for VlOS' , Son ( KI5.2) .
c oop for aWT~p , Savior (ClO.9, variant OfCH p ).
Analogous use is made of the name John (the Bap -
tist ):/w (C}.8). Note also S; and w (Alpha and Omega,
NlO.2) .
Traditional monograms are also found among our
inscript ions : the "Christ monogram " P (NI0 .2) ; for for
TTOALS', city ( NI3.1), ~i for llapTVpOS' , martyr(s) ( NI3.1); and
::¥ fo r XPovoS', literally tim e but here era (N31.2) . The last
two are traditionally used to designat e th e "Era of th e Mar -
tyrs," which begins in th e year of Diocletians accession as
em pero r (A.D. 284). Also traditional is th e use of the rebu s
eq for am en (N31.2). Ot her abbreviations include nn for
TTaTTaS', papa or father, here translated pri est (N31.2); xppt
for KU pLOS' , Sir (NI9.1); K€ for KQ L (N31.2; Kat SI1.1); and S:
for ame n.
Other features of o rthography include frequ ent (but
not exclusive) use of th e ligature y for th e letter com bina-
tion o tr. In my transcription I render th e full fo rm rather
than th e ligature. Lett ers added above the line are not
ma rked in my tran scription . A curved stroke at the end of
a line ind icating a final N is transcribed as N. Use by our
inscriber of supralinear dots (dj inkim) and supralinear
and sublinear strokes is quite irr egular; I try to indicate
th ese in my tran scription as th ey appear in th e inscr ip-
tions. I have introduced word division to facilitate reading,
following the editorial conventions used by Walter Till in
Grammatik.
Because the irr egula riti es of grammar and orthogra-
phy are so n umerous, I have elected to render the inscrip-
tion s as they appear, usu ally wit ho ut comment, or witho ut
any attempt to correct them. One exception to th is is the
occasional use of parentheses to indicate missing letters
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erro neo usly omitted by the insc riber. Specia lists will im -
mediately noti ce th e mistakes, and to the nonsp ecialist
reader th ey will be of no con sequ ence.
Finally, I have elected to render each inscription with
a normal horizontal line. Ma ny of th e inscri ptions are
vertica l, and m an y are rendered vertically wit h clusters
of horizontal lett ers. Rend ering th ese accord ing to th eir
actu al ori entation would require far too much space. The
actual disposition of the lett ers in the inscriptions is evi-
dent in the plates in which the paintings appear. I do indi-
cate the color of paint used in each inscription.
The n umbering of th e inscriptions follows th e num-
bering assigned to the paintings and/o r panels , with each
inscription within a given panel ind icated with a number.
To be sure , thanks to the work of th e restorers, many more
of th e inscriptions can now be seen than was the case be-
fore, and I have included all of th em here. On th e other
hand , there is evidence of some loss of material since the
wor k of Coquin, Laferriere, and van Moorsel.22 Because o f
space limitations, I have usuall y refrain ed from noting th e
numerous instances in which my renderin g of the inscrip-
tions differs from that of Coquin and Laferriere.
The following sigla are used in my transcriptions and
translation s:
. A dot placed under a lett er in th e transcription in -
d icates th at th e lett er is visually un certain , even if th e con-
text makes th e reading certain. Dots on the line o utside of
bra ckets in the transcription indi cate missing lett ers that
can not be restored but of whi ch vestiges of paint rem ain .
T hree dots on the line in the tr anslation indicate th e pr es-
ence of substantial untran slatabl e mat erial.
[ ] Square br ackets indic ate a lacuna where it is
believed wr iting once existed. Whe n th e text canno t be re-
sto red with reaso nable probability, the number of esti-
mated lett ers, up to five, is indica ted in th e tran scrip tion by
dots; six or m or e letters are indicated with a n um ber, pre-
ceded by a plus-or-minus sign (±). A question mark with-
in brackets indicates th at the number of letters missing
can not be determined. In th e translation a bracket is usu-
al ly not allowed to divide a word (except in th e case of
some proper nam es); a wor d is placed either entirely in side
brackets or entirely outside, dep ending on the relative cer-
tainty of the Coptic word it translates.
( ) Parentheses in th e transcription indicate letters
erro neo usly omitted by the inscriber. Parentheses in the
translation indicate material supplied for th e sake of clar-
ity, or translations of words or morphemes erroneously
omitted by the inscriber ."
 THE COPTIC INSCRIP T IONS

Inscriptions in the Nave b..BBb.. ICb..K Abba Isaac,

n'/!!I<!>[I.2S.] nmpejerrepoc the [wrestlerj,30the presbyter.
Nl. ANTO NY THE GRE AT 24
1 To left and right (from the viewer's point of view) of
N5 . PAUL THE SIMPLE 31
Antony, in white paint:
1 To left and right of Paul, in white:
b..BB(b..) b..1i2:>.[OOIi [roc Abba Antony,
[b..BB]b.. nb..'lf?l.H rue.n [Abbaj Paul, the
c!.> IOOT 1iIiI..l\O'lfIib..XOC fatherof the mon ks.
?l.O'lfCMH I trulysimple.
The final a of Abba is elided. Abba, spelled vario usly,
means father in Aramaic; it is a tradit ion al term in Coptic N6. SAMUEL 32
Chr istianity, which is why I use it here and elsewhere. 1 To left and right of Samuel, in white:

N2. PAUL THE HERM IT2S b..BBb.. Cb....I\O'lfH?I. Abba Samuel,

1 To left and right of Paul, in white: n IX[b..P..l\b..T]prfl:lC the archimandrite.

b..Bb..B nb..['lf?l.]£ e.rpe, 'lf~ <!>~ Abba Paul, (the) rustic,
nJlil!!lt [1i]~Ii [b.. J::<[OO ]P[IJT[HC] the great [anchorite].
The inscriber, who is probably also the painter, has
inverte d the letters ba in Abba. The read ing rustic (Gr.
ay pa uAoS') is uncertain.
Th e same stra nge spelling of archimandrite (Gr.
apX lIwv8 P(TTJS') occurs in N28.1. An archimandrite is a
monastery head; Samue l (7th c.) was founde r of the Laura
ofQalamu n in the Fayum.
2 Above the angel, in white:

2 Above and between Paul and Anto ny, in white: The angel ofthe Lord.

I).Ib..BOK b..qli teP0c!.>H NNb..NBb..b.. nb..'lf~OO

The raven broughtthe food to Abba Paul. N7. PISH0 1 THE GREAT 33
The inscriber has put in an extra a in Abba. One would 1 To left and right of Pishoi, in white:
expect a circumstantial or present II form of the verb. The
b..BBb.. Abba
prefix a - is used for both the perfect form and present II,
n I!!I 00I Pishoi.
but present II b..qli with a definit e object would be a viola-
tion of the "Iernstedt Rule."26The position of the inscrip- This Pishoi (Bishoi, Bishai, ath c.) is undoubtedly the
tion , and the fact that the bird has a whole loaf instead of monk at Scetis who was a friend of John the Little and
Paul's usual po rtion , a half-loaf, indicates that the food is founder of the mon astery in the Wadi al-Natrun that bears
for both Paul and Anton y at their famo us meetin g. The his nam e."
raven incid ent is reported by St. Ierorne." Food brought
by ravens is a biblical motif, associated with the prophet N8. JOH N THE LlTTL E3S
Elijah (1 Kgs 16:6). 1 To left and right of John, in white:
b..BBb.. IOOb..N [H ]C Abba John
N3. ANONYMOUS
nl[K O ?l.O ]~ [O C ] the [Little]
1 To left and right of the saint , in white :

b..[BBb.. ? jn .] ? ] [Abba I ... The word translated little (Gr. KOA.o~6S', undersized or
[ ? ] N [ ? 1 1). [ ? I short) is a regular epithet of John; so the conjectured read-
ing is reasona bly safe. (An alternative spelling in Cop tic
Whoeve r this is, he pro bab ly has a p or b toward the sources is KOO?l.OBOC. )
end of his name . One could conceivab ly restore the name
as [cb..pb..jn.I[OON] , Sarapion. Sarapion, a monk and bishop 2 At John's feet, in black:
ofThmoui, was a friend of Antony's ."
Il ] . . .] £T~ .pp £ .£ . . . . The [. ..j which . ..

N4. ISAAC THE PRESBYTER 29 This inscri ption is pro bably a comment on John's
1 To left and right of Isaac, in white: famous "tree of obedience," here shown .

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 THE INSCR IPT IONS

36 pear s frequently at th e beginning of Co ptic manuscripts

14·2 N 9 . S[SOES

Arsen ius 's scro ll ( NIO; AD P/SA BW 1 To left and right of Sisoes , in white: and inscriptions. The words her e translated "pur e" and
med ium format 123:2) "lamb" are taken as hitherto unattested forms of r eeo, pu-
b..BBb.. Abba
rity, and 2. 1€ IB (Bo h. 2. IB€ ), lamb. Arsenius's silence and
!y [!yUH Sisoes.
14·3 concern for salvation are features of his story.
Barsuma's scroll (NIl; ADP/SA BW 37
NIO. A RSEN [US
39
me dium format 122:1) N I L BARSUMA
[ To left an d right of Arse nius (fig. 14.2), in wh ite:
1 To left and right of Barsuma (fig. 14.3), in b lack:
b..BBb.. b..PCHN IOC Abba Arse nius,
Abba
ruce,e NT€ NIO'lfpWO'lf the teacher of the emperors.
[nb..p]~ 4l~b.. [Bar]sum a.
2 In th e scro ll in Arse n ius's hand, in bl ack:
2 In th e scroll in Bars u mas hand, in bl ack:
3::00 Alpha,Omega.
6 C'lfN With God. Alpha, Omega

€ 3::('ON o combatant,
(F IVE LI NE S OF SYRIA C)
.o.b.. 00 e.p OAr-
b..('ON.o. [b..] ~6[ J] Holycombatant,
CHNH ~ O T senius,the pure (?)
W ne.p ceixe, [n] o Barsum a, [accompany]
Bo 00 2.IBO o lamb (7),
Bo N N I~6 NOC all the
Xb.. pOK €K be silent asyou
THpO'lf €KNb.. nationsasyou will
Nb..NO will be
O'lfN02. .N[.]. appear . . .
2.0~ saved.
The abb rev iatio n €61 (€6 0 'lfb..B, hol y) also occurs
"Alpha and Omega, " the first and last letters of th e at N31.2, line 1. The word here restored and translated as
Greek alphabet, refer to the Lord God, "the first and the "acco m pany" (o r "bring back") is taken as a variant form
Last ," in Revelation 1:8, and to Ch rist in Revelation ofT2.~o. The reading "appear" (o r "reveal") is uncertain.
22:13. To left and right of "with God" is the "Ch rist mono- A tentative reading of the Syriac has been offered b y
gram" and a square cross (crux quadratai. The Christ V. Go ld and M . Guinan: "In the name of Go d / holy life
monogram here and elsewhere is originally a sign of the / [Bar]suma / . .. accompany . . . / . .. nat ions »
cross (staur ogram p ) but frequently rep laces the Ch ris-
togram (ch i-t-rh o , ::f) in Co ptic manuscripts, paintings, 3 To right of th e pig 's he ad at Barsuma's feet, and to left
and inscriptions." The phrase "with Go d" (Gr. (Juv 8E</!) ap - of th e ser pe nt's coi led bo dy, in black:

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 THE COPTIC INSCRIPTIONS
The pig.
The serpent.
These inscriptions are no longer visible."
N12 . PACHOMIUS 41
1 To left and right of Pachomius, in black:
[0.66 ]0. no.~W ["\\l.IQ~ Abba Pachomius,
[~IWT]Ii[T €] t [K]W[IiO ]J:I[I]o. [father] of the [Koinonia].
Pachomius (ath c.) is the reputed father of coeno -
bitic mon asticism-that is, mona stic life in a community
(Gr. KO Lvwvla), in contrast to the erem itic type of mon as-
ticism associated with St. Antony (d. Nl) .
NI4. PAKAOU42
1 To left and right of Pakaou, in white:
e.ne, no.Ko.Q"/f nJ.,\\Olio.XOC
AOIi ~i IiT€ iC xc 1~.J"\\o.PtPo c .,\\JlW.,\\.,\\H / nJW.,\\
o.pCWli06H for
Abba Pakaou, the monk,
the martyrof Jesus Christ, the martyrof Pomme, Fayum, the town
(of) Arsinoe.
2 The name of the little demon held in Pakaous hand
is given below it, in white:
O~OlfOIiHCo.p Sofonesar.
This demon is said in the saint's life to be the instiga-
tor of the fall of Eve.43
NI5. "THOU AN" [NOUA]44
1 To left and right of "Tho uan," in white:
otre.rroc
n IO"/fH6 0."0. eO"/fo.li IiT€ IiC,,\\,,\\O"/f 4[OIi] Ilife xc
Holy is
the priest, AbbaThouan of Nsmmou, [the] martyr (of) Jesus Christ.
The tra nslation "Holy is" is based on the assump tion
that orr is the indefin ite article, here used to indicate a
predicate. Alternatively, it could be taken as a rend ering of
the Greek definite art icle 6, but that is less likely. The Cop-
tic name of "Thouans" hometown is unfortunately not
clear. This saint's real name was probably Noua, a saint
martyred at Pelusium; so the place nam e IiC,,\\,,\\O"/f may be
a corruption of nepexotrrt , Peremoun, the Coptic nam e
for Pelusium (al-Farama). The nam e Tho uan is the result
of a misreading of the name Noua in Arabic, in which the
letters II and t look very much alike."
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NI6. PIROOU AND ATHOM 46
1 Jesus Chr ist is portrayed above and between the two
saints in a mandorla, with the name inscribed both
inside and out, to left and right, in black and white,
respectively:
Jesus Christ.
2 Below the mandorla and between the two saints, in
white:
Iil.,\\o.PT"/fPOC The martyrs
IiT€ cox n rr of Sa nbat
n €.,\\2lT North.
Sanbat "North," in the delta (modern Sumbat), is here
distinguished from ano ther Sanbat in the Fayum." CO.,\\JlIT
(Sornpit) is a cor rupted form of the Coptic name for the
place, Tasempoti.
3 To left of Piroou, in white:
O"/fo.rJOC JlIPOO'iJ AOIi IIi iC xc
Holy is Piroou, the martyr (of) Jesus Christ.
A similar inscription und oubt edly existed to the
right of Athom, but the construction of the present door -
way leadin g into the annex ,destroyed it.48
NI7. COPTIC AR CH INSCRIP TION49
1 On the south wall, above the arch leading into the
anne x, in white paint within a red band, with deco-
ration s:
noc ne no.O"/fw.JJ:I.J J:I ~~ [Jlo.li]02€.,\\ 0.1Ii0.€P2ot
ee,T2H IiIiI.,\\ noc Jl€Tt €2PHI €2S.€1i Jlo.O"/f(2S.o.l)
The Lord is my light and mysafety. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the one who fights for mysalvation.
This ornate inscription is the first verse of Psalm 26
(27 in Hebrew and English versions). The inscriber ran ou t
of space at the end and could not finish the word salvation.
The end ing has been supp lied asa graffito by an unknown
visitor.
NI8. THEODORE THE ORIENTAL sO
1 To right of Theodore, in white:
n 12S.0 1PI lio.]lio.TW(\ ~ [O C ] [AOIi] ~i iC xc
The [mighty] Oriental, [the] martyr(of) JesusChrist.
The saint himself and part of the inscription have
been ob literated by the construction of the doorway lead-
ing into the annex." Theodore the Oriental (or "Easterner" )
 THE I NS C RI PT I O NS

is called ruzsmpr ("the strong or might y") in the super- The scroll presum ably represents Diocletians letter
script introduction to his martyrdom; hence the conjec- demanding Claudius's submission.
tured reading here." To left of the saint was, no doubt,
"Holy is Theodore.':"
N20. VI CTOR 58
2 Above the moun ted saint's horse's head, Jesus Christ 1 To left and right of the mounted saint, in white:
in a mand orla, with the following to left and right of
O"ll'b,.C/OC
Christ's head, in black:
e.ne, BIKTOP 2:>.ON ~i NT€ iC xc
IC xc Jesus Christ. Holy is
Abba Victor, the martyr of Jesus Christ.
A vision of Christ is part of Theodore's story,"
2 Within light rays coming down on the saint's right
55 and left shoulders (to left and right) , in red:
N 19. C LAU D IUS
1 To left and right of Claudius's raised arm, in white:
n /(K)(\O,.\\ The crown.

otre.r roc Holy nJ(K)(\O,.\\ The crown.

N KC . . to the Lord (?) ...

The crown is the "crown of life" prom ised to the
Visible in red beneath NKC .. is o tre.rroc, which orig- martyrs in Revelation 2:10.
inally was penciled in. The present inscription in white
3 Under Victor's horse, in red:
represents a correction to what was initially plann ed. In
the expanded version otre.c roc is moved to the left of t ClooO("ll')NN Thebathhouse.

Claudius's arm.
In Victor's story, one of the attem pts to kill him in-
2 To right of Claudius, in white: volved throwing him into the furnace used to heat the
baths in Alexandria.
KPP/ K(\b,."ll'toC 2:>.ON Iii NiC xc
Sir Claudius, the martyr of Jesus Christ.
N2I. MENA S 59
In red beneath KPPI is K(\b,."ll'tOC, originally plann ed.
1 To left and right of the mounted saint, in white:
3 Under the horse 's forelegs, on the facade of the
O"ll'b,.CIOC
building , in white:
e.ne, ~1;Ir:tb,. 2:>.ON ~i NT€ iC xc
NIl!lHO"ll'/ NNI2:>.O(\0r:t The altars of the idols. Holy is
Abba Menas, the martyr of Jesus Christ.
12:>.0(\ON is taken here as the Greek word ELOWAOV.
Coquin and Laferriere translate NN/2:>.O(\O [sic] as "the gifts" 2 Withi n light rays coming down on the saint's right
(Greek oW pOV).56 and left shoulders (to left and right), letter traces in
red:
4 Within the open door, in white:
J.l .I (K)~ [O l ~ The crown.
c/? pO Thedoor.
[ nl l( K)[ (\O]~ [The crown]
5 To right of the crowned figure under the horse's hind
The restorations are based on N20.2; Victor and Menas
legs, in black:
are presented in similar fashion. The crowns, seen in
JlO("ll')P[oo ] 2:>.loo X(\H 2:>.Ib,.N O ~ Theemperor Diocletian. Menas's vision of the mar tyrs, are also part of his story.

Here Claudius is credited with the death of Diocle- 3 Above the camel beside the shr ine, letter traces in
tian, something not otherwise attested in Cop tic sources." black:

6 In the scroll in Dioclet ian 's left hand, to left and right tn / 2S. 1~ ["\\ J (;)'(f~ [The came l].
of his hand, in black:
The reconstruction , admittedly tentative, is based
J.l . . .O"ll'oo on the pro minence of the camel in the story of Menas 's
... J.l~ . . . burial.

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 THE CO PT IC I N SC RI PTI O N S

60
N22. THEODOR E THE G EN ERAL CO'lf C/[NIOC] l>.ON [~i ? ]!lO[ ? ] Sisi[nnius]. the [martyr] . .
1 To left and right of the mounted saint, in white :
"Of Iesus Christ" would be expected after the conjec -
O'lfb..CIOC 6€Ull>.[O]PO [C] tured martyr. Construction of the new door has destroyed
n IC Tpb..t~b..T HC l>.ON ~i ilK XC most of the painting and other inscriptional evidence that
Holy isTheodo re might have existed.
the Genera l, the martyr of Jesus Christ.

2 To right of Theo dore's head, within th e shield, in red: N24 . JO HN OF HERA CLEA (?) 64
1 To right of the mounted saint's missing head, in
Ie xc Jesus Christ
white:
3 At upp er right hand corner, within a half-circle from
mie, nb..~lfH!!I N .[.] NN € Cb..J:I for 2Nq : [l>.O )N ~i J:I[T€]
which a hand extends, in black: K xc
Ul 6€Ull>.O a Theodore, John (?), the .. . of the brothers (?) of the city of Hnes, [the martyr]
PO[C] ~H € the one of Jesus Christ.
T€K[ . .].Ul';/ whose [.. .1
John's name IS given In abbreviated (suspended)
€ lf€ [ . . .[
.J,l[ .[ form. On th e probl em of th e identity of thi s saint see Co-
qui n and Laferriere, who hesitatingly entertain th e possi-
Th e inscrip tion is presumably a divine ad dress to bility th at thi s is John of Heraclea, orig inally from Hera-
Theo dore, a voice from heaven, symbo lized by th e ex- clea in th e Pontu s region of Asia Minor but martyred in
tended hand. An app earance of Jesus Chris t promising Antinoe in Egypt." In that case, John's hom e town of Her-
him victory is part of The odore's story," aclea has been con fused with Heracleopoli s in Egypt, Cop-
4 Above the praying woman, in white: tic Hn es, as given in the inscription (mo dern Ihnas ya al-
Madina ). The identity of Eutychius in N24 .2-3 rem ains a
[?]PN[ ?]N[ ?] mystery, and this is one fa~tor in Coquin and Laferriere's
Thi s is presumably the name, otherwise unattested, hesitation to identify thi s particular saint as John of Her a-
of the widow whose two sons were saved from the dr agon clea. Nevertheless, such an identification is made all th e
by St. Theodore." more likely by a mention of him in the Arabic inscription
associated with St. Menas." There "Mari Mina" is named in
5 Below the dragon's head, in white: association with "Mari Yuhana al-Harqly" (John of Hera-
.[. . .].N clea), which may indic ate that the inscriber of the Arabic
[?] . .[. .]. . . inscription understood the saint of N24 to be John of Her-
aclea. (Men as appears at N21 ) . This John is not included in
Thi s inscription relates to the dragon slain by Theo- the Coptic (Arabic ) Synaxary, but is in the Ethiopic." The
dore. If the inscription began to the left of the point of word nb..~lfH!!I ("the alfesh") after John's name is another
Theodore's lance , one could restore on the first line: problem, for there is no such word in Coptic or Greek. But
[nll>.]p[b..K]cpN, "the dra gon ."
perhaps it is a deform ation of Arabic' al harqly ("of Hera-
6 To left of th e boy on th e left: clea"). Confusion of q and f is, in any case, easily un der-
standable, for q and fin Arabic-are very similar (identical
ncrpoc Peter except that fh as one dot, q two). If this conjecture is ac-
7 To right of th e boy on the right: cepted, we have confirmation of this saint's identity, John
of Heraclea.
.Nb..[?]
2 To right of the figure under the saint's horse, in white:
Not enough is left to provide this boy's name. The
boys are not given names in the extant versions of Theo- €'lf T€X IOC Eutychius.

dor e's story.

3 Below the same figure, in black:
63 €'lfT€X IOC IJ TO'lfZ Eutychius the duke.
N23. SISINN IUS

1 To left and right of Sisinnius, in white:

Presumably th is Eutychius would have been involved
O'lfb..CIO C Holy is in the saint's martyrdom, but no such person is mentioned

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225
 T H E I N SC RIPTI ON S

in th e extant story concerning John . There is a count nam ed His mother.

Eutyc hianus in the sto ry of St. Victor's martyrdom." The lam ent of Phoebam rnons mother over his im-
pending m art yrd om is part of his story.
69
N25. GE O R GE

1 To left and right of George's rais ed arm , in white: 4 Below, above the child held by its mother, in white:

lO'lfiX]LJOC Holy is nrKO'lf 2S.1 €q[t] 20 The little boy beseeching.

C€WP[C] IOC George.
2 To right of George, in white:
.[ 7 ]~ .[ . ]~ [ .. . l~[ .
The compound verb here translated "beseech" can
also be translated "enco ur age." The bo y is probably th e
fellow student healed by Phoebammon while he was still a
.. ]€[ 7 ]t X[ 7 I Nfl 7 ] ~[ 7
school boy.

5 To left of the boy's mother, in white:

There is nothing translatable in what is left of this
inscrip tion. Coquin and Laferriere read: GpO ..\\[..\\OK] €tx 6..\\iX'lf ..\\nIKO~2S.J €Tt 20 €ry[ 7
[. .. ] N€ [, "Strengthe n [yourself ] to give . .. " The mother of the litt le boy who is beseeching [.. .J.

3 To left of the person between the hind legs of George's Perhaps read €ry[l~i], "the martyr."
ho rse, in whi te:
6 Above the church under the horse, in white:
n"O'lf~iXl [€]TiXqG IO'lf1 N.f[C ]K [€'lf]OC [N ]H
€K [K(\]HCliX [NcgIBl~..\\oN (Th e) church of [Phoeb]ammon.
t .iXN"0- iX[7 The Jew who stole the [vessels] of the ....

This refers to the th ird posthumous miracle of St. The construction of a church in h is honor after the
George." martyr's death is part of his story.

4 Above th e churc h port rayed under the horse's 7 To right of the figure receiving the saint's lance , in
forele gs, in white: wh ite and black, respe.ctively:

t f 15 15"0-':' [CliX] ~[ 7 The church of. . .. nlKiXTiXNTiXPXWC The centurion.

n IKiXTiXJ:{ T iXPX WC The centurion.
Perh aps read ~[nliXrrOC r eeoprrocj, "of St, Geo rge.':"
T his is pres uma bly th e com ma nder of the sold iers
5 In sid e the church 's open doo r, in red: who behead ed Phoeba mmon .
t €K(\H CI~ .. [7 The church .. .

74
72
N28 . SHENOUTE
N26 . P H O E B A M M O N
1 To left and right of She noute, in white:
1 To left and right of th e m ou nted saint's raised arm,
in wh ite: iXBBiX !!JIN O'lft Abba Shenoute.
[n IX ]iXp..\\iXT P ITH f [The] archima ndrite.
[O'lf ]iXCI OC Holy is
[ cgl]~ ~ ~<?[ N] Phoebammon. 75
N29 . PIS ENTIUS

2 To right of the saint , in white: 1 To left and right of Pisentius, in white:

NT€ T €J:{l 7 ] NO'lf [7 ] nr .pc Nt for iXBBiX n ICHN610 C Abba Pisentius,

O'lfW[C1..\\] ~ON ij! NT€ jc [XC] nr€nICK[0lnOC for K€BT (of) the town (of) Qif t.

of . . . of the city (of) Au[sim], the martyrof Jesus [Christl.

76
N3 0. MOS ES T HE BL A CK
Phoebammon (Bifam , Bafam) of Ausirn, a martyred
1 To left and right of Mo ses, in white:
Christian nobleman, is here (as frequently) identified with
iXBBiX Abba
a soldier martyr of the same name, Phoebammon of
..\\O'lfCH[C] Moses.
Preht. " Ausim , also called Wasim or Boushem, ancient Lat-
opolis, is th e modern Ashum. 2 Above and to right of th e bo rder, in the plaster , in
black paint:
3 Abo ve the wom an between the two horses' head s, in
white: ..\\O'lf[ CH C] n l..\\iX.[ 7 1 N2S. l Moses, the [. . .

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226
 THE COPTIC INSCRIPTIONS
14 ·4 Perhaps read nl.Mb.p[T'lrpoc], "the martyr." Elsewhe re
Memorial inscription ( N31; ADP /SA martyr is usually rend ered with th e mon ogram IIi, but see
BW medium format 149:9 ) NI3.1, where both forms occur. The inscription s in the
plaster outside of the paint ed pan els were pr esumably put
there to indica te where the respective paintings sho uld go,
according to a prese t plan. They wou ld then have inten-
tionally been covered over , onl y to be exposed as part of
the latest restoration work .
77
N31. COPTIC MEMORI AL INSCRIPTION
1 In the plaster abo ve the pan el, in black (fig. 14.4):
nJl!J €NHP€<f!.M€O'lf1 Thememorial.
2 "Me mo rial" inscription , within red borders, in black
paint:
P C'lfN ~ €N <f!Pb.N N~ <f!IOOT N€.M nl!JHpl N€.M
nrnN~ €61 eq I b.tjl!Joonl N2S.€ nb.Il!JIN €P€6.MJO'lf1
€[T]TN€'lfT NT€ Ni l ')ooCPb.<f! Ib. NT€ Tb.I€K(\,CIb.
€6 0 NTnJNIl!Jt b.NTooN'OC I €~O~ 2,[I]TooTO'lf
NN€NJOt €6Q .M.Mb.IJ:iQ'lft 0'lf02, ~.Mb.lb.Cb.nH I
SO'lf0 2, Mb.rn poceope, ~~b.IXPC NI.MO'lfNb.XOC
O'lf02, .M n N ~T O I <f!o poc €T[€] Nb.1 N€ b.pXHnn
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227
n€TpOC NT€ Tb.I€ K~HC lb. N€.M nn I .M I~b.H(\, N€.M
nn CHTb.K(\,2, N€.M nn n€T[p]OC N€.M nn 2S.b..M0'lf(\,
N€.M I nn .Mb.pKOC N€.M nn .Mb. pKOC N€.M n n
nov x .Mb.[O'lf]N€ N€.M nlb.pXHAlb.KOC I ce.x rn
N€.M Ioob.NNH C N€.M no vx ':fb.pb.2S. N[€].M n €TpOC
N€.M ') b. K b.1 10 plb.C N€.M tj.MooN J:i €.M oo'If(\,~OIN €
N€.M ~ [ . ] .. [N€.M} notrrte N€.M I
.Mb.pKO'lfpI N€[.M] notr re.xen N€.M Ioob.NJ:i [H]C
€T2S.I;fK b.~61 N€.M I fl!OTPOC N€.M cnotrx O'lf')
N€.M Ib.KooJ:i[ .] N€.M ,oob.NHC NIl!JHpl l .Mn n notrx
.Mb.O'lfNI N€.M €(\,Pb.')1 N[€].M ncqcort nb.(\,b.1 (\,€.M
N[Il!J]l;fpl.Mnb.(\,€Cb.T b..M€N [K]€ S: vacat / 1SN€T€
€T[b.NTb.O'lf]Q NNO'lfPb.N N[ €J~ N€ €T€
.MflONTb.O'lf1 ill NO'lfP~J:i N €~ [N]1;f €Tb.J:il!J€n
~~[OT NTOTO'lf €T]~!O nb. ]lqK]~ /(\,HCfb.
nBC [I]HC XC €tj€t NooO'lf l} !O'l!l!J [IBt] ~€N /(\,H.M I
NT€ T<f!€ [n ]I~b. €Tb.tj<f!OOT eaox [ N ] ~ [ H Ttj ] N2S.€
l},I€.M I ~€2,N2,H [T] N€.M. t(\,Hl} I N€.M n J[tj1b.2,0].M
b..MHN K€ S:
(decoration)
t:j.:iji [P].M6
]b..MO[oo]nJl!J. J:i l .[ ? 1/[ ? ]1 . rc
With Christ. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Amen (99)./ This dedicated memorial of the / paintings of
the holychurch of the great Antony happened / through (the
beneficence of) our holy fathers. (who are) lovers of God and lovers of
cha rity / 5 and lovers of offerings(and) lovers of Christ,the monks
and Spirit- / bearers, who arethe archpriest Peter of this church,
and the priest / Michael, and the priest Setakleh (7), and the priest
Peter, and the Priest Jamoul, and / the priest Mark, and the priest
Mark, and the priest (A)bu I-Ma'ani, andthe archdeacon / Sali b,
and John, and (A)bu I-Faraj, and Peter, and Zachary / 10 and Fmon
(7), and Oulkoine (7)and K. .. , [and] Poune, and/ Mercurius, and
(A)bu Ghalib, and John who is truly perfect (7), and / Peter, and
Abu I-Uz, andJakon[.], andJohn,the sons/ of the priest (A)bu 1-
Ma'ani, and al Razi, and his brother Palalem (7), / the sonsof Pale-
sat.Amen [and] amen. / 15 Those whose names [we have men-
tioned] aswell as those whose names we have not mentioned, /
together with (all) [those to whom] we have given [thanks] for this
/ church-the Lord Jesus Christ givethem their [recompense] in
(the)Jerusalem / of heaven, the place from which has fled away /
(all) pain and sorrow and [sighing]. Amen and amen.
(decoration)
The Era of the Martyrs [9]49.
This is a dedicatory inscription commemorating the
donors who contributed financia lly to the cost of the
paintings in the church. There are three others, one in the
khurus (K4.1), and two in th e sanctua ry of the church
(S1.14, S33- S36.2). The word here translated "memorial,"
 THE INSCR IP T IONS

which occurs four tim es with various spellin gs (inscrip- 4 To left and right of Domitius, in white:
tion above, and line 2 here [misspelled: e for ~ ]; ef. S1.14, o. BBo. Abba
533 .2), is a form of urc N €P ~H-€'lf l in sta ndard Bohairic,
~COH-H~IOC Domitius.
remembrance. !!J€N €P~H-€'lfl is a term th at can be appli ed
to any dedicated object, such as a painting or a set of paint - 5 Between the two, in white:
ings." In line 1 "Ch rist" is rend ered with the Chr ist m ono - N I!!JHpl H-no'lfpC!l [o'lf] The sons of the Emperor
82

gram ; ef. N lO.2 and not e. The numeral 99 , tr anslated as

"ame n," is an isops ephi sm (rebus) that occurs frequently 6 In th e plaster above the painting, in black:
in Greek and Coptic Christian manuscripts and inscrip - H-o.J,IH-O C iC xc ~COH- H~ I O C Maximus, Jesus Christ,
tions (a=l, 11 =40, 1] =8, and V=50, adding up to 98=99) . Domitius.
The names given here with a question mark are un certain .
In line 8 the repetition of the name Mark may be a dittog- N 33 . M A CARI US T HE G REAT
83

rap hy (scribal error). In line 11 th e word translated "truly" 1 To left and right of Macariu s, in white:
is taken as an erroneous adver bial use of the Greek word
for truth, aA~8ELa. If this is correct, it is pro bably an ind i- o.BBo. Abba

catio n that thi s Joh n has recen tly died ("bee n perfect ed"); ~~~[o.PIO C] Maca rius.

that death means being perfected is a common notion in 2 In th e plaster above the painting, to left of cheru b
Coptic Christianity. N €T € at the beginning ofline 15 is pre - and right of Macariu s, in black:
sumablya mistake; NH is expected. Lines 15-19 reflect the
language of intercessory prayer in the Coptic litur gy. The nr x€p0'lfBIH- The cheru b.

formulaic concl usion in lines 18-19 ("from which has [H-o.Ko.PIOC n J,INI!!Jt [Macarius the] Great.

fled") referr ing to the Heavenly Jerusalem , based on Isaiah In Coptic the Hebrew plural ending -im is not recog-
51:11, is taken fro m one of the intercessio ns for the souls of
nized as such. Macari us's vision of a che rub is part of his
the saints in the service for "the raising of incense for th e life story. The cheru b leads Macarius to the site where th e
evenin g and the morning."79 Th e sam e phrase occur s in mon astery is to be located.. •
the "Diptych" of the Anaphora of St. Basil.80 The year given
here at the end, A .M . 9 4 9 = A.D . 1232/1233, is completely 84
N3 4 . MACA RIUS
extant in another inscription (K4.2) ; so th e resto ration is
1 To left and right of Macariu s, in white:
virtu ally certa in. The material represented by additional
letter traces in th e lower right corner of the pan el may have o.[BBo.] Abba
added specific information on the date of th e inscrip tion H-o.K [o.p fO CJ Mac[arius.]
(month, day, and so on) , altho ugh such details usually
2 In th e plaster above th e paint ing, to right of Macar-
precede th e year in Coptic inscrip tions. Alternatively, this
ius, in black:
may have been a pious prayer added by th e painter on his
own beha lf; ef. c2.6 . Constru ction of th e window under [o.JBBo. H-o.Ko.P[IOC] Abba Macarjius.]
th e inscription has contributed to th e dam age.
N35. MA CROBIUS (?)85
81
N32. MAXI MUS A N D DOMI TI U 5 1 To left and right of th e saint. in white:
1 To left and right of Chr ist in th e m ando rla, in red:
[o.]BBo. H-[o. K p CO nrOC] M[acrobi us].
iC xc Jesus Christ.
2 In th e plaster above the painting, to right of th e
2 Outside the mandorla, on either side, in white: saint, in black:
Ji...H-o. / t:\O'lfH't-. Emmanuel.
[H-o.KpCO]f.l [10C] [Macro]b[ius]
See 51.2 and note .
Because this saint's name begins with M and proba-
3 To left and right of Maximus, in whit e: bly includes a p (= b), I conclude tent atively th at this is one
o.BBo. Abba of th e saints nam ed Macro bius. Two of these are men -
H-o.J,IH-[O]~ Maxim us. tio ned by O' Leary, one a mo nk and the other a mar tyr."

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228
 THE CO PT IC INSCRIP T IONS

Because all the other saints in this part of the nave are but it was probably assumed that the worshiper who could
monastic figures, the monk Macrobius is more likely. He read could also supply the rest of the verse from memory.
was a disciple of Moses of Abydos and founder of a mon-
astery south of Asyut (Lycopolis) ."
Inscriptions in the Khurus
3 In the corner, to right of one of th e two pillars flank-
ing the saint, in white: K3. MERCURIUS
90

[ej /OfN I T.2S. /.2S. 1 No.To. l 5KOn € C 1 2 0. [..]0. I 1 To left and right of Mercurius's head, in white:
,\\0 'l!N €I [6 ]0 '(.. ':tll] / I O[€'flHNj l '\\P€'f €P I N06 € ,\\1
0 7So.rJO C ,\\ €PK0 7SPIOC Holy is Mercurius,
ne.pe, o7S/ON NI,\\ /1 5.1,\':to.T,\\1 [!!!o.] f:iPo.N I
AON ~i Nrc XC the martyr of Jesus Christ.
.2S.€ e €OJ I AOPOC I /I!!!HP € / 20N0. 6 6 0. I C0.6PIH'(.. I
rueruc/ xortoc I f.J 25€ T JI€2 J1€TNo. I OJ!!! ,\\,\\ 1 [OC ] 2 Below th e angel at top right, in white:
€ 'f.2S.0 1 .2S.€ ct>tl 30 KO NO.1 [I] € /60'(.. I~ 'f
Angel (of) the Lord.
With God. The hand of (one) not free from toil (?) under continual
(?)... , the [poor], moresinful than anyone, unworthy of the name
The visit of an angel to Merc uri us is part of his story.
Theodore, the son of Abba Gabriel, the bishop (of the) city (of)
3 Under Mer curius's horse, in white:
(P)etpeh, who will cry out, saying, "God, forgive me. Amen (99)."
nowpo 107S'(..lo.NOC The emperor Julian.
Thi s is a "signature" inscription , made by th e painter
The death of Julian "the Apostate" is attri buted to th e
in cha rge of th e wall paintings in th e church, Th eod ore,
miraculous inte rventi on of St. Merc urius, ma ny years after
th e spiritual "son" of a bishop nam ed Gabr iel. The word
his martyrdom.
tran slated "not free from toil" is here taken as a combina-
tion of the Coptic negative prefix 0. T - plus Greek <'I KOTIO:; •
4 To left, above the small ho rse, in whit e:
free fro m trou ble. For the restoration [poo r] ef. th e ot her
signat ure inscription, 538.7. Theodore is apparently aware n /2 TOP NI0 7S'(..lo. NO C · Julian's horse.
that his Greek nam e mea ns "Gift of God." The town of
5 Under Mercurius's horse's raised hoof a man, above
Petpeh (Coptic nern ez , Arabic Atfih or Itfih) was anc ient
whose head is, in white:
Aphro ditopo lis, and in the thi rt eenth century it had num-
ero us churches."
The person in qu estion is pres umably Merc ur ius's
N36 . V IRG IN MARY AND C H R IS T C H I L D grandfather, eaten by the two dog-face d cannibals. Thi s in-
1 To left and righ t of the Virgin , in white : scriptio n differs from the ot her s in the shape and size of
,\\ H P Mother the lett ers, and the extan t letters do no t ren der anything
e7S of God. intelligible in Co ptic.

2 In the plaster above the paint ing, in black: 6 To left of the left dog-faced creature, in black:

Saint Mary. 2PON'f0C n ' 2 0 N07S20P Rufus, the dog-faced.

N37 . CO PT IC A RCH I N S C R/ P T I O N
89 Z To right of th e right dog-faced creat ure, in black:
1 On east wall, above the arch leading int o the khums, COJPKo.N€ n 120 N07S20P Sorkane, the doq-faced."
in whit e paint within a red band, with decoration s:
8 To the right, under th e dom e and above the two
20JC 20. N!!!07S,\\ €N P IT07S N€ N€K,\\o.N!!!OJJI/ n oc ct>t
sain ts' heads, in white:
NT € N/ .2S.0,\\ To.nll!7SXH

How worthily beloved areyour dwellings, (0) Lord, God of the ne.crxco c C€PKOPIOC Basil (and) Grego ry.

Powers. My souI ....

St. Basil (here with his brother Gregory) is associated
Th is is th e first verse and part of th e second of Psalm with Mercurius in that he is reported to have had a vision
83 (84). There was not roo m for th e ent ire second verse, crediting Merc ur ius with th e death of Iulian."

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 T HE INSCR IP T IONS

lo..KOB ICo..K o..B[Po..2o..,\\] Jacob, Isa ac, Ab[raham].

2 Their names are also inscribed on the sleeves of their

raised hands, in white:

lo..KwB ICo..K o..Bpo..2 o..,\\ Jacob, Isaac, Abraham.

3 The rich man in Ha des appears to Abraham's right.

Above his head, in black:

N.IN €O?f€ Nineve,

n.'o..~No...' the unmerciful.

Th e rich man of Iesus' parable in Luke 16:19- 31 is uni -

formly called Nineve in the Coptic tradition , beginning
with th e Coptic translation s of th e New Testament."

4 Below him , in black:

o..,\\HNt Amente.

Ame nte, an old Egyptian word for th e underworld , is

93 regularly used in Coptic literature for Hell or Hades.
14·5 K4 . COPTI C D EDI CATORY INS CRIPTION

Donor inscription (K4; A DP/SA 1 In a separa te panel, in white (fig. 14.5): 5 To left of Nineve 's upr aised arm, in black:
BW medium form at 130:8)
nGC iC nxc C,\\O?f € Lord Jesus Christ, bless Theabyss.
n€ KBo K nil e.rme, yourservant, the priest
This is probably the "chasm " referred to in Luke 16:26.
'\\ r ~ o.. H (\ N€,\\ n €l{ Abba Michael, and his
CO N nIo..P X2:>.I o..K ce, brother, the archdeacon
K6. THE THREE HEBREWS
5(\ In NIlliHPl nno tr Sa lib, the sons of (A)bu
There are no inscriptions preserved In this badly
re.xcn n G C C,\\O?f € Ghal ib. Lord, bless them,
da maged painting. But part of K7 belongs to this painting.
pmo tr 2S.€ NeWO?f o..?f for they have
l{I cgPWO ?flli ,\\no.. provided for (the imageof)
K7. NEBUCHADNEZ ZAR %
('JOC ,\\ €PKO ?fPIO C the holy Mercurius.
1 To left and right of Nebuc hadnezzar on his covered
IOnGC t NOO ?f NTO?flli €BI Lord, givethem their
recompense.
throne, in black:
o..,\\HN Amen. nowpo The king
(N)o..BOXOTO N€CCOP Nebuchadnezzar.
This is ano ther dedicatory inscrip tion , thi s one to
honor the two donors of the Mercurius painting. They and 2 Above the lance beare rs on either side, in black:
their father, Abu Ghalib , are mentioned in the large dedi-
nrqe.rxoro;e ruqe.rxorrxe The lance bearer. The lance
catory inscription in the nave (N31.2).
bearer.

2 Und er th e panel, in white: 3 In panel below, left to right, in black:

(The Era of the) Martyrs 949. n ll{o..l(\ONX€ The lance bearer.
NIK€NT€PlOC The centurions.
Th e date here given (= A.D. 1232/1233) supplies the
missing numeral in that of N31.2. nrqe.rxonxe The lance bearer.

Th e lower panel has no extant inscriptions. The

K5 . A B R A H A M, I S AA C , AN D J A COB I N entire scene is related to K6, the story of the th ree Hebrew
94
PARAD ISE youths in th e fiery furna ce, in Dani el 3. But its position
1 Above and to right of each of th e patriarchs, left to here next to St. George (KS) may be because King Neb-
right, in white: ucha dnezza r is mentioned in connection with the miracles

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 T H E CO PT IC INSC R I PT IO NS

performed by George after his martyrdom in Tyre . In the duty is to extract information from an accused with the aid
encomium attr ibuted to St. Theodosius of Ierusa lern, Tyre of torture. The Latin term occurs in a number of Latin
is said to be the city of King Nebuchadnezzar." martyrologies. In the Coptic form it is used several times
in the Coptic martyrologies, including the Martyrdom of
98
K8. ST . GE ORGE George.102
1 To left and right of George, in white:
6 Above George, in black:
O'lJb-CIOC C€ WPC IO C Holy is George,
2:>.O N Iii NT € iC XC the martyr of Jesus Christ. C€WpC,I [OC] George.

Cf. N25.
lO3
K1 2 . THE T H REE W OM E N AT THE TOMB
2 To left and right of Euchius, in black:
1 Betwee n the angel and the women:
€ 'lJ'2.IO C Euchiu s,
O'lJb-CC € c-OC NT € noc An angel of the Lord.
n 1..I\b-T OI € [T ]'2WO'lJ the wicked soldier.

Th e an gel is that of Matth ew 28:2.

Euchius, th e "wicked soldier" of Dioclet ian , is fea-
tur ed as a destroyer of churc hes in the sto ry of the ninth
K 13 . C O PT IC I N S CRIP TIO N 104
posthumou s miracle of St. George."
1 On the south wall, at the base of th e vaulted roof, in
3 On the roof of the church, in black: whit e pain t outlined in red, within a blu e band, with
decor atio ns:
. . . €c-c- H Nb- . . . Helen.

no c ..I\€I NN rn 'lJc-[H NT € C] IWN € '20T€

Q ueen Helen, togeth er with the emperor Constan-
The Lord loves the gates [ o~ Zion more than
tin e, her son, is featured in th e enco mium of Abba Theo-
dotus as worshiping in th e martyrium of St. George in This is th e first part of th e second verse of Psalm 86
Diospolis, here portrayed,'?' Before Helen we wou ld expect (87).
t €PW, "the queen, " but that doe s not match what is visible
there in the inscription . K 14 . C O PT IC I NS CRIPTIO N
10S

1 On the west wall, above the arch leading int o the nave,
10 1
K9. M AR T YRDO M O F GE O R GE , A ND PAS IC RATE S in white paint outlined in red, within a blu e band,
1 In top panel, to left of George, in black : with decorations:
C€OPC IOC George NI..I\b-N!!IWnl NT € Ib-KWB b- 'lJCb-.zs.1 € 6BHt
N'2b-N'2BH'lJO'lJ,I
2 Above th e figure to left of George, in black:
The dwellings of Jacob. Things have been spoken about you.
IJ.I'2J:1 [n €pITH C] The [servant].
Thi s is the continuation of Psalm 86 (87):2 plu s the
3 Above th e figur e to right of George, in black: first part of verse 3 . Cf. K13 and 17.
nJ'2Hn €P,ITH C The servant.
106
K15 . A RC HANGE L M IC HAEL
4 In middle panel, to left of Pasicrates, in white:
1 Within the arch, south, to left and right of Michae l,
nb-C I K p b-T HC [€lf C]'2 b-1 Pasicrates writing. in white:

Pasicrates, George's servant, is credited with writing O'lJb-PXHb-CC€c-O C (The) archangel

down th e story of the martyrdo m . ..I\HXb-Hc- Michael.

5 In bottom pan el, between th e two to rturers, in black: 2 Within th e medallion in Michae l's hand , in red:

N I K€C T€ NNb- P IOC €'lJ'2IO'lJ I €C €W PC IOC
The torturers beating George.
The wor d translated "torturer" is a Copticized form
of Latin quaestionarius, a Roman military officer whose
Jesus the Son (of God) is victorious.
This trad ition al sentence is comp letely in Greek:
' lll<JOVS' VlOS' VlKQ . More frequen tly xc "Christ" (Xpl<JTOS')
appears instead of 'lJC. Cf. SUI, C3 .12, A1.2 .

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 THE INSCRIPTIONS

IO
K16. A RCHANGEL GA B R IEL ? SIX. This awkward situation seems to suggest that the
I Within th e arch, north , to left and right of Gabr iel, inscription was executed by an artist who was unaware of
in white: its contents.
O"llb.. P XHb..CC €?>'OC (Th e) archangel
K45 . A RAB IC I N S CRIP T I O N 113
Cb..BpI H?>. Ga briel.
The colors and form at of th is inscription are th e
2 Within the med allion in Gabriel's hand, in red: same as tho se on the south side (K21), except that th e let-
ters on th is side are so poorl y preserved as to mak e
iC "lIC N I Kb.. Jesus the Son (of God) is victorious.
identifi cation of the text impossible. Because in the south-
Cf. K15 .2 an d note. ern inscriptions the Coptic and Arabic do not correspond
(K17, K21), there seems to be no reason to presume th at
I08
K17. COPTI C I N S C RI P TI O N
such would be the case in the northern inscription. At any
On the north wall, at the base of the vaulted roof, rate, none of the words appearing in th e accompanying
in white paint outlined in red, with in a blue band, with Coptic version of Psalm 86 (87) can be identified in Arabi c.
decoration s:

N €,:/ C€N [t ~€ N N IT ]ooO ["lI] ~~9?fb..B 6€

Inscri pt ions in t he Sanct ua ry
His foundations are [on the] holy [mountains].

This is the first verse of Psalm 86 (8 7 ) .109 S I. C H R IS T I N MAJ ES T Y AND T HE V I RG IN MAR Y

I14
AND C H I L D

l lO 1 To left and right of Christ's head, in white :

K18. C H R I ST A ND TH E WOM E N IN THE GARDEN
I Above Mary, in white: IH C Jesus
Christ
..I\H P 6 "l1 Motherof God.

2 To left of Christ, in white : 2 To left and right of his, th ron e, in white:

Jesus. ..I\..I\b..NO"llH?>. Emmanuel,

H €NNO"llt our God
Presum ably, to the right of Jesus was xc, Christ. The
appearance of the risen Christ to his mother is part of an Em ma nuel (Hebrew cimmallu'el, "God is with us") is
ancient tradition in Eastern Chr istendom, based on an th e nam e of th e royal son prophesied by Isaiah (Is 7:14). In
ident ification of "the other Mary" of Matthew 28:1 with Christian tradition this name is appli ed to Jesus Christ.
the Virgin Mary. III
3 Above Michael, to left of Christ, in white:
ll2
K21. A R A B IC I N S CRI PTIO N
b..CC€?>'OC ..I\IXb..[H?>.] (The) angel Micha[el].
On the south wall of th e ceiling, in whit e paint out-
lined in red, within a blue band, with decorat ion s: 4 Above Gabriel, to right of Christ, in white:

b..CC€?>'OC Cb..BP IJ:!?>' (The) angel Gabriel.

*~.. L..i.J
, I..;;....L.......::. ~~ u. "i *~

~Iy-u"i 1..uL1 y~I~~ 5 Above th e sun and th e moon, left and right of Christ,
*[( 1)..;;...~ 1 ] <l:l"i y~Ir'-"I* ~ in whit e:

cL:.)l....J 1 I~I ..lJ I..l [~ I.r-S ] ~I~ [nrpH] [The sun.]

D:,I°2 The moon.

.. . agreeing. Becau se there risen the tribes, the tribes of the Lord,
witnessing to Israel, to give thanks unto the nameof the Lord. [For 6 Beside th e four living creatures, top left, top right,
there areset (?) ] thrones [of judgment, the thrones (?) ] of David. bo ttom left, bottom right, in white :
Pray for the peace [of Jerusalem . . . J
nr2000 Npoo..I\l The human-faced.

The line starts with the last word of Psalm 121 (122) [nr2oo] J':i~[2oo..I\] [The eagle-faced.]

verse three. From the second word onward, this inscrip - nr200 [tl ]..I\O"llI The lion-faced.
tion renders verses four and five and the first half of verse nl200 N..I\b..CI The ox-faced.

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 THE COPTIC INSCR IPTIONS

The four living creatures are tho se of John's vision in S2. ATH ANA SIUS" 6
Revelation 4:6-7. Cf. Ezekiel 1:10. They play an important 1 To left and right of Athanasius, in white:
role in Coptic tradition. I IS
o.BBo. 0.60.No.C'OC n lo.nOCTO
7 On the footstool under Christ's feet, within a red '(,.IKOC ne.rpre.pxurc) for 0.'(,.HKCo.,\\6Plo.
band in white: AbbaAthanasius, the apostolic
patriarch (of the) city (of) Alexandria.
2,1JIJ1€ T<!?€ ne n0.6pONOC nKo.2, 1 ne J.!-'!'[o. NC]€-,!,€
Behold, heaven is mythrone, (and)the earth is the (foot-)stool.
S3. SEVERUS I 17
Isaiah 66:1. There was not room for NT€ N0.6 0.'(,..zs. 1 To left an d right of Severus, in white:
("of my feet") at the end, which would complete the
o.BBo. C'lfO'lf lPOC AbbaSeverus,
phr ase translated as "my foot-stoo l." Cf. C2.5.
rtINJIDt ,\\n o.Tp,o.pX HC the greatpatriarch.

8 To left and right of the Virgin's head, in red:

S4. DIOSCORU SI IB
,\\ H P Mother To left and right of Dioscorus, in white:
6 'If of God.
o.BB(o.) t WC KO pOC no.Tplo.PXHC
9 To left and right of the Virgin's thro ne, in red: NT€ t for po.KOt
Abba Dioscorus, patriarch of the city (of) Alexand ria.
t Ho.p6HNOC TheVirgin
'\\(o.]P[lo.] M[a]r[y]. Rakote (Bohairic Rakoti, as here) is the usual name
in Cop tic sources for Alexandria . It is the name of a village
10 Above Michael, to the Virgin's left, in white: on the site of the new city of Alexandria founded by
[0'If 0.P]X Ho.CC€'(,.oc ,\\IXo.H'(,. [(The)] archangel Michael. Alexander the Great (fourth century B.C.), and also the

11 Within the medallion in Michael's hand, in white:

.
nam e given to the native Egyptian district of the new city.

S5. THE OPHILUS l 19

Ie xc N' Ko. Jesus Christ is victorious.
1 To left and right of Theophilus, in white:
Cf. K15 .2 and note .
e.eee, 6€W<!?I'(,.'(,.OC Abba Theophilus,
12 Above Gabriel, to the Virgin's right, in white:
rutnje.trpre.pxuc: t.iT!€ the [patriarch] of [Alexandria].
O'lfo.PXHo.CC€['(,.OC co.Bp'H'(,.] (The) archangel [Gabriel].
Very faint letter traces appear where one would ex-
13 Within the medallion in Gabr iel's hand , in red: pect the name of th e city, Alexandria.

JesusChrist isvictorious. 2 In red band, above and to left of Theo philus, In

white:
14 At the base of the apse, beneath the Virgin, within a
[6€W<!? J]'(,.'(,.[OC ] [Theophilus.]
blue-gray band , in white:

~!O N <!? Po.N NI ~PI ~ C !O[60'lf]o.B o.,\\HN o.CfIDwH '
N.zs.€ no. IID1Nf:lP<!?,\\!00'lf' €BO'(,. 2,ITOTCf '\\.'~p~ .. . €
[.. .J. . .. HO'(,. Cf o. ~ P' 0.. . . . NI. . . ..10.
In the name ofthe [Holy] Trinity, amen. This memorial happened
through (the beneficence of) . . . (A)bu I-Fakhry. . ..
This is another dedicatory inscription, commemo-
rating the donors who contributed to the paint ings in the
apse of the sanctuary. There was not room for the full in-
vocation; so "Holy Trinity" is used instead . Literally, the
text reads "Holy Trinities" (with the plural definite arti -
cle), but the inscriber intend ed to invoke the three persons
of the Trinity. Cf. N31.2 and commentary.
s6 . PETER I20
i, To left of Peter, in white:
[o.BBo. ] H[€T]P[ O]~ [ ? J.zs.[ ? [Abba Peter] .. ..
There is nothing left of the inscription on Peter's
right, except a red tracing of the monogram for "city."
That inscription identifies him as a patriarch of Alexan-
dria. Coquin and Laferriere were able to see the last three
letters of "Alexandr ia." This saint is probably Peter I, "t he
seal of the martyrs" (d. 311) and seventeenth patriarc h.
2 In red band, above and to left of Peter, in white:
H€TPOC Peter

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 THE INSCRIPTIONS

57. BEN JAMIN (?) 121
I To left and right of the saint, in white:
c'XBBb. B.[ Abba 8.[?I,
[n I]n b.TpIXb.p nb.~HKCo..Nep [I ]b.
patriarch of Alexa ndria.
Coquin and Laferriere read b.BBb. !H ]P<!l~, and sug-
gest St. Cyril as a possibility!" Van Moorsel read: :Bb.::I:fb.C,
and argued against Cyril, leaving the identi ty open.':"
There is now nothing visible after the initial Bof the name,
except something that looks like a ~ . The only Alexan-
drian patriarch throu gh the seventh century whose nam e
starts with a B is Benjamin, thirty-eighth patriarch (sev-
ent h century) . The only other patriarc h from that period
[±6 J '5. .[. . .].[... ]Ul[. . . .].[.. I':it. .... NT~ ~ON~~[. .. ] "If .
.N!!JUlIJ H [.].O"lf N T~IJ[· ·· · .]. . .N2.':i . .b.I <!l € e B ~ [ · ] <!l t ~ ':i
NT€ n~ N N O"lft .2S.€ Ne o n €T~p € n ':i .[ ].[... ]':iHT':i
O"lfO"lfNOq ':i!lHt ~~~ I:f .[ . . . .J ~~[ H N ]
[. . .] .. . of . . . of our God, for you (fern. sg.) arethe onewhom ...
to you(pl.)joy in you (fern. sg.) .. . amen (?) [. . .1
Th is is presumably a biblical or litur gical verse, so far
unid ent ified.
513,515, S17, 519. CHE RU BIM127
1-4 Attributed to each of the four cherubim, in white:
b.C IOC o..C IOC b.C IOC Holy, holy, holy.

whose name has a b in it at all is Abilius, a shadowy figure ;This is the Trisagion, the song of the Seraphim in
from the first centu ry, third in succession after Mark and Isaiah's vision, Isaiah 6:1- 3.
Anian us. The ident ity of this saint is truly a puzzle, in view
of the conflicting epigrap hic evidence. 514, s16, 51 8, 520. ANGEL5
1-4 Attributed to each of the four angels, in white:
2 In red band, above and to left of the saint, in white:
O"lfUlO"lf ~t !lEN NH €T6UlC '
. .[.. . . .]N
Glory (to) God in the highest.
If, indeed , the saint's name begins with B and end s
This is the song of the angels celebrating the birth of
with n, he could only be Benjamin .':"
Jesus, Luke 2:14. It is also the opening passage of a more ex-
tended hymn used in Christian litur gy, "the Hymn of the
59. ANONYMOU5 PATR IAR CH
Angels." Cf. C3.1, ClO.1.
1 To right of the saint's head, in white:

[?]Kb.T.[ ? ]~[ ?] for [ ? I~ON[ ?.1 . . . city (of) . .. 525. ANGE L

1 To right of the angel, in black:
This saint's name would have appeared to his left. No
trace remains of that inscription. Whoever this is, he is b. CC €~<?~ Angel.
prob ably a patriarch.
2 At the angel's feet, in black:

511. MARK 125 .[. . .]. . NT€ O"lf. . . .!!J . .. ~ IJ <? ~ ... of. .. of the Lord.
1 To left and right of Mark, in white:
There were presumably other inscriptions accompa-
O"lfb.CIOC .Mb.pKOC nying the othe r angels (521-524, 526-528),but they are lost.
b. n OCTO~O"lf K O"lf b.CC€~ ICTO"lf iji
Holy is Mark, apostle and evangelist, martyr. 533-536. THE TWENTY- FOUR EL DE R5
OF THE AP OCALYP5E
1 To left of each of the elders, in white:
512. CHR I5T PANT OCR ATOR 126
To left and right of the Pantocrator (universal ruler) 533 (east wall): &'B [' s:
at the top of the dome, in red: 534 (sout h wall): €1HeIK?\
535 (west wall): ~N ronp
Jesus Christ.
536 (no rth wall): c'fif eli x i{r w
2 At the base of the dome, below the angels and cheru - These are the twenty-four letters of the Greek alpha-
bim , an inscription of 360 degrees, presum ably be- bet, here marked as num erals. The twenty-four elders,
ginning and ending at the easternmost point, within seated on twenty-four thrones, are part of John's vision in
a blue band in white. Revelation 4:4. In Coptic trad ition these elders are given

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234
 THE COPTIC INSCRIPTIONS

names, each beginnin g with one of the letters of the Greek 4 To right of Abraham's head, in white:
alphabet, fro m ~.2S.~ H(\ to W2:>.' 6I H(\.128
.I\€qO'lfW!!l €~W(\~[€](\ J:i [ ' J~ ~ K [±6 I.
He does not wish to kill Isaac [...].
S33-S36 . COPTIC INSCRI PTlONI29
5 Between Isaac and the knife, in white:
2 In a continuo us band , separating the twenty- four
elder s fro m the lower part of the four walls of the ' C~K Isaac.
sanct uary, the rema ins of a single inscription begin-
6 To right of Isaac, in white:
nin g with the east wall, and continuing on the south,
west, and north walls, within a blue band in white: [? I CJ:i~€I~TH~QN

33.[. .].Q ~(H!l Wnt N~[€ n~li!!l€N~[pcj,>.I\€O'lf1 . . .. 7 Below the ram:

.]H caox 2 'TQ[Tq ±13 ] / 34T~ I C'lfT.I\O 'lf J:i ,).,Xoc n rzs.r -
6 1 C'lfN 1 b.PI n.l\€'lf€ n BC .i\n €K2€.I\ 1 2~(\
,).,KON r~BpIH(\ no~ HpHq[..].[.]..[±22 ] 1 356 P[. .
ru caom N10rp~cj,>Oc 1 5nt €q 1HN n' ~T€.I\!!l~
.].€(\''lfH [. .]2:>. Nr~~ [pIH (\ ] . [.J. q~T(\ €(\ J:i[€.1\
.i\nlp~N 1 .2S.€ 6 €W 1 2:>.OpOC n!!lHp' N 1 ~BB~ re.ap
J]W2~NNH N€.I\ N€q. .[. .. 1. N€qCNHO'lf notrce, 1
I 1 H(\ n cn IC 10Ko no c N I for 1 €T 1 J1 €2
36,2:>. N€.I\ rtotr] .. I'lf€'lf[. .]€.I\ noc C.I\O'lf €PWOO['lf]
.I.. .J ~TPQICTOC N.2S.€ fin n€TpOC N€.I\ .l\IX~H(\ With God. Remember, 0 Lord, your servant, theapprentice painter,
N€.I\ fin €.B. . . the poor, unworthy of the name Theodore, the son of Abba Gabriel,
the bish op of the city (of) (P)etpeh.
33
... [This memorial] happened [.. .] through (the beneficence of)
34
[. . . of] I this monastery (?), the deacon Gabriel (A)bu 1- . . . [. . .] This is another signature provided by the paint er,
35
I . . . Ga b[riel] . . . Fadlel [and] John and his . . . his brothers (A)bu Theodore. Cf. N35.3 and note. Th e Chri st monogram ap-
36
Sa I id and (A)bu ... . Lord, bless them. ... , that is, the priest pears at the left.
Peter and Michaeland the priest ... .
S39. THE SA CRIFI CE p F JEPH THAH 'S DAUGH TER
Th is is another dedicatory inscription. John and the
1 To left of Iephthah, in white:
priests Peter and Michael are probably those persons men-
tioned in the dedicatory inscription in the nave (N31.2) . [ ? ] T .~[ . ... u ? I
After "Lord, bless them," the extant materia l looks like the !!l ~P'[NT€ 1~] cj,> 6[~ ? J daughter [of Jephthah
top of a decorative stop. The puzzling prefix ctrr in the word [±8 ]C I,).,
here tra nslated "monastery" is possibly to be construed as [. .. .. ].[ . . .m[ ? J
a contraction of something like Greek o uvruyl« , associa-
Perhaps read in the third line 6'lf]C '~ , "sacrifice." On
tion, here an "association of monks," hence a monastery.
Iephthah's vow and the sacrifice of his daughter see Judges
11:29-40.
S38. THE SA CRIF ICE OF ISAAC130
2 At top right, in white:
1 Above left, between the finger and Abraham's head,
in whit e: J.2S. PQ[ ] victorious (?) [

tC.I\H The voice. Iephthah 's victory over the Ammonites is recorded in
The voice is that of God ("the angel of th e lord") in- Judges 11:32- 33.
tervening in the intended sacrifice. See Genesis 22:1- 14, esp.
3 To right of Iephthah 's daughter, in white:
11- 12.
T!!l€[pJ] N [J]~cj,> J 6~ The daughter of Jephthah.
2 To left and right of the tree, in white:
4 To right of altar, faint letter traces, illegible.
nt!!lHN NT€ .I\~ .I\[P € ] The tree of Mamre.
n l!!l HN NT€ .I\~.I\P € The tree of Mamre.
S40 . ANGE L
3 To left of the ram , in white: 1 To right of the angel, in white:

n lwl(\' €qcoN2 Theram bound. (An) angel (of) the Lord.

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235
 THE INSCR IPTIONS

133
5 41. ANGEL 545 . JEREMIAH

1 To right of th e angel, in white: I To left and right of Jeremiah, in white:

(An)angel (of) the Lord. I€P €.Mlb..C Jeremiah

n pO cqH TH C (the)prophet.
13 1
5 42 . 15 A I AH AN D T HE B U R NI N G C O A L
2 In th e scroll in Jeremiah 's hand , in black:
1 To left of Isaiah, in whit e:
tnpocqHt[b..] N / €[PI€.M[J]~[CI
H Cb..Ib..C nmpoerrru c Isaiah the prophet.
The prophecy of Jeremiah.
2 Between Isaiah and th e seraph, in white:
134
S4 6 . ELI JAH
[ ? !l.M]<;'.M b..'ft Nt2S.€BC NH Cb..lb..C
1 To left and right of Elijah, in white :
He is giving the [burning?] coa l to Isaiah.

[H?. Ib..C] [Elijah]

This refers to the action of one of the winged sera-
npoorrruc (the) prophet.
phim in the account of the call of Isaiah, Isaiah 6:6-7 ·

3 To right of seraph, in white: 2 In the scroll in Elijah's hand, in black:

n pocqHtb.. NH?./b..C npoerrn«;

[ ? ] ?"H .b..[ ? ]T€[ ? IN [ ? I ..
4 On the altar in the middle of the wall, in white:
The altar.
The word tr anslated "altar" means literally "place of
sacrifice." The altar is pres uma bly th e one referr ed to in
Isaiah 6 :6. Farther down on th e altar is a cross .
(The) prophecy of Elijah {the} prophet.
Elijah ( 1 Kgs 17:1-2 Kgs 2 :12) was one of Israel 's non -
literary prophets (oth c. B .C. ).
135
547 . I SA I A H
1 To left and right of Isaiah, in white:

132 npoe aruc (The) prophet

5 43 . M E L CHIZ ED EK
HCb.. /b..C Isaiah.
1 Between the altar and Melchizedek, in whit e:
2 In the scro ll in Isaiah 's ha nd, in black:
nJ O'lfHB NT € .M€?"XI[C [HT€ K n07f [Plo [NT € C lb.. [?. ]~~
The priest Melchizedek, the king [of Sa lem]. npocqHtb.. HCb../b..C (Th e) proph ecy (of) Isaiah.

Th e first NT€ ("of") was written in er ror, unl ess th e

136
inscrib er meant to add "God Most High ." The story of 548 . M 05E5

Abraham 's enco unter with Melchizedek is found in Gene- I To left and right of Moses, in white:
sis 14 :17- 20. Th ere Melchi zedek is called "priest of God .MW'lfCHC Moses
Mos t High" and "king of Salem" (Gn 14 :18 ) . npoorrrn c (the) prophet.

2 To left of Melchizedek 's head , in white: 2 In the scro ll in Moses' hand, in black:
.M€?"X[IC]€[T€K] Melchizedek. tnpocqH~/b.. .MW'lfCHC The prophecy (of) Moses.

3 Above Abraha m's head , in white: The five books of Torah, trad itiona lly ascribed to
Moses, are her e taken as a single scroll of "pro phecy."
b..Bpb..b...M [b..]'f 2S./ C.MO'lf 2/T[OlT'f .M€?.X/~~T€K
Moses is called a prophet in Deut eron om y 3 4 :10.
Abraham is receiving (a) blessing from Melchizedek.

On e can also restore [€]'f2S.1, " receiving" (without 137

5 4 9. D A VID
"is," a circumstantial form of the verb) . The blessing is re-
1 To left and right of David, in white:
corded in Genes is 14 :19-20. Here it is associated with
the wine (Gn 14:18) in the chalice from which Abraham is Ab..'lflA David
dr ink ing. n l€PO'lf1l[b..?.TH C the singer of psalms.

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23 6
 THE COPTIC I N SC RI PT I O N S

2 In th e scroll in David's hand, in black: 5 Within and below th e red band at Ch rist's feet, in
white:
TlPO<!?Htbo. ~bo.'lJI~ TlI€PO'lJ'l1[bo.?l.TI;I~
(The) prophecy of David the singer of psalm s. rc 2,rrrTl€ T<!?€ ne ne,TepONOC TlKbo.2,1 ne TlJt\bo. /

Jt\XHJt\NI NT€ Nbo.Bbo.?I..zs.

David is called a prophet in Acts 2:30.
Behold, the heaven is my throne, the earth is my foot-stool.

s5 0 . DANIEL 138 Isaiah 66:1. Cf. S1.7.

1 To left and right of Daniel, in white :
6 Below that, in white:
~bo.NIH ?I. Daniel
TlP0<!?HTH C (the) prophet. TlB C iC TlXC Nbo./ NH I Lord Jesus Christ, have pity on me.

2 In th e scroll in Dani el's hand, in black: Th is is undoubt edly a prayer by the pa inter on his
own beh alf. Cf. Theodore's signature inscriptions, N35.3
tTlPO<!?Htbo. N~bo.NIH?I. The prophecy of Daniel.
and S38.7.

7 Below th e ma ndo rla framing Christ, in black:

Inscriptions in the Deesis Chapel
TlB C iC TlNO'lJT€ Jt\TlINbo.€ Nbo.N€ Jt\T €'l1['lJ XH

C l. NICHE OF THE PREC IOUS CROSS

139 NN €K2,~ Jt\2, ~?I.

1 To left and right of th e top of the cross, in black: Lord Jesus, God of mercy, (you are) goodto the soul(s) of your
Jesus servants.

TlX C the Christ. 8 Faintly visible to left of th e lower left angel hold ing
th e m andorla, in whit e:
2 Just below, to left and right of th e cross, in whit e:
bo.rfrw?l.O'lJ ~[€l (An) angel (of] the Lord.
Tree
3 WH C of life. There was probably a sim ilar inscription accompany-
3 To far left and far right, written vertically in white: ing the lower angel on the right, but no trace of it remains.

tJt\IO'lJ (The) precious

C3. TWO LIVING CRE ATURES (EAGL E AND o x)
cross.
AND JOHN THE BA PTIST141
CTbo.'lJP0'lJ

4, 5 To right of the censing angel on the left, and to left of 1 Under the lower right -hand angel holding th e m an-
the censing angel on the right (twice), in white: dorla, in black:

(An) angel (of) the Lord. N€Jt\ O'lJ ~/Jt\bo.t ~€N NlPWJt\/ T€N2,OC €POK
T€NCJt\O'lJ €POK
C2. CHRIST IN MAJ ESTyl40 and good will among people. We sing to you, we praiseyou.
1, 2 Above each of th e two upper angels holding th e
This is a contin uation of th e opening part of th e
m andorla in whi ch Ch rist is seated, in white:
"Hymn ofthe Angels," sung in th e Coptic liturgy. Cf. ClO.1.
(An) angel (of) the Lord.
2' To lower left of the ox-headed creature, in black:
3 To left and right of Christ's head, in white:
XO'lJbo.6 X O'lJbo.6 XO'lJbo.6 nBC n NO'lJT€ !!Ibo.i €N€2,
iC Jesus
N I N€2, bo.Jt\HN
xc Christ
Holy, holy, holy areyou, a Lord God, for ever and ever, amen.

4 To left and right of Christ's throne, in whi te:

Cf. Isaia h 6:3.
.MJt\bo. N O'lJ H?I. Em manuel
our God . 3 Between the two creatures, below, in black:

Cf. S1.2 and note. <ir IOC e.r roc e.r 10C Holy, holy, holy.

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237
"[I'

THE INSCRIPTIONS

The Trisagion (Is 6:3) in Greek. This hymn is attrib - B6..P[60?-.jO[.M]€<;>[C] Bar[thol]omew.
uted to the four living creatures in Revelation 4:8.
2 To left (and right) of the figure in the right roundel,
4 Above the moon , on either side, in white: letter traces in black

Themoon. ~~4[€O C I Thadd[eus.]

5 Below the moon, between the two living creatures, in 3 In the plaster to left of the bord er, letter traces in
white: black:
J1 I~ N")WON €N6..CW.M6..TOC The 4 bodiless living creatures. ?].. [
See S1.6 and note . ~~4€OC Thaddeus (?)

6 Below that, accompanying the eagle-headed crea- The upper inscription can possibly be restored to
ture , in white: read [B6..P60?-.01~\'[OC], "Bartholomew." On the functi on
of inscriptions in the plaster out side of the pan els see not e
n I)WON N20 N6.. I€TOC The eagle-headed creature. to N30.2.

7 To left of the ox-head ed creature, in white:

C7. CHRIST IN MA JESTY
n I")WON N20 .M6..CI Theox-headed creatu re.
I To left and right of Christ's head, in white:
8 To left of John, in white: [IC] [Jesus]

6..(' 10C I W SaintJohn. xc Christ.

The 6.. is contained within a circle.

9 To right of John , in white:
B6..JlTHCTO"lr 4<;>[N] iji 2lo.0N npo[2lo.pl<;> [.M0"lr
npoct>lHTO'lf
(Th e) Baptist, the martyr, the [forerunner (and) prophet].
c 8. THE APO STL ES PAUL (?) AN D PET ER
I To right of the figure in the left roundel, in black,
unreadable letter tra ces.
This figure is probably Paul.143
2 To left of the figure in the right roundel, in black:

John is regularly referred to as "prophet and forerun - n €[T]pO[C] Pe[ter.]

ner, Baptist and mart yr" in litanies of the Coptic liturgy.'?

10 To lower left of Joh n, in black: ClO. TWO LIVING CREATURE S (MAN AND LION)
AND THE VIRGIN MARy I44
IC nI2J €B NT€ ct>t ct> H €TO?-' I NN€NOB, N.MJ1JKOC.MOC
I Under the lower left-hand angel holding the man-
Behold the lamb of God who takes awaythe sins of the world.
doria, in black:
This is John the Baptist's reference to Jesus in Joh n
2S.\' O"lrWO"lr ct>t :!>€N N'€T<?OCI N€.M 0"lr2IPHN I
1:29, the source of the Agnus Dei in Christian liturgy.
212S.€N J1J K6..21
11 Below the painting, to left and right of the wreathed
Saying, "Glory (to) God in the heights and peace upon the earth."
cross, in black:
This is the opening part of the "Hym n of the Angels,"
(The) precious cross.
continued on the other side. Cf. C3.1and note.
12 Within the wreathed cross, in black:
2 To left of the angel, in black:
iC rr ':I.' ~ Jesus Christ is victorious.
XO"lr6..B XO"lr6..BXO"lr6..B JlBC JlNO"lrT€ Tct>€ NO'
Cf. K1S·2 and note . n K6..2 1 .M€2 ceox :!>€N J1€KWO"lr €60 6...MHN
Holy, holy, holy are you, 0 Lord God. Heaven and earth are full of
CS . BARTHO LOM EW AND THADD EUS (?)
your holy glory, amen.
I To left and right of the figure in the left roundel, in
black: Isaiah 6:3. Cf. C3.2 and note.

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238
 THE COPTIC INSCR IPTIONS

3 Between the two creatures, below, in black: 10 Below the painting, to left and right of what remains
of the wreathed cross, in black:
o.CJOC o.C IOC o.CIOC Holy, holy, holy.
[J.'lJc..UlN] [Tree]
Cf. C3.3 and note.
')C!>I;I[C] of life.

4 Above the sun, on either side, in white: Inside the wreathed cross would undoubtedly have
JlIpH The sun.
been:

Jesus Christ isvictorious.

5 Below the sun, between the two living creatures, in
white: Cf. c3.12.

rt 12:>. N')Ul<;>':l € No. CUl),\o. TO C The 4 bodiless living creatures.

Inscriptions in the Annex
6 Below that, accompanying th e huma n-faced crea -
AI. ARCHANGEL M ICHAEL
ture, in white:
1 To left and right of Michael's head, in white:
n l')UlON N'2,O NPUl),\1 The human-faced creature.
),\H Xo. H(\ Michael
7 To right of the lion -faced creature, in white: n re.pxne.cr exoc the archangel.

nl ')Ul<;>N N'2,O )'\ )'\ <;> ['lJ ]1 The lion-faced creatu re. 2 Inside the medallion held in Michael's left hand, in
red:
8 To left and right of the Virgin's head, in white:
Jesus Ch rist is victorious.
Mother of God.
Cf. K15.2 and note.
9 To lower left of the Virgin, in white:
A 9 . A RC H ANGE L G A B-RI EL
o.To.1l!'lJXH G ICI ~nGC O'lJ0'2, NT€ ne.n rre,
6H[c..Hc..] \O .2S.€ N <!.>t neqckop
1 To left and right of Gabriel's head, in white:

My soul has magnified the Lord, and my spirit has [rejoiced] in God Co.BpIHc.. Gabriel
my Savior. [JlI ]o.PXHo.CC€c..OC the archang el.

This is the open ing verse of the Magnificat, Mary 's The medallion in Gabriel's left hand bears an image
song in the birth story of Jesus, Luke 1:46. of Chr ist instead of the expect ed inscription. Cf. A l.2.

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239
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23 O PPOS ITE
Mon astery garden, looking toward
new chu rch (EAP 2 S127 9 7)
24
Adriano Luzi, Father Maximo us
EI-Anthony, Luigi De Cesari s,
Gianluca Tancioni, Stefano Fullon i,
Patri ck Godeau, Alberto Sucato ,
and Emiliano Albanese in the
sanctuary, in 1999. Co ur tesy
of Patrick Go deau
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Elizabeth S. Bolman
C O NCL US ION
Monastic Visions began with two stories : one of the crea-
tion , and the other of the conservation, of the thirteenth-
century wall paintings in the Chur ch of St. Antony. Both
narr atives have been greatly amplified and enlarged by the
contributions to this book. The authors have given us a
multifaceted history of the beliefs that first inspired habi-
tation, and then cam paigns of buil ding and painting, in
this remo te desert location (fig. 23). Their account spans
more than sixteen hu nd red years. Th e rocky and austere
locale of the Mon astery of St. Anto ny had only rarely been
seen by human beings before th e third century A.D.
Through the agency of St. Antony the Great, and the power
of Coptic mona sticism, it came to be filled with th em. The
greatest influx has been in the past decade, and it is certa in
to increase, including bot h those who come for the saint
and those who come for the paintings .
The authors have produced insightful and thou ght-
provo king chap ters from their diverse perspec tives, and
th us each one contributes to our understanding of life and
art at the Mon astery of St. Antony (fig. 24). The pieces of
lived historical experienc e they present often mesh as well
with other pieces of data, and with other int erpretation s,
to bri ng to life new aspects of the paintings and their mon-
astic enviro nment, past and present. In this respect, all of
the book's authors have becom e like Theodore, the Coptic state ind eed. If they had been left unattended, the combi-
artist who used the Greek word zographos (( wypa <jJoS") to de- nation of sur face damage and structural weakness of the
scribe his profession. Zogra phos means pain ter, bu t liter- walls, togeth er with the significant deterioration of the
ally translated it is "writ er of Iife." ' water-soluble pigments by rainwater and sponging (in ear-
The first and most important result of the past sev- lier attempts to see the paintings and inscriptions), not to
eral years of intensive work on the paintings in the Church ment ion sim ple degrad ation over time, would almo st cer-
of St. Anto ny is their preservation . When ARCE began th is tainly have resulted i n their destru ction before another
USAID-fun ded project, the paintings were in a precarious century had passed. The walls are now stable again, and
 CONCLUSION
the paintings are clean ed and protected. Extensive graphic
document ation of th e work of conservation and a compre-
hen sive photographic record are available for study,' Th e
St. Antony Project has engendered significantly more th an
this, however, adding to the base provided by van Moorsel's
publication on the paintings, and , we hope, inspiring fur -
ther studies.
The discovery by Luzi and De Cesaris of previously
un known paintings in the sma ll side chapel off of the nave
has given Jon es and me ample evidence for a major rev-
ision of th e age of th e Church of St. Antony. Dating the
paintings of Chris t in Majesty and the Apos tles (C4-C9)
to ca. 550-700 is consistent with the monastic tradition
that the church was built in the sixth century. Jones's care-
ful reading of the material elements of stone, brick, and
plaster has resulted in a chronology for the architectural
development of the church and the monastery. He has
proposed that the Deesis Chapel was th e earl iest compo-
nent of th e extant architectural complex, and has shown
that it was also the sanctuary of an ind ependent sma ll
churc h. The conservators found other areas of p re-thir-
teen th century paintings, sometimes more than one layer,
everywhere except in the current sanctuary. The implica-
tion is that the eastern end of the Churc h ofSt. Antony was
located at or aro und th e eastern mos t wall of what is now
th e khurus. Because we know that windows below th e
central dom e (s34-s36) were filled in and covered over
before Th eodore's team began work , we can deduce that
the current sanctuary was con structed before the 1232/1233
campaign.'
Conservation has show n that paint ings from six dis-
tinct periods exist in th e Church of St. Antony,' The first,
in the arched entra nce to the Deesis Cha pel, belongs to ca.
550-700. Two layers of pre - thirteenth century pain tings
were discerned, but in such a fragme ntary state th at most
of them can not be dated. The lowest of th ese may corre-
spo nd to ca. 550-70 0, but th eir age is un certain. The thi rd
clearly estab lished per iod is that of Theodore's pain tings
(fig. 25), dated by two inscriptions to 1232/1233. The fourth
group is located in the upp er section of the khurus, and
was most likely created between 1233 and ca. 1283. Th e
slightly later rendition of the two archangels in the arch -
way leading into th e ann ex and Deesis Cha pel (AI, A9) be-
longs to the fifth period. On techn ical (although not art
historical) grounds, they app ear to have been made within
a decade of the fourt h group, therefore ca. 1243-1293.
Finally, the overpainting of areas of the paintings, as part
of their "refreshment," belong s to th e final period of
painting (figs. 5.2, 9.8). 5 These last can no lon ger be seen
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242
on th e walls, but they have been thorou ghly docum ent ed.
In addition to preserving the known wall paintings,
the conservato rs found significant areas of figural paint ing
that had been covered over with und ecorated plaster for
centur ies: Cleaning also revealed addition al letters and
entire inscriptions that had never been studied before.
Pearson has established the identi ty of thr ee figures previ-
ously unidentified (John the Little, N8; Sisoes, N9; and
Phoebammon, N26), confirmed the identity of one (Sisin-
nius, N23), and suggested names for three more (John of
Heraclea, N24; Macrobius, N35; and Benjamin, S7) . Father
Maximous first proposed that the figure designated as N9
was Sisoes (Shishoi), and Pearson has followed his lead.
Pearson has translated man y of the previou sly unpub-
lished inscriptions, has filled in lacuna e in parti ally known
sections, and has retranslated the remainder. Altogether,
his contributions have added considerably to our knowl-
edge of the inscriptions and the paintings .
The pains taking work on this project, carr ied out in
so many discip lines, has particular significance for the his-
tory of Coptic art. Western scholars have long con sidered
Coptic art to be a marginal field. Archaeologists have exca-
vated through postpharaonic layers in their search for an-
cien t Egyptian artifacts, almost never preserving and rarely
even recor ding Coptic finds. .Earlier generations of West-
ern art historians brand ed Egyptian Chris tian art as infe-
rior and even pornographic, seeing it as low culture and
falsely attributing to it pagan subject s, such as Leda and
the Swan.' Although some Egyptian Christian works have
been included in the cor pus of important art from the
late Roman an d Byzant ine worlds, art historians all too
often still ignore Cop tic art, or describe it as having en -
tered a term inal decline following the Islamic conquest of
Egypt in 64 1.8 W riting in 1974, Leroy went so far as to sum-
marize scholarly opinion abo ut Chr istian Egyptian art
after abo ut 1000 as being no lon ger "Coptic art" bu t rather
"the art of th e Copts." Under th e "influence" of Islam , its
own charac ter had been effaced." The paintings created by
Theodore and his workshop in the Churc h of St. Antony
emphatically dispro ve all such notions. In their newly
cleaned state th ey can be seen and appreciated for the first
time in centur ies. Th ey provide us with a stunning array of
new images with which to revise our und erstanding of the
value and nature of Coptic art in the thirteenth century.
The interdisciplinary character of this book is designed to
show that the paintings relate to much more than a nar -
rowly defined history of art . They belong to a fun ctional
context tied to the beginnings of Christian ity in Egypt, to
the visual cultur e of the eastern Mediterra nea n in the
25
Palace of Nebuchad nezzar and George
( K7-K8; ADP/SA 1999 )

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26
Monk from one of the Red Sea
mon asteries, 1930 -1 931
(Whittemo re Expedition.
Co ur tesy of Dumbarton Oaks,
A179)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
CONCLUS ION
twelfth and th irteenth centuries, and also to the living
Coptic culture of tod ay, lay an d monastic.
The historical chapters by Vivian and Gabra illum i-
nate th e inspiring and also tenaciou s character of Coptic
monasticism, beginning with St. Antony the Great, and
continuing through periods of growth and influence, but
also of severe trial and adversity. Th e Monastery of St.
Antony is shown to have been a center of authority and
learning from which leaders of th e Coptic and Ethiopian
Churches were drawn (fig. 26). The expansive picture
shaped by Vivian and Gabra is given yet mor e detail by
Griffith in his study of th e graffiti in th e Churc h of St.
Anto ny. The monastery not only offered leaders to the
larger Chr istian com munity outside of its confines, it also
drew mon ks and pilgrims from th e churc hes of Syria,
Ethiopia, Armenia, and Russia, as well as from the West.
Griffith has made their presence in the church almo st au-
dibl e. Gabra has charted both the religious visitors to th e
site and the scholars, showing how diverse the compul-
sions are that cause people to travel th ere.
The chapters by Father Maximous and Gram com-
plement the information presented by Gabr a, in their focus
on the present state of the monastery. Father Maximous
has given us a rare view of the role of icons in the monastic
life of this ancient community. His expla nation of im ages
as "windows into heaven" meshes with the perspective on
th e historical meaning of the images that I presented and
suggests that there is a functional continuity in the role of
244
art in Coptic monasticism. He descr ibes the monk as
"an icon, pulsating with life," and Gra m relates th at "the
monk 's body and the rhythm of his life [are understood by
the Co pts] to be mimetic of sain tly bodi es and lives from
the past." These comment s have a direct bearing on th e
wall paintings. When we see a monk, we see a living exam-
ple of the figures depicted in the church, and thi s link
between the monk and history is keenly felt by Coptic pil-
grims, and by the monks themselves . Gram's vivid por-
trayal of the monastery from the perspective of the Coptic
lay pop ulation gives us an understandi ng of its vitality
to day, during this phenomenal modern phase of expan -
sion . Her ana lysis of pilgrimage has a dimension of detail
possible on ly to an eyewitness, and her portrayal amp lifies
our understanding of the pilgrims of the past, the frag-
mentary traces of which have been so carefu lly pieced to-
gether by Vivian, Gabra, and Griffith. To Coptic pilgrim s,
the past is accessible and palpable . Gram reports that th ey
appreciate the antiquity of the Chur ch of St. Antony and
sense in it a "layering of prayer upon prayer, and mass
upon mass through the centuries." Within this tradition,
monks forge and sustain this dense sanctity.
The historical, inscriptional, and functional perspec-
tives on th e Mon astery of St. Antony provide a setting in
which the paintings becom e comprehensible, as links with
th e past and the present ;'as windows into heaven, and also
to th e spiritual realm aro und us. The complex paint ed
program was designed to suit the various activities under-
taken in each part of the church . It also relates to the larger
context of this parti cular monastic site, which Vivian has
evoked so well. At this place, founded by th e Fathe r of
Mo nasticism, th e paintings illustrate a genealogy of Cop-
tic mon asticism and of th e Coptic Churc h.
They also repay analysis as great works of art. Theo-
dore and his team of ar tists painted with skill and con-
fidence. Strip ped of the disfiguring "refreshme nt" and
dirt, their paintings emerge full of visual complexity and
sophistication. They stand within a long tradition of Chri s-
tian painting, which began in late an tiquity. It was un -
b'roken by iconocla sm , the prohibition against religiou s
images that disrupted the course of Ch ristian art in Byzan -
tium for roughly one hundred years in the eighth and
ninth centuries. Theodore's paintings include subjects and
iconography familiar from monastic art of about the fifth
century onward (fig. 27), but also from posticonoclastic
Byzantine art. More pervasive by far tha n the occasional
element of Byzantine style or iconography are the numer-
ou s features from the secular world . As Lyster has shown,
Cop tic art underwent a kind of Arabization in th e cen-
 CONCLUS ION
27 turies after the con quest . The inclusion of tiraz bands and
Three Heb rews, detail (K6; ADP/SA th e decor ative script repeating the phrase "al-Fadi" show
9 s16997) an adaptation from the Islamic cour t, and a transforma-
tion of meaning that is specifically religious. "In the Church
of St. Antony, the bishops' tiraz bands suggest that th ese
men are court officials as well as th e pastors of the Coptic
comm un ity.. . . The tiraz inscriptions of the . . . [patri-
archs] and military martyr s, however, do not name a sec-
ular mon arch but declare allegiance to th e Lord Jesus
Christ, ' the Redeemer."
As Lyster and I show, far fro m being cut off from
developm ents in Islam and Byzantium , the thirteenth-
cen tury artists at th e Mo nastery of St. Antony incor-
porated elemen ts of decora tion and subject matter that
were developed in the eastern Medit erran ean well after the
Islami c conquest, revealing the Copts' participation in th e
visua l culture of th e region. These sources are married
seam lessly to the ancient Coptic tradition, result ing in a
coherent and engaging who le. The co ntributio ns of Gabra
and Lyster describe a mon astic world tha t was part of a
larger cultural renaissance. The painti ngs are a visual reco rd
of th is stimulating tim e. The stylistic competence of these
paintings makes it clear th at the tradition of high quali ty
Coptic painting begun in late antiquity had con tinued up
until thi s time. We may have few rem nants of it left, but in
term s of icon ograph y and style, these paint ings are an out-
growth of the preceding centuries of Coptic art.
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245
The survival, in excellent condition, of this near-
complete and dated program of paintings opens up vistas
of possibility for the art historical analysis of medieval
Coptic art. In this field, firm dates are exceptionally rare,
and were it not for the inscrip tio ns, which inclu de th e date
A.M. 949 (A.D . 123211233), it would likely have been neces-
sary to suggest a two-century span for Theo do re's paint -
ings-perh aps between 110 0 and 13 00 . The pro gram in th e
Church of St. Antony therefore gives us a fixed point for
comparison with oth er, undated, Coptic paint ings (fig.
28) . The potential that the newly visible pain tings by
Theodo re an d his team have to contribute to our under-
standing of th e twelfth and thirteent h cent ur ies has only
been suggested in thi s book- for example, with the obser-
vation of close stylistic ties between th e paintings in th e
Churc h of St. Anton y and those at two other sites: the
Sanctuary of St. Mar k in the Mo nastery of St. Maca rius
(Wadi al-Natru n) , and the gallery chapel ded icated to the
Virgin in th e Mo nastery of St. Mercurius (Old Cairo).
Luzi, De Cesaris, Lyster, an d I have studied th e khu -
rus ceiling paintings from different points of view: con ser-
vation and technique, Islami c art, and Byzantine art. Our
concl usion s are com plem ent ary. We can therefore assert
with unusual confidence that the paint ings in the upper
zone of th e khurus were mac e within at most fifty years
of Theodore's orig inal 1232i1233 pro gram - so not after
ca. 1283, and likely well before th at date. The figural paint -
ings belong to the Byzantine tradition , but the y are not a
homogeneous exten sion of it (fig. 29). They have th eir
closest ties to the Byzantine art of Cyprus and icons in the
Monastery of St. Catheri ne on Mount Sina i, but belon g to
neither. Also, the Orn am ental Master 's sources are part of
artistic developme nts in cosmopolitan cen ters in the Arab
world (fig. 30 ) . He qu otes palatial architectural decoration,
remn ant s of which still exist in Cairo, to make a fittin g
house for God.
By themselves, the paintings of Th eodor e and his
workshop are of exceptional importance for the study of
thirteenth-century Coptic art. The unexpected master-
pieces of the Figural and Ornamental Masters are also of
great relevance. The interesting juxtapos ition of the two
distinct program s, between 1232 and 1283, raises question s
about the character of art istic production in Egypt in th is
perio d. Theodore paint ed his program in a con fident Cop-
tic style, repeatin g tradit ion al iconographi c conventions
and methods of repre sent ation . He drew on th e venerable
Coptic tradition of art and brou ght in to it eleme nts from
posticonoclastic Byzantine art and Fatim id and Ayyubid
visual culture. In his work, these traditions are fully syn-
28

Severus of Antioch (53), det ail of

book with portrait of Ch rist
(ADP/SA 7 s180 97)

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 CONC LUS ION
29 ABOVE thesized; they perm eate bu t do not dom inate it. Also, a
Detail of women at the tomb (K12) temp oral lag existed between the mom ent that many of
these external features were current, and the time that
30 BE L O W RIGH T Theo dore quot ed them. A second, utt erly different artistic
Detail of spiral arabe sque world exists in the khu rus ceiling. Two dominant spheres
(KJ4; ADP/SA 18 s162 97) are app arent in these later paint ings: that of the Byzantine
cultural world, on the one hand, and of Mu slim art from
the Ayyubid and Bahri Mamluk dynasties, on the oth er.
The program of this vault could have been painted almo st
anywhere in th e Muslim-controlled Near East. It belongs
to a polyglot Med iterranean visual culture in which sub-
jects and visual elements from a variety of sources are
juxtaposed and rarely synthesized." The essential feature
in this program that ties it to Arabic-speaking Christians,
as opposed to tho se who spoke Greek or Latin , is the orga-
nization of the narr ative scenes fro m right to left. It differs
from on e of its famous predecessors, the mid-twelfth cen-
tury Cappella Palatina at Palermo, in that elements from
Islami c art can be clearly discerned within the figur al
paintings of Chr istian subjects, and vice versa. At the Cap-
pella Palatina, the ceiling was painted in an Islamic mode,
while the mosaics of the walls are manifestly Byzantine .' 1
About a hundred years later, at the Mona stery ofSt. Antony,
the new ornamental styles of the ruling Muslim dynasty
were used, with an addition from Armenian Cilicia- a
Christian kingdom. The figural paintings, in a provincial
Byzantine mode, include two salient Muslim features: the
mountains and the seated pose of the angel. The fashion of
combining visual elements from the varied cultures then
coexisting in the Mediterranean has moved from one of
the juxtaposition of defined pictorial fields to one of the
juxtaposition of elements withi n pictorial fields, and even,
https://coptic-treasures.com/
247
in the case of the angel, of synthesis. 12 Also, unlike many
pro ducts of the Mediter ranean in the period of the Cru-
sades, the painters of the khurus ceiling did not make use
of Latin styles or icono graph y. And finally, the Ornamen -
tal Master worked with current secular motifs , not th ose of
an earlier period .
Despit e their distinctl y different characters, both
groups of painting in the Church of St. Antony are repr e-
sentative of thirteenth-century Coptic art. These styles are
three of what were perhaps four modes that were em -
ployed in Christian art in Egypt during this period. One,
exemp lified by Theodore's program, grew out of the re-
gionally specific and identifiable Coptic style (fig. 31). It
continued in Egypt into the fourteenth century. A general
chro no logical sequence for this mode from ca. 1180 to ca.
1350 includes paintings in the Monastery of St. Macarius
(Sanctuary of St. Mark), the Monastery of St. Mercurius
(Chapel of the Virgin); the 1232/I233 paintings in the
Church of St. Antony; the Monastery of St. Paul (Sanctu -
ary of St. Antony); the Monastery of the Romans (sanctu-
aries in the Church of the Virgin); the Chapel of the Mar-
tyrs at the Syrian Monastery; and finally two paintings in
the White Monastery at Sohag." More than one schoo l or
workshop was working in this Coptic manner. A second
stylistic grou p or mode looks Islamic to Western eyes, but,
as Lyster has shown, it was acurr ent artistic fashion in the
eastern Medite rran ean . Muslims and Christians used it for
secular and religious art and architecture in numerous
med ia." We see on e variation of this in the khurus ceiling
pro gram, chiefly in the work of the Ornamental Master,
and mo re in the Cairo New Testament of 1249/1250 (figs.
7.35, 8.18, 8-40 ).IS !' thi rd mode was inspired by Byzan-
tium . In the Figura l Master's work, the region al character-
istics of art in Cyprus and Sinai are apparent. A manu-
script originally in the Mona stery of St. Antony, dated to
1205, shows the existence of a Byzant ine mod e in anot her

31
Angel tou chin g th e swo rd of
Merc urius ( K3; ADP/SA 20 S171 97)
https://coptic-treasures.com/
CONCLUS ION
medium, and it seems probable that some Coptic icons
also belong to it." Architectural examples of this are docu -
mented as well, witn ess the church at the Monastery of
Arsenius at Turah, which belonged to the middle Byzan -
tine octagon-domed church type." Finally, paintings in
the Syrian Monastery, with Syriac inscriptions and dating
to ca. 1225 , seem to constitute a fourth stylistic mode."
This one may be indigenous to Egypt, and it may also have
been imported from Syria. Our know ledge of Eastern
Christian art is still too rudimenta ry for more definit e
conclusions."
A cha racteristic of many of these modes or schoo ls
is that they include work from several media, most com-
monly wall painting, manu script illum inatio n, and panel
painting, but also metalwork, stucco, and wood carving."
,-
The khurus ceiling paintings show that more than on e
mod e can be found in a single work. The Byzantin e mode
is sometimes tied to a Melkite community, as at Turah ,
and sometimes is not, as in the Monastery of St. Anto ny. In
this it is generally consistent with the Arabized mod e: style
does not necessarily convey meanin g. These comments
abo ut the range of mod es of Christian painting in Egypt
are tentative, first because the field of Coptic art h istory
is barely mapped out, and second because so much mater-
ial evidence has been lost. However, numerous new dis-
coveries, and con servation work now und er way in Egypt
'make these hypoth eses and ope n questions exciting chal-
lenges." In this fruitful period, the authors of Monastic
Visions look forward to future ana lysis of and debat es
abo ut the materi al present ed in this book.
 ABBREVIATIONS
AB Art Bulletin.
ABO Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed itor in chief David
No el Freed ma n. New York: Doub leday, 1992.
Acta Acta ad Archaeologiam et A rtium Historiam
Pertinentia. ln stitu tum Romanum Norvegiae.
Vol. 9, M iscellanea Coptica. Rom e: Giorgio
Bretschneider, 1981.
Coptic Studi es: Acts of the Third International
Acts 3
Congress of Coptic Studies. Ed ited by Wlod z-
imierz Godl ewski. Warsaw, August 20-25, 1984.
Warsaw: PWN-Editions Scientifiq ue de
Polo gne, 1990.
Acts 4 Actes du Tv eme Congres Copte. Edit ed by M.
Rassart-Debergh and J. Ries. Louvain -la-Ne uve,
Septembe r 5- 10, 1988. 2 vols. Louvain-Ia-
Neuve: Universite Catho lique de Lou vain ,
Institut Orie nta liste, 1992.
Acts5 Acts of the Fifth International Congressof Coptic
Studies. Washington, D.C., August 12-15 , 1992.
Edited by David W. Joh nso n. 2 vols. Rome:
C.LM., 1993.
Acts 6 Agypten und Nubie n in spatantike und
christlicher Zeit: Akten des 6. lnternationalen
Koptoiogenkongresses. MUnster , July 20-26,
1996. Edited by Stephen Em mel, Martin Krause,
Siegfried G. Richte r, Sofia Schaten. 2 vols.
Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 1999.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
249
Antonius An tonius Magnus Eremita 356 -1956: Studia ad
Magnus Antiquum monachismu m spectantia. Edited by
B. Steidl e. Stud ia Anselrniana, fase. 38. Rom e:
Herd er, 1956.
BAR British Archaeological Reports.
BIFAO Bulletin de I'Insti tut Francais d'Archeologie
Orientale du Caire.
BMGS Byzantin e and Modem Greek Studies.
BSAC Bulletin de la Societe d'Archeologie Copte.
CE The Coptic Encyclopedia. Ed ited by Aziz S.
Atiya. 8 vols. New Yor k: Mac m illan, 1991.
C-L Coquin, R.-G., an d P.-H. Laferriere. " Les
inscriptions parietales de l'ancienne eglise d u
monastere de S. Antoine, dan s Ie desert orien-
tal." BIFAO 78 (1978) : 267-321, plates 87-92.
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
DO? Dumb arton Oaks Papers.
El l Encyclopaedia of Islam. 4 vols. Leiden: Brill,
19 13-19 34.
EI2 Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill, 1960 -.
Graf, GCAL Georg Graf, Geschichte der christliclien
arabischen Literatur, vols. 1- 5 (Studi e Testi, 118,
133, 146, 147, 172) . Vatican City, 1944, 1947, 1949,
1951, 1953·
 ABBREV IAT IONS

Grannnatik W. C. Till. Kopti sche Gram ma tik. zd ed . Leipzig: OCP Orientalia Christiana Periodica.
VEB Verlag, 1961.
ODB Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Ed . in ch ief
IFAO Institut Francais d 'Ar cheo logie Orienta le du A. Kazhdan . Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Ca ire . 1991.

JARCE [ournal of the Ame rican Research Center in PL Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Latina. Ed.
Egypt. J. P. Mign e. Pari s, 1844- 1864.

Litllrgy The Coptic Liturgy. Tran s. Ath an asius and Iris
H. El Masry. Los Angele s: St. Mark Orthodox
Chur ch, 1974.
LSJ Lidde ll, H. G., R. Scott, H. S. Jone s, and R. A.
McKenzie. Greek-English Lexicon. O xford:
Clarendo n, 1940.
Themelia Themelia: Spiitantik e lind koptologische Studi en
Peter Grossmann z um 65. Geburtstag. Edited by
Martin Krause and Sofia Schaten. Sp rac hen
und Kulturen des Chri st lichen Orients, V· 3·
Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 1998.

MIFAO M emoires de l'ln stitut Francais d 'Arch eologie

Orientale du Caire.

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 NOTES
I N T R O D U C TI O N
I am grateful to M ichael jo nes for his add itions
to the acknowledg men ts.
1 T he two oldes t know n Co ptic representations
of St. Anto ny both come from Bawit. O ne was
photograph ed but not preserved, an d is illus-
tr ated here. Another was listed in the archaeo-
logical repor t, but was neith er phot ogr ap hed
nor preserved. It was in Cha pel 28. Cledat 1904,
155,1 60- 161.
2 Trebbin 1994. The popul arit y of St. Anto ny is
sometimes expressed in chur ch dedication s, as
in th e Churc h of St. Antony at a site on Cyprus
called Kellia (perhaps after the famous site of
the same nam e in Egypt) . Stylianou and
Stylianou 1997,433- 437. Ano ther churc h in 8 Van Moo rsel rcsj , 28; 1992, 176-177; 1995b, 184.
Nicosia is dedi cated to him as well.
9 Leroy 1982, 19·
Th e best-kn own early exam ples fro m the West
10
ar e on the Irish high crosses: Ha rbison 1992,
esp. 1: 302-309.
4 A few of the nu mero us examples from the
Byzantin e trad itio n are as follows: Hermitage
ofS t. Neop hyt us, Cyprus; Mavriotissa
Mon astery, Kastori a; San Pant alernon, Nerezi;
Cathed ral of th e Assumption, Vlad imir ; Nea
Moni, Chios ; Hosios Loukas; Asino u; and
11
Mo nrea le. T he Cr usade r pa intings in th e
Churc h of the Nativ ity at Bethlehem include
o ne of St. Antony on a nave column . St.
Antony was chose n as th e subject of th e fro n-
tispiece illustra tion fo r an Arme nian srs of the
Apop hthegmata Patrum. jeru salem >IS 285.
M useum Bochum and th e Stiftung fu r
Annen ische Studi en 1995, 204-205.
12
Mini stry of Cu lture 1985, 158-159, 162, 164.
6 In add ition to those mentioned above, in Har-
bison 1992, and the famous depicti on by Mar-
https://coptic-treasures.com/
251
tin Scho ngauer illustrated here, a few othe r da rds have done a great deal to raise aware ness
Western examples can be fou nd in the Cha pte r of th e importance of Co ptic ico ns and also of
House o f th e Brauweiler Abbey; Co logne th e science of co nservati on.
Cathed ral; Ch urch ofSt. Franc is (Lower),
13 Royal Nethe rlands Embassy projec t number
Assisi; La Madele ine, Vezelay (twice); an d
KAP 3494 was und ertaken between 1991 and
Char tres Cathe dral, in glass and sto ne. Ferra ri
1994·
1956 lists numero us depiction s of St. Anto ny.
14 For more on th e don or s, sec Pear so n, chapter
"O ther artistic tr adit ion s of the Ch ristian East,
14, and Holman, cha pte r 4.
such as th e Coptic or Syrian, falter with th e rise
of Islam." Mathews and Sanjian 1991, I. 15 The gra ph ical do cum ent ation for conserva tion
Althou gh th ere have always been a few art his- work on the painti ng of Mercurius ( K3) is fully
tor ians who have treated ea rly med ieval Coptic illustrated in chapter 9.
ar t seriously, postcon qu est art is usually
16 In th e paint ing of St. Anton y (NI), the right
ignored . Thi s att itu de is beginning to shift, if
hand of the saint was destro yed when th e
th e entries in the Glory of Byzantium catalog
wooden khuru s screen was installed, so metime
are an y ind ication . Evans and Wixom 1997.
before 1626. The graffito of Father Bern ardus,
writte n in 1626, pro vides a terminus ante
quem. At the request of th e mon astery, th is
hand was recon stru cted durin g th e co nserva-
Paint ings have been foun d und er later layers tion work, in tratteggio, and is th e on ly case
of plaster in recent years in several mona stic of such a reco nstruction.
churches: the Mon astery of the Archangel
17 Inn ernee 1990, 161-163; 1992; 1998a, 446-449.
Gabr iel at Naqlun, and the Mo naster ies of the
Van Loon 1992; 1993; 1999a; 1999b. Un fo rt u-
Syrians, th e Roman s, and also o f St. Bisho i,
nately, van Loon 1999b ap peared too late fo r
in the Wadi al-Natru n. God lewski 1997; 1999;
me to give it tho rou gh co nsiderat ion.
In nem ee 1998b; 1999b; van Moo rsel ' 992; 1995a;
van Loon 1999b, 75- 82. 18 Van Moorsell978; 1983; 1991b;1995b;1998;
Leroy 1976; Grossmann 1982; 1991d; C-L;
Alexander Piankoff was the first scholar to
Do resse 1951 ; 1952; Pian koff 1942; 1943;
decip her and publish th e dated inscripti on .
1946- 1947; 1950-1957; 1954; 1956a; 1956b;
Pianko ff 1954, 22. Van Moo rsel was the first to
Rassart-Debergh 1981, 249- 251; Walters 1974,
asser t th at th e artist nam ed in th e inscript ion s
302-309; Hunt 1985;Meinardus 1961, 1- 31; 1964;
(Theodor e) was mo st likely responsi ble for the
1966; 1972; Fedden 1937; du Bourg uet 1951.
enti re program, alone or with assistants, ba r-
ring o nly th e pa intings in th e Byzantine style.
Van Moo rsel 1995b, 179-183.
I. S T . A N TO NY TH E GR E AT
Me ntion mu st be mad e here of Zuzanna
Skalova, who se tireless effor ts over the pas t I wish to tha nk Elizabeth S. Bolman, Gawdat
decade to con serve the icon s of Egypt have Gabra, Mich ael jone s, and Maged S. Mikh ail
inspir ed so man y. Her teachin g and high sta n- for their suggestions.
 NOTES TO PAGES 3-1 1
1 Vogue 1991, 17- 22.
2 Ram sey 1997, 121.
Vita Patrum lurellsium 11 and 174: see Vivian,
Vivia n, an d Russell 1999.
4 See Sozo rne n, Ecclesiastical History 1.13.2:
Athanasius 1994 b, 131, n. 1.
Th e numberin g o f th e Life is th at o f Atha nas ius
1994b , 123- 377, wh ile th e tr an slations a re from
Ath anasiu s 2001.
6 Fo r a m ap , CE:8, 7.
7 All dat es for eve nts in An ton y's life a re conjec-
t ur al a nd rely on Athanas iu s. Athanasius 2001.
8 See Festugiere 1971, 1:44-45; Russell 1981, 59.
9 See Vivia n 1996, 166-1 87.
10 Acco rdi ng to Atha nas ius (2001), 91.7, 92.2 ,
An to ny o rde red h is two di scipl es to bu ry h im
an d tell no on e of th e site.
11 For good illustrated introductio ns to Kellia, see
Kasser 1989 and Rasscrt-D ebergh 1989.
12 Apophthegmata An to ny }4: Wa rd 1984, 8.
13 Apophthegmata Amo un 1 and Maca riu s th e
G rea t 4 a nd 26: Ward 1984, 31, 127,1 33.
14 Bell 1983, 69. Sera p io n of Thmuis, Epistola ad
discipulos Alltollii 5; Dr agu et 1951, 1-25.
15 T h is passage is fo u nd in th e Co pt ic vers io n of
the Lausiac History of Pallad ius ; Bu nge a nd
Vogue 1994, 123·
16 G u illau mo nt 1988, 7.
17 See Mac Co u1l1998, 408.
18 See Pat ric h 1995, 47.
19 Fo r more on the m o nastery, see Mein ardus
1992, sup plemen te d by Vivian 1999, 277-310.
20 Evetts 1895, 161. It see ms probable now th at the
History of the Churchesand Monasteries of
Egypt, tr adi tion ally ass igned to Abu Salih ,
sho u ld be att rib ute d in th e main to Ab ii al-
M ak ar im , who was writi ng aro u nd 1170 .
21 Evelyn- W h ite 1973, 12. An ton y figures promi-
nently in both th e Apopht hegmata a nd the
Lausiac History ofPallad ius. For the Apoph-
thegmata see Ward 1984, 1- 9, 265: fo r th e
History, Me yer 1964, 234.
22 Rufi nu s of Aq uileia, Historia ccclesiastica (PL
21.461- 540: 2.3), reports three tho usan d aro u nd
th e yea r 373, wh ile Pallad ius (Meye r 1964, 40),
abo ut twenty yea rs later , spea ks of five th o u -
sa nd at N itria a nd six h undred at Kellia.
23 Jerome, Regulae Sancti Pachomii, Praefa t io 7 PL
23.64.
24 Leip oldt ic oj , 93.
25 Ramsey 1997, 639·
https://coptic-treasures.com/
26 In the Deesis chapel in the Church of St .
Anto ny, John the Bap tis t, alo ng with Mary,
ado res C hris t in Majesty.
27 Vogue 1991, 32.
28 Veill eu x 1986, 30 6.
29 Ram sey 1997, 375-376.
30 Muc h of thi s sec tio n is drawn fro m Rub en son
1995·
31 Rubenson 1995, 11; fo r hi s tra n slatio n of th e
lett e rs, see 197- 231.
32 See O rland i 1988 an d Vivian 1997b , 105- 116, a nd
Vivia n and Pear so n 1998, 86-107.
33 O n d emons: Atha nas ius 1980, 21- 41: Rub en son
1995,1 99 (Le tte r 1), 215 (Le tte r 5), and 218-219
( Lett e r 6). On m ov emen ts of the so ul: Athan a-
sius 198o, 55.7: Rube nso n 1995, 179 ( Lette r
1.35-41 ). O n th e Aria ns: Atha nas ius 1980, 69:
Rubenson 1995, 2ll (Lett e r 4.17). On d ivine
im m ovabil ity: Atha nas ius 1980, 74.5-6: Rub en -
so n 1995, 66- 67.
34 Much of th e mat er ial in th is sec tio n is dr awn ,
wi th kind p ermission of th e au tho r, from
H ar ml ess for thco m in g.
35 Apophthegmatn Anto ny 20; Wa rd 1984, 5.
36 Apophthegmata Anto ny 33: Wa rd 1984, 8.
37 A pophth egma ta An to ny 8: Wa rd 1984, 3.
38 Apophthegmata An to ny 13; Ward 1984, 3- 4.
39 Apo phthegmata An to ny 27: Wa rd 1984, 7.
40 Ap opluheg ma ta H ila rio n 1; Ward 1984, Il l.
41 Apophthegmata Sisoes 9: Wa rd 1984, 214.
A pa in ting o f Siso es is at N9.
42 Apophthegmata Anto ny 24: Ward 1984, 6.
43 Apopluheg ma ta An tony 3: Wa rd 1984, 2.
44 Apo phthegma ta An to ny 31; Ward 1984, 8.
45 Apophthegmata Anto ny 11: Ward 1984, 3. A
be tte r reading fo r " fo rn icatio n" is "h is hear t. "
46 Apophthegmata An tony I: Ward 1984, 1- 2.
47 A poplithegma ta Anto ny 32: Ward 1984, 8.
49 Historia Monachorum ill Aegypto 24 (= 31 in
Rufi nu s's Latin ve rsio n) ; Russell 1981, 114.
50 Historia Monachorum 24: Russell 1981, 11 5.
51 Iullien 1884, 237·
52 Fo r th e sto ry of Fath er La zarus, see Vivia n 1999.
53 For an Eng lish tr ans lation , see Harvey 1990 ,
357-3 69 .
54 Life of Pard'l: H arv ey 1990, 360. T h is Macarius
ca me to be later id entifi ed with Ma ca rius the
Great.
55 Life of Paul 4: Harvey 1990, 362.
56 Lifeof Paul 7; Ha rvey 1990, 363.
57 Lifeof Paul 10; Ha rvey 1990 , 366. See 1 Kgs
17:1- 6. Fo r Co pt ic iconogr aphi c representations
o f Anto ny and Paul , see Bolrnan , introdu cti on,
a nd cha pte rs 4 a nd 6.
58 Life of Paul 11;H a rvey 1990 , 366-367: o n th e
clo ak see Life of A ntony 91.8,92.3.
59 Life of Paul 15-1 6: H arv ey 1990, 368-369.
60 See H a rvey 1990, 357, a nd Do resse 1952, 3-14.
For co ntrary views see Evelyn -W h ite 1973, 12,
and Ram sey 1997, 657.
61 Jerome, Epi stle 22.36 (to Eustoc hiu rn) : Wright
1980,1 42.
62 Sylloxarium EcclesiaeConstantinopolitanae
(29 Oc to ber); cit ed by Wortley 1992, 383-404,
395. An ico n at the Mon astery of Sa int Paul
ident ifies Pau l as " the first anc h or ite," an
ep ithet common to many ico n s of Saint Pau l.
63 NI-N2 . Fo r th e painting at Sain t M acarius's,
see Lero y 1982, p is. 75-76. In Ram sey 1997,
18.5.4, Cass ia n pa irs Anton y a n d Paul as th e
cofo un der s of a nc ho ritism . Co m m ittee
Formed by Hi s H oli n ess Po pe Sheno uda III
1993, 253. Ram sey 1997, 639, yo kes to get her "th e
holy Paul a nd Anto ny " as "the lead ers of th is
profession ."
64 " Les ~~numents les plu s venerables de
l' Egypt e co p te." Doresse 1952, 4·
65 Sulpicius, Dialogu e 1.17: Peebl es 1949, 184.
66 Butler 1967, 1.231- 32: Evelyn- W hite 1973, 12 n.
4: Walter s 1974, 33, 239·
67 Evett s 1895, 166-1 67.
68 Meinardus 1992, 33-47.
69 Co m m itt ee Formed by H is Ho line ss Po pe
Sheno u da III 1993, 59.
70 Life of [ohn the Little 77: Mi khai l and Vivian
1997,51. Fo r acco u n ts o f n u me ro u s later visi-
tor s to the mon astery, see Gabra ch apter 10: fo r
a n accou n t of a recent visit, see Vivian 1999.
71 Arnelineau 1893, 228-229.
72 Pestug iere 1971, 15.1.
73 Arn elin eau 1893, 353.
74 Ab u Salih co nc urs th at Sa int Anto ny's " is a di s-
tan ce o f three days' journey" to th e N ile. Evetts
1895, 159- 160.
75 Cited by C hes te r 1873, 105-116, 113.
76 A booklet pu bl ished by th e monaste ry puts th e
elevat io n at 300 m. (1,050 ft.),
77 Regnault 1990, 23, 55. See Apo phthegmata
Sisoes, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18: Wa rd 1984, 213-216: and
Festugiere 1971, 24.2. Russell 1981, 114.
 NO TES TO PA G ES 3-11
1 Vogue 1991, 17- 22.
2 Ramsey 1997, 121.
Vita Patrum l urensium 11 and 174; see Vivian,
Vivian, and Russell 1999.
4 See Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History 1.13.2;
Athanasi us 1994b, 131, n. I.
Th e numbering o f the Life is th at of Atha nas ius
1994b, 123- 377, while th e tran slations are from
Atha nasius 200 1.
6 For a map , CE:8, 7.
7 All dates for eve nts in Anto ny's life are co njec-
tu ral and rely o n Athana sius. Atha nasius 2001.
8 See Pestugiere 1971, 1:44- 45; Russell 1981, 59.
9 See Vivian 1996, 166-187.
10 Accordin g to Athanasius (2001), 91.7, 92.2,
Antony or dered his two d iscip les to bu ry him
and tell no o ne of th e site.
11 Fo r goo d illustr ated introducti on s to Kellia, see
Kasser 1989 and Rassert -D eber gh 1989.
12 Apophthegmata Anto ny 34; Ward 1984, 8.
13 Ap ophthegmata Amo un 1 and Ma car ius th e
Grea t 4 an d 26; Ward 1984, 31, 127, 133.
14 lIe1l1983, 69. Serap io n of Th m uis, Epistola ad
discip ulos Alltollii 5; Dr aguet 1951, 1- 25.
15 T his passage is found in th e Co pt ic version of
the Lausiac History of Palladius; Bunge and
Vogu e 1994, 123.
16 Guillaumo nt 1988, 7.
17 See Mac Cou1l1998, 408.
18 See Pat rich 1995,47.
19 For more o n th e mon astery, see Meina rd us
1992, su p pleme nted by Vivian 1999, 277-3 10.
20 Evetts 1895, 161. It seems probabl e no w th at th e
History ofthe Churches and Monasteries of
Egypt, trad itio na lly assigned to Abu Salih,
sho uld be att ribu ted in the main to Abu al-
Makarim , who was writing aro und 1170.
21 Evelyn -White 1973, 12. Antony figu res promi-
nentl y in bo th t he Apophthegnia ta and the
Lausiac History of Palladi us. For th e Apoph-
thegma ta see Wa rd 1984, 1- 9, 265; fo r the
History, Meyer 1964, 234.
22 Rufinus of Aq uileia, Historia ecclesiastica (PL
21.461-540: 2.3), reports three th ou sand aro und
th e year 373, while Palladius (Meye r 1964, 40 ),
ab out twen ty years later, spea ks o f five thou-
sand at Nit ria and six hundred at Kellia.
23 Jerome, Regulae Sancti Pachomii, Praefat io 7 PL
23.64.
24 Leipo ldt 1903, 93.
25 Ramsey 1997, 639·
https://coptic-treasures.com/
26 In th e Deesis cha pel in th e Ch urc h ofSt.
Anto ny, John th e Bap tist, alon g with Ma ry,
adores Ch rist in Majesty.
27 Vogue 1991,32.
28 Veilleux 1986,306.
29 Ramsey 1997, 375-3 76.
30 Mu ch of th is sec tio n is d rawn from Rub enson
1995·
31 Rub enson 1995, 11; fo r his tran slation o f the
lett ers , see 197- 231.
32 See Orl andi 1988 and Vivian 1997b, 105-116, and
Vivia n and Pearson 1998, 86-10 7.
33 O n demons: Athanasius 1980, 21- 41; Ru benso n
1995, 199 (Lette r 1), 215 (Lett er 5), and 218-219
(Lett er 6). On movemen ts of the so ul: Athana-
sius 198o, 55.7; Rub enson 1995, 179 (Lette r
1.35-41 ). On the Aria ns: Athanasius 1980, 69;
Rubenson 1995, 211 (Lette r 4.17). O n divin e
im mo vabili ty: Athan asius 1980, 74.5-6: Ruben-
so n 1995, 66-67.
34 M uch of th e materi al in thi s sec tio n is dr awn ,
with kind permi ssion o f the author, from
Harmless forthcom in g.
35 Apophthegmata Anton y 20; War d 1984, 5.
36 Apophtheg mata Anto ny 33; Ward 1984, 8.
37 A pophth egmata Anto ny 8; Ward 1984, 3.
38 A pophth egm ata Anto ny 13; Ward 1984, 3- 4.
39 A pophtheg ma ta Ant on y 27; Ward 1984, 7.
40 Apophthegma ta Hilarion I; War d 1984, Ill .
41 Apophthegma ta Sisoes 9; Ward 1984, 214.
A pain tin g of Sisoes is at N9.
42 Apophthegmata Anto ny 24; Ward 1984, 6.
43 Apophthegmata Anto ny 3; Ward 1984, 2.
44 A popluhegma ta Anto ny 31; Ward 1984, 8.
45 Apophthegma ta Anto n y 11; Ward 1984,3. A
bett er reading for "fo rn icatio n" is " his heart. "
46 Apophthegmata Anto ny I; Ward 1984, 1- 2.
47 Apopht hegma ta Anto ny 32; Ward 1984, 8.
48 Meyer 1964, 76-81.
49 Historia MOllachorum ill Aegypto 24 (= 31 in
Rufinus's Latin versio n); Russell 1981, 114.
50 Historia MOllachorum 24; Russell 1981, 11 5.
51 Iu llien 1884, 237.
52 Fo r the story of Fathe r Lazar us, see Vivian 1999.
53 Fo r an English tran slation , see Harvey 1990,
357-3 69.
54 Life of Paulv ; Harv ey 1990, 360. Th is Macar ius
ca me to be later ide ntified with Maca rius the
Great.
55 Life of Pa1l14; Harvey 1990, 362.
56 Life of Paul 7; Harvey 1990, 363.
57 Life of Paul 10; Harvey 1990, 366. See 1 Kgs
17:1-6. For Copt ic iconogra phic rep rese ntatio ns
of Anto ny and Paul, see Bolma n, int ro d uction ,
and cha pters 4 and 6.
58 Life ofPalll 11; Harvey 1990, 366-367; o n the
cloak see Life of A ntony 91.8, 92.3.
59 Life ofPauiJ5- 16; Harvey 199° >368- 369.
60 See Harvey 1990, 357, and Dor esse 1952, 3-14.
For co ntrary views see Evelyn- W hi te 1973, 12,
and Ram sey 1997, 657.
61 Jero me, Epistle 22.36 (to Eus tochi um); W righ t
1980,14 2.
62 SYlloxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae
(29 Oc tober); cited by Wortley 1992, 383- 4°4,
395. An icon at the Monastery of Saint Pau l
iden tifies Paul as "the first ancho rite," an
epithet co m mon to many icon s of Saint Paul.
63 N1-N2. For the painting at Sa int Macariu s's,
see Lero y 1982, pis. 75-76. In Ram sey 1997,
18.5.4, Cassian pair s Anto ny and Paul as the
co fo und ers of ancho ritism . Co m mitte e
For me d by H is Ho lin ess Po pe Sheno uda III
1993, 253. Ram sey 1997, 639, yokes to get her " the
holy Paul and Anto n y" as "t he leaders of this
profession ."
64 "Les p;onu me nts les plu s venerables d e
l'Egypte copte ." Dor esse 1952, 4.
65 Sulpicius, Dialogue 1.17; Peebl es 1949, 184.
66 But ler 1967, 1.231- 32; Evelyn -Wh ite 1973, 12 n.
4; Walter s 1974, 33,'239·
67 Evett s 1895, 166-16 7.
68 Meinard us 1992, 33-47.
69 Co m mitt ee For med by His Holiness Pope
Sheno uda III 1993, 59.
70 Life of [ ohn the Little 77; Mikha il and Vivian
1997, 51. Fo r accounts of numero us later visi-
tor s to the monaster y, see Gabra cha pter 10; for
an acco unt of a recent visit, see Vivian 1999.
71 Amelineau 1893, 228- 229.
72 Festug iere 1971,1 5.1.
73 Ame linea u 1893, 353·
74 Abu Salih con curs tha t Saint Anto ny's "is a dis-
tance of three days' jo u rney" to the Nile. Evetts
1895, 159-160.
75 C ited by Chester 1873, 105-116, 113.
76 A booklet published by the mon astery put s th e
elevatio n at 300 m. (1,050 ft.).
77 Regnau lt 1990, 23, 55. See Apophthegmata
Sisoes , 7, 8, 9, 15, 18; Ward 1984, 213-2 16; and
Festugiere 1971, 24.2. Russe ll 1981, 114·
 NOTES TO PAG ES 1 1 -15
78 For exam ples, see Walters 1974, 7.
79 Littman 1953, 1-28, 27. Accord ing to the Lifeof
AlltollY 49.5- 7, Ant on )' traveled with Saracen s
for thr ee days to reach his retr eat in th e desert;
if this repo rt is accurate, th e)' would und oubt -
ed ly have followed some trad e or caravan
rout e.
80 The coastal rou te passes the important Roman
fort at Bir Abu Dara g, which was later occup ied
and ada pted by Chri stian anchorites. There
were also hillside dwellings about 6 km . north
o f Bir Abu Darag, almos t cer tainly occ upied b)'
Christian a nchorites, that have revealed cera m-
ics fro m th e fifth to seventh cent uries. Thanks
10 Michael jon es for this inform ation.
81 Butler 1967, 223.
82 See Sulpicius, Dialog ue 1.17; Peebles 1949, 184.
83 See Butler 1967, 231- 232 and 232 n. 2.
84 Gross ma nn 1991d. Grossmann reports th at the
mon aster)' retained its or iginal anchoritic
struct ure as late as th e visit b)' Vansleb in 1672.
85 Guillaumo nt 1977, 194.
86 See Evelyn-White 1973, 16.
87 Walters 1974, 7.
88 See Walters 1974, 11- 12, 86, and Jones 1995, 40 n.
23. Care is needed in datin g th e keeps because
th e towers have been reinforced and rebuilt
num erou s times.
89 Arou nd 870 Patri arch She nouda had th e
Monaster )' ofSt. Ma cariu s surrounded b)' a
high wall; see Evelyn-White 1973, 9.
90 See Walters 1974, 11-12. The datin g, he says, is
"somewhat co njectural." Th e booklet pub-
lished at th e mon aster)' dates th e keep to 537.
91 The excavators at Kellia have dated the aban -
donment of the outer cells and the concomi-
tant retr eat inside protective walls to th e sec-
o nd half of th e fifth century; at th e end of the
fifth century or beginning of th e sixth, how-
ever, some monks rem ain ed in th eir isolat ed
cells, fleein g ins ide th e walls in case of da nger;
see Guillau mo nt 1977, 200, 202.
92 Walter s 1974, 11.
93 To cite jus t two exampl es: According to Sawiru s
al-Sawirus, Patriarc h jam es (819-830) went to
Upper Egypt "to mak e a visitation of th e peopl e
and th e m ona steries," but St. Anto ny's is not
me ntio ned . Evetts 1904-1914, 10.5,454 .
Wu stenfeld 1979,85-117, lists eighty-s ix mona s-
teries, includ ing the four mo nasteries of th e
Wad i al-Natrun , bu t not th e Mo nas ter)' ofSt.
Anto n)' (t ho ugh he does includ e th e Mon aster)'
of St. Paul).
94 In 1884 the jo u rney to th e Mon aster)' ofSt.
Anto ny began with th ree hours b)' railroa d
https://coptic-treasures.com/
253
from Ca iro to Beni Suef, th en took fou r to ten
days b)' came l to th e mona ster)'. Iullien 1884,
189. Before the arri val of Iullien's gro up, mon ks
at th e m on astery had not seen a stranger in
mo re th an four years (224).
95 Synaxarium Hat ur 7 (Nov. 3); Bassett 1904,
182- 183. See Evelyn -White 1973, 284.
96 Ariya 1991b; 1918. See also Gabra, chap ter 10.
97 Eusebiu s Renaud otius, cited b)' Meina rdu s
1992, 8- 9.
98 Mei nar dus 1977, 504.
99 Fath er Lazaru s th e solita ry told me his story.
See also Gab ra, chapter 10, for Ethiopian s at the
Monaster )' of St. Anton)' in later cent uries .
100 For thi s pe riod, see M Uller ' 964, 271-308.
101 See Frend 1972.
102 See Johnson 1986, 21 8-222.
103 Descoeud res 1989, 48, and Guillaumont 1977,
193. Each ch urch had its own bap tistery, possi-
bly for bapti zing "converts" fro m the other
sid e.
104 Ap ophthegm ata Phocas 1. Ward 1975, 240.
105 Fre ud 1972, 326.
106 Freud 1972, 73.
107 See Goe hring 1999, 139, 155, and esp. 241-261.
108 Frend 1972, 73.
109 Evetts 1904-1914, 1.472.
110 See Garitte 1943, 100-134, 330- 365; for the date,
see Ga ritte 1943, 101.For an English tran slation ,
see Atha nasi us 2001.
III Evett s 1895, 1.498.
11 2 Fre nd 1972, '39.
113 Mein ardus 1965, 350, believes that Melkit e
occ up ation lasted until th e eighth cent ury; he
bases thi s assessme nt o n th e story abo ut the
th eft o f th e bod )' of john th e Little.
11 4 Tile Life of lohn tile Almsgiver 9; Delehaye 1927,
24-25, and Dawes and Baynes 1977, 203-204.
As Cauwenburgh succinctly no tes, "Th is is the
on ly mention that we have found of this mon-
astery [o fS t. Anto ny] during th e period th at we
are st udying." Cauwenburgh '9 14, 74 n. 1.
U5 See Doresse 1952, 4- 5, who says th at John was
buried in th e church, and Regna ult 1991C, 1361.
Tile Ethiop ian Synaxa ry says that th is event
took place during th e reign o f Anb a Yuanni s IV
(777-79 9). Joh n is depic ted at N8 in the Churc h
ofS t. Anton)'.
116 Ma qri zi in Wu stenfeld 1979, 59.
117 See Evetts 189; , 20- 43, and his not es.
u 8 Tradi tion has St. Antony's bod)' reposing in the
southeas tern end of th e khurus, below th e
painting ofSt. Mercurius ("3) , in th e Churc h
of St. Anto n)'. Abu Salih sa)'s that "the pure
bod)," of Saint Anto n)' is "bur ied in his cave, in
which he used to pray" and is "walled up
within ." Evetts 189; , 160.
11 9 For an account of al-Kanbar's be liefs, see Evetts
1895, 33-43; Malan 18n 94.
120 Evelyn- Wh ite 1973, 389- 390, who gives incor -
rect man uscr ipt and page numbers fo r Wr ight
1870-1872, no. 696, 580.
121 Doresse 1952, 6; Evelyn-W hit e 1973,317 n. 4
(again with confused reference to Wri ght
1870-1872); Wrig ht 1870-1872 (correctly), no.
695,579-580. Dore sse 1952 says that the not e
was writte n "shortly after 1235," bu t he does not
cite his evidence for this, and I have not been
able to co rrobo rate it.
122 Evelyn-White 1973, 389 n. 2, suggests 1235-124; .
123 A .M . 949. The date may be found in an inscrip-
tion to the right of the painting of St. Me r-
curius in th e khurus. See Pearson , cha pter 14.
124 Evetts 1895, 162-163.
125 See Bolman , chapter 4.
126 Q uibell rcr z, 4: vi; 3: iii. See also Grossma nn
1991e, 774.
127 Econ omi c-reason s: Kasser 1989, 6; religious and
econo mic pressur es: Descoeudre s 1989, 45. The
co mmu nities of Kellia were not pillaged o r
destr oyed : th e)' were abando ned.
128 For detai ls on thi s perio d see Maq rizi; Ma lan
1873, 72-83; Butler 1902; xix .
129 Maq rizi; Malan 1873, 72. Fo r Maq rizis fascinat-
ing chro nicle of the period , see Malan 1873,
58- 71.
130 Lapidu s 1972, 249.
131 Maqri zi; Ma lan 18n 76.
132 Lane-Pool 1914, 38.
133 Lapidu s 1972, 2;0 ; Partri ck 1996, 58; Evetts
1904-1914, 5·;1.
134 Lapidu s 1972, 2;2.
135 Lapidus 1972, 253.
136 Dunn 1975, 164-168. See also Lane-Poole 1914, 38.
137 Malan 1873, 82. I wish to than k Maged S.
Mikhail for Mikhai l, n.d .
138 For mor e details see Lapidus 1972, 257, 260;
Malek 1993, 2:2, 291-3".
139 Maq rizi; Malan 1873, 109. See also Lane-Poole
1914,39; Lapidu s 1972, 2;8.
140 Ou ibell icos, 4.vii; j .iii: 3.7, plate L, 4.
141 Gu illaumont 1977, 200.
 N OTE S T O PA G ES 15 -3 9
1·12 Malan 1873, 81;Sawir us, History of the Patri-
arc/Is. 1.19; Evetts 1895. 10.5.440-441.
143 Lapidus 1972. 259. For det ails concern ing this
period, see Maqri zi; Malan 187], 86. 89, 91;
Lapid us 1972.259-260; Mein ardus 1992, 8.
144 Me inardus 1992,8.
145 Doresse 1952. 9· See also Piankoff 1950- 1957.1 63.
146 For the fiftee nth-ce nt ury hiatus. see Me inar d us
1992. 12-13·
147 Evetts 1895. 160. Misr can mean either Cairo or ,
mor e bro ad ly, Egypt (wh ich designated the
area aro und Cairo).
2 . TH E C HURC H O F ST. ANTON Y
1 Me ina rdus 1961, 77-78, 29 (with aer ial view of
1960), gives a bri ef descript ion. Gross ma nn
1995.1-19, with figs. 2-6, is th e only serio us
study prev iously publi shed.
2 A co nventional east-wes t axis is used to
describe th e church.
Michae l Ma llinso n an d Peter Sheehan surveyed
the monastery in 1998, and Peter Sheehan and
Michae l Du nn co mpleted the det ailed survey of
the ch urch. Th e drawings in this chapter were
prepared by Peter Sheehan .
4 Perso nal co mm unication fro m Fath er Maxi-
mou s EI-Antho ny, who dr aws atte ntion to
othe r evide nce of structur al failur e in the
ch urch: th e north wall of th e haikal, appa rent
buttressing of the nor thea st corner of the nave
ben eath the khuru s arch. and cracking in the
archway between the nave and the side chapel.
Water leaked from the dome wind ows during
heavy ra ins in 1971due to ponding on the roof.
6 Thi s is o ne of five bold graffiti in different part s
of th e chur ch th at reco rd Father Bern ardu s's
visit duri ng th e winter of 1625-1 626. It was
rem oved to the mon astery m useum when th e
doo rway was un blocked in Decemb er 1999.
7 Gio rgio Funa ro and Rita Rivelli (FORME) .
Rom e, spec ialists in th e restor ation of stained
glass windows, restor ed th e khu rus vault win-
dows in May 1998, using German handmade
glass.
Observed by Ad riano Luzi dur ing conservatio n.
9 See Be lman , chapter 3.
10 Traces of paint ings were reported by the co n-
servators und er the thi rteent h-cen tur y plaster
layer in th e area of th e gospel held by Christ
and beside St. John th e Baptist.
II For other exam ples of cha pels adjoining
churc hes in Egyptian mo nasteries, see van
Loon 1999b, 79-81.
12 The plaster surface covering all the blocked
windows had det ached from th e int erior walls
https://coptic-treasures.com/
254
long ago, causing th e large lacun ae in the paint -
ings. The cavities wer e filled with mo rta r and
ru bble, which was replaced with plaster during
co nserv ation in 1998. On e windo w (N21) has
been left open as far as th e external blocking as
an example. Those fragments of the original
blocking that surv ived bore no traces of paint-
ings earlier than the th irteenth century,
whe reas fragmen ts of two earlier layers are
visible elsewh ere o n the same wall.
13 Lyste r has po in ted out the stro ng possibility
that the cur rent doorway was created by enlarg-
ing an already existing earlier entrance; see
cha pter 7.
14 See Belman, chap ter 3.
3. THE EAR LY PA IN TINGS
1 Gross mann 1995. 14-15. Gro ssmann no tes tha t
the side chapel is earlier , Gro ssmann 1995. 2.
2 The ora l trad ition is recoun ted by Father
Maximous.
Luzi and De Cesari s, chapter 9. See also
Rutschowskaya 1992, 24-25 .
4 O ld Testa me nt so urces are also dr awn on ;
Is 6:1-6; Ez 1:4-ll ; Dn 7:9.
De Cesar is has ide ntified tr aces of early over-
painting in so me areas of th ese pa intings, most
mark edly ove r th e figur e of St. Peter. and also
on th e face of Christ.
6 Rutscho wskaya 1992, 72- 77; Severin 1991.364;
Krause and Wessel 1966. 570-573.
7 The Ch rist in Majesty in th e chapel is different
in th at angels, not the four creatures. support
Ch rist's mand orl a. Examples from Bawit: cells
17, 26. and othe rs, in Cledat 1904, pis. 42, 40.
From Saqqara, cell 709, in Q uibell icoc, 1'1. 8.
A fifth - or sixth-centur y Byza ntine exam ple in
mo saic is in Hosios David. Thessaloniki.
Apo stles below Ch rist: Bawit, room 6. Thi s
paint ing may be ea rlier or later than the sixth
century. Apos tles in rou ndels: Shepherd 1969,
101-105. The textile icon also includes a Christ
in Majesty (witho ut th e four living creatures ),
and roundels of the apost les. Other examples
are the sixth-century mo saics in the Monastery
of St. Catherine (Mou nt Sinai ), the Panagia
Kanaka ria (Cyp rus ), and San Vitale (Ravenna).
9 Shephe rd 1969, 101-103.
10 An unp ub lish ed photograp h show ing a det ail
of this paint ing (wh ich was not preserved by
its excavators) clearly ident ifies both figur es.
Ph oto graph : Ecole des Haut es Et udes, in Par is,
C-2208; a cop y is in th e Du mbarton Oaks
Pho tograph Co llectio n. An ico n dated to th e
seventh or eight h century also shows Peter and
Paul with these hairstyles. Weitzmann 1976,
58- 59, cat. B33, 1'1. 85·
II In the grou p of mosaic rou ndels in th e
Mo nastery of St. Catherine, only th e evangelists
carry cod ices (Shepherd 1969, 104). The squa re
designs in th e painting in th e Churc h of St.
Ant on y may suggest book s, but because there
are more than four, this element do es not help
with identifi cation . In our case, the book s cor -
respond more closely to the painting from
room 6 at Bawit, where all of the apost les hold
them . The pos ition of ope n hand s in front of a
book, but not suppo rting it. is peculiar, and
suggests that a design in cloth, rath er tha n a
codex, is shown here.
12 "The style [of early Co ptic ar t], still rem inis-
cent of th e Hellenistic alertness and supple
lines in th e earlier examp les (Karrnuz, Bagawat,
Abu Hennis), soon pre sents an unsway ing
fro ntality and rigidity of des ign (Bawit) gradu-
ally increasing (Saqqara) into schematic
effects." Badawy 1978, 227.
13 Painting of monks, cell A, Mo nas tery of Apa
Jerem iah at Saqqara, now in the Coptic
Mu seum . Cairo; icon of Chris t and Apa Men a,
Mu see du Louvre, inv. E ll565; icon of Bishop
Abraham, Berlin, Staat liche Museen, inv. 6ll4;
icons of St. Mark the Evangelist, Fr. uzca, and
an angel, Fr. 1129, Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale,
Cabinet de Medai lles, tondo of the Virgi n
Mar y, Cairo, Cop tic Mu seu m, inv. 9104; textile
icon of th e Virgin Mary with Chr ist, Cleveland .
Cleeeland Museum of Art, inv. 67.144; two
icon s of mon ks fro m Bawit, pa inted on
sycamo re wood, Auch, Musee des Iacobins, inv.
985.228 and 985.229, and illustrated in Institut
du Mond e Arahe 2000, catalog numbers 73-7 4,
p. u o.
14 Berlin , Staatliche Mu seen, inv. 6ll4; Krause
1971, 106- 1ll; Godlewski 1986, 60; Rassart-
Debergh 1990, 61-6 2.
15 Musee du Lou vre. inv. E ll 565; Weit zmann
1979, 589-590, cat. 529.
16 Gross ma n n 1982, 112; Gross ma nn 1995. 6.
4. TH EOD O R E, "T HE WRIT ER OF LI F E "
I See Vivian, chapter 1.
2 See Luzi and De Cesa ris, chapter 9.
For more discus sion of the directions to the
pa inter and their im plication for our unde r-
standing of Theodo re's work ing pr ocess. see
Be lman, chapter 5.
4 See Pearson , chap ter 14.
5 Vikan 1984, 65-86.
6 Vikan 1982; Vikan 1998, 229-266; Bolm an 1998,
65-77, plates 1- 7.
Anonymous, (The Order of Priesthood ), ca.
1200-12 50; and Yuhanna ibn Abi Zakari yya ibn
Sabba e Kitab al-gauh ara al-nafisa (The Boo k
 NO TES TO PAGES 39-53
of the Preciou s Pearl ), cha pter 27, ca. 1350; in
van Loo n 1993, 2:497-508.
8 In th e seventh or eight h century , th e monk
Epipha nius trave led from Scetis and Babylon in
Egypt (t he mod ern Wadi al-Nat run and Ca iro )
to th e Mon astery of St. Anto ny, and thence up
and arou nd th e Red Sea to th e Mo nas tery o f
St. Cat heri ne on Mount Sinai. Wilkin son 1977,
II, 119, map 35. A late, nonmon astic exa mple is
th e Baro n d 'Anglure, who in 1395 went to the
Monaster y ofS t. Anto ny and then th e Mon as-
tery of St. Cathe rine. Lab ib 1961, 43. See cha p -
ters I , 10 , and II fo r more discu ssion o f visito rs.
9 O ne graffito includ es th e nam e of a nun , in
add ition to th at of monks (so). Because it was
wri tten in the sanct uary, where wom en are not
permitt ed , it seems mo st likely th at one of the
mo nks wrot e it to co m memorate all of the
monasti cs listed, and that it does not pro vide
proof that a wom an was in th e church. Du e to
limitations of space, Sidney Griffith does not
discu ss thi s graffito in cha pte r 11. My th an ks to
Mi chael Jo nes for its tr anslation .
10 Walters not es that in th e fifth century,
Sheno ute occasiona lly invited peopl e from the
su rro u nding co m m unity to pa rticipate in ser-
vices with in the mon asti c ch urch. His so urce is
the Life of She no ute, Arnelinea u 1894, 392- 393.
Walt ers 1974, 36.
II An o nymous, Kitab tartib al-kahanut (The
Order of Priest hood ). Paraphrased in Zanett i
1991, 78. Ritu al procession s, extend ing into the
nave, are know n to have taken place in the
Co ptic churc h in th e twelfth century. Hunt
1995,194·
12 Van Loon 1999b, 117, 206-207.
13 Gross ma nn 1982, 112-113; Gros smann 1990, 9.
14 Th e side chapel has been kn own as the Chapel
of th e Four Anim als, but thi s design ation seem s
to ste m from an unu sual rend erin g of th e Four
C reatures . The appellation after th e Four Crea-
tu res may have originated with P. Uspensky,
who visited the site in 1850and reported that
th e chapel was dedicated to th e zoa. Wern er
1989-1990,1 5, n, 47. Th ou gh of great int erest to
art histori an s, an icon ographi c pecul iarit y do es
not seem to be an appro priate basis for naming
the entire cha pel. The program is best charac -
ter ized by its intercessory fun ctio n, thus the
ter m Deesis.
15 Th ese co nsist of th e Arm enian wor d for "ho ly"
repeated thr ee tim es, in each graffito . Griffith,
cha pter 11 .
16 Griffith , chapter II .
17 For a di scussion of the co ncept of mart yrd om
see Malon e 1956, 201-210.
18 "T he Martyrdom of Saint Minas: From
Ethio pic," Briti sh Mu seum Ori ental 689, fols.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
255
74b l-74b2, pro bab ly a fifteenth-ce ntur y 43 Malon e 1956, 211.
text that acco rds in most respects to earlier
44 Atha nasius, Vita S. Allto"i; 46, in Malone 1950,
versions. Bud ge 1909, 27,46- 47.
214·
19 BMO 689, fol. 75al; Budge 1909, 48.
45 For th e history of Anto ny and Paul, see Vivian ,
20 Variations of thi s story exist, as is th e case with chap ter I.
any popular mart yrd om acco unt. Co mpa re
46 Veilleu x 1991, 1859-1 860.
BM0689 fol.77a2-77bl, in Budge 1909, 54-55 ,
a nd Bud ge's sum mary o f th e major events in 47 The Bohai ric Life o f Pacho m ius, cha pter 8, in
Menas's life, which is dr awn from a wide a rray Veilleu x, 1980, I: 28-29.
of so ur ces. Budge 1909, 23-25.
48 Life, cha pte r 17; Veilleux 1980, 1: 39-40.
21 BM0689, fol.ysai; Bud ge 1909, 48.
49 Kuhn 1991, 2131-2133.
22 BM0689, fols.zaai- zsa a, Budge 1909, 56-57.
50 Cody 1991, 2102.
23 Co ptic Mi racle nu mb er 17, Ethio pia n M iracle
51 O 'Leary 1937, 182.
number 19; Devos 1959, 456- 457.
24 For th e ar chaeo logical site, see Gro ssm an n's 52 Vivian forth comi ng.
numero us pub lication s, so me of which are 53 O' Lear y 1937, 183.
incl uded in Gross ma nn 1991a, 24- 29.
54 Vivian forthcoming.
25 O 'Lea ry 1937, 262-263; Walt ers 1989, 193- 194;
55 A precedent fro m th e O ld Testa ment Apoc-
O rland i 1991b, 2237-223 8.
ryph a is I Enoc h 71:3, describ ing mo vem ent
26 O 'Lea ry 1937, 264; Win st edt 1979, 123-132. from eart h to heaven: "And th e an gel Mi chael,
27 Winstedt 1979, 129-1 31. on e of th e archa ngels, took hold of me by my
right hand , and ra ised me, and led m e o ut." O n
28 Walter s 1989,1 93-1 94, and pI. XVII!. Theod ore
th e right hand see also Psalm 73:23- 24 and th e
Stra telates is also show n at Esna, bu t witho ut
Manichaean Apo calypse of Sethel. Reeves 1996,
the same narrative deta ils.
122- 124, 193. Thanks to William Lyster for this
29 Th is MS is now in th e Vatican Library: MS reference.
Co pto 66, f. 21OV: Lero y 1974, 105. Lero y notes
56 Vivian forth coming, cha pte r 19.
th at th e MS mu st pr ed ate A . D . 1067 because of a
57 Macariu s as fath er ofScetis: Cody 1991, 2103.
notation in it th at was probably mad e by a
read er (A.M. 783 ), but that it is mo st likely of a
58 Col 280; van Moorsel iccsb , 145.
ni nth - o r tenth -century date. Lero y 1974,
59 See Pearson, chap ter 14, N33.
184-186. Two folio numbers are given for th is
subject, which seems to have bee n reprod uced
60 Ezekie l 1:4- 24; Isaiah 6:1- 9. Isaiah describ es
tw ice in the MS: fol. 194 and fol. 210V.
similar creatures but calls them seraphim , Rv
30 See Lyster, cha pter 7, for a d iscussion of th e 4:6- 9. Wern er, 1989-1990, 2- 4.
saint 's dress and weapon s.
61 Homil y I , 1- 2; Malon ey 1992, 37. Thanks to
31 Col 292-293; van Moor sel rccs b, 164. Geo rgia Frank for thi s referen ce.
32 Col 293. Tenth-centu ry and later icons from 62 O 'Lea ry 1937, 206- 207.
outside of Egypt show George spearing
63 Ward 1975, 138-139.
Diocletia n .
33 BM0 7022, fol. ib, dat ed to A .D . 951. Budge 1914, 64 For th eir bo nd see Coqu in 1991C, 2029.
xviii, 255. 65 Coq uin 199IC, 2029-2030; Budge 1928, 1084.
34 BM0 7022, fols. Ba, 14a; Budge 19 14 ~ 266-267,
66 Col ignor e him altogeth er. Accord ing to his
276. position in th e nave, he sho uld be discussed on
35 BM0 7030, fol. 3b2; Budge 1915, 580. 273-274. Van Moorsel descr ibes h im as ano ny-
mou s. Van Moo rsel iccyb, 133-134.
36 O ' Leary 1937, 176- 177, 233- 234.
67 Zacha rias of Sakha, Life o f Joh n the Little,
37 See Lyster, chapter 7.
Mikhai l and Vivian 1997, cha pters 25, 31.
38 Van Moorsel ioosb, 119, fig. 33, and 125- 127.
68 Mikh ail and Vivian 1997, cha pters 16, 28. I am
39 O' Leary 1937, 233-234· grateful to Fath er Maximous, who first
explained th e meanin g of thi s gestur e to me.
40 O ' Lear y 1937, 176.
69 O' Lear y 1937, 99.
41 Col 271; van Moorsel icosb, 127.
70 For mor e on thi s subject, see Vivian , chapt er I.
42 The Bohairic Life of Pacho m ius, chapter I,
Veilleu x 1980, 24. 71 Col 272-273.
 NOTES TO PAG ES 54 -62
72 Gu y 1993, 122-123·
73 Budge 1907, 327·
74 Athanasius 1980, 66.
75 Athanasius 1980, 29.
76 Ward 1975, xviii.
77 Theodoret o fCy rr h us, pr ol. 2, in Krueg er 1997,
418.
78 Ab u al- Kha yar ibn al-Tayyib , " Le remede de
l'intelligen ce," in Za netti 1991, 78-79.
79 Al-Mu 'taman ab u Ishaq al-'Assal, "So m me des
aspects de la religion ," ca. 1250- 1300; in Zanett i
1991, 79- 80.
80 Mo nica Blan chard sugges ts th at o utright polar-
ization betw een the Syrians and th e Co pts had
not occ urre d , but th at eac h gro up may be cha r-
acte rized as havin g a stro ng sense of pride in its
ow n herit age. Blancha rd, in co nve rsat ion, 1999.
See also the single addi t io n of a Syria n in th e
sanc tua ry, Severus of Anti o ch , S3.
81 See Jon es, cha pter 2, and Lyster , cha pter 7. A
do or also existed at N31. See Jo nes, cha pte r 2.
82 Mag uire 1993, 78.
83 See Griffith , cha pter II.
84 Dr escher 1946, miracl es 2 and 4, 107, 113, 116-118.
85 O 'Lear y 1937, 234.
86 Atha nasi us 1994a, 40.
87 H un t 1991, 116.
88 Gu illaumont 1991d, 1923.
89 Van Esb ro eck, 1991a, 1576.
90 See Griffith, cha pter II.
91 M iracl e 14. Budge 1923, 47-48.
92 Man y of the miracl es of the Virgin Mary pr e-
served in Ethiopian man uscripts have bee n
shown to o riginate in th e West. Bar az 1994,
69- 71. T he miracl es invo lvin g th e use of the
Virgin's breast mi lk to cu re eye d iseases are a
co ntin ua tio n of anc ient Egyptian and Coptic
medi cal pr actice. Breast mi lk was used in Egypt
for diseases of the eye, but not in the Greco-
Ro man med ical traditi on . Bolma n 1997,
120-1 24, 142- 148.
93 T he T heo tok ia, Co ptic h ymn s ded icated to th e
Virgin Mary , are one indi catio n of th is devot ion.
In the Middle Ages, they seem to have been
su ng th rou gho ut the year , altho ugh now th ey
are sung on ly in the month of Khiak (Decem-
ber ). O ' Leary 1950, 417,419; Kubes 1952, 7.
94 I thank Derek Krue ger , Geo rgia Frank, Gen e
Rogers, and Sidn ey Griffith for th eir assistance
with this in terp retatio n. Ladn er 1958, 88-94.
August ine, "O n Virgi ni ty," 3, Oden and Hall
1998, 48- 49.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
95 It is very d ifficult to de termi ne the mean ing of
hand gestu res in th ese paintings. Writing in th e
ea rly fourteen th cen tury, th e Co ptic theol ogian
Abu al-Barakat ibn Kab ar describ ed th e co n fu -
sion over the meaning of Christ's hand gesture
even at th at tim e. " La lampe des ten ebre s,"
Za ne tt i 1991, 84·
96 Belting 1994, 102-109.
97 For a descrip tio n of th e type, see Buckton 1994,
232. The ico nogra phic type is also called the
Platytcra. an d an eighth -centur y example from
Santa Maria Antig ua in Ro me shows the Virgin
Mary ho ldin g the aureole from be low and
flan ked by Elizabet h with John th e Bapt ist as a
child and the Virg in's mo the r, An n, hold ing
Mary as a ch ild.
98 Belting 1994, 102-114.
99 Kiih nel l988, 190. Belting and Kuh ne l a re, of
co ur se, on ly two of th e many au tho rs who have
in terpreted th is ico nographic type.
100 Cyril of Alexandria, " Disco urse on th e Virgin
Mary," B ~10678 2, fols.j zbi.-jzbz : Bud ge 1915,
720.
101 Unfort unately, van Loon 's exceptio nally fine
boo k ap pea red to o late for its co ntributio ns to
be th o rou ghl y int egrated into th is boo k. It is by
far th e most int erdisciplinar y and thorough
treatment yet writt en of th e Co ptic khurus and
sanc tua ry, their func t ion, meaning, and rela-
tion to the paintings found in them. Van Loon
1999b , esp. 109- 124.
102 Ano nymo us, Kitab tart ib al-kabanut (T he
Order of Priest ho od ), ca. 1200 -12 50; Yuhanna
ibn Abi Zaka riyya ibn Sabba ', Kitab al-gauhara
al-najisa (T he Book o f th e Pre cio us Pearl ), ca.
1350, chapter 27. Translated and ana lyzed in th e
ext re mely useful a rticle by van Lo on 1993,
497-498.
103 Van Loon 1993, 497-498.
104 Luzi an d De Cesaris have not ed th at th e two
ro ws of glass circles alo ng the sides o f th e vault
are ea rlier tha n the pai nt in gs current ly visible,
so th e basic shape of th e ceiling dates at least to
1232/1233, if not ea rlie r. See Bolm an and Lyster ,
chapter 8, fo r a d iscu ssion of th e khurus vault
paintings.
105 The more com mon vers ion of th eir nam es is
the Babylon ian : Shadrach, Abednego, and
Mesech. For their nam es in the Coptic tra d i-
tion , see Mikh ail and Vivian 1997, 48 and n. 196.
106 "Co nstitutio ns of the Ho ly Apo stles" 5.1, Od en
and Hall 1998, 244; Schiller 1972:2, 4.
107 Pringle 1993:1, 224- 229. Folda 1995, 82. For t he
Chr ist ian cult see Teteri atnikov 1992, 109.
108 Prin gle 1993:1, 224.
109 Prin gle 1993:1, 225-227.
110 "T he Liturgy of the Co ptic laco bit es, Inclu d ing
the Anap ho ra ofS . Ma rk o r S. Cyril," in Bright -
man 1896, 170.
III Co q uin and Rut scho wskaya 1994, 116-117·
Byzantine so urces on thi s subject are nurner -
o us. For so me of them , see Mar aval ic zi ,
222-223 , n. 2 .
\12 It can also be seen in the narrativ e scenes in the
upper zo ne of the khurus ( llo im an and Lyster,
chapter 8).
113 T he con servators ob serve that the later team
did this, and also cov ered the in teri o rs o f th e
domes an d the borders aro und o ther earl y thir-
teen th- cen tur y painti ngs. Luzi and De C esaris,
chapter 9.
114 See Pearso n, cha pter 14.
115 Lk 16:19-31. To m y knowled ge, Tim Vivian
was th e first per son to iden tif y thi s figure as
Nineve, o n a visit to the Monast ery of
St. An ton y sho rtly after this vigne tte was
un co vered .
116 Geo rge is also dep icted at N25, figs. 4.5, 7.22.
117 Bud ge 1888, 207- 208.
118 Budge 1888, 215.
. 119 Budge 1888, 2)4 .
120 Bud ge 1888, 269.
121 "T he ~la rtyrdo m of St. Mer curius the Ge n-
eral," BM0 6801, fo l.aa-b: Budge ' 915, 811.T he
so urce of th e ap pellatio n is unclear. Karl-He in z
Bru ne hypo thesizes a textu al so urce based o n
an icon ograp hic shift which he not es, co m par -
ing th e d rawin g of th e saint from Vatica n Cop-
tic Codex 66, foL 287, and th e painting in the
Ch urc h of St. Anto ny. Brun e 1995, 18.
122 Cited in Lucch esi-Pa lli 1978, 162.
123 See th e di scu ssion of th e paintings in th e
cha pel, in th is chapte r, fo r mor e information
o n the so urce of the fabric.
124 "Martyrd o m," BM0680l, foL rob ; Budge 19'5,
8 17.
125 " Mart yrdo m ," BM06 80 l, fols. 21a-21b; lIudge
1915, 826.
126 Al-Mu' tarn an abu lshaq al-' Assal, "Sorn m e des
asp ect s de la religio n ," part 2; Zanett i 199' , 81.
127 Col 303; Piankoff 1946- 1947, 57- 61; Father
Ma ximous EI-Ant hony, n.d., and Piankoff
1942, 17- 18.
128 Thi s sum ma ry is ab st rac ted from passages in
"T he Litur gy o f the Co ptic lacobites, Including
T he Anaphora of S. Mark or S. Cyr il" in
Brightman 1896, 1:144-188. It is also amplified
by Taft 1987,41 7.
129 See van Loon 1999b .
130 Van Loo n 1993,498- 499.
 NO TES T O PAG ES 62-77
131 Van Loon 1993. 498.
132 The first study to co nside r Co ptic art in th e
co ntext o f a vision, which serves as a point of
inspiration for this section, is van Moo rsel's
sho rt work: van Moorsel ics z, 337-340. Many
of the sour ces on visions used in this section
were collected by Meinardus 1987, 155-170.
133 Quoted in Mein ardus 1987, 165.
134 Qu o ted in Mein ardus 1987, 167.
135 Com mi ttee Formed by His Holi ness Pope
She no uda III 1993, 307.
136 Abu ai-Bara kat ibn Kabar, La lampe des
tenebres, chapt er 24; Zanetti 199/. 84.
137 Van Loo n 1992, 120-121. A visual para llel in a
mo nastic setti ng is the m uch earlier encaustic
pai nting of the subjec t from the Monaster y of
St. Catherine on Mo unt Sina i.
138 Robi nson 1987, 31- 32.
139 A famo us early examp le is a mo saic in Sta.
Maria Maggiore (Ro me) . Th e ninth-cen tu ry
Khludov Psalter, in Moscow, includes
Melchizedek in the Com m union of the Apo s-
tles. Melc hizedek is dresse d as a king in this
scene: in Schiller 1972:2. fig.so . Ano ther Byzan-
tin e Psalter, Biblioth eca Vaticana Barb. , Gr. 372.
also includes a kingly Melchi zedek in th e Co m-
m un ion of th e Apos tles. f. 188.
140 See Bolma n, chapter 6.
141 Van MOorSel 1998, 329-342 .
142 Van Moor sel rcc s, 332.
143 "The Life and journ ey of Dani el. Abbot of th e
Russian Land ." in Wilkin son with Hill and
Ryan 1988, 161- 162.
144 Rob inso n 1987. 28.
145 Robinson 1987, 28-31.
146 Van Moorsel icc x, 332.
147 "The Rite of Initiation into Mon asticism ," in
KHS-Burmester 1967, 192-193. This passage is
from a fou rtee nth-cen tury ma nuscrip t. MS Lit.
4. Co ptic M useum . Cairo. Given the general
con servatism of the Coptic Chu rch, it seems
legitimate to use a textual source that is about a
century later than th e paintings in question.
altho ugh of course we cannot be sure th at it
reflects th irteent h-century practices.
148 Brigh tman 1896, 181-182. Additional symbolic
parallel s betw een th e event in Isaiah and th e
Eucha rist are mad e by Theodore of Mopsues-
tia . Ming ana 1933, \l 8-120 .
149 See Geymonat 1999. for a d iscussion of thi s
ico nographi c subjec t in th e Parma Baptiste ry
and elsewhere.
150 jerome, "Lette rs to Rusticu s" 125-7. aden and
Hall 1998. 7.
151 Derda 1995.16-1 7,27-31: van Moorse11990. 21.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
257
152 Bell 1983,69.
153 joh n Chrysos to rn, att r. to, "Encomiu m o n th e
Four Bod iless Living Creatures ." New Yor k.
Pierpon t Mor gan Library M612, fols. Bva,
14va-1 5vb; Craig S. Wan sink , tran s. in Depuydt
1991,3 3. 38-39.
154 Th e ea rliest evidence for this mono gram on
Eucha ristic loaves is a br ead sta mp dated ca.
sixth-seventh cent ury and found on Cyp rus.
Galavaris refers to the text as the "eucharistic
formula o f John Ch rysostorn." A variation of it
can be seen o n a sixth- seventh cen tury sta m p
from Achrnim-Panopolis, now in Geneva.
Texts from this period describ e angels esco rting
the eucha ristic elements to the altar. Galavaris
1970, 65, 73-76 . 173, 175, fig. 37. The modern
Gr eek Orthodox loaf includes the formu la of
john Chrysostom , and this mo nogram with the
cross is also on th e discs held by the arc ha ngels
in th e khu ru s archway. See Bolman and Lyster ,
chapter 8. figs. 8.14- 8.15.
155 See Vivian . chapter I. for Athan asius's LiJe oj
A ntony.
156 See Vivian , chapter 1, for the Co uncil of
Chalce do n.
157 Note the pearl bo rder directly across th e sanc-
tu ar y, on th e sou thern wall (S5- S7: fig. 4.43).
and th e tri an gular motif. reversed and used as a
foot stool, und er the feet of th e th ree patr iarchs
(K5: fig. 4.25).
158 Bel man , cha pte rs 3 and 6.
159 "The Litur gy of the Coptic Iacobites," in
Brightman 1896, 1:187-188.
160 Kassel', Khate r an d KHS-Burmester 1974.
14:48-49·
161 "The Lit urgy of th e Coptic Iacobit es,' in
Brightman 1896, 1:187-188.
162 Jone s, chapter 2.
163 Belma n, chap te r 3.
164 Martin Werner has united disparate eviden ce
and ha s made a compell ing case for the or igin
in early Coptic art of thi s type: see especiall y
Werner's lengthy discu ssion of th e complex
po ssibilities inh erent in the St. Anto ny zoo as
they are show n in the Deesis Chapel, Wern er
1989-1990 , 12-19, and Wern er 1984- 1986. Van
Moorsel rcza has also an alyzed the four crea -
tures at length . He has pointed out th e closest
par allel to th e unusual depi ct ion of th e four
creatures her e, in a painting from the Nubian
site of Sonqu i Tino . Van Moorsel 1983.
165 Van Moorsel and Werner have iden tified th e
Deesis here . Van Moorsel rcc yb, 174: Wern er
1989-1 990, 12.
166 "T he Litur gy of the Cop tic Iacobites ,' in
Brightman 1896. 152.
167 Schick 1995, 163- 166: Griffith 1985,63-65.
168 Reinink 1992, 171-174.
169 For the declin e of the cu lt of th e cross in
Byzant ium , see Thierry 1981. 227- 228. For
oth er examples of painted cro sses in Coptic
chur ches. see Bolman, chapter 6.
170 Co nsta ntine the Great. St. Sylvester Chape l, SS.
Q uattro Coronati, Rome . My th anks to Jon es,
Luzi, and De Cesaris for thi s information .
Daniel: Chapel of Daniel. Giir em e. Bier of th e
Virgin Mar y. Churc h of th e Panagia Phorb io-
tissa, Asinou , Cyprus, illust rated in Evans and
Wixom 1997. \l 2.
171 The Leon reliquary is lined with two pieces of
different fabric , and th e one in qu estion is in
the bod y o f the box. William s and Walker 1993.
239-244. I am gratefu l to john William s and
Charles Little for their help in furni shing me
with a photograph of th e textile.
172 For the cult of the cross see Viaud 1966 and
Viaud 1967-1 968. My th ank s to Father Isaac for
explaining curre nt pra ctice to me, and for per -
mitting me to pho togr aph the procession al
cross. Van Moorsel has studied the cult of the
cros s. and de pict ions of it, but the exam ples he
has exam ined do not include d rap ed cloth. Van
Mo orse l iozc, 409-415 . See my remarks in
chapter 6.
173 Werner interprets the program of th is chape l as
referr ing to th e Secon d Coming of Christ ,
which also fits the intercessor y charac ter of the
Deesis. Wern er 1989- 1990, 12- /5.
5. THEODOR E 'S S T YL E, T HE A RT O F
C H R IS TIAN E G YP T, AND B E YO ND
1 Bolman, introd uction an d conclusion.
2 The two Copt ic monasteries th at have yielded
the most paintings. th e Mo naste ry of Apa
Apollo at Bawit and th e Monastery of Apa
Jeremiah at Saqqa ra, were excavated abo ut a
cent ury ago. using what are now considere d to
be inadequ ate met hods. O n the excavation at
Bawit, Han s-Geor g Severin wrote : "There a re
for the moment no datin gs assured by excava-
tion data (st ratigraphy, cera mics. coin s). Since
building ph ases and even rebui ldin gs, which we
can ident ify in many section s on th e basis of
old excavation photograp hs, were almo st with-
out exception not observed or even docu-
mented at th e time , we have no clues as to the
relative chro no logy of th e com plex." Severin
1991,364. Gross ma nn's wor k has increased ou r
understanding ofSaqqar a considerably. Gross-
mann 1991e, 773-77 6. However, the fact
rema ins that Q uibell excavated most of th e wall
pai nti ngs. Quibell rcos , 1909, 1912. Even
though he record ed mor e in th e way of mater -
ial evidence tha n did th e excavato rs of Bawit,
we still lack evidence to do more than very
generally date the paintings. Rassart-Deberg
 NOTES TO PAGES 77-89
and Van Loon note the difficult y of dat ing
Co ptic art. Van Loon 1999b, 193-195; Rassart-
Deberg 1981, 268.
For exam ple, th e newly discovered An nuncia-
tion in th e Syrian Mo nastery has been dated
vario usly to a period spanni ng four hundred
years. Hu nt 1995, 212; Inn em ee 1998b, 145.
4 Van Moorsel 1983, 28.
Leroy 1982, 19·
6 See Lyster, chapter 7, for a discussion of the
mart yrs' weapo nry, and th e inscripti o n border-
ing the shie ld.
7 Th e paintings in the Syrian Mon aster y may one
day be fou nd to cover more wall space, afte r all
of th e ove rlying plaster has been remove d, bu t
large painted areas are in poor condition,
and they were not all part of th e same artistic
pro gram.
8 Van Moorsel went a lon g way towar d resolving
quest ion s abo ut the exte nt of the pro gram that
could be att ributed to Th eodore, but he
explains that the densit y of over -pain tin g in
som e areas m akes an evaluatio n of th em for
links with Th eodore's pai ntings im possible.
Van Moorsel rccsb, 179-186. Hu nt summar izes
some of the earli er con fusion about dating .
Hunt 1985, 148, n. 37.
9 Hu nt has linked th e treatm ent of Chr ist's knee
in th e Deesis chap el (c z) with th e render ing of
th e same anatom ical part in th e pa int ing of the
Ascension at th e Syrian Monastery. Hunt 1985,
118. I find the St. Antony circles to be much
more abstract than the exam ples that Hu nt
suggests and so do not assert a similar tie.
10 For example, the two angels flanking Christ in
Majesty (s i) , and several of the twen ty-four
elders (S33-36) .
II The level of th e floor is higher now th an it was
in 1232/1233. See Jon es, cha pter 2.
12 O n the small bu ildin gs, see Lyster , chapter 7,
and Meinardu s 1972.
13 O ne flaw in this reason ing is the ova l ear type
used in the pain ting of the sacrifice of Isaac
(S38) and nearby scen es. Theodo re's name is
located within this paint ing, under th e ram .
Certainly Th eodore could have had two mod es
for depicting ears. I find it more likely to im ag-
ine him painti ng th e two major images of
Ch rist and not the scenes of sacrifice aro un d
the inscrip tion with his nam e, bu t of course
thi s is conjectura l. Van Loon assigns the
sacrifice scene and others in th e sanctuary to
Theo do re. Van Loon 1999b, 107.
14 My th anks to William Lyster for th e frieze
suggestion.
15 In co nj unction with th ese words, it is inte rest-
ing to consider instru ction s to a ma nuscrip t
https://coptic-treasures.com/
illuminator from the very beginnings of Christ-
ian art. The notations were wr itten within the
bord ers of each mini atur e, an d later paint ed
over. They are pa rt ially visible und er flakin g
p igme nt. O ne example will show the icon o-
grap hic spec ificity of th ese instru ction s: "Make
a city, and outsid e th e city make where th e
prophet kills the foreign king with a spear and
Saul sta nding o n th e oth er side with two ser-
vants." Qlledlillbllrg ltala, ca. A. D. 350-410.
Davis-Weyer 1986, 23-24.
16 Me ina rdus is vague abo ut the dat ing of the
pai nt ings in thi s chapel, but he places most of
the paintings in the ch urc h to between the
fourt eenth and the mid -sevent eenth centur ies.
Me inardus 1969-1970, 133. Rassar t-Deb ergh
im plies, but does not di rectly state, that th e
paint ings dat e between the tenth and twelfth
cent uries. Rassart -D ebergh 1981, 246. Hunt has
located th e central apse painting from thi s
ch apel between ca. 1225-1250, which coi ncides
with the dates I propose. She accept s " 75- " 76
as a term inus po st qu em for th e churc h itself,
du e to fire and a rebuildi ng, but because th e
entire bui ldin g was no t destr oyed at that time, I
find th e basis for this pre m ise un certain . Hu nt
do es not explain her reaso ns for dating th e
paintings in th e Monastery of St. Mercurius to
such a preci se quarter-century. Hunt 1985, 118.
Van Loon's imp ortant consideratio n of th e
paintings in the Mo nastery of SI. Mercu rius
appea red just in tim e for br ief cons idera tio n.
Van Loon 1999b, 17-30. Zibawi 1995, 176.
17 Van Loon 1999b, 27-30.
18 For the nort h gallery pa int ing: van Loo n 1999b,
figs. 30-31. For th e Chape l of SI. George
arc ha ngel: van Loon 1999b, 288, fig. 10.
19 Van Loon 1999b, fig. 24.
20 Van Loo n 1999b, 28. O f course, earlier Co ptic
pain tin gs show a gray line below the eyelid,
witness th e face of Chris t fro m Bawit, now in
th e Coptic Mu seum. Zibawi 1995, color plate
49. Neve rtheless, th e loose, calligrap hic gray
line below th e eye in th e Bawit pa inting is very
d ifferent in character fro m th e thick, more
den sely applied lines not ed by van Loon, and it
is thi s type of ren dering that is also visible in
th e Church o f St. Antony.
21 Zibawi 1995, color plate 53·
22 Leroy 1982, 112-113; van Loon 1999b, 55-60.
23 Leroy 1982, pis. 67 and 75.
24 Van Loon not es th e sim ilarities between thi s
type of eye at the Ch urch of St. Anto ny and
those found in th e Sanct uary of St. Mark (Wad i
al-Na tru n ) and th e Churc h of St. Merc ur ius
(Old Ca iro) . She never thel ess dates th ese two
latter monument s significantly earlier th an th e
Churc h of St. Anto ny. Van Loon 1999b, 59-60
and nn. 261-262.
25 Walters 1974, fig. 6.
26 Leroy 1982, pis. 77-78.
27 A clear instan ce of this can be seen along th e
inn er lin e of John the Baptist's cuff and left
arm. Abraham's cloak is simi larly articulated.
Leroy 1982, pis. 60, 38.
28 See, for example, the hem s o f the clothing worn
by Moses and Aaro n. Lero y 1982, pis. 55-56.
29 Leroy 1982, pI. 42.
30 Th is decor ative ribbon is an anci en t motif th at
is also found with very sim ilar details in Byzan -
tine art-for example, at Kurbinovo, dated to
11 91.
31 An exampl e of dr apery rend ered in swirling
patterns of gold wire is the so-called Holy
Crown of H ungary, which includes
late-eleventh century Byzantine ena mels.
A twelfth -cent ury icon with gold lines is th e
Annu nciation in the Mo nastery of SI. Cather-
ine on Mount Sinai . A manuscrip t illumi nation
with gold- outlined drap ery th at look s as if it
could act ually be ena mel is th e depi ction of
Luke (fol. 87V) in th e Ost rom ir Lection ar y,
made in Kievan Rus', 1056-1057. Th is image is
"executed in a cloisonn e-enamel -like style
employing bri ght color s with heavy gold lines
to indi cate drape ry fold s." Olen a Z. Pevny, in
Evans and Wixo m 1997, 294- 296, fig. 198.
32 The d rawing of th e child is fro m o ne of the
small vigriettes frami ng a dr awing of th e
Cru cifixion. Auxerre , Cathed ral of SI. Etienne,
Treasury. Considerable add itiona l resea rch
would need to be don e to pro ve stylistic use of
Rorn an esqu e and Cru sade r ar t by Theo dore
and h is team . My tha nks to Iaroslav Folda for
his conside ration of this problem .
33 I do not see the parallels th at van Loon does
between the pain tin gs in th e Mo nastery o f St.
Mercuriu s and tho se in the Monastery of St.
Bishoi (Chapel of Benjamin ). I have not had
tim e to consider her assert ion mor e th an
bri efly, and so my remarks are tentative. Van
Loon 1999b, 81-82. I am no t, however , includ-
ing at this time th e Bishoi Monastery paintings
in the school of painting that includes
T heodore and his team .
34 See cha pte r 7.
35 Hunt associates th e paintings in th e Deesis
chape l with the workshop she has identified,
parti ally on the basis of two Arme nian inscrip -
tion s, and partia lly on stylistic gro unds. Hu nt
1985, 118, 141-144, and n. 37. Postcleanin g, it is
appare nt th at th e writin g in qu estion is graffiti
and not part of the pai nted pr ogram. I do not
see close stylistic ties betwe en the pa intings by
Theodore in the Church o f SI. Antony and an y
of th e pai ntings Hu nt includes in her wor k-
shop. Hunt 's obse rvations abo ut th e Deesis
chapel are only a very sma ll part of her extra-
 NO TES TO PA G ES 91-101
ordinarily fine article. H er work carries furt her
the groundbreaking formu lations of Ne lso n
1983. 201- 218.
6 . THEODORE'S P R O G R A M IN CONTEXT
1 Ma thews 1998, 55-59.
2 Seve ra l Co pt ic so urces. in cludi ng the ca. 1300
Lampe des tenebres defe nd the use of images.
Za ne tti 1991. 77- 92, esp , 83-86.
Hunt's wo rk is a not able exce ptio n to th is tren d
o f neglect , including spec ific exa m ples of th e
use o f middle Byzantin e icon ograph y b y Co ptic
a rt ists. Hu nt 1985, 129.
4 Hu nt includes exa m ples of Coptic art ists dr aw-
in g o n C rusader art. Hunt 1985. 136.
Although so me pa in tings from ea rly m onasti c
sites in Ca ppa doc ia have surv ived . most th e re
d ate b etween ca. 900-1050. W harto n 1991,379.
6 Rassa rt -Debergh 1989, 59; Rassa rt-D eb ergh
1986. 363- 366.
7 G ross m a n n 1991e, 773-774; Seve rin 1991. 364;
Kra use a nd Wessel 1966. 1:570- 57J.
8 So m e of the ea rlie st paintings in Egyp t come
from m ortuar y cha pels. Van Moo rse l ioc o, 19.
I have ch ose n to describe th e small mo na st ic
sp aces with prominent eastern n ich es, pa in te d
with de votional subjects, as o rato ries. Th ey ca n
al so b e ca lled cells, o r sim p ly roo ms. Darl en e
Brooks-H ed strom is cur ren tly studyi ng th ese
spa ces in an atte m pt to clarify and analyze th eir
fu nc tions. Brooks- H ed st ro m . 2001.
9 Bolman 1998, 65- 77; Bolma n 1997, 215- 271.
10 Rassart -D ebergh 1981, 250-251, 27J.
11 Saqqara cells 709. 733. and B.
12 Co pt ic M useu m. Cairo , In v, no. 7118.
13 In a W h ite Mo nas tery pa in tin g of this subject,
th e Virgin 's hands are position ed at the bottom
of th e sh ield, an d o nly th e bu st o f th e C h rist
C h ild is sh ow n. This pa inti ng po std ates th at of
T heodo re.
14 Rassart-Deb erg h 1988; Rassart -Debergh 1989.
64,67.68,74-76; Rassart- Debcrgh, 1986,
363-366; van Moorsel ic zc , 409 -4'5 .
15 Saq qa ra, cell F. Coquin a nd Marti n. 199IC, 23'2 .
Rassart-D eb ergh 1987.
16 Saqqara, ce ll 1772. Ano th er ea rly exa m ple is a
pa in ted marble sa nct ua ry pier, in th e
Mo na stery of St. Catherine, Moun t Sinai.
17 Wa lte rs 1989, 205. Th e en t ire gro up of paint ings
m ay no t have been d on e at on e time, and th eir
p lacem ent is un clea r. So me of th em see m to
have b elo nged to a m o nasti c ch urch. Wa lters
1989, 191-192.
18 Leroy 1975b. 32. Exce ptio na lly clo se stylistic
https://coptic-treasures.com/
259
parallels be tw een the figure s of Ath an asiu s and
G regory in th e So u th C h u rch a nd th e two
m on asti c sa ints from Tebtu n is sug gest to m e a
m ore precise date o f ca. 950. Th e par allels a re
so clo se that th ey m ay even hav e been painted
by the same workshop. Co m pa re plates 6-7.
Lero y 1975b. with p late 21 from Walters 1989.
19 Godlewski 1997, 129. I te nd to see the paintings
in what is now the narthex at Naq lu n as
belonging to a so me what different time period
o r pa int ing ca mpaign tha n th ose in th e nave
a nd sa nct ua ry. Unt il I have been ab le to co ns u lt
the for thcom ing pu b licatio n by Go d lews ki. m y
co mme nt s are of course pre lim inary. My
tha nk s to Godlewski for a site to ur a nd an
extensive in trod uction to the paintings.
20 Ano the r exa m ple of thi s subjec t is m ost likely
show n on the northern ch urc h wa ll at Naqlu n.
Godlewski 1997. 131; Godlewsk i 1999.
21 Godlewski 1997, 131.
22 Wa lte rs 1989, p I. XVI!.
23 See Vivian , cha p te r I, for th e d evelopment o f
monasticis m . a nd Belman, cha pter 4. for mo re
on Pacho mius in th e pa inte d program of
123211 233.
24 Go d lews ki 1997, 130.
25 My th anks to Go d lewsk i for th is informat ion .
26 Le ro y 1975b. pis. 5-7.
27 See Be lma n , cha p ter 4.
28 In ne rn ee 1998b, 147-148. Van Moorsel 2000. 29.
A po ssible eleve n th -ce ntur y N ub ia n par allel
m ay ex ist in fra gmen tary form , from th e Paras
Ca the d ra l. It sho ws a n olive tr ee, below whi ch
is a human face in flam es. Mi ch alowski 1974,
219-221. It see ms to m e that th e tr ee co u ld
belong to a sce ne of parad ise, wit h th e pa tr i-
arc hs. a nd could in clude a lso a vignette of H ell
underneath it.
29 In nernee sugges ts a po ssibl e dat e o f ca. 1000 .
Lecture at ARCE, Ca iro, Oc to be r 18, 2000. "Dayr
a l-Sur ia n: Wall Paintings in a Syr ia n-Coptic
Co m m u n ity."
30 T h is ca n b e seen in Mar Mu sa a l Habash i a nd
the C ru sade r church of Abu Go sh. Dodd 1992,
figs. 40, 47; Fo lda 1995. 386, fig. 9.35-g .
31 Last Jud gm en t mosaic, Sta. Ma ria Assu n ta,
Tor cello.
32 Ep ip haniu s of Salamis, Letter to the Emperor
Theodosius. Ma ngo 1972, 41-42.
33 Walters 1989. pl. 17.
34 A.M. 846 or 896. Leroy 1975b. 33. pis. 39-48;
Coqu in 1975. 253-254.
35 See Belman, ch apter 5.
36 Th e pa rallel s in th e M on ast ery o f St. An to ny
are lo cated at Nl, N2. N33. N12, Nil . N30. an d
N32. In th e Mon asteri es o f th e Rom an s an d o f
St. M aca riu s th e paintings a re with in th e sa nc-
tu ary. For the paintings in the Mo naste ry of the
Romans: van M oor sel ic c z, 173.
37 For the Monaster y of th e Romans: va n Moorsel
1992, figs. 5- 7. 175. For the Monaster y of St.
Macarius: Lero y 1982. pis. 69-70. Geym on at
discusses a rare Italia n example of thi s iconog-
raphy. Geymonat 1999 .431-450, figs. 2-8.
38 Badawy 1978. 272; Rassa rt-Debe rgh 1981. 250;
Hunt 1985, 11 5; Laferr ie re ' 993. 310; va n Moorse l
1995b, 174- 175; We rne r ' 989- 1990, 7.
39 For photographs o f Deir Abu Fana: Attalla
n.d .• 1:101-108; Ca p ua n i '999, fig. 59C. For
Sohag: Laferr iere 1993, figs. 4- 7. 1O- 11b. To my
kn o wled ge. these fab ric-d rap ed cro sses have
no t been analyzed in conj un ct ion with o ther
depicti on s of the cros s.
40 Mi litary martyrs ar e a lso show n sta nd ing in
ea rly Co ptic art, not on ly o n h o rseb ack. For a n
im age of Me na s at Bawit, roo m 27: Ma spero
193' . pl.ai. Sta n d ing militar y sa ints are shown
at Kellia, Qo ucou r el- Izelia, ko m 14, roo m 15,
eas t n iche . Rassa rt- Deb ergh 1989, 61-62. figA5.
Th is standing tr ad ition see ms to have become
very popular in late r Byzantine art, but was
mu ch less so in later Co ptic a rt.
41 Vivian, cha pter I ; Holman. cha p ter 4.
42 See Bol~,an, cha p te r 4, for a di scu ssion of thi s
incomplet e northern wa ll.
43 Dem us 1948, 26.
44 Ger ste l 200 0.
45 Gross ma n n 1982, 65; Gross ma n n 1991b. 554.
Lyster, in co nversation, 2000 .
46 Dem us 1948, I I.
47 Th e implication s of thi s p lacem e nt are
exp lo red by M ath ews 1990, 191- 214.
48 Holman , cha p te r 4.
49 Walter 1968, 317, 327.
50 Two twelfth -centu ry exa m ples ar e in cha pels 19
an d 22, Goreme , Cappad ocia. An u ppe r- level
cha pe l at the western en d o f the church of St .
Sabas in Trebizond includes thi s sce ne, d ated to
ca . 1250-1 300. Restle 1968. 3: pI. 68, figs.
529-530.
51 For th e icon : Pap ageo rgh iou 1992. p I. 3. For th e
mosaic: Kitzi nger 1990, 15, cat. no. 72, fig. 119.
For th e illumination : Moun t Athos, Dionysiou
Monastery MS 61, fol. IV, in Rodley 1994, fig.
215, p. 256.
52 Histoire Universelle, Dijo n , Biblio the q ue
Mun icip ale 562 (323). fol. j v, Acre, ca.
1250-1275; Buchthal rcs z, 148. pI. 82, fig. b.
53 Belting 1994, 249-257, figs. 160, 227.
 N OTE S TO PAGES 101 -11 3
54 Belman, chapter 4.
55 An unpublish ed fifteen th- century exa m ple
fro m Crete is now in the Byzantine Mu seum,
Athens. A delightful seventeenth-cen tury
example fro m the P. Kanellopoulos Co llectio n,
Athens, is illustrated in Mi n istry of Cu lt ure
1985,15 8-159,162, 164.
56 T he po in ti ng figure of Christ co uld have been
tr an smitted via Byzan tin e or Crusader art.
57 T he ico nogra phy is not iden tical b ut is sim ila r
enough to wa rra n t thi s asse rtion o f th e Copt ic
so urce as a m od el. It is mu ch closer to th at at
th e Mo nastery ofSt. Anto ny th an is the pa int-
in g of Macarius o n a nave co lu m n in th e
Ch urc h of th e Na tivity, Bethl eh em , or in th e
Me no log io n of Basil II. In th e column painti ng,
th e sa in t stan ds alo ne, witho u t th e che ru b, is
show n bar eh ead ed , a nd wears a very di ffe rent
asce tic gar b fro m th e kind we see in th e Ch urch
o f St. Anto ny a nd th e Sina i icon . Th e che ru b is
n ot included in eit her image. Illu st rati o ns:
Folda 1995, 283-284; Ano n. 1907, V.2, 1'1.334. My
tha n ks to Antho ny Cu tler for th e refere nce to
th e Me no log ion illuminati on .
58 A sixtee nth-ce n tury so urce reports th e exis-
ten ce of a hermitage dedi cated to St. An to ny
located o ut sid e o f th e M on aster y o f St. Ca ther-
in e. Labib 1961, 78. Th e ea rly- twelfth ce nt ury
"Wo rk o n Geography" d escrib es th e followin g:
the monks fro m th e Monastery o f St. Cathe rine
o n Mo u nt Sinai " freely a n d q uiet ly po ssess
monasteries in Egyp t a nd Per sia, aro u nd the
Red Sea a n d in Arabi a, from whi ch their liveli-
ho od is ab u nd an t." Wi lkin son with Hi ll and
Rya n 1988, 12, 186.
7. R EFL ECTI O N S OF T HE
TEMPORAL WORLD
M y than ks to Rena ta Hol od for so me ver y
usefu l sugg estio ns on an ea rlier version of th is
cha p ter.
I Th e visua l evide nce in Th eod or e's wor k do es
n ot ena ble us to m ake m an y o bse rvatio ns
about Jews, however the Ca iro Gen iza do cu -
ments demo nstrate this po int emphati cally.
Goitein 1967- 1994. T he re is one im age of a Jew
in T heodore's p ro gram (N25). He is shown
wea ring a t ur ban, as a re so me of the Ch ristia ns.
2 Lapidu s 1972; Lev 1991, 185- 189; Little 1976.
At iya 1986, 92; Sanders 1998, 169- 170.
4 Wilfong 1998, 184-186 .
5 Little 1976, 556.
6 Lev 1991, 60 .
7 At iya 1986, 91-92; Co he n 1985, 75; Farre 1991,
1097- 1098; Lev 1991, 190 -1 91, 194-196.
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260
For ch u rch revenues under th e Fatimids, see
Evett s 1895, 15.
9 Because m an y Co p tic churches have not sur-
vived from the m ed ieval period , thi s statem en t
cannot be conclusivel y demonstr ated .
10 Co p tic textile roundel with an image of a
mo unted h unter, ca. 600-800: Moscow, State
Mu se um of the Fine Art s, ia 5175; in lnstit ut du
Mond e Arabe 2000, 172, fig. 176.
II Me na s: Ma nc hes te r, Rylan d 's Libra ry, Coptic S.
33; in l.e ro y 1974, 1'1. 106, 2. T heo dore: New
York, Pierp ont Morga n Lib rary, M. 613; in
Lero y 1974, 1'1. 107,2.
12 Go d lewski 1997, 130.
13 Lewis 1973, figs. 1-1 6.
14 Hu mph reys 1977, 23, n.16.
15 Go ite in 1967- 1994, v. 4, 158-159 .
16 C reswe ll 1978, i: al-Aqrnar, 243; al-Az har, 254;
Salih Tala' i', 283.
17 See Pearso n, c hap ter 14.
18 I wou ld like to th an k Alice Bou illiez for her
n u m ero us ins igh ts in to T heodo re's horses.
19 Despite the ab sence o f an insc rip tio n, th e
. 40 Van Moorsel, drawing on th e work of Under-
identifi cation o f thi s figure as At ha nas ius seems
cer ta in. Go d lewski 1997, 129-130; 1999, 160- 161.
20 Nl-N3,N7-N I3,N I5,N I6,N28-N30,N32-N36,K7
(Palace of Neb uc had nezza r), SI (Virgin Mary),
ss, S9.
21 Th e ea rliest surv iving exa m ples of th e poin ted
ar ch in Egyp t a re at the N ilo m ete r on Roda
Island (861- 862) a nd the Mo sq ue o f Ahmad
ibn Tulun (879) , both in Ca iro . Creswe ll a nd
Alle n 1989, 383- 385, 392- 406.
22 N7-N IO, N12, N28, K7 (Palace of Ne bucha d nez-
za r), SI (Virgin M ary).
23 Fatimid exa m ples in Ca iro a re found at th e
Mo squ e of al- Hakim (1013), th e Ma sh had o f al-
Juyu shi (1085), a nd th e M ausoleum o f Yah ya
ash-S habih i (ca. 1150 ). Th e sa me style of capita l
is also used in Co pt ic ch urc hes o f O ld Ca iro,
such as the Mu 'a llaqa a nd Ab u Sarga , Butler
d escribed this form as a "Sa racen cap ita l"; see
But ler 1884, 1:188.
24 Bierman 1998a, 357.
25 Bierman 1998a, 360-363; H unt 1998, 325- 326.
26 N7- NIO, N12, N14-NI6, N28, N32-N 35.
27 Co p tic fron tispiece of St. Luke (1173): Bodleia n
Libr a ry, O xfor d ( H u nt. 17), fo l. 197V; in Leroy
1974, fig. 40 , I. Wall pai nt ing of th e Ga lak-
totrophousa (th irteen th cen tu ry): C hurc h of
55 . Sergi us and Bacchus, Qarra, Syr ia; l.eroy
1975a a nd Zibawi 1995, color 1'1. 18. M inia ture
of th e "39th Session," Maqamat of al -Hariri,
Baghdad , 1237, Bibliotheq uc Na tio na le, Paris
( rns, Arabe 5847) fol. izor; Ok hasah 1992, 126.
Co ptic illuminated Gos pe l (1249-1250): In stitut
Ca tho liq ue, Pari s (C o p te-Arabe I ), fols. 57r
(Suicide of Jud as) a nd 109V(C h rist in th e syna-
gog ue of Na zareth ); in l.ero y 1974, figs. 82 and
87, and Boud 'hors 1996, 238-239.
28 Atiya 1991C,1462-14 64.
29 See Pear son, chapte r 14.
30 Contadini 1998,52-53.
31 Ph ilo n 1980, 186.
32 Alp ha and Omega: also see Rv 1:8. AI-Fadi:
I wo uld like to tha n k Sa m ir Mo rco s for
deciphering this ins cription .
33 Contadini 1998,43-48; Stillman 1986 , 736-737.
34 Rosen thal 1967, 2:65-66.
35 Baker 1995, 57-60.
36 N3, N29, K3.8, 53, 54, 55, 56 (a vegeta l ti ra z),
57-59,511.
37 Co he n 1985, 69.
38 T hacksto n 1986, 48.
39 N25, N26, K3.
woo d at th e Kariye [ami in Istanbul. Van
.
Moo rsel ic csb, 88-89.
41 Heath 1979, 6- 7.
42 Ba rber in i Ivory, sixth ce ntury, M usee du Lou vre,
Par is (OA 9063); in M ath ews 1998, 16, fig. 6.
43 Luzi a nd De Cesaris d isco vered th at th e re was
ori gina lly so me kind o f round ap plique
attac he d to th ese m ed allion s, perh ap s go ld-
pain ted parch m ent ro u nd els.
44 O the r exa m ples include hi s flat crow n an d
red bo ot s. Th e p rocess of ass im ilatio n co uld
also work in the opposite directio n. Basil II is
d epi cted as a so ld ier sai n t in the miniatu re
from his psalter. His head is sur ro un de d by a
n imb us and he rece ives two heaven ly c row ns.
This ide n tificat ion is fur ther e m phasized b y th e
six icon like im ages o f mi litar y mar tyrs flanki ng
the emperor.
45 Ma guire, Maguire, and Duncan -Flowers 1989, 3.
46 Ne ro : Sebasteion, north portico, Aphrodisias,
Turkey; in Erim 1993, 64, an d Barrett 1996, 1'1.
19. Hon o riu s: Ivo ry consular di ptyc h of Probus
(406) , Aosta Cathedral Treasury; in Volbac h
1976, 1'1. I.
47 N ico lle 1994, 31,58.
48 Hitti 1987, 130.
49 Nico lle 1996, 166.
50 Stillman 1986, 739 (kalawta); Majda 1986, 751
(kulah ).
--- NOTES TO PAGES 1 15- 124
51 AI-Hassan and Hill 1986, 99; Hi llenbrand 1999,
457. Although the composite bow was used in
the Roman army, it en tere d Christian pain ting
late, an d fro m the East.
52 Kno tted horsetails and large saddleclot hs:
Mina i-wa re bowl, Rayy, I ran, ca. 1200, Brook-
lyn Muse um , inv. 86.227.60; in Nico lle 1994, 22.
Steel mi rror with gold inlay, Anato lia, ca.
1200-1250, To pkapi Sarayi M uzesi, Istanbul,
inv. 2h792; in Evans and Wixom 1997, 424, fig.
282. Brass cand lestick with silver inlaid, Mos ul
o r Dam ascu s, c. 1250, Muse um of Islami c Art,
Ca iro, inv. 15121; in Ward 1993, 23, fig. 11.
53 See Lero y 1975b, plates 39-48.
54 Illust rated in Walters 1989, pI. 19.
55 Esna : Co q uin says th at th e painting of
Theodo re Str atelates at Deir al-Shohada ha s a
d ate wh ich can be read either as A .M . 846
(1129-1130)or as A.M. 896 (1179-1180). Coq uin
1975, 253- 254 and 260-261.Tebtunis: An
inscription at th e site recorded in 1899 men -
tions th e date A .M. 669 (953). Walters suggests
that th e paintings of Th eod ore St ratelates and
the anonymo us eq uest rian were produced ca.
950-10 50, based on th e Arabic kufic script
found on both saints. Walters 1989, 205-206,
pis. 18 and 19.
56 Claud ius (N19) is less easy to interpret. He
wears the crown , cuirass, cloak, and knott ed
sash fo und on mo st o f the eq uestrian saints in
the church. Due to da mag e, it is impossible to
te ll whether he is d ressed in a tuni c or qui lted
coat. Alone among t he eq uestrians, Claudiu s
wear s leather leggings, simi lar to those worn by
the three Heb rews (K6). His hor se has cloven
hoofs an d is speck led with clove-s hape d mark-
ings, rem iniscent of the Hat hor cow of an cient
Egypt. H is is o ne of t he few horses in the pro-
gram without a knotted tail. It also wears the
most elaborate equipme nt , including a full
bod y capar ison and a large saddlecloth . I wou ld
like to tha nk Salima Ikhra m for point ing out
the sim ilarities between this hor se and the
H athor cow.
57 Nico lle 1996, 165.
58 N22, N25, K8.Cefalu Cathedral, Sicily: mo saic,
ca. "50, so uth presbytery; in Lowden 1997, 328,
fig. 195.
59 Th e two saints wear mailed haub erks instead of
th e lam ellar ar m or found in the Church of St.
An to ny.
60 Mars hall 1992, 58-59 .
61 Hunt 1991, 122.
62 See Bolman, cha pter 4, and Pearson, chapter 14.
63 Evetts 1895,182.
64 Gold medal of Con stantius II (ca. 350). Paris ,
https://coptic-treasures.com/
261
Cabine t des M edai lles: Lewis 1973, 54-5 5, fig. 31.
65 Hartner 1968.
66 Knotted dragons: two bronze doo r knockers in
the shape of winged drago ns (ca. 1200) from
th e Ulu Ca rni, Cisre (Jazirat ibn ' Umar) ,
Turkey, David Co llection, Cope nhagen
(38h973) and M useu m fur Islamisc he Kun st,
Berlin ; in Hayward Gallery 1976, 178, fig. 194,
and H illenb rand 1999, 41, fig. 2.6. Lost Talisman
Gate of Baghd ad (1221); in Gierlichs 1996, pI.
66. Sto ne relief fro m th e city walls of Konya
(thirtee nt h cent ury), In ce M ina re M uzesi,
Konya; in Gierlichs 1996, pI. 38.1.An int erestin g
and related , if not parallel , example can be seen
in th e pavement mosaic in th e Ca pella Palatin a,
Palermo . Two twisted serpents flank the alta r,
and Tron zo has interpreted them as eastern in
ori gin and apo tro paic in fun ction . Tron zo
1997, 34·
67 Th e astro logical th eories of pseudoplan etar y
nod es may have det ermined Th eod or e's use of
knotted snakes in h is pro gram, but he do es not
seem to have been th e first Coptic paint er to
employ thi s detail. A Coptic icon of Theodore
Stratelates at th e Monastery of St. Cathe rine,
dat ed by Weit zmann to th e ninth or tenth cen-
tury, shows th e saint spea ring a knotted ser-
pent. Th e image is part of a triptych in which
two equestrians flank an icon of the Ascen sion .
The soldier saints protect th e central imag e in
much the same way as Theodore Strate lates and
Sisin nius guard the nave en tra nce at the
Church of St. An ton y. See Weitzmann 1976, 71.
68 Drescher 1946, 102.
69 Nico lle 1994, 56-57.
70 Ma yer 1952, 21.
71 Maqrizi quoted in Mayer 1952, 27.
72 Mayer 1952, 28.
73 Nico lle 1994, 5·
74 See Pearson , chapter 14.
75 Freer Canteen (inv. 41.10), Washington, D.C.;
in Ati11975, 69- 70.
77 Estoire de la CHene Sainte, q uot ed "in Leaf and
Purcell 1986, 56-57.
78 Hu sselm an 1965, 80-81.
79 For Arme nia , Geo rgia, and Russia see Ande r-
so n 1997, 83. For th e Crusa der states see Folda
1995, 155. For th e Arab world see Etti ngha usen
1977, 67-80.
80 Gra bar 1984.
81 Ett ingha usen and Gra ba r 1987, 375-376 .
82 Bibliot heque Nationale, Paris (M s. Arabe 5847).
See Grabar 1984 and Okhasah 1992.
83 Leroy 1974, 226-228.
84 Bibliothequ e Natio nale, Paris (Ms. Co pte 13).
See Leroy 1974, " 3-148 , pis. 41-74.
85 This New Testament is wr itte n in Bohair ic
Cop tic with a para llel Arabic tra nslation . The
ma n uscript is now divided between the Instit ut
Cat ho liq ue, Paris (Co pte-Arabe 1) an d th e
Coptic M useum, Cairo (MS Bibl. 94). See
Leroy 1974, 157- 174, pis. 75-92, and 174-177, pis.
93-95·
86 For m iniatur e paint ers of th e thirteenth-
century Arab world shar ing the same art istic
mi lieu , see Ett ingha usen and Gra ba r 1987, 375.
O n the problem of ident ifying illustr ated secu-
lar m anu script s fro m th irt eenth-cent ury Egypt,
see Ett ingha usen 1977, 60. For a discussio n of a
Christian work shop of painters active in Egyp t
at thi s tim e see Hunt 1985, 136-1 44.
87 Cotto n Genesis, British Library, London (co d.
Cott o n Otho B. VI), Bristol IVv (Lot's H ou se);
Rossano Gospels, Rossa no , fol. Sv (Christ
befor e Pilate); Ashburn ha m Pent ateu ch, Biblio -
th equ e Nationa le, Paris (cod. n. acq. lat. 2334)
fol. 76r (M oses Receivin g th e Law); in Weit z-
mann 1977,co lor plates 22, 31, and 47. Byzan-
tin e Gospel Boo k, ca. 1050-10 75, Paris, Bibl,
Nat. Gr. 74, fol. 51V (Last Jud gm ent ); in Low-
den 1997, 302. Madrid Chro nicle of John
Skylites, So uth Italian (Palermo), ca. " 50- " 75,
Bibliot eca'Nacional, Madrid (Vit r. 26-2), fols.
43r (a) , 102r (a ), 103v (a), 112r(b), 145r (b ), and
21OV; in Evans and Wi XOIll 1997, 6, 7, 9, 11,14, 19.
88 Nelso n no tes that th e Cairo New Testament
(1249-1250) an d an undated Fables oj Bidpai in
Paris (arabe 3465) share a co mmon vocabulary
of gesture, whic h has its ult ima te or igins in
Byzan tium. He remark s that by 1250 , "these
formerly Byzantine eleme nt s have been
absorbed and fused with co ntempo rary refer-
ences to form a syncretistic style that ren de rs
labels like Mu slim or Christian useless in thi s
co ntext. " Nelson 1983, 208. Nebuchad nezzars
gesture is probably an example of such a "co n -
tempo rary reference," in thi s case deriving
from an Islamic, rath er th an Byzantine, so urc e.
89 Biblioth equ e Nationa le, Paris (Ms. Arabe 5847),
fols. 8r, IOV, 14[ , 18 r , ziv, 25v, 42V, 43[ , H OV,
u sv, 125v,130v, 146v, 148r.
90 For fiftee nth-cen t ury exa mp les of thi s gest ure
in paintings from Shiraz and Herat, see Gr ay
1979, pis. 40, 44, 45, figs. 86, 90, 95, 118, 125, 127,
139·
91 Math ews 1993, 104-106.
92 Sada n 1976, 127- 133.
93 Madr id Chro nicle of joh n Skylites, Biblioteca
Nac iona l, Mad rid (Vit r. 26-2), fol. 47r.; in
Evans and Wixo m 1997, 7.
94 Frontispieces of Kitab al-Aghani : vol. 4, Dar al-
 NOTES TO PAG ES 1 2 4 - 14 5
Ku t ub, Ca iro (BoN. ada b 579). fol. ir; in Fares
1961, pI. 8; vol, 17. Mi llet Kutuphanesi, Ista n b ul
( Feyzu llzh Efendi 1566), fol. H; in Ettinghausen
1977, 65·
95 Det ach ed m ini ature from th e Mater ia Medica
of Dio skorides, cop ied by Abd allah ibn al-F adl ,
Iraq , 1224, Free r Ga llery o f Ar t, Smit hson ian
In stitute, Washi ngton. D.C. (32.20V); in Atil
1975. 20, fig. 25.
96 H unt 1985.
97 Biblioth equ e Natio nale, Pari s (Ms. Arabe
6094) ·
98 Gabra rem ark s that b y th e Bahri Marnluk
period (1250- 1382), "Co ptic o rna m en t had
assumed a n Islamic flavour. " He sites a manu -
sc rip t o f th e fou r Gos pels (A.D. 1340 ) in th e
Co pt ic Mu seum with a fronti spi ece in th e style
of contemporary M am luk Qur' an s; Ga b ra 1993.
74. An other Coptic gos pel book d ated to ' 331,
in the M on aster y of St. Paul. has a sim ilar fro n-
tispi ece; Lyster 1999, 70. Also see Hunt 1998.
336 .
99 Bibliotheque Nat iona le, Pari s. Ms. Co pte 13.
fol. 2V.; in Evan s a nd Wixom 1997, 381, cat. 251,
and Lero y 1974. pI. 42.
100 Walter s 1989, 205-206, pis. 18-19.
101 Coq uin 1975, 253- 254, 260-261.
102 N ico lle not es tha t padd ed kazagh and a rmor
was known in the Cru sade r sta tes on ly in th e
seco n d half of the twe lfth century. Nico lle 1996.
165.
8. TH E K HURUS VAULT
1 Luzi and De Cesa ris, cha p te r 9.
2 The conservators we re able to ascertain tha t th e
row s of rou nd wi ndows at the ba se o f the vaul t
pr ed ate th e pain ted cei ling, beca use th ese win-
d ows are recessed . and plaster ove rla ps th eir
edges. However, they could no t say whether the
irregular profi le of the cu rren t vau lt a nd the
hexagon al windows at its apex were new ad di-
tions by the anonymous ma ster s.
Van Moorsel co ns ide rs th em to be co n te m po-
rary with those in th e khurus ceiling zo ne a nd
dates all of the se paintings to the four teenth
cen t ury. Van Moorse l iccsb, 109. 114-115.
4 Luzi and De Cesa ris, in conver sation, May
1999. See also chapter 9. Pr ecedents exist for
em be dd ing painted wooden panel s into pl as-
ter ed walls. Th e he ad s o nly o f th e eld er s o f th e
apocalypse in the Ha ykal of Benjamin, in th e
Monaster y of SI. Macarius, are painted wood.
Leroy 1982, 23- 25, pI. 10.
See th e lon g-sleeved tunics o f the two angel s at
th e to p of Chr ist's m a nd orl a (C2), a nd M ar y's
clothing (CIO).
https://coptic-treasures.com/
262
6 See th e t races of br ight gree n in the throne of
Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob in paradise ( K5).
Ca rr and Morocco 1991,35- 36.
8 Ca rr a n d M o rocco '99 1, 100-1 01; Mo u rik i 1984.
200.
9 Carr and Morocco 1991. 89-92.
10 Th is ico n was sign ifican tly rep ainted ca. 1200.
Pap ageo rgbi ou 1992, 22.
11 We a re gratefu l to An nernarie Weyl Ca rr fo r
thi s ob servation .
12 O ur th anks to Ca rr fo r th e da ting o f thi s icon .
13 Weit zm ann 1966, 61-69.
14 For the icon in Istanbul, see Math ews 1998, fig.
45. See also ano ther mosaic icon o f th e Virg in
and Ch ild (ca . 1150 - 1200 ). Kara ka tsanis 1997.
59, fig. 2·3·
15 No te three Cy p rio t exa mp les: th e m and ylion
(Kato Lefkara ); Ch rist Pant ocrator (Lagoud -
era); a nd a n icon of Ch rist (C h urc h of th e
Pa nagia , Moutou llas). In the Monastery o f
St. Cathe rine, see th e Ch rist o f th e Anastasis,
a n d also th e C rucifixion, bo th d at ed to ca .
1275-1 30 0. See also C utler 1983, 35-45.
16 Kato Lefk ar a, Lagoudera, a n d th e Sina i
Anasta sis,
17 See th e en try int o Jerusalem a nd th e
C ru cifixio n. am on g ot he rs. in Mo ur iki 1984,
200 -212, pIs. LXXIX-LXXX.
18 T hanks to Robe rt Nelso n and Siobodan Cur Cic
fo r d irecti ng o ur att ent ion to th e red back-
gro u nd s in Cyp riot paintings. Two exam ples
a re the Ch ur ch of th e Hol y C ross . Pelendri, of
1178,a n d th e Pa nagia to u Mou toullas of 1280.
19 T h is icon may have been pa in ted for a
Crus ad er patron. according to Weit zm ann .
For a reproduct ion and list of the extensive
bibli ograph y o n th e subject, see Der bes 1989.
191-1 92, nn . 11-12, fig. 4.
20 We ar e very gratefu l to Ca rr a nd Ch rist ina
Spanou fo r th is ob serva t io n. and fo r th eir
ca refu l co nsideration of the Figural Ma ster's
training.
21 O ur th anks to Pap ageor ghi ou , w ho described
this inte rpretive model to us in co nversatio n,
Septe m be r 1999 .
22 M agu ire 1998. 64- 65.
23 For earli er exa m ples o f thi s pra cti ce, see
Weit zm ann 1964. 346- 347.
24 See Bolrn an , cha p te r 4. n. 106.
25 Belman , ch apter 4.
26 An exa m ple in th e M on aster y o f St. Ca therine
is part o f a series of festal sce nes o n an iconos-
tas is be a m . O ther exa m ples exist fro m Cyp rus .
Ch u rch of Hosios Louka s, Nicos ia, earl y thir-
teenth cent ur y, and also from Ca p padoc ia,
Karanlik Kilise, Gorerne Valley. The inspi ratio n
for my ob servation cam e from a fascin ating
a rticle , Neff 1998. 254-273-
27 M agui re 1988. 89·
28 Monastery of St. Macarius, late twelfth century,
re pro d uced in Leroy 1982. pI. 33A;a nd th e
Chape l o f St. Geo rge. Ch urc h ofSt. M ercu rius,
O ld Ca iro .
29 Pari s. Institut Catholique, MS Copre-A rabe I.
fol. 179r. Lero y 1974.1 57.
30 Two exa m ples exist. Paris. Institut Cat ho liqu e,
M5 Coptc-Arabe 1, fol. 57r.
31 Pari s. Institut Ca tho lique, M5 Co pte-A rabe 1,
fol s. '75 r, 178v.
32 Pa ris, Inst itu t Ca tho lique, 1\15 Co p te-Arabe 1,
fols. 66r. 109V. For a di scu ssion of thi s m oti f
a nd its Near Easte rn ances try, see Gelfcr- Ie r-
gensen 1986, 63-68.
33 Van Moo rsel co ns ide red all fo ur arc ha ngels to
be b y th e same hand. Van Mo or sel tco yb, 109,
114·
34 Our th ank s to th e co nservator Gianluca
Tancio ni, who ob ser ved thi s poin t and the
detai ls su p po rt ing it.
35 Kuhnel icss, 190. pi s. 68-70; Sevce nko 1991.
438.
36 G rab ar 1957, 252-25 4.
37 To o ur know led ge, thi s subjec t does n ot appear
anywhe re in Co pt ic ar t.
38 Cyp riot ico ns: Ch urc h o f Panag ia An gelokt is-
to s, Kiti, fo urt een th century, Papageorghiou
1992, pI. 50; Ch u rch of th e Arc hangelos
Pedoulas, ca. '4 74. Papageor gh iou 1992, 105.
p I. 66 . Wall painting: Ch urc h of Hagia Tri ad a,
Kranidi, 1244.
39 See Pearson, cha pter 14.
40 T h irtee n th -century Isla m ic coi ns and architec -
ture decorated with figurative ima ges: Hillen -
b rand '999. figs 1.5, 1.18, 1.21, 1.23, 1.24. 2.7, 2.27.
3.2. 3.22,4.1,4 .15, 7.8. 8.5. and pis. 1.6. 4.1, 4.24.
41 Sanders 1998, 162.
42 Ati11975. 68.
43 Gr abar 1987, 129; Lings 1976. 15; Sch im m el
1970. 1-4·
44 Ce no ta ph of Im am Shafi'i , 1211. M useum of
Islam ic Art, Cairo (408); in Baer 1998, 84, fig.
103·
45 Brass astro labes : History o f Science Mu seum,
Oxford (CCA 103); in Irwin 1997. 205. fig. 166.
Brit ish Mu seu m (BM. OA 1855.7- 9.1); in Bra n d
1991, 107. fig. 69·
46 Ma qa rnat of al-Ha riri (twe n ty- firs t sess io n),
Baghdad. 1237, Bibliotheque Nationale, Par is
 N OTE S TO PA GE S 14 5 - 1 5 6
(Ms. Arabe 5847), fol. 58v; in Okh asah 1992, 89.
47 Mu 'a llaqa panel s: Hun t 1989, figs 3- 9.
48 Syriac Gospe l Book, Mos ul, 1220,Vatican, Bib-
liotheque Apsto lique (Ms. Siriaco 559), fol.
105r; in Etti nghausen 1977, 94. O ther Syriac
exam ples of th is arabesque network: Syriac
Lectionary, Syria (Ma r Matt ei?), 1216-1220,
Briti sh Library, O riental and Indi an Office Col-
lection (Add. Ms. 7170) 156v (Anastasis); in
Evans and Wixom 1997,3 84, cat. 254. Syriac
Gospel book, Church of Mar Giwargis,
Qaraq us (near Mos ul), thirt eenth or fourt eent h
cent ury; in Lero y 1964, I. 390-396; 2. pI. 16.1.
49 Brass candlestick inlaid with silver, gold, and
copper, Egyp t, ca. 1290, Walters Art Gallery,
Baltimore (54.459); cera m ic bowl with inscrip -
tion co ntaining th e napkin ( bllqja) blazon of a
jail/ dar (mas ter-o f-the-robes) (ca. 1350). Cairo,
M use um of Islami c Art 5974; in Atil 1981,
65-67, cat. 16and 183-185, cat. 93. O u r th an ks
to Nasser O. Rabba t fo r pointing o ut th e simi -
lari ty between th e khurus cross medallion s an d
Mamluk ra nk blazons.
50 El-Said and Parman 1976, 50-5 1,73, fig.51.
51 Frontispiece of prince and atte nda nts with
hexagon al archit ectural decoration , Kitab al-
Diryaq, Mosu l, ca. 1225-1250, Osterrei chische
Nationa lbibliothek, Vien na (Cod. AF 10) fol. 1;
in Ett inghausen 1977, 91, and Brand 1991, 115,
fig. 76. Canteen, Syria, c. 1240, Freer Gallery of
Art , Sm ithsonian Institut ion, Washin gton , D.C.
(41.1O ); in Atil1981, 69-73- Brass tray inlaid
with silver and gold m ad e by Mosul cra ftsme n
in th e cou rt of th e Mon gol Ilkhans, Tabri z (?),
ca. 1280, British Mu seum (OAI878.12-30.706 );
in Ward 1993, 87.
52 Prisse d'Avennes 1877, pI. 58.
53 Cense r, Dama scus , ca. 1200, Aro n Collection;
in Irwin 1997, 28-29, fig. 16.
54 Sircali Medr ese, 1242-1243, and Karat ay
Medr ese, 1251-1253; in Baer 1998, 77, fig. 95.
55 Math ews and Sanjian have asserted that thi s
floral motif began to appea r in the 1280s, but
th e Walters' example is earlier: Baltim ore,
Walters Art Gallery, Arme nian MS W539, Fou r
Gos pels, fol. 318r. Numero us exam ples can be
see n in th e cano n tables of the Glajor Gos pels.
Math ews and Sanjia n 1991, 4 (Euseb ian Pro -
logue: frame of arch ), 16 (tables 6, 7: colum ns),
17 (tables 8, 9: colum ns), 20 (table 10: bo rder) .
56 Math ews and Sanj ian icci, 167.
57 See Pear son , chapter 14.
58 See Lyster, chapter 7.
59 Ou r thanks to Sam ir Mor cos for h is help in
iden tifying Psalm 122.
60 Bierm an 1998b.
61 Foundation inscription of the Citadel of Cairo ;
https://coptic-treasures.com/
in Rabb at 1995, pis. 11, 12.
62 Inscriptions of the funerary co mplex o f
Qalawun , Creswell 1978, v, 2, pis. 65a-b
(facade), 70a (mausoleu m ).
63 See Blair 1998,32, fig. 3.13.
64 See Pearso n, chap ter 14.
65 T his inscrip tion is so sim ilar in style to the
arc hway inscription between th e nave and th e
annex (N17) th at th ey were prob abl y paint ed at
th e same tim e.
66 See Belma n, chapte r 4.
67 Maqamat o f al-Ha riri, Baghd ad , ca. 1225- 1235,
State Herm itage Mu seum, St. Petersburg (Ms.
S. 23), 250 (t h irty-seve nth session ), 256 (thirty-
eighth sessio n) ; in Ett inghau sen 1977, 107, 106.
68 Institute Catho lique, Paris (Co ptc-A rabe I),
fols. IV(Matt hew), 65V (Mark), 105V (Luke),
174V(John ); in Leroy 1974, pis. 75, 83, 85, 89.
Coptic M use um, Ca iro (Bibl. 94 Copte-Arabc),
fol. 129v (james, Peter, John, and Jude); in
Leroy 1974, pl. 94.
69 Glajor Gospels (UCLA Armenia n MS I), Canon
Tables, pp. 4, 5, 13, 16, 20; in Mathews and
Sanjian 1991.
70 Ibn Fadl-Allah al-' Urnari, qu oted in Rabb at
1995, 202.
71 T he dates of these ceilings are oft en uncertain;
see Lezine 1972,131.The dat es used here are
fro m the " Index to Mo ha m medan Mon u-
m ents" appearing o n th e Special 1:5000 scale
m aps of Ca iro in Creswell 1978.
72 Qa 'a of M uh ib ad- Din al-M uwaqq i': in Revault
an d Maury 1977, pis. 19-22.
73 Lezine 1972, 132.
74 Qa'a of the Palace of Am ir Bashtak; in Revault
and Ma ury 1977, pis. 9-14, and Lezine 1972,
pis. 14- 15.
75 Q a'a of th e Palace of Amir Taz; in Revault
and Mau ry 1977, pIs. 45, 47, 48, and Lezine 1972,
pI. 18.
76 Ma q'a d in th e Palace o f Am ir Taz; in Revault
and Mau ry 1977, pI. 43.
77 These buildings are among the ear liest su rviv-
ing examples of qa'as in Cairo. Mo st of th em
were probably co nstruc ted more tha n fifty
years after the Ornam ent al Master was active in
the Ch urc h o f St. Anto ny. The tr aditi on of
paint ed woo den ceilings in Cairo , however,
predates th e fourt eenth century. The Qa 'a of
th e Deir al-Banat (ca. eleventh cen tury) , the
Mau soleu m of Imam Shafi' i (1211),the Mad rasa
of Sultan as-Salih Ayyub (1243), and th e funer -
ary com plex of Sulta n Q alawun (1285)all
feature ornam ented wooden ceilings with
either coffers or pro jecting beam s. Qa 'a of the
Dei r al-Banat, Lezine 1972, 78- 79, '32. pI. 2.
For thirteenth-century wood en ceilings, see
Cres well 1978, v. 2, pI. 26a (Im am Sha fi' i),
pI. 37C (Sulta n as-Salih Ayyub ), pis. 67b, 7}a-b
(Sultan Qalawun ).
78 Recent Spanish cons ervation of the painted tie-
beam s at St. Sergius in Old Cairo reveals man y
sim ilari ties with the khurus an d qu 'a mo tifs.
79 See Pearson, chapter 14·
80 See den Heijer, in Pearson, cha pter 14.
81 See th e paint ed woo den ceiling o f the ent rance
of th e Palace of Am ir Besht ak; in Revault and
Maur y 1977, pl. 15.
82 For example, th e Qa 'a o f th e Deir al- Banat
probably originally belon ged to a Cop tic
notable of the Fatimid period. Cer tai nly, at
some later time it becam e part of the Co ptic
convent of St. Geo rge in Old Cairo . Lezin e
1972, 72- 79.
83 Vatican Library, Copto 9, folios 221, 146v, 236v,
338v, (but not fol. 20V) in Leroy 1974, plates H,
101-104.
84 She not es an Armenia n connect ion , indicated
by inscri ption al evidence , in the Wh ite
Monastery near Sohag. The Armenia n artist
worked th ere in 1124 and can not therefore be
th e same artist who worked at the Mo nas tery
of St. Anton y.
85 Hunt , 1985, 11 5, 121- 122, 141.
86 Hun t, 1985, 125.
87 Nelson 1983, 21 8.
88 Cutler 1999, 635-648, pis. I1I.98, III.102.
9. CONSE RVA TI ON OF T HE
WA L L P AI NTI N G S
We expre ss our gratitude to o ur friend and
fellow conservator, Lucia Morg anti, for her
help and frien d ly criticism in pro ducing this
techni cal report.
I The project was divided int o six mission s:
7 Novem ber-22 December 1996; 20 Ianuary-rz
Apri l 1997; 20 Septe mber-en Decem be r 1997; 16
March-29 May 1998; 8 October-rc December
1998; and 14 Apr il-3 Jun e 1999.
2 Cf. ANNEXA, pages I- VI, rep or t by Luzi and
De Cesar is 1995.
3 Luzi and De Cesa ris 1995.
4 Th e ph ot ograph ic docum ent ation was
executed between 1974 and 1975. Van Moorsel
1995b .
Cf. Kraack 1997, 258-267.
6 Note the sim ilar ities betwee n the windo ws
und er the cupo la of the sanct uary in the
Church of St. Ant on y and th ose of the refecto ry
 NO TES TO PAGES 157-168
at the so -called Syria n Mo nastery. Badawy
1978. 52.
7 Th e ad d itio n of or gani c fibers served to keep
th e mix ture humid for a lon ger tim e. so as to
imp ro ve the ma lleab ility of th e plaster during
appl ication of th e paint.
8 Bolman, chapter 3.
9 For exa m ple. it appears o n th e west wall and
ben eath th e paintings of Pach omi us (N12).
She noute (N28). Arsen ius (NlO). an d Barsuma
(NU).
10 As far as th e ope ning of thi s arc h is co ncerned,
the presence of a red line traced dir ectly on the
Co ptic picto rial layer can be identified in a
n umber of poin ts and is st ill clea rly visible at
th e edge of the Byzan ti ne plaster. T his lin e was
evident ly traced as a tempor ary ind icatio n of
the area beyond whic h no cha nges were to be
mad e to th e Co ptic paintin gs. Between thi s line
and the act ua l ar chwa y there is a dis tance of
approximately 40 em, wh ich corresponds to
the in ner walls of the arch .
U In so me cases, Byzantine interventi on can be
observed wher e the re was a marked state of
decay in the Co ptic pain tin gs. O n th e no rth wall
of the upper khuru s, at th e feet of the three
wome n at the tomb (KI2), we ident ified painted
plaster in a large gap. over which the Byzantine
layer was ap plied .
12 T he figures of th e two sai nts situated o n th e
pilla rs at th e entra nce to th e sanc tua ry (s8, S9;
fig. 4-30 ), however . had a th ick layer of dir t
mad e u p of dep osit s of organ ic and carbo n
parti cles u nd er a thi n layer of gesso. T hese
paintings m ust have been cove red o nly at
a later date, wh en th e woo de n beam . now
rem oved . was inse rt ed at the heigh t of th e
two faces.
13 Th e use of a binding age nt similar to the o ne
used by ar tis ts in th e subseq ue nt Co ptic phase
can be assum ed .
14 T his yellow. wh ich is also use d for th e haloes.
does not appear to contain iron oxide. whi ch.
however , is found in the pigm ent co lo ring
th e crosses between the four roundels of the
apo stles.
15 All th e eleme n ts fra ming th e rou ndel s are laid
on in thin irr egul ar strips app ro xim ately 1.5 em
wide .
16 On e mu st bear in mind that the lett erin g
describ ed her e falls cohe rently int o the co ntex t
of co eval Western pai ntin g, whe re sim ilar tech -
nicallett erin g can be found th rou gh out th e
Me d ite rra nea n basin: cf. Winfield 1968, 61- 139;
Mo ra, Mora. and Ph ilippot 1984. Th is is true
both in iconographic layout s and in the use of
co m mo n tool s and painting meth od s-the
same on es used in Byzantine late -Romanesque
https://coptic-treasures.com/
koine for both monumental and panel paint -
ings-variations of which are in many cases
determi ned mer ely by the use of materials
available and so me times co nd itio ned by cli-
mati c factors. On thi s subjec t, cf. also Rosa
1957, 58-77, wh o descr ibes th e single stages in
Byzantine painting method s during the seve nth
to ninth cen turies, with reference to the
palimpsest wall in Santa Maria Antiqua, Rom e.
In th is sense it may be intere sting to compare
technical data co m mo n to thi s Co ptic ph ase in
th e Ch ur ch of St. Anto ny with that found , for
exam ple. in th e hermit chap els in Puglia- also
dat ing fro m th e late-Ro man esq ue period.
between the twelfth and th irteenth centur ies-
which have similarities in style and probably
also in applicatio n method. Cf. Pin a Belli d ' Elia
et al. 1980. 45-u6; Man go 1978; Ca rita 1959;
Medea 1938; Medea 1937, 3-18. Byzantine
so urces ar e also useful, espe cia lly the so-ca lled
Mount Athos ma n uscrip t. th e Hermeneia by
Dio nysius of Fourna (cod. gr. 708 in the St.
Peter sburg Pub lic Library), in Hetherington
1978,1 2-15, whi ch co nta ins information abo ut
co m pos itio n and applicatio n of plaster , th e
meth od s used to tr anspose dr awin g, th e co lo rs
used in th e backgro u nds, faces, etc. C f. Rassart -
Deb er gh 1994, 300- 306.
17 Except io ns: th e ro und el to the left of
Claud ius (N19) and near th e page s to th e left
of Mercurius (K3).
18 T he ea rlie r paintings are fro m th e seco nd
id entified p rogr am in th e ch urc h. dated so me-
tim e be tween th e seve nth ce ntury and 1232.
19 See Pear son . cha pter 14.
20 T he highli gh tin g o n th e ro cks in th e Easter
cycle o f th e kh u rus (K12, K18) combines fine
pa rallel and cro ssed lin es.
21 T his meth od of execut ion is par alleled techni -
cally and visua lly to th e exec utio n of icon s and
mo n umental paint in gs. co nsistent with so phis-
ticated Byza nt ine pictorial pro cesses. Techni cal
sim ilar it ies can be clea rly seen in th e var iou s
cultur al areas found aro und the Med iter -
rane an , con sistin g o f a co m mo n " Byzantine"
pictorial language during th e late-Roman esqu e
period. Cf. also Mor a, Mora. and Philippot
1984.
22 T he o lde st so ur ce to deal system at ically with
pictorial use of rigid cardboard templates is
Valentin Bolt z von Rufa ch 's llluminierbucl••
pr int ed in Basle in 1549, whe re thi s means is
described as " patro nen papyr": cf. Rufach 1913.
A n um ber of o the r do cument s attes t to the
existence of th is prac tice, however- th at is to
say. th e use of pa troni, for tracin g. During the
Byza ntine period it is also possib le to find
syste mat ic de scription s of how to obta in tru e
co pies fro m orig ina ls, know n as antybola . Cf.
Th eophilus 1843; Brunello, 1971, LXVII; Nim mo
and Olivetti 1985-19 86. 399-411.
23 For the pictorial pa limpsest and the various
layers of wax pre sent at KI5-KI6, cf. stra tigraph-
ical sectio ns in R & C Scien t ifica s.r .l, 1995,7-14.
ana lysis no . I.
24 For th e arc h itectura l st ruct ure of th e wall. see
th e study made in 1994 by Mic hael I. Kujaw ski.
Ph oto graph ic document atio n by Godeau was
used to cha rt the various types o f ph enomena
referr ed to here. Ob ser vation s o bta ined from
direct anal ysis of the sur faces we re then trans-
ferr ed o nto this ph o tographic do cu me ntati on
by su perim pos ing a number of transparent
acetate shee ts with sym bo ls. indi catin g th e vari-
o us types of deteri or ation and the points where
they are fou nd. Subseq uen tly, scale d rawings
were pr epar ed for th e various walls, with titles
and top ographical refer en ces. doc ume nt ing the
problems found in the complex an d the
method of co nserva tio n req uired. T his work
will remain useful instrument for future stab il-
ity test s carried o ut o n th e trea ted areas .
25 To identi fy th e areas of the churc h in whi ch
detachment s have occu rre d at di fferent levels.
co m pa re th e graph ic document ation for eac h
d rawing (available at AR C E ).
26 Dur ing winter th is area is subjec t. albeit rar ely,
to per iods of cop io us rainfa ll.
27 In th e pa int ings showing George and Mer-
cur ius t ~ ~ pr ese nce of th ese exte nsive ar eas of
detachment ma y ac tua lly also be related to
static sett ling d ue to co m p ression of th e ma ster
wall.
28 Fo r a detailed map of the gaps in the plaster ,
see th e tables in the gra ph ic document ation .
29 The alter atio n of ceru se and of the pale co lor s
manifest th emselves in p unct iform or mor e
extensive brow ning.
30 Basic lead carbo nate is cha nged into platnc rite ,
da rk brown in co lo r, acco rd ing to the following
formu la: zPb COJ ' Pb(OH)2-> Pb0 2. Th e pr es-
ence of o nly a ver y small amoun t of binding
agent ma y also have co ntributed to th is t ran s-
formation int o platn erite, Th e are a in th e Cop-
tic lett erin g in th e kh urus th at has rem ain ed
un alter ed. as well as co inc idi ng with an area of
the wall tha t was protected fro m th e sun's rays.
was also painted o ver a seco nd time to co rrect
th e text, th us doubl ing th e amo unt o f bind ing
age nt present.
31 O n this su bject. cf. Ma tte ini and Mo les 1989.
32 Yellow oc hre cha nges to hemati te of a red co lor
when heated . du e to a loss of Hp.
33 T he figur es used to express the ratio between
the various solvents in th e mixture in d icate th e
number of par ts by volume.
 NO TES T O PAGES 173 -182
10 . PERSPECTIVES ON THE
MO N A S T ER Y O F S T. A N TO N Y
I wo uld like to th a nk Dr. Ma rr iane Eato n-
Krauss for revisin g m y Eng lish, a nd Elizabe th
S. Bolman for her ed ito rial wo rk.
I Evett s 1895, 160 (54b) .
2 See a forthcom ing lon g a rticle by Gab ra on
th e history and library of th e Monaster y of St.
Anton y, planned for th e seco nd bo ok on th e
site, wh ich is mentioned by Belman in th e
introduction.
Bon nardot and Longnonl878, 69-70; Me inar-
dus 1992, 11 n. 31; Coq uin a nd Martin 1991a,
722.
4 Hoffman 1942, 11-24; Bilanuik 1991, 1JJ8-1JJ9 .
Horner 1898, LXIV-LXV; H ebbelyn ck an d van
Lantsc hoot 1937, 32.
6 Those argu ing far 1484 are Rufailah 1898, 244;
Simaika 1932, 109; Nah la 1954, 68; Farag 1964,
46; Coqu in and Martin , 1991a, 722; van M oo rsel
1995b, vii. In favor of 1493 ar e Fedd en 1937, 42;
Doresse 1952, 7; M einardus 1961, 44; and
Meinardus 1992, 12-1 3.
7 Cf. Piankoff 1956a, 24, n. 22; Timrn 1984- 1992,
3: 1309 n. 119·
8 Mei nard us ' 992, 12; van Moo rsel 1995b, vii n.
14. For Gabr iel VI, see Sam ir 1991a, 1133.
9 Mo nas tery o f SI. Anto ny, Librar y, Ma n uscr ip t:
Liturgy 391, fol. 180; see also Col 275- 278.
10 Ano ny mo us 1951, 53.
11 H orner 1898, lxiv; Hebb elyn ck a nd Lantscho ot
1937,32-33; Sarnir 199ta , 1133-1134.
12 Col 300 -301, 317.
13 Van Moorsel icoyb, viii n. 15.
14 Atiya 1991b, ' 919.
15 Evelyn-Wh ite 1973, 417- 430.
16 Mo nas tery of SI. An tony, Librar y, M s. b iblical
n o. 164, fol. 132V; Sima ika 1932, 114, no. 104, no.
164; see also , Fedden 1937,48; Tim rn 1984-1 992,
3: ' 314; Meinardus '99 2, '9; Coquin and Martin
199 1a , 723·
17 EI-Masri ' 982, 508-513.
18 Behren s-Abouseif 1972, 98- 99; el-M as ri 1982,
515-516 .
19 Ati ya 1968, 106; Ted eschi 1991, 1035.
20 Atiya 1968, 105.
21 Fedden 1937, 49.
22 See Vivian , cha pte r 1, for a di scussion of the
monophysite do ctrine.
23 Fiey 1972-1 973, 297- 326.
24 Scr ibal note in a Syria c m anuscript: Evelyn -
https://coptic-treasures.com/
W h ite 1973, 317 n. 4,389-39°.
25 Samir 1995, '33; Evetts 1895, ioa , 24.
26 Khater a nd KHS- Bur mester '970, 3.2: 114,
191- 192.
27 Budge 1928, 1106- 1JJ0.
28 Hebbeln yck a nd va n Lant schoot 1937, 32, n. 9.
Khater a nd KHS-Burmester 1970 , 3.3: 133, 228,
" Ga b riel . . . a nephew o f th e fath er Pet e r
( Bu trus) as- Sam i" (that is, th e Syrian). Patri-
a rch Damian (569-6°5) also ori gin ated from
Syria: Hardy 1991, 688.
29 See G riffith , chap te r 11.
30 It is now pre serv ed in the Bibliotheque
Na tio na le, Pari s, Syria n 191. See Co qu in and
Ma rtin 199ta , 722.
31 Martin 1996, 88 n. 240, 502-505.
32 Karn il 1950- 1957,9-10 .
33 Khater and KHS- Bur m este r 1970, 3.2: 114, 192.
34 Khater and KHS-Burmester 1970 , 3.2: 114, 192.
35 Timrn 1984-199 2, 3: 1299·
36 Budge 1928, 1106-1110.
37 Co lin 1988, 300 , 305, 315. Sern'on also translated
t he life of St. Basilid es. Peet ers 1922, 248.
38 See T im rn 1984- 1992, 3: 1310; Mei nard us 1992,
13,30.
39 Wan sleb en (Va nsleb ) 1678, 181.
40 Me ina rd us 1962, 57; Tedesc h i '9 91, 1033-1036.
41 M ein ardus 1992, 20-21.
42 Atiya 1968, 156-1 57; Tedesc hi 1991, 1034-1036.
43 EI-Masri 1982, 514-5 15.
44 Aitya 1968, 106; Ted esch i 1991, 1035.
45 Evelyn-W h ite 1973, 366.
46 Co q u in a nd Ma rtin 1991b, 764. For th e in flu-
ence of th e Arme n ian viziers in Egyp t, see
Dad oya n 1996, 193- 213.
47 Hunt 1985, 113 n. 29.
48 Col 296 n. 36, 317; van Mo orsel 1991b, 726; va n
Moorsel rcc yb, 173, 184-1 85; Tim n~ 1984-199 2,
3: 1311.
49 See Griffith , chapter II.
50 Farmer 1980 , 158.
51 Van Ze elst 1991, 11 22.
52 M einardus 1966 , 525- 526.
53 See Griffith , chapter 11.As noted in the intro-
duction , Piccirillo will co nt rib u te a sh or t study
of Father Bern ardus to a n ad d itio na l volu me
o n the Monastery of St. Ant on y.
54 Go lubovic h 1919, 217.
55 Van Zeelst 1991, 11 22.
56 Sau neron 1971,3°9 ,3 16,3 18.
57 Me inar d us '99 2, 14·
58 Ted eschi 1991, 1023.
59 Libo is 1977, 5, 482.
60 Me ina rd us 1966, 526-527.
61 For refer enc es to th e record ed tr aveler s to th e
mon aster y, see Mein ardus 1992, 10- 26; Timrn
1984-199 2, 3: 1305-1330; and Co q uin a nd
Martin 1991a, 721-723.
62 Fedd en 1937,40. See also Vivian , cha pte r I, and
Be lman, chap te r 4.
63 For exa m ple, Felix Fabr i, who visited Egyp t in
1483. See Ma sson '9 75, fol. 49b 1212J.
64 M eina rd us 1992, lO-n ; Timm 1984-1 992, 3:
' 305-1309 ·
65 Bonnardot and Lon gnon 1878, 70 - 71.
66 Pot vin a nd Houzeau 1878, 69- 70.
67 Evelyn-Wh ite 1973, 393-407.
68 Sau nero n 1971, 299-3'3 .
69 Sau nero n 1971,310 - 311. .
7 0 Sauneron '9 71, 309.
71 Wa nslebe n (Vansleb) 1678, 177- 200.
72 Paris, Bibliot heque Natio nal, Sec tio n ca rte s
et plan s, Res. Ge . C.5380. Sicar d 1982, 17- 18
11.1 ,1) 2 .
73 Lyste r 1999, 32.
74 Sicar d 1982, 24. T he sh'a rt de scriptions o fLe
Sieur Tou rtecho t de Gra nge r, who visited th e
mon astery in 1730, d o not provide a ny new
infor ma tio n abo u t th e m o naster y in co m par i-
so n with the det ai led report of Sica rd 1982.
Fed de n '937 ,47; Mein ardus 1966, 18 n. 65;
Timm I984-1 992, 3: 1314; Pian ko ff, unpublish ed
ma n usc ript, 93.
75 Tim m 1984-1992, 3: 1315 a nd nn. 160-168 .
76 Wilkinso n 1843, 2: 381.
77 Uspe nsky 1856.
78 Piankoff, unpublish ed m anu script , 109-JIl.
79 Jullien 1884, 41- 42.
80 Schweinfur th 1922, 157- 200 , esp . 173, 179.
81 See Jon es, chap ter 2, for th e relevan ce of
Schwe infur ths dr awin g o f th e nave, a nd Lyster ,
chap ter 7, for a di scu ssion of Ch ristians wea r-
ing turban s.
82 For th e monastery during th e twentieth cen -
tury see Timrn 1984-1 99 2, 3: ' 314-1 317; Meinar -
du s 1992, 22-27; Mein ardus 1983, 24-51.
83 Strzygows ki '902-1 903, 5'-5 2, 56-57, pl. II (2,3).
 NOTES T O PAGES 182- 192
84 Habachi and Tawudros 1929; Piankoff 1956a,
17 n. 2.
85 Sim aika 1932, 109. In 1901 Geor ge Corda n, th e
minister of France in Egypt , found fort y-one
monks there. Co rda n 1903, 72.
86 lohann Georg '9 30, 32-43, 95-117·
87 Johan n Georg 1930, 43.
88 Joh a n n Georg 1930, 51, fig. 150. For ot her art i-
facts, whic h we re preserved in the keep , see
Me inard us ' 964, 251-2 63.
89 Piankoff 1954, '9 -20 .; Le roy 1976, 347 n. 4.
90 Pian ko ff 1954,20,22; Piankoff '950 -195 7,
151-163; Pian ko ff 1956a, 17- 25.
91 Lero y 1976, 347-379. C-L 267-321.
92 Fed den 1937, 7·
93 Fed den 1937, 51-52.
94 Fed de n 1937, 54·
95 Me inardus 1972, 315·
96 Fedden 1937, 48, 53-60; Simaika 1932, 113 n. 370.
97 Gro ssma n n 1991d , 724.
98 Me inard us 1992, 5-32.
99 Timm 1984-1992, 3: 1287- 1331.
100 Co m me n t m ad e to Me ina rd us by Q u m m us
Murqus al-A n tu n i, hegumenos o f th e M on -
aste ry of St. Anto ny. Me inard us 1972, 3'5.
101 Va n Moor sel icsj, 16- 29; van Moor sel rcoib,
726-728; va n Moor sel iccsb.
102 Saunero n '9 71, fol. 128a.
11. TH E HA NDWRITI N G
O N TH E WAL L
I Cro ne an d Mo reh, 2000, 21-22 .
2 For th e pr emodern periods, pen s wo uld in all
probabi lity ha ve be en th e reed pen s of th e so rt
used by th e p rofessional scribes , a nd ink wo uld
have been th e po pul ar, car bo n based co ncoc-
tion, idea lly black in colo r, th at sometime s
tu rne d brown on wall o r pa pyrus. Ped ersen
1984, 67- 71. Peop le either carr ied writing
impl em en ts with them or the y made use of
wha t they cou ld fin d o n the spot. According to
th e medieval literary acco u nt of an inscriber of
a po etic graffito o n a roc k, " he p u lled an ink-
stand and a pen out of h is sleeve and wrote on
a rock next to him." Crone and Moreh 200 0 ,
86-87. Ot her accoun ts in th e same co llec tion
speak of peo ple who di pped pieces of clo th in to
in k and wrote with th em , or who wrote with a
piece of charcoal (Cro ne and Moreh 2000 , 22,
27); one man " too k a sma ll knife he fou nd in
front of him and wrote . . . o n the wall " (C ro ne
an d Mo reh 2000, 24).
https://coptic-treasures.com/
266
See C-L, 267-321.
4 See C-L, 24-30, whe re the label s un de r N19,
N20, N22, a nd N23a re reco rde d.
Afte r th e cleaning of th e wa ll, th e label under
N23 is onl y faintl y legibl e; it is perfectl y clea r on
a p recleaning photograph a nd is co rr ectly
recorded by C- L, 24. However , th ere is a prob -
lem with th e identification , as th e di sparity of
names indi cate s. It is diffi cult to kno w ho w
th e in scrib er differentiated bet ween th e
sign ifica nce of th e -:.J in the name as written
under N19, and th e J as it is written in the
seem ingly same nam e, Claudius, under N23,
where Sisinnius is in fact portrayed .
6 See Samir 1991a, 1133-1135.
7 See C- L, 278.
26 Oc tob er 1568.
9 25 Nove mb er 1568.
10 The pa triarch's fat he r had been th e pari sh
pr iest of the church of St. Mercurius in Ol d
Cairo. See Sam ir 199Ja, 1133.
II C- L 276 una ccountably translate 185, wh en their
own transcrip tion, an d the text o n the wall,
read: ~ Lo, 11l F'ata. Samir 1991a, 1134 says, "in
th e presence of eighty-five bisho ps."
12 At thi s point th e transc rip t in C- L, 276 ther e
ap pe a rs th e untran slated phrase: )U ~ J '
wh ich m ean s "so meo ne has m ad e a b reak." I
ca n no t no w see th is in th e text on th e wa ll.
13 For th e Ara bic text, Fre nc h t ran slation a nd
co m me n tary: C- L 275-279. T he English tran sla-
tion furnished her e is based o n a fresh rea d ing
o f th e text on the wall, wh ich is n ow fain te r
th an it was whe n Coq u in an d Laferri ere read it.
14 All o f th em are publish ed in C- L nos., 27, 29,
49, p p. 289-290, 291-292, 300-302.
15 See C- L n O.,27, pp . 289-290.
16 See C- L no . 29, pp . 291-2 92.
17 See C-L no . 49, pp. 300 -302.
18 C-L 300 co uld not rea d th e wo rd CS-.u.I, ind i-
cat ing its place with th ree dots in th e text.
19 In fact , C-L 301 voiced ju st suc h a doubt, sug-
gesting that th e th ree int rod ucto ry line s, wh ich
th ey say " ap pea r no t to be by the sa me hand ,"
co uld be th e e nd of anothe r graffi to , now d is-
appeared. I see no real rea son to su ppo se a dif-
feren t han d was at work .
20 See C- L 301. Th ese lines are now scarcely visible
on the wall.
21 See th e remarks of the priest Mo nk Martyr ius
El Suriany, in an unpublished paper written
in Arabic for lnnernee , on th e gra ffiti in th e
M on ast ery of th e Syrians. Also , Father
Martyriu s pr esented so m e of thi s materi al at
the Seventh Intern atio nal Congress of Coptic
Stu d ies, held in Leid en, August 27- Septem ber
2, 2000: "T he You nges t Layer of Plas ter in th e
Ch urc h of th e Holy Virgin Mary in EI-So u rian
Mo nas tery." It sho uld ap pear in the Acts of th at
co ngress.
22 O n Ga rshuni/Gershuni writing see Hat ch 1946,
42- 44. Th er e is a record of a Syria n monk
co py ing a manuscript at th e Mon aster y ofSt.
Antony in Ga rshuni in th e yea r ' 393. See
Coquin and Martin 1991a, 722.
23 East Syrian pri ests: pr esumably thi s d escriptio n
means that the visitor s we re "Nes torians, "
members of th e "C h u rch of th e East. " On th e
sign ificanc e of th ese designat ion s see Bro ck
1996, 23-3 5. Methed: th e reading is very
uncertain .
24 The Eth io pic gra ffiti as th ey a re p resented he re
have been transcribed , translat ed into En glish ,
and stud ied by Getatchew Hai le of the Hill
Monastic Manuscript Library at Sain t John 's
Un iversity, Co llegeville, Minn ., 56321-7300.
25 Th e first part of the autho r's name is not
legible.
26 N JJIJllrn /ld »d (sing. /lJlm l'd Jd) are head s
of religiously a n d po liti ca lly important
mona sterie s.
27 The " Yea r 202" is obv iously th e year thi s
graffi to was writte n : A. D . 1542.
28 Ta kla,l'layma not (d . ca. 1313) was th e fou nder
o f the Mo nas te ry o f Dab ra Asbo in Shoa,
re na me d Dab ra Liba nos after his d eath . Dabra
Libanos, whe re his relics are still pre se rved , has
been th e leadin g Ethio pian m on astery since th e
th irtee n th cen tu ry. Th e native head of th e
ch urc h, th e etchege (Jcdge), was th e head of thi s
m on aster y. Ta kla Haym an ot a nd h is follo wers
were responsible for th e spread o f Ch rist ianit y
in Shoa and fur the r so ut h. See Hail e 1982- 83,
7-38. Abba Sarn u'e l is p ro bably Sam u'el o f th e
mon astery o f Wali/ Wa lda bba in th e province of
Begemdir. See Turai ev 1902.
29 Th e Arme nia n graffiti are bein g st ud ied by
Mo nica J. Bla nch ard of Th e Ca tho lic Un iver sity
of America, Washington, D.C., 2006 4.
30 See th e text published by C-L 296.
31 Th e heraldic graffiti ofl ate r medieval noble
travel er s from western Eu rope have been stud-
ied by Det lev Kraack of th e Technical Uni ver-
sity, Berl in. See Kraack 1997, 249-267.
32 See Kraack 1997, 259. For descriptions and lo ca-
tion s of th ese graffi ti, see Meinardus 1966,
525-52 7·
33 See Kraack 1997, 260 ; Meinardus 1966, 522.
34 See Kraack 1997, 261; M ein ardus '966, 521.
35 See Fedalto 1988, 586.
36 See Strothmann 1932,30-31.
 NO TES T O PAG ES 192-2 18
37 See Piankoff 1943,61-66 . Archiman drite
Porphyr ius later wro te an account of hi s visit
to the mo nastery. See Gabra , cha pter 10.
38 See Volkoff 1978,12- 15.
13. I N T HE FOOTS T EPS
OF T H E SAI NTS
1 Fasting is an importan t religiou s pra ctice
among Copts. For a comp lete list of Coptic
fasts see " Fasts," CEo For an anthro pological
study of the pr actice of fasting: Wissa Wasef
1971.
2 Th e tarn gid is usually sung in fro nt of the
tomb of the saint, but because th e remain s
of St. Anton y are not displayed , thi s in form al
ritua l may tak e place anywhere in the chur ch.
The tarn gid is writte n in Arab ic, but the
Copt ic word mean ing "o ur father " is retained .
4 Pilgrim s to ld me that th is is the cloth helm et,
embe llished with cro sses and wo rn by Cop tic
mo nks, th at is said to have been given first to
St. Anto ny as an aid in his strug gle with temp-
tation. The scholar Pieterne lla van Doorn-
Harder explain s this term alternat ively as either
the small skern a or "m intaqa (belt) th at th e
monk receives du ring his initia tion " o r th e
great skema, which "consists of a four -m eter-
lon g belt of plaited leather" and is th e mar k of a
deep spirituality and unq uestiona ble sp iritual
authority. Van Doorn-H arder ' 995, 68.
The autho r of this popular tarngid is Pop e
Sheno uda Ill , who befor e his ascensio n was
called Abun a Ant oni ou s. Pope She no uda II I
has composed oth er tam gid and spiritua l
poetry as well. For a cop y of the Arabic text see
Anon 1982.
6 Traditio nally these saints' festivals are called
mu lids, th e same word used to describ e th e
Mu slim saint festivals with which they have
much in com mo n. Th ere has been an effort by
th e chur ch to have people use the word 'aid
(pl. 'aiyad ) instead , placing th e em phasis on
the spirit ual significance of th e even t and
downplaying the popular religio us practices
associated with th em . Man y ru ral Egypt ians
conti nu e to use the word mitlid.
Today the mos t important yearly saint festivals
include Sain t Geo rge (Mitt Dam sis), Mari
Girgis Al-Hadidi (Luxor), Anba Shenouda
(Sohag), and th e man y festivals for the Virgin
Mary, including tho se held at Dro nka , Gebel
Tair, Mu sturud, an d Zeitoun . The mos t com -
plete discussion of these festivals can be found
in Viaud ' 979.
Nad r is a common practice among both
Mu slims and Copts in Egypt. It ent ails th e
promise of mak ing some sort of per sonal
https://coptic-treasures.com/
sac rifice in return for a prayer 's being
answered.
9 In his dissertat ion on the Coptic monasteries,
Mark Grube r no tes that "Upper Egyptian
miilids, as tho se in [the mon astery of] eI
M uha rra q, are . . . closely associated with
seaso na l an d agricult ural cycles... . Th e miil id
at el M uh arr aq is profo un dly agrar ian. First
fru its are brou ght to th e deir [mo nas tery] as
offerings to th e monk s. Th e monks take from
th e sacrifices whateve r th ey need for themselves
and later red istribute the rest among th e local
poor. Anim als are slaughtered by leadin g vil-
lage laymen who parade past th e deir with their
blood -stain ed swo rds at the head of great ritu al
pro cession s." Gr ub er '9 90.
10 On the soc ial fun ct ion of saint festivals in th e
Arab world see Gellner 1969 and Mar x 1977.
11 For a gene ral overview of thi s period , see
Haykal ics j and Farah 1986.
12 On the growth of Islamic ist mo vemen ts in
Egypt, see Kepe l 1984.
13 On Pope Kyrollious's con trib ut ions to the
beginn ings of the Co ptic Renaissan ce mo ve-
men t, see Wakin 1963.
14 For a list of Pope Shenouda's accomplishm ent s,
see Zaki 1996. For a detailed ana lysis of the
effects of th e bureaucr atic reforms within th e
chur ch under Pope She no uda, see El-Khawaga
1993·
15 Tischen dorf, Travels ill the East, quoted in
Me inard us '9 92, 62.
16 EI-Khawaga ' 993, 16.
17 Augustino us 1993, 12. Tra ns. by O ram,
18 Meinar dus ' 992, ix- x.
19 O ne such figure is the abbo t of the Mo naste ry
of St. Macar ius, Mata Al-M iskin .
20 For a detailed eth nogra p hic descripti on of this
m on astic naming cerem ony, see Gru ber 1990,
98-102.
21 The metaphor ic link between prayer and
incense as a sweet offer ing to God is ma de sev-
eral tim es during th e course of the liturgy.
22 Pilgrimage is some times referr ed to as ziyara,
the sam e word used for a visit to a friend or
famil y m embe r.
23 Zayt is no t to be confused with the magriin or
holy ch rism th at is ordinarily made only once
during the reign of a pop e and is used str ictly
by pr iests during certain sacra ments and when
anoint ing icon s.
24 Classic studies of th e rich variety of ways in
which baraka man ifests itself include Wester -
mar ck 1968 and Dermenghem '9 54.
25 The on ly other pilgrimage act ivity that I know
of that is equa lly tiring is the ritual climb to the
cave abov e the White Monastery, wh ich takes
place at the mu lid of Anba Sheno uda in July.
26 Self-mortification or physical exha ustion en
route to a holy site is a cr itical part of many
Ch ristia n p ilgrim age tr aditi on s. See, for exam -
ple, Eade and Sallnow 1990.
14. TH E C O P TIC I N S C RI P TI O N S I N
THE OLD C H U RC H OF S T . A N TONY
1 Pian koff 1954; 1956a; 1956b; 1958.
2 CoL.
Van Moor sel ioc sb.
4 The Coptic Psalms are tr anslated fro m th e
Greek Sept uagint version (LXX). In th at ver-
sio n Psalm s 9 and 10 are treated as one , so after
that th e numberin g differs from that of th e
Hebr ew text that underlies our English ver-
sions, up to Psalm 147. LXX 146- 147 are treated
as one in th e Hebr ew, so the number ing of Pss
148-150 is the same in both versions.
Horner 1902, 14.
6 KHS-Bur mes ter 1967, 102.
KHS-Bur me ste r 1967, 338; Liturgy 1974,223;
pa rt of th e Ana phora of St. Basil th e Great.
The pfirase also occur s in the Anap hora of
St. Mark ; see Brightman 1965, i: 185.
Liturgy 1974, 39, 101, 325.
For Magn ificat see Liturgy 1974, 290. For
Th eot okia see O 'Lear y 1923.
10 KHS-Burm ester 1967, 51-53.
11 E.g., Liturgy 1974, 259, 281.
12 Coquin 1975, inscriptions F, G, J, M, and Q
(pp, 267, 268, 272, 274, 279); F and G lack item
4; th e prayer for blessing (I) is repeated in J a nd
M. Th e Esna inscriptions are in Sah id ic Cop tic
and date from around the sam e time as those
of St. Antony (the dated inscription s range
from 1148/1149- 1315!I316. Cf. also th e don or
inscription (dated A.D.953) found at Tebtunis,
on which see Walters 1989, 205.
13 See N31.2, comment ary. Th e same term ap pea rs
in a dedicatory inscription in the Sanctuary of
SI. Ma rk in the Monaster y of SI. Maca riu s
(Wad i al-Natrun ). The inscription run s around
th e sanctuary, now partia lly visible on all four
walls, beneath th e octagon. See Evelyn-Wh ite,
'9 73, 3: 106. Th e beginning of it (o. <j!!lWII I
N.zs.€ J1o. l!!I~r:t ~P <!l/>\[€()J J €e No. N€ <j € [... )
is pa rtially show n on plate 28.A. For a bett er
view: Lero y 1982, pI. 41.Th e same term is also
inscribed on part of a wooden door in the
Sanctuary of Benjamin at St. Ma carius:
Evelyn-White 1973, 92 and not e. The fragmen -
 NOTE S TO PAGES 2 19- 2 2 6
tar y in scription L fro m th e M on ast er y of
th e Martyrs has at th e beginning of lin e 8
NII CP,,\\C1l'C [.. . , wh ich m ay have a sim ilar
func tio n, ass uming th at th e in scrib er intend ed
to write N" CP"-"C1fC, " the reme m b ra nce,
m em o rial. " See Co q uin 1975, 254.
14 Kalopissi-Verti 1994.
15 For numerous exa m p les, see Kalopi ssi-Verti
1994 ·
16 One of th e two pain ter s at Esna who ar e kno wn
by nam e is T heodore of Arrnant, who is also
a pri est a nd a monk (th e ot h er is called M er-
c ur ius). See Coq u in 1975, 248-252. Two of the
named painter s di scu ssed b y Kalopi ssi-Verti
ar e ca lled Th eod or e. One painter , whose na m e
is John, cred its his work to Go d with th e phrase
8EOU n \ 8wpnl' (" the Gift o f God "), whi ch is
th e et ymology o f th e name T heo do re
(Kalopissi-Verti 1994, (79). In both of hi s signa-
ture in scriptions our Theodore h umbl y
exp resses hi s unworthiness to bear th e name.
17 Cf. a lso th e co nfus io n in the re ndering of th e
name of th e m art yr Noua, N15 C'Th ouan"); the
pos sib le co nfu sio n in th e re nd ering of Hera -
clea, N24; and the spelling o f Sisoes' name, N9.
18 Examples: ge n it ive particle N- for NTC- : NI9.2,
N22.1, N26.1, N38.3, K3.1; definite a rticle (m asc.)
n - for 111- : N24.3, K4.1,S1.7, S38:3, C2.5, CIO.2;
defi nit e art icle (fem .) T - for t o: N31.2, N35.3,
S1.7, C2.5, CIO.2; nose for NoB I: N35.3;
II N0 1l'T C fo r c1? N0 1l't : C3.2, CIO.2.
19 Th e Co p tic lan guage is th e latest form of th e
a nc ien t Egyp tian lan guage, given writt en
ex pression w ith th e use of th e G ree k a lph ab et
(sup p le me nted by lett er s re nder ing so u nds
th at d o not occur in G reek ), a nd wi th th e
incorporation of numero u s Greek words into
the Co ptic vocabulary. For a goo d general di s-
cu ssion : Emmel 1992, 180-1 88. The most egre-
gio us exa m p le of a case-e nding quirk is l>.ON
(=T<)l' , acc usa tive of the definit e ar ticle ) for 0
(= 0 , n om inati ve ): N13.1 et passim . T he Greek
d efinit e ar ticle is correctly render ed , whe n it is
used , in th e Coptic inscr ipt io ns at Esna. See
Co qu in, 1975, 241 et pass im.
20 In th e thirteenth cen t ury a few (A rab ic-spea k-
ing) Co ptic scho lars a lso develop ed Co ptic
philol ogy. See Sid arus 1978.
21 On th e nomina sac ra see Rob ert s 1979, 26-48.
For recent arg u men ts for th eir first-century
C h ristia n o rigin, see Hurtad o 1998.
22 On th e po ssibl e cau ses for suc h loss, see Lu zi
and De Cesaris, chapter 9.
23 M y thanks to the foll owing co lleag ues for h elp-
fu l comment s on ea rl ier ve rs io ns of thi s ch ap -
ter: Elizab eth S. Bolman , Tim Vivian , David
Joh n son , S.J., a nd Jan et Timbie; an d to Victor
https://coptic-treasures.com/
268
Go ld and Mic hae l Gui na n fo r the ir help with
th e Syr iac at Nl1.2.
24 Van Moorscl rocsb, 141. O n An tony see O 'Leary
1937, 76-79, and so ur ces cited; G ui llaumont
1991a, 149- 151.
25 Van Moo rse l rccyb. 139. O n Pau l see O ' Leary
1937, 222-223; G u illau mo n t a nd Kuh n 1991,
1925- 1926.
26 See Pol ot sky 1987, 219.
27 LiJe oj Paul oJ Thebes, ch. 10; tra nslatio n in
White 1998.
28 On Sa ra p io n see O'Lear y 1937, 245; G riggs 1991,
20 95- 2° 9 6 .
29 Col , ins cri p. I I.
30 Th e co njec ture d reading wrestler (o r athlete,
comender) is based on Isaac's d esign ati on as a
luctator (w res tle r) in th e Latin translati on of
the Arab ic text of th e Co pt ic Synaxa ry ( Fo rget
1905, 2: 127). Th e motif, rather wid espr ead in
monasti c context s, is ult imately based on the
story of Jacob 's wrestl ing in Genesis 32:22-32.
On Isaa c th e Presb yter see O 'Lear y 1937,1 59;
Regna ult 1991b, 1304 . On the Co p tic Syn axa ry,
its vario us ed it io ns, and its calenda r of saints,
see Ati ya, 1991f, 2171- 2190 .
31 Col, inscrip . 10. On Paul the Simple see Vivian,
ch ap ter I; G u illau m o nt 1991d, ' 923.
32 Col, in scrip. 9. On Samuel see O 'Leary '93 7,
242; Alcock 1991, 2092 -2093. Coq u in an d
Laferri er e were ab le to see m o re of th e wo rd
archimandrite than is no w visib le.
33 Col , in scrip, 8.
34 See O 'Leary 1937, 106-107; Coquin 1991C, 2029;
Evelyn- W hit e 1973, 2: 111-115.
35 On John th e Litt le see O 'Leary 1937,1 70-1 72;
Regn ault 1991C, 1359-1361; Evelyn-White 1973,
2 : 106-111.
36 Col, inscrip, 7. Th e Co pt ic version of th is
sain t's nam e is .2S. 1.2S.W I ( Iijo i, see Cha ine 1960,
27,68,80); the spe lling given her e (Sh ish o i)
p robabl y reflect s Arab ic influen ce. Sisoes
(Greek LW<1'lS') is not includ ed in th e Syna x-
a ry, but he is prominent in th e Apophthegmata
Patrum , O n him see Rcgn atilt 1991e, 2141.
Col, 274, rest or e the nam e o f thi s sai n t as
[1I?l!!lC!l.I-that is, o ne of th e o thers in th e
Synaxary nam ed Pishoi (cf. N7).
37 Col, in scrip . 6. O n Arse nius see O ' Leary
1937, 87; Regn ault 1991a, 240-241.
38 Wietheger 1992, 105-106, and literatu re c ited
there.
39 Col , in scrip. 5· On Barsuma see O 'Lear y 1937,
99·
40 O n the p ig a nd se rpe nt see C- L, 272; van
Moo rse l ic osb , 130-131, pl s, 67-68.
41 Col , in scri p , 4. On Pachomius see O ' Lea ry 1937,
211-215; Veilleux 1991, 1859- 1864. Co q u in and
Laferriere were ab le to see mo re of the word
koinonia th an is now visib le.
42 Col , inscrip, 3. O n Pakaou (Kao u) see O 'Leary
1937,1 76-1 77. Pomme is probably Barnuyah, a
village n o rth of Medinat al-Fayourn, a ncie nt
Ars inoe.
43 See Col, 271.
44 Col, inscrip , 2.
45 So Col, 270. Aba No ua is ass oc iated with
Piroou and Atho m . See O 'Leary 1937, 233.
46 Col , ins crip, 1.
47 See C-L, 270 .
48 O n Pi roou and Ath om see O ' Leary 1937,
233-234·
49 Col, in scrip. 32.
50 Col, inscrip, 31.
51 O n the ident ification o f thi s sa in t ( no t An a-
to liu s the Persian ) see va n Moorsel iccsb,
l: 164-165.
52 Balestri a nd Hyv ern at 1907-1950, I: 34.
53 O n Theodore the Oriental see O 'Leary 1937,
26~-266; Orl andi 1991b, 2237-2238.
54 See Winstedt 1979,97-100.
55 Col , inscri p. 30. On Clau d ius Stratelates see
O ' Leary 1937, Ill; Atiya 1991e, 1550-1 559,
esp. 1553.
56 See Col, 292, note.
57 C-L, 293·
58 Col, in scrip. 28. On Victor see O 'Lear y 1937,
278-281; Sarnir 1991b, 2303-2308.
59 Col, in scr ip . 26. On Men as see O 'Leary 1937,
194- 197; Kra use 1991, 1589-159°.
60 Col, insc rip , 25. O n T heo d ore th e Ge neral see
O 'Leary 1937, 262-265; O rlan d i 1991b,
2237- 2238.
61 Win stedt 1979, 161-1 63·
62 Win stedt 1979, 123-130.
63 Col , in scrip. 24. O n Sisinn ius (Sou sen yo u s) see
O ' Leary 1937, 258-259.
64 Col , in scrip. 23.
65 Col, 287; O' Leary 1937, 166.
66 Col , in scrip. 27.
67 See Budge 1928, 963-965 (four th of Sane).
68 O 'Lear y 1937, 280.
69 C- L~inscrip. 22. O n Geo rge o f Ca p pa doc ia see
O 'Leary 1937, 140- 145; Mega lly 1991, 1139- 1140 .
 NOTES TO PA GE S 226-242
For his martyrdom an d miracles see Budge
1888.
70 Budge 1888, 248-252 .
71 Cf. Balest ri and Hyvern at 1907-1950, 2: 232.
72 Col, inscrip . 21, where th e saint is not
iden tified .
73 On th e two Phoebammons see O ' Leary 1937,
229-231; Spanel rocra , 1963- 1965.
74 Col, inscrip . 20. Cf. N6 and note. O n She no ute
of Atripe see O ' Leary 1937, 251- 255; Kuhn 1991,
2131- 2133.
75 Col, inscrip. 19· O n Pisent ius see O 'Lear y 1937,
234- 236; MUller and Gabra 1991, 1978-1980.
Q ift, Co ptic Kebt , is the ancien t town of Kop -
tos.
76 Col , inscrip . 18. On Moses the Black see
O ' Leary 1937, 206-207; Regn ault 1991d, 1681.
77 Col , inscrip . 17.
78 See Evelyn- W hite 1973, 3: 92 n. 7·
79 Liturgy 1974,1 5·
80 See Lit u rgy 1974, 197; cf. also Brightman 1965, I:
190.
81 Col , inscrip. 16.
82 O n Ma ximu s and Dorn itius, the "Roman" so ns
of Valent inia n, see O 'Leary 1937, 192- 194; van
Esbroeck 1991a,1576-1 578; Evelyn-W h ite 1973,
2: 96-104.
83 Col , inscri p. 15. On Macarius the Great see
O 'Lear y 1937, 182- 184; Guillaumon t 1991C,
1491-1 492; Evelyn-W hite 1973, 2: 60- 72,
104- 106.
84 Presum ab ly this is Macariu s th e Alexandrian,
o n whom see O ' Leary 1937,1 84- 185; Gu illau-
mont 1991b, 1489-1 490; Evelyn-White 1973, 2:
55-59, 90-91. Anot her poss ibility is Macarius
of Pispir, a disciple of Anto ny. O n him see
Evelyn-W hite 1973, 2: 12, 15, 67.
85 Col, inscrip . 14, but o nly the signatur e inscrip -
tion is given. Th e saint is not identified .
86 O' Leary 1937, 185.
87 See ten Hacken 1999; Coq uin 1991a, 1679-1 681.
O n th e martyr Macrobius see Orla nd i 1991a,
1494·
88 See Stewa rt 1991, 1313.
89 Col, inscrip . 45.
90 Col, inscrip . 51. On Mercurius see O'Le ary 1937,
201- 202; van Esbroeck 1991b, 1592-1 594.
, 224- 225; Spanel and Vivian 1991, 1943-1 947.
91 O n th e names of the cann ibals, u nattested in
Co ptic literature, see Col, 303; Piankoff
1946- 47, 58.
92 Piank off 1954, 23.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
93 Col , inscrip. 51.8.
94 Col, inscrip. 50.
95 For an extensive homiletical treatment of the
story see all Ric/Irs, attrib uted to St. Pete r of
Alexa ndria (cf. 56), in Pearson and Vivian 1993,
104-108 .
96 Col , in scrip s. 63.3-4.
97 See Bud ge 1888, 237. Cf. Col , 310; van Moorsel
1995b, 93, 98- 102.
98 Col , inscrips. 63.1- 2.
99 Budg e 1888, 269-274.
100 Bud ge 1888, 325.
101 Col, inscrip s. 63.5- 7.
102 E.g., Acta Ma rtyrum, Balestri and Hyvern at
1907-19 50, 2: 310.
103 Col, inscrip . 64.
104 Cf. va n Moorsel icosb , 103.
105 Col, inscrip . 46; cf. va n Moorse l iccsb, 102-103.
106 Col, inscrip. 48.
107 Col, inscrip. 47.
108 Cf. van Moorsel rcc sb , 103.
109 Cf. KI3 and 14. O€ at the end is superfluo us.
110 Col , inscrip . 64.
III Giannelli 1953.
11 2 Th anks to Joh annes Den Heijer for thi s tr an sla-
tion and co m me ntary.
113 Th is is also the work of Den Heijer.
11 4 Col , inscrip . 58-61.
11 5 On t he living crea ture s see van Moorsel ioc ra,
525-526. The ir na mes are given in a recently
pub lished homi ly att ribute d to St. John
Chrysostom: Khero ub iel, Zaraphiel,
Baro ukh ael, and Do thie!. See the Enco mi um
on the Fou r Living C reature s, chapter 31, in
Brakke 1991, 35.
11 6 Col, inscrip. 56. On Atha nas ius see O 'Lea ry
1937, 9° - 93; Atiya 1991a, 298-302.
117 Col , inscrip . 57. On Severus see O' Leary 1937,
249- 250; Knezev ich 1991, 2123-i125 .
118 Col , inscr ip. 55. O n Dioscorus see O'Leary 1937,
125; Ron caglia 199' , 912-9 15.
119 Col, inscrip. 54. O n Th eophilus see O' Leary
' 937,269- 272; Spa nel iocrb , 2247-2253·
120 Col, in scrip. 53. O n Peter I see O 'Lear y 1937,
121 Col, inscrip. 52.
122 C-L, 305.
123 Van Moorsel icc yb, 80 n. 17.
124 On Benjamin see O'Leary 1937, 104-1 °5 ; MUller
1991,375-377·
125 Col, inscrip . 62. On Mark see O 'Leary 1937, 188;
Atiya 1991d, 1528-1533.
126 Col , inscri p. 66.
127 Col , inscr ip. 66.
128 For th e othe r nam es and discu ssion see Leroy
1982, 83- 86.
129 Col , inscrip. 68.
13° Col, inscrip . 69.
131 Col, inscrips. 70.1-3.
132 Col, inscri ps. 70-4- 6.
133 Col , inscrip . 65.1.
134 Col , inscrip . 65.2.
135 Col , inscrip. 65.3·
136 Col, inscrip . 654
137 Col , inscr ip. 65.5.
138 C-l., inscr ip. 65.6.
139 C- l., inscrip . 44.
140 Col, inscrips. 37, 38, 39.
141 Col, inscrip s. 33, 34, 35.
142 See, e.g., Horner 1902, 17.
143 See Belma n, chapter 3·
144 Col , inscrip s. 40- 43.
CO N CL USIO N .
I I than k Tim Vivian , who pointed th is ou t to
me.
2 The graph ic do cumen tation o f th e co nser-
vators is at ARCE. Three copies of the ph ot o-
grap hic reco rd are available, at ARCE(Cairo) ,
the Mo nastery of St. Anton y (Red Sea), and
Dumbart o n Oaks (Wash ingto n, D.C.).
See l.uzi and De Cesaris, cha pte r 9.
4 l.ayers of paint are here distin gui shed from
layers of plaster. See Luzi and De Cesa ris,
chapter 9.
Th e tra ditional met ho d of cop ing with dirt on
ico ns is to paint over it. Thi s pr actice, called
refreshm ent , has been pr acticed both with in
and o utside of Egypt. I th ank Zuzanna Skalova
for this information .
6 Most no teworthy are 58-10, C4-9, KI, and part s
of K3, K5 , and K7.
7 "C o ptic art is th e mo st pr im itive phase of th e
earl y Christian; its insp iration , when one can
pene trat e its co ntext, is more su pers tition th an
fait h. Th e obsess ion with sex wh ich transpir es
 NOTES TO PAG ES 242-248
fro m the deta iled acco un t of tempta tion in the
lives of Egyptian monastic saints is appa ren tly
present also in the treatment of the mythologi-
cal motifs which are mu ch used in Coptic stone
carvi ng; a favorite theme is Leda and the swan,
rende red with a sensual fatness in th e nud es
and an obvious int erest in th e imp lication s of
th e story." Morey 1942, 50, critically no ted by
Vikan 1986, 15-16. A grou nd breaking historio -
grap hic critique and reshap ing of late an tique
ar t in Egypt has recentl y bee n writte n by
Th elm a Thomas. Thomas 2000, xvii-xxv,
See Belman , int roduction , note 7.
9 Leroy 1974, I.
10 Tro nzo sugges ts a parallel between cour t soci-
ety and the art of th e Cappella Palatin a, whi ch
can be loosely described as "separate b ut
equal." Tron zo 1997, 134-135.
11 For an int erdisciplinary analysis of th is monu-
me nt, see Tro nzo 1997.
12 Thi s charac teristic can be seen in icon s paint ed
in a Byzantine style with obviously Latin
patrons and text, o r apparently purely Byzan -
tine icon s with Ch ristian pat ro ns wear ing tur -
bans , and with half-Greek and half-Arabi c
inscripti o ns. Several are in th e Monastery of
St. Cather ine, Mount Sina i.
13 After ob serv ing the co nnections between paint -
ings in th e Monastery of the Romans and the
Chapel of the Mart yrs at th e Syrian Monaste ry,
I was gratified to have them confirmed by the
car eful work of van Loon. Van Loon 1999b, 73.
T he paint ings to which I am referr ing in the
White Monaste ry are of an archa ngel and of
the Virgin Mar y and Ch ild, on eithe r side of the
central sanctuary. Atalla n.d ., 11 2. Although
Hu nt has pr esent ed a plausible account of the
Syrian Mo nastery An nuncia tion as a product of
th e late twelfth century, I am not con fide nt th at
it was mad e later than th e te nt h cent ury. Hunt
1995. For a su mmary of datin g hypo th eses see
https://coptic-treasures.com/
2 70
van Moorsel '995a, 520-521. I have therefo re
no t included it in this di scussion of twelfth - to
fourteenth-century Coptic art.
14 It ma y well have been used for Jewish art and
a rchi tec ture as well, in the eastern Mediter-
ranea n region , witness th e fourtee nt h-cent ur y
synagogue in Tol edo.
15 Par is, Instit ut Catholique MS Copte-Arabe 1;
and Cairo, Coptic Museum, MS. Bib. 94.
A Gospe l manuscript made in Dam ietta in
1179-1180 (Paris, B.N. Co pte-Ara be 13, in Leroy
1974, plates 41-74) is related to this avant-gar de
style in man y respects (principally o rna me n-
tal), but its figural style has few appa rent ties to
othe r work in Egypt.
16 Vatican Library, Copto 9, folios 22r, 146v, 236v,
338v (but not fol. 20V) in Leroy 1974, plates H,
101- 104. Anot her manu script in thi s mod e is
Cairo, Patri archate MS 196, fols. IIIV, 186v, 307V,
dated 1291, in Leroy 1974, plates 96-97.
17 Dayr al-Q usayr, Tura h. T he church is p re-1I25.
Gross ma nn, 1991C, 854-855. Thanks to Gross-
mann for bringing thi s to my attent ion .
18 Hu nt 1985, 117- 125, 142; Hunt 1995, 186 n.13.
19 My tha nks to Inn em ee for expressing his reser-
vations abo ut th e "Syrian" charac ter of th e
pai nt ings, and for infor mation about the state
of know ledge about art istic prod uct ion of
Ch ristians living under Mu slim ru le.
20 Rassar t-D ebergh mak es a sim ilar observation
about early Co ptic art, and Hunt about
medie val Coptic art. Rassar t- Debergh 1981,
269; Hunt 1985, 115, 121-1 22, 141; Hun t 1989.
I disagree here with van Loon's concl usion s.
Van Loon 1999b, 194-195. Anothe r important
ana lysis of this subjec t, with respect to Syrian
pa intings, ha s appeared to o late to be included
as more than a no te. See Dod d 2000, 124-1 26.
21 Van Moo rsel charts man y of the discoveries of
recent years. Van Moor sel zooo , essay 20 ,
265- 274.
 GLOSSARY
Abba (from Ara ma ic Apa) : "Father," a tit le of respec t
given to senior monks.
Abun: The Metropo lita n of th e Ethiopian churc h; until
1948 the abunate was usually occu pied by a Co ptic mon k.
A buna (Arabic): "O ur Fathe r," a title of respect given to
mo nks.
A .M .(anna martyro rum ): The beginning of the Coptic
calenda r corres po nds to th e year A. D. 284. Thi s first "Year
of th e Mart yrs" commemorates th e extrao rd inary num -
ber of Christians killed under th e Roman Em pero r
Diocl eti an's rul e.
Amir (Arabic, "com mande r" o r "p rince"): Muslim mi li-
tary rank ben eath th at of sultan.
A nachoresis (Greek): Wit hdrawal fro m soc iety, usually to
th e desert .
Anchoretic: Type of mo nasticism in whic h mon ks live
alone.
Apophtltegmata: See Sayings of the Desert Fathers.
Arianism: Christologica l view, declared heretical by the
Council of Nicea (325), which held that the Son was infe-
rior to the Father.
Ascesis (Greek, "practice" or "training"): Discip line by
which mon ks seek spiritua l per fection; th e root of ascetic.
Ayyubid: Muslim dyn asty th at ruled Egypt fro m 117 1 to
12 50.
Baraka (Arabic ): The grace or holiness of a saint, which
https://coptic-treasures.com/
271
can be transmitt ed through contact with places or
objects close to the saint.
Baramous, Deir al-: Monastery of the Roma ns, Wadi al-
Natrun.
Caliph (Arabic) : Successor (kalifa) of th e Pro phet
Mohammed as leader of the Muslim comm unity.
Cenobitic: Type of monasticism formed aro und clois-
ter ed, com m una l life.
Chalcedon: Site of th e four th ecumenical cou ncil, held in
451. Th e council formul ated th e "two nature" Christol-
ogy, which resu lted in the schism between the Coptic
Chur ch of Egypt an d th e Churc h of Constan tin ople.
Colzim, Mount: Antony's "inne r mou ntain ," wher e he
moved in 313, and the site of th e presen t day Mo nastery
of Saint Antony.
Copt ("Egyptian," fro m Greek aigyptios, via Ara bic qibt):
Me mber of the Orthodox Church of Egypt.
Coptic Orthodox: Designation used by Copts for their
church and doctrinal beliefs.
Cuirass: Body armor reaching to the waist.
Deir or dayr (Arabic) : Monastery.
Difnar: Book comprising the litur gical commemoration
of saints an d feasts.
Al-Fadi (Arabic): "T he Redeemer."
Fatimid: Mus lim dynasty that ru led Egypt from 969 to
Il71.
 GLOSSARY
Garshuni: Arabic wri tten in Syriac characters .
Gebel al-Galala: The two mountain ran ges along th e Red
Sea coas t th at lie no rth and so uth of th e Mo nas tery of
St. Antony.
Ge'ez: An Ethiopian lan guage.
Ha1111 t (Arabic ): Fragrant spices wrapp ed around the
rem ain s of saints. Th ey are changed each year and dis-
tribu ted to the faithful.
Haykal (Arabic): Sanctuary of a Co ptic chur ch.
Hegoumenos: Superior or head of a monastery.
Hima tion: Ma ntle.
Horologion (horologic): Book with pra yers listed accord -
ing to th e seven cano nica l hours of the day and night.
Keep (Arabic qasr, fortress): Fortifi ed tower containing
supplies, where the monks could retreat d uri ng an
attack.
Khedive: Royal tit le adopted by successo rs of Mo hammed
'Ali between 1867 an d 1914.
Khidma (Arabic): Charitab le service for th e churc h.
Khurus: A tr an sitional room in Coptic chur ches, located
between the nave an d th e sanctuary an d reserved for
priests.
Lamellar: Consisting of thin plates or scales.
Laura or lavra: Sem iancho retic com m unity.
Loros (Greek): Long scarf, usuall y wo rn by em pero rs,
em presses, and arc ha ngels.
M am luk (Arabic, "po ssessed") : Literall y, a military
slave; more commonly, two Muslim dynasties of such
slave soldiers that rul ed Egypt fro m 1250 to 1517.
M an dor la: A large almo nd-sha ped halo th at sur ro un ds
the entire body.
Man dylion: Th e hol y towel on which Christ's facial
features were m iraculou sly imprinted.
Maphorion: Shawl wo rn over the head and upper bod y.
Mazaar (Arabic, "visiting room ") : Place wh ere th e
remains of saints ar e displayed for pilgrims.
Melkites: Supporters of th e Co uncil of Cha lcedo n.
Meta noia: Praying mi ndfully, with repe nta nce.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
27 2
Minbar (Arabic) : Pulpit in a mosque from which the Fri-
day sermon is delivered.
Monophysites (Greek, "single nature"): Term used by
Western scho lars to descr ibe th e doc trinal positi o n of th e
Co ptic Ch urc h and that of o the r oppo nents of the Co un-
cil of Cha lcedon (451).
Pantocrator (G reek, "ru ler of all") : Visual depi ction of
Ch rist in majesty.
Qa'a: Centra l architectura l unit of a medieval Egypt ian
palace, con sisti ng of a series of raised rooms ( iwa ns)
opening on a central cour t (durqa'.a).
Qasr: See Keep.
Rihla (pI. rihlat ): Mod ern form of pilgrimage entailing
short tr ips to working monasteries.
Riwaq (Arabic): Arcade of a mosque .
Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophthegm ata Patrum ):
Sayings by, and stories about, the early desert monks of
Egypt.
Seetis (fro m Co ptic shi het, "to weigh the heart"):
Ancie nt name for th e Wadi al-Na trun .
Seeco: Painting on d ry plaster; cf. fresco , painting on wet
plaster.
Shafi ': On e's personal patron sain t.
Spandrel: Tria ngular area between th e sp ringing of two
arches.
Stratelates (Greek): Genera l.
Su ltan : Muslim monarch, theo retically appointed to rul e
on beh alf of th e caliph.
Synaxa rion: Book containing texts about saints, arranged
according to the feast days of th e calend ar.
Tam gid: Ancient form of cha nt to a saint or holy figure.
Tarnim: Mo de rn hym ns or spiritual so ngs.
Tasbiha: The first part of the monastic day, th e morning
service of prai se, lastin g from 3 to 6 A. M .
Tiraz: Honorific , embro idered textile denoting rank and
favor at medieval Mu slim cour ts. The term was expa nded
to include th e work shops that produced such textiles.
Turath: Co llective heritage of a peopl e, including th eir
history, language, literature, custo ms, and folklo re.
 GLOSSARY

Wadi (Arabic): Valley; m ore p recisely, a rocky wate r-

co urse in th e des er t, dr y exce pt afte r occasio na l rain -
storms.

Wadi al-Atabah: Arid wadi linking the Monastery of

Sain t Anto ny to th e Nile Valley.

Wadi al-Na tru n: Desert dep ression between Cairo and

Alexa nd ria, known as Scetis in late anti quity. It rem ain s
an important monastic center.

Waqf (pl. awqaf ): Religious endowme nt.

Wazir or vizier: High official in a m edi eval Muslim

gove rn m ent.

Z ayt (Arabic): Oil.

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273
https://coptic-treasures.com/
-
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https://coptic-treasures.com/
 CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth S. Bolman is assistant pro fessor of medi eval
art at the Tyler Schoo l of Art, Tem ple University,
Ph iladelph ia. She has published on Coptic mon astic
paintings and on color in Spa nish ma n uscr ipt
illumination s.
Luigi De Cesaris teaches at the Istituto Centrale del
Restauro in Rome. With Adriano Luzi he has under-
taken conservation and restoration of such works of
art as Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa in Rome and the
wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley
of the Queens.
Mark Easton is a retired Foreign Service officer with an
M .A. in Egyptolog y from Johns Hopkins University.
He has completed his cour sework toward a doctoral
degree in Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania .
He served as Cairo director of the American Research
Center in Egypt, 1992- 2000. It was during his tenure
th at AR C E was awarded more than $ 5 0 million in
USA ID grants and endo wments to pursue a program of
conservation an d restoration of Egyptian antiquities.
Gawdat Gabra is direc tor of the Coptic Museum in
Cairo. He is a Co pto logist who has published ma ny
books and numerous articles on th e Co ptic heritage.
Patrick Godeau was born in France and has been living
in Egypt since 1981. He has stud ied philoso phy and
Ara bic and has worked as a journalist. He began his
career as a professional photographer in 19 8 6 and has
been doc umenting monuments and conservation
projects for ARCE since 1994.
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Sidney H. Griffith is p rofessor of Syriac patristics an d
Chris tia n Arabic, and director of the grad uate
program in early Christian studies, at the Catho lic
University of America. He has published widely on
Christians living un der Islami c ru le, and has tra ns-
lated Christian t exts written in Arabic.
Michael [ones is an archaeologist and project manager
for the Egyptian Antiquities Project of the American
Research Cent er in Egypt. He has published num-
erous articles on his ar chaeological work .
Adriano Luzi is a ma ster conservator who trained at th e
Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rom e. Luzi wo rked
with Laura and Paulo Mora on the wall paintings in
the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of th e Queens. He
and Luigi De Cesar is are currently di recting a team of
conservators at several monuments in Rome and in
Egypt.
William Lyster is an ind epen den t scho lar who specializes
in Islamic art and architecture and resides in Cairo.
He has written books on the Citadel of Cairo and the
Monastery of St. Paul, as well as articles on various
top ics in Islamic and Coptic art and history.
Father Maximous El-Anthony is a monk at the Monastery
of St. Anto ny who has been actively involved in many
aspects of conservation work, both in the Church of
St. Antony and elsewhere in Egypt.
Elizabeth E. Gram is an anthropologist who is com ple-
 CONTRIBUTORS

ting her docto ral wor k at Prince to n Univers ity. The

subject of her di ssertation is th e co ns tru ctio n of
modern Co ptic identity through suc h pra ctices as
pilgrimage.

Birger A. Pearsall is professor em eritus of religi ou s

stud ies at th e University of Califo rn ia, Santa Barbara .
He has wr itten extensively on Coptic lang uage and
liter atur e and was one of a gro up of scho lars who
tran slated th e Nag Hammadi co dices.

Robert K. s/incent, l t., has been th e project director for

conserva tion work undertaken by AR CE since 1994.
He first began his invo lvement in major conservation
an d arc haeological projects in th e Middle and Nea r
East in 1968. He is a for mer presid ent of th e Institute
of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University and
is a grad uate of Yale Universit y and the University of
Penns ylvani a Law School.

Tim Viviall is an ind epend ent scho lar and an Episco pa l

priest. H e has publish ed numerou s tr an slation s from
Greek and Co ptic of saints' lives, includin g o ne of th e
Life of St. Anto ny (with Aposto los N. Atha nassa kis),
as well as im po rtant essays o n th e historical co ntex ts
of th ese saints.

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 INDEXES TO THE COPTIC INSCRIPTIONS

PERSO NS CITED IN THE INSCRIPTIONS

Note: References to Jesus Ch rist and the Mother of God Basil (saint) K3 ·8
are o mi tted, excep t where Mary's na me is given (N36.2).
Benja m in (?) (patriarch) S7·1,2
Abra ha m (biblical patriarch) K5.1, 2; S43.3
Claud ius (martyr) N19·1
Abu . .. N35·2
Daniel (prophet) S50.1,2
Abu I-Fakhry (donor) S1.14
David (prophet) S49.1, 2
Abu I-Faraj (donor) N3l.2
Diocletian (emperor) N19·5
Abu l-Ma 'ani (donor) N31.2
Dio scorus (patriarch) S4·1
Abu I-Uz (donor) N31.2
Do rn itius (martyr) N3 2·4,6
Abu Ghalib (donor) N3l.2; K4·1
Elijah (prophet) S46.1,2
Abu Said (donor) N35·2
Euchius (soldier) K8. 2
Antony xr.r: N3l. 2
(monasticfounder ) Eut ychius (duke) N24·2, 3

Arsen ius (monk) NI0.1,2 Fadlel (donor) S35·2

Athanasi us (patriarch) 52.1 Feiro (Mercurius' grandjatheri) K3 ·5

Ba rs u ma ( monk) Nll. l,2 Fmo n (?) (donor) N3l.2

Bart ho lomew (apostle) C5·1 Gabriel (archangel) KI6.1; 51.4, 12; A9.1

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 INDEXES TO THE COPTIC INSCRIPT IONS

Gabriel (bishop) N35·3; 538·7 Macrobi us (?) N35·1,2

Gabriel (deacon and donor) K34 · 2 Mark (evange list and patriarch) 511.1

Gabriel (donor) K35· 2 Mark (p riest and don or) N31.2 (bis)

George (m arty r) N25·1; K8.1; K9.1, 5, 6 Mary (Virgin Mother) N36 .2

Gregory (saint) K3·8 Maximus (m onk) N32.1, 3, 6

Helen (queen) K8·3 Melchizedek (biblical p riest-king) 543. 1,2,3

Isaac (biblical patriarch) K5.1, 2; 538. 5 Menas (m artyr) N21.1

Isaac the Presbyter (m onk) N4 ·1 Mercur ius (donor) N31.2

Isaiah (p rophet) 54 2.1, 2; 547.1, 2 Mercurius (m artyr) K3.1; K4· 1

Jacob (biblical patriarch) K5·1,2 Michael (a rchangel) KI5 .1; 51.3, 10; ALI

Iakon (donor) N31.2 Michael (p riest and dono r) N31.2; K4.1; 536 .2

Iarnoul (p riest and dono r) N31.2 Moses (p rophet) 548.1, 2

Iephth ah (biblical judge) 539 ·1,3 Moses the Black (m onk) N30. 1,2

Jeremiah (p rop het) 545 ·1,2 Nebuchadn ezzar (king) K7· 1

John (donor) N31.2; 535.2 Nineve (rich ma n) K5·3

John (another don or) N31.2 Noua (m arty r) Nl5· 1

John, son of Abu l-Ma'ani N31.2 Oulkoine (?) (donor) N31.2

(donor)
Pachomius (m onastic foun der) N12.1
John of Heraclea (?) (m arty r) N24 ·1
Pakaou (m arty r) N14 ·1
John the Baptist C3·9
Palalem (?) (donor) N31.2
John the Little (mo nk) N8.1
Palesat (father ofa donor) N31.2
Julian (emperor) K3·3, 4
Pasicrates (scribe) K9·4
Macarius the Alexandri an N34 · 1,2
(m onk) Paul (apostle) C8.1

Macariu s the Great (m onk) N33.1, 2 Paul the Hermit (m onk) N2.1,2

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294
 NAMES Of P ERSONS

Paul the Simple (monk) N5· 1 T heo dore (painter) N35 ·3; S38.7

Peter (apostle) C8.2 T heodore Stra telates, N22.l,3

th e Gene ral (martyr)
Peter (archpriest and donor) N31.2
Th eodore th e Oriental (martyr) N18.1
Peter (donor) N31.2
Theoph ilus (patriarch) S5·1,2
Peter (patriarch) S6.1,2
Tho uan . See No ua
Peter (priest and donor) N31.2; S36.2
Victor (martyr) N20.l
Phoebammon (martyr) N26.1 ,6
Zac hary (donor) N31.2
Piroou (martyr) N16·3

Pisentius (monk and bishop) N29·1

PLACES CITE D IN THE INSCRIP TIONS

Pishoi (monk) N7· 1

Poune (donor) N31.2 Alexandria S2 .1; S4.1; 55.1; 57.1

Razi, al- (donor) N31.2 Aphroditopolis. See Petpe h

Rufu s (dog-face) K3·6 Arsinoe N13·1

Salib (archdeacon and donor) N31.2; K4·1 Atfih. See Petpeh

Sam uel ofQalam un (monk) N6.1 Ausim N26.2

Sarapion (?) N3 ·1 Bamuyah . See Pomme

Setakleh (priest and donor) N31. 2 Bous hem . See Ausim

Severus (patriarch) 53.1 Fara ma, al-. See Perem oun

Shenoute (monasticfounder) N28.1 Fayum N13·1

Sisinnius (martyr) N23·1 Heraclea (?) N24·1

Sisoes N9·1 Heracleopolis Magna. See Hn es

Sofo nesar (demon) N14·2 Hnes N24·1

Sorka ne (dog-face) K3·7 Koptos. See Qift

Thaddeus (?) (apostle) C.2, 3 Letopolis, See Ausim

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295
 NAMES OF PLACES

Ma mre (biblical) S3 8. 2

Ns m mo u. See Peremoun

Pelusium. See Peremoun

Peremoun (?) NlS ·1

Petpeh N3S·3

Pom me N 13 · 1

Rakote. See Alexan dr ia

Q ift N 2 9·1

Salem (biblical) S4 3 · 1

Sanbat N 16 .2

Wasim. See Ausim

https://coptic-treasures.com/
 INDEX

Page number s in bo ldface refer to illu strati on s,
whil e page numbers follow ed b y " n." o r " nn."
refer to inform ation in not es.
'Abd al-Aziz Ben Merwan , 15
' Abd al -Karirn al-M isri, 145
' Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Malik, 103
Abili us, 234
Abra ha m (b ib lical pa triarch ), 59, 66 , 68, 68, 79,
96, 96 , 230
Abraha m (bis ho p ), 34, 34-35
Ab ra ha m ( mo nk) , 13
Ab ra ha m, Isaac, and Jaco b in Par adi se, 57, 59, 60,
79, 82, 94-95, 134
Abu al- Bara kat ibn Kabar , 66, 256n.95
Abu al-Khaya r ibn al-Tayyib, 54
Ab u al-Ma ka rirn, 173, 183, 252n.2o
Ab u Gha lib, 38, 230
Abu Girgeh, 36
Abu Gosh, 259n.30
Abu Salih, 5, 10, 11 , '4, 16, 252nn .2o , 3, 253n.118
Ab u Sa rga (See also C h ur ch ofSt. Sergius), 109,
260 n.23
Ab u Sefein, 61-62. See also M ercurius ( ma rtyr);
M on astery of St. M ercurius
Abuna Ant oniou s. See Shenouda III ( pa tria rch)
Agnus Dei , in in scr iption s, 218
Aleppo, Cita de l. See Citadel of Aleppo
Alexander II (patr iarch), 15
Alexandria, 13
A I-Fad; (" T he Red eem er " ), 109- 111 , 1I0 , 125, 149,
245
AI-Gawhari, Ib ra h im , 183
Al-Kamil (su lta n), 145, 178
Al-la yla al-kabira, 204 . See also Feast da ys
( m lilids)
Al-Maqrizi, 10, 14, ' 5, 1I8
Al-Mu'allaqa C h ur ch , O ld Ca iro, 109, 145, '4 5,
260 n.23
Al-Mu 'tarnan Ab u lsh aq al-' Assa i, 54
Al-Salih Ayyub, 144
Altar s, of C hurch of St. Anton y, 26, 28,39,62
AI-' U rn a ri (h isto rian), 151
Ama thas (m o n th), 9
Arnir, al- (caliph ), 1I7
Amoi ( mo n k), 53
Am o u n of N it ria ( m o nk), 4- 5
An ach oresis and anch orit es, 6, 12 , 20 6 , 20 8
Anas tas ius (a bbo t), 14
Anc h o rites a n d a nac horesis, 6, 12, 206, 208
And rew ( m o nk) , 173
Ange ls, 98; C h rist Pantocrator and, 62; in scrip-
tions in pa in tings of, 221, 234, 237; in kh urus
p ai n ti ngs, 130, ' 35; swo rd of Merc urius an d,
248 ; twe lft h - and thirtee nt h-c en tury pa intings
of, 97. See also Gabriel (a rcha ngel) ; Mi ch ae l
(a rcha ngel)
Anianus, 234
An-Nasi r Muhammed (su lta n) , i5 1
Annex , of C h urc h of S1. Anto ny: a rch ways of,
28-29,40, 136, 138-140; from nave, afte r
co nservation, 25, 239
A IJlIO martyrorum (A.M.), xvi
Annunciation , 258n.3, 258n. 31
An n u nciation to the Shep herds, 77
Anonymous monks, 84
Anonymous patria rchs, 66, 71, 234
Antonian monasti cism , d efinition o f, 5
Anton y the Great, xi, xiii, xiv, xv iii, 3, 9, 17,84,
95, 196; Arabi c gra ffiti under pain tin gs o f, 184;
ba ckground of, 3-4; biogr aphical icons o f,
xi,'; burial place o f, 29-30, 209, 213, 25211.10,
253n. 1I8; ca ve of, 4,10, 21, 73,212 ,212 - 213, 213,
253n. 1I8; ch urc hes d edi cated to , 25111.2; d eath
of, 4; earli est a rtist ic depictions of, xiii-xiv,
xii " 25I11n.l , 4, 6; gene a logy of monastici sm
and , 48, 50; icon of, 3, 9, 17; inscriptions in
pain tings of, 217, 221; intellec tua l in fluences
o n, 3; letters of, 6; narrative images of 10 1;
nave -pa inting of, b efore cleaning, xvi ii; ove r-
pai nting of, 164; Paul th e H ermit and, 9-10
(see also Paul th e H ermit [sa int and mo nkJ);
Paul th e Sim p le and, 8-9 (see also Paul th e
Simp le [mo n k]); sp iritu al d evelopment o f,
4- 5; Syria c gra ffiti under paintings of, 189;
tent h - a nd eleve nth-c en tury paintings of, 94;
twelfth - a nd thirteenth -cen tury pa in tings o f,
95, 25111.16
All tybo la, 264n.22
Apo llo of Bawit, 5, 35, 35
Apophthegmata Patru m (Say illgs of tile Desert
Fathers), 6- 8, 54, 268n .36. See also Life of
AlltollY (Atha nas ius)
Apos tles: C h rist in Maje st y and , 32, 254n.8
(c hap. 3); ea rly paintings of, 33; lack in
Th eod or e's paintings, 7', 98-99
Apse, of C h u rch o f S1. Ant on y: a fte r clea n ing,
xv ii; apostles in paintings in , 7' ; central dome
a nd, 63, 64, 65; Ch rist in Maj esty, 70 -71;
before cleaning, 86 ; co nstruc tio n of, 29
Arab co nq ues t: impact on Cop tic culture,
103-1 04 , 106; impact on di sp lay of crosses, 75;
impact on monaste ries aft er 641, '5 , 68; influ -
ence o n Co p tic ar t (see Coptic a rt: Ara bi za -
tion of)
Arab esqu es: exa m p les of, ' 44, '45 , '45, ' 47, '47,
'49, '50, 15' , '5' ; in khums, '4 2 , 143 ' 43,
145- 146, 146, 147, ' 50 , ' 5 , 154
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 GENERAL INDE X
Arabic inscripti ons, 83.109-110,125,140. 149- 151,
2 19,232 . See also Th eodore (painte r): Arabic
language in paintings of
Arcad es. 83-85, 107, 108, 125
Archangels, 2620 .33. See also Gabri el (archa ngel):
M ichael (archangel)
Arch ima nd rites. 221
Architecture, Church of St. Antony. See entries
under specific architectural feature s
Archways. of Churc h of St. Antony: annex.
28-29. 40, 136, 138-140; architectura l features
of, 24- 26, 28; Deesis Chapel. 28, 29,33-34;
inscriptions un der paintings on. 229, 263n.65;
khurus an d sanctuar y, 70, 136. 138-\40;
pointed. 260n.21
Arme nia n art. 149, 151. 152, 247. 263n.84
Arme nia n graffiti: See Graffiti, Armeni an
Arme nians, 176, 178. 255n.15
A rmo r, 61, HI , 113, 113, 114, 114, 125, 26u1.57,
262n.102
Arrowhead motif, 148, 149
Arsenius, 52, 53, 82-83 . 83, 86; in inscr iptions ,
218;scro ll of, 222
Atha nasius (patriarch): dating of paintings of,
259n.18; Ethiopian Church and , 176; identifi-
cation of. 260n.19; inscripti on s in pa intings
of, 2J7, 233; LiJe oj St. Antonv by (see LiJe oj
Antony [Atha nasius)) ; sanctua ry pain tin g of,
71, 86; tenth- and eleventh-centu ry paintings
o f, 94, 95, 107-108
Athom : healing and int ercessory fun ction s of, 55;
inscriptio ns in painti ngs of, 223; nave paint -
ing of. 40, 47, 47, 48. 86
Ayyubid dynasty, 109, 1Il , 247
Azaria h, 56
Bacchu s (saint) , 116, 117
Badr ai-Din Lu'lu ', 124
Bahri Mamluk dynast y, 147. 247
Bakri, IS
Bak tirnu r, 149, 151
Ban ub (priest), 73
Barak a, 211-212, 271
Barberini Ivory, 113
Barke r, O liver. 182
Barsuma the Syrian. 52, 53. 54; healing and inter -
cessory functions of, 55; inscriptions in
paintings of, 218, 222, 222-223; twelfth - and
thirteenth -century pai nt ings of. 95
Bart ho lomew (apostle), 32, 34. 238
Basil II (em pero r), in, 113, 113, 260n.44
Basil of Caesarea, 3. 61-62, 123, 229
Bawit. See Mo nastery of Apa Apo llo. Bawit
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Bedoui ns, as inhabi ta nts of Monastery of St.
Anto ny, xviii, 14, 174. 183
Beeswax. as binding agent in paint. 158-159
Belting, Han s, 57
Benjamin (pat riarch), 71.76, 234, 242
Bernardus, Fr. (Berna rdus Ferul en sis Siculu s• •
Fr.), 25. 178, 181, 191, 25111.16, 254n.6 (chap. 2),
2 6 5n .53
Binding agents in paint , 158-1 59. 160, 264n.13
Bir Abu Darag, 253n.80
Blacas Ewer. 115, 115, 147
Book oj Songs, The (al-Isfaha ni), 124
Bourguet, Pierre M. du, 183
Bows, com posite, 113, 114, 11 5. 11 6, 117
Byzantine ar t: Ch rist in Majesty as standa rd type.
32, 254n.7 (cha p. 3); church feast days and .
101; depi ctions of Antony the Great in.
xiii-xiv, 9, 25111.4 ; iconocla sm and, 9 1;
influence on Coptic art (see Cop tic art :
Byzantine art a nd); influence on Figura l
Master , 127, 131-133, 247; influ ence on O rna-
mental Master, 133. 245; stand ing apo stles in ,
98.99
Byzan tine empi re. in Egypt, 91-93
Cairo. See under th e following sites: AI-
Mu 'allaqa Church; Ch urch of St. Barbara
(Sitt Barbara ); Churc h o fS t. Sergius, Citadel
o f Cairo; Fu nera ry Co mplex of Sulta n
Q alawu n; Ma drasa of Sultan al-Za hir Bay-
bar s; Monastery o f St. Mercuri us; Mo sque of
Ahm ad Ibn Tulun ; Mo sque ofSalih Tala'i ' :
Q a'a o f Ahme d Kuhya, Qa 'a of Muhib ad-
Din al-Muwaqqi' ; Qa'a of th e Deir al Banat;
Q a' a o f th e Palace of Am ir Basht ak
Cairo. Coptic Mu seum. Ms. Bib. 94. See Cairo
New Testam en t
Cairo New Testament (Cairo . Cop tic Museum,
Ms. Bib. 94, and Pari s, Institut Catho lique,
Biblioth eque de Fels, Ms. copte-a rabe 1), 124.
125,136, 136.151, 151, 26m .88
Ca mels, de ta il under Men as, 42, 42, 121
Cappadocia, 259nn.5, So, 262n.26
Cappela Palat ina, Palermo, 154,247, 275>n.1O
Cass ian, John, 3. 6, 16, 252n.63
Caves: o f An ton y the Great, 4, 10. 21. 73, 212,
212- 213.213, 253n.118; of Melchi zedek , 68- 69
Cefalu Cath edral. 11 6
Ceilings. painted . 151-152, 153. See also Khurus,
Churc h ofSt. Antony
Chapel. of Churc h of St. Antony. See Deesis
Chape l
Cha pel o f Benj amin . See Mo nas te ry of St. Bisho i,
Wadi al-Na tru n
Chap el of the Four Anima ls. See Deesis Chape l
Chapel of the Martyrs. See Syrian Monastery
Cha pel of th e Virgin. See Mo nas tery of St.
Mercuriu s
Che ru bim: Christ Pant ocrator and , 62; in Dees is
pa inting, 74-75; in curs ive inscri pt io ns, 84;
Maca rius th e Grea t and. 49, So, SO-51, 87-88.
88,95,102
Cheste r. Greville J., 18 0
Ch rist and the Three Wom en at th e Tomb, 132,
134.135, 231,247, 264n. 1I
Ch rist and th e Wome n in the Gar den. 129-130,
133. 135. 135, 232
Christ in Majesty, 63-65, 66, 70-71,92, 96-98;
thirteenth- cen tury Deesis Chapel painting of,
72, 74-75,80, 81, 254n.7 (chap. 3); descr iption
of, 62; in early Ch ristian art , 92, 95; early
secco pain tin gs of, 31, 31,32, 32, 34; inscrip -
tion s in paintings of. 232-233. 238; living
creatur es and, 65. 70-71,74-75; sanc tuary
pain ting of, 70-71, 80, 81; textile ico n of.
254n.8 (chap. 3); Theod or e paintings of, 65.
7 2 , 80
Ch ristodoulos, IS
Chr ist Pantocra tor , 62, 63, 66 99, 99, 159,234
Churc h of Archange los, Pedoulas, icon from . 140.
140
Churc h of St. Anto ny: archi tecture of, 21-30
(seealso specific arch itectura l feature s; Co ptic
art; Coptic paintings); buildi ng and co n-
struction sequence of, 29, 254n.2 (chap. 2);
. Byzantine art influ ence on, 91-93, 99-102 ;
conservation and restoration pro cedures fo r
(see Conse rvatio n and restoration pro ce-
du res, for Ch urch o fSt. Antony); Co ptic
pa inting style, thirteent h-century, and, 77, 78,
85-88, 99, 247, 260n·57; dam age to paintings
in . xviii; datin g of, 242; ea rly paintings in,
xxiii, 29. 30. 31-36, 31-35,44, 74, 157-158,1 62.
166. 254n.1O (chap. 2), 264n.18;fram es in. 71,
79- 81, 101. 123. 130, 147; key to painti ngs in .
xx iv- xxv ; nam ing issues associated with ,
xxvi; nich es of, 74. 94. 97, 110, 237; number -
ing system for pa in tings in, xxvi; painted
br ick pattern in. 32; plan of, xxiv-xxv, 22;
struct ural damage in , 254nn .4, 5 (chap. 2);
stylisticties to other sites, 85, 85. 86. 87-88.
92-93, 99- 102, 131, 132-133. 245, 247, 254nn.8,
11 (chap. 3), 257n.137, 259n.36; survey of.
254n.3 (cha p. 2); symbo lism of painti ngs in,
94; tenth - and elevent h-century pr edecessors
to art in. 93-95 ; th irteenth -cent ury pa intings
a nd Arab ization : 32, 60. 88, 91, 106-109,
144-149, 242, 244-245, 247, 25m.7, 26m .88,
262n.98; thirteenth-centu ry-paintin gs and
Arm en ian art, 149. 152, 247; thirteenth-
century pa intings and Byzantine ar t, 88,
91- 93,95, 99- 102, 111, 113. 127, 131-140,
152-154, 244- 245,247- 248, 258n·30, 259n·40,
260n.56, 26m .88. 264n.21; th irt eenth-centu ry
paintings and Crusa der art , 91. 95; thi rteenth -
 GENERAL INDE X
ce n tury paintings an d Cyp rio t a rt, 130,
135-136, 140, 152, 154,245-247, 262n n .15, 18;
th irt eenth -centu ry paintings an d Rom an -
esq ue ar t, 88, 89 . Seealso M o nastery of SI.
Anton y, Red Sea
Ch ur ch of St. Barbara (Sill Barb ar a), Old Ca iro,
109
Ch u rch of St, Mark, Monastery of St, Antony, 183
Church of SI. Mary's of the Adm ira l, Paler mo ,
100 , 101
Ch u rch of SI. Mercu riu s, Old Ca iro . See
Mo nas tery o f SI. Me rcur ius
Ch urc h of SI. Sabas, Tre bizond , 259n.50
Ch u rch o f SI. Sergius, O ld Ca iro, 109, 260 n.23
Ch ur ch ofss. Serg ius and Bacchus, O ld Cairo , 99
Ch u rch of the Arc hangel M ichael, Kato Lefk ar a,
Cyp rus, 131- 132,132
Ch ur ch of the Holy Apostles, Monastery of SI.
Antony, xii, 21, 23, 25, 75, 182
Ch u rch of the Pan agia, Moutoullas, Cyp rus, 132
Ci tad el of Aleppo, 117, 118
Citad el of Cairo, 150, 151; Striped Palace of Sult an
a n-Nasir M uhammed, 151
Claud ius (m a rtyr) : 41, 44, 44-45, 47, 95, 26111.56;
graffiti u n der paintin gs of, 266 n. 5; in scri p-
t ion s in pa int ings o f, 159, 224; twelfth - a nd
th irt eenth-century pain tin gs of, 95, 95
Clipe us. See Virgin M ar y an d Ch rist Ch ild
Clo th ing : in Ara bic culture, 104, 104, 106, 106,
1° 7 -1 0 8,11 0 -11 1,111 ,11 2, 118 , 119 ; in Coptic
a rt, 79-80, 82-83, 85-86, 111, 131, 26111 n·56, 59,
262n.5; in ea rly paint ings, 32; mil ita ry
( Byza nt ine) 111, 113, 113, 115, 11 6, 117, m ilitar y
(Tur co- Ayyu bid ) 113, 114, 11 5, 11 6, 11 8, 118, 119,
11 9, 121, m o nast ic, 267n.4 (ch ap. 13)
Co lumns, 84, 107, 107, 260n .23
Co nservatio n a n d res to ratio n procedures, for
Ch urc h o f St. Anto ny, 155- 170; pr eviou s
in ter ven tion s, 163-1 64, 166. See also Mer-
curius ( m a rty r), co nservation record for ;
Over-painting
Co ns ta n tine (em pero r), 7, 117
Co ns ta n tine I (a bbo t), 14- 15, 175
Co ppin, Jean , 178, 179
Co ptic a rt: Arabizati on of, 32, 60 ,88,91, 106- 109,
144-149, 242,244-245, 247, 25111·7, 26m .88,
26211.98; Arm enian art and, 149, 152, 247;
Byzantine art and, 88, 91-93, 95, 99-102, 111 ,
113, 127, 131- 140 , 152- 154, 244- 245, 247- 248,
258n.30, 259n·40, 260 n.56, 26111.88, 264n.21;
chro no log ical seq uence o f, 33, 85, 133, 139,
247; Church ofSt. An tony sign ifica nce to h is-
tory of, 77-78, 242, 244; critics of, xiv, 75, 242,
26911.7; Crus ad er art and, 91, 95; Cyp riot a rt
an d , 130 , 135-1 36, 140, 152, 154, 245-247,
262n n. 15, 18; dat ing of, by style, 33-34, 77, 78,
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299
85-88, 125, 247; dragon imagery in, 44,
116- 117, 117, 118, 26m .67; Islam ic a rt and,
103-125,12 7,143-154,242,244-248; ren deri ng
of clot h in g as da ting technique for , 79-80,
82-83,85-86, 111, 131, 26111n .56, 59, 262n ·5;
Rorn an esqu e a rt a nd , 88, 89 ; subjec ts o f,
84-85, 95, 98, 99 , 143; techniques of, 84-85;
tenth - an d eleventh -century, 93-95;
T heodore's style of, 78-81; twelfth - and th ir-
teenth- century, 95-99; un usual br ick pattern
in, 32; workshops of, 81-85, 89, 104, 122-124 ,
130- 131, 152-1 54, 244-248. See also Co p tic
pai ntings; Decor ative m ot ifs
Coptic lan gu age: Boha iric, 123, 219, 26m. 85;
Sah id ic, 267n. 12 (chap. 14)
Co p tic monast icism: Anto n y as fo u nde r of (see
A ntony the G reat) ; ba sic philosop h y of, 195;
genea logy of, 40 - 54, 71, 76, 244; icon s in (see
Ico ns); sacrifice a nd , 66- 70
Co p tic Orthodo x Ch urch, 192, 244; co lo nialism
and, 207; fasting in , 267n.1; feast days in (see
Feast d ays [mii /ids)); modern ren aissanc e of,
183,1 93, 206- 2° 7; revolt s aga ins t Mu slim s, 15;
sch ism with Melkit es, 13-15; Syria n Ch u rch
and, 14, 54, 175-1 76, 256n.80 ; th em e of patri-
archs in art o f, 94
Co p t ic paint ings : fu nct io ns (ge neral) o f, 38-39;
healing fu nctio ns of, 42, 55; int ercesso ry
fun ctio ns of, 55-56; na rr ative fu nc tio ns of
(genealogy), 48- 54, 101, 121, 122; p rot ecti ve
fu nctions o f, 55-56, 61-62, 11 6- 118, 11 0
Co u nc il of Cha lced o n, 13, 53, 98
Crosses: 74, 74, 75, 91, 93, 97- 98, 98, 139; M uslim
proh ib itio n of, 75; ni che o f pr eciou s, 74;
processio nal, 75, 75
C roy fa m ily, 191
C u tler, An th o ny, 154
Cynocephaloi. See Dog- hea de d can n ibals
(cynocephaloi}
Cyp rio t art : An tony in , x iv; stylistic ties with
Ch urc h ofSt. An to ny, 100, 100, 131, 132-133,
152, 245, 247
Cy riacus, 122
Cyril IV, 174, 175, 175, 181, 192
Cy ril VI, 206.
Cyril of Alexand ria, 57, 71, 98
Cy rus al-Makau kus, 14
Dabra Liban o s, Shoa, 266 n.28
Dakhla Oa sis. See Deir ai-Haggar
Darn iett a, 123, 125, 178
Da n iel (p ro phet ), 70, 237
Da n iel (Russia n abbo t ), 68
Daoud. uzo
D'Arenberg basin , 144, 144-1 45, 147, 150 , 150
David (p ro p het), 69, 70, 236-237
Decius,61
Decorative m o t ifs, 125, 145- 149, 147, 148; Byzan-
tine ribbo n, 88, 258n.30;; flor al, 147, 263n.56;
imit ati on b ricks, 36; in kh urus vault, 143, 145-
149, 151- 154, 160-1 61; pearl bor d er s, 71, 80,
257n.157; o n spand rels, 109. Seealso Arabesqu es
Dedic atory in scriptio ns, 37-38,230
Deesis (pet itio n), 72, 74-76, 97, 98, 99-100, 100,
132
Deesis Cha pel, 39-40, 72-73, 73-76, 80, 88, 98,
25511.14, 257n.173; arc hways of, 28, 29, 33-34;
Armenia n graffi t i in, 40, 178; d atin g o f, 28- 30,
242; early paintings in, 31,32, 33-34, 74; fu nc-
tion of, 40 ; inscriptio ns in , 218, 237-239;
insect da ma ge in, 156, 163; living creat ures
a nd, 74-75, 255'1.14, 257n.164; n aming of,
39-40 , 255n. 14; painter of, 81, ' 78; plast er
layers d etach me n t in, 162, 264n .27
Deir al-Bahri, 34-35
Deir ai- Hagg a r, 36
Deir al-Mayrnun, 4, 10
Deir al-Sho ha da. See Monastery of th e M art yrs
(De ir al-Shoh ada )
Deir al-Sur ian . See Syrian Monastery
Deir Anba Antunius. See Monastery of SI.
Anto ny, Red Sea
Deir Anba Bula. See Mo na stery of St. Paul ,
Red Sea
Deir M etra s, 14
Demetrius, 111, 11 3
Demo ns, 8, 47, 48, 223
Devils. See Demons
Diocletia n, 44, 45, 47, 224, 231
Diosco rus, 71, 76, 11 2, 233
Dog-h ead ed ca n n iba ls (cynocephaloi), 55, 62, 104,
229
Do me s, in Co p tic archi tecture, 99
Do mes , of Ch ur ch of St. Anto n y: afte r cleaning,
xvii, 39; a rchi tectural features of, 24; sa nctu -
ary, 24, 28, 99
Dornitius, 51, 95, 194, Arabic gra ffit i under paint -
ings o f, 189; Ethio pic graffiti under paintings
of, 190; in scription s in pai n ti ngs o f, 228;
twelft h- a nd th irteen th -cen tu ry pai nt ings of,
95
Donors, 37-38, 84, 109, 21 8, 227, 227-228, 230, 230
Dr agon s, 44, 116-117, 117, 118, 26m .67. See also
Snake m ot ifs
Dra gon slayers, 11 6- 117, 118
Eagle-headed crea ture. See Four Incor po real
Bein gs
Eaton -Kr au ss, Marria ne, 264
Ecclesiastical History ( Rufin us), 10
 G ENE RA L I N DE X
Ecclesiastical History (Sozo rnen), 8
Elija h, 70, 221, 236
Epipha nius of Salam is, 95, 255n.8
Epiph an y, feast of, liturgical celeb ration s assoc i-
ated with, 200
Eq uestr ian martyrs, 40-47, 61, 61- 62, 77-78, 78,
80, 92, 92-93, 95, 105- 106; after Byzantine
icono clasm , 93, 99; after cleaning of paintin gs
of, 77-78, 78; eq u ipment and horse tr appings,
Ill, 113, 113, 114-11 6 , 116 ; function s at 6 1, 6 1;
gene alogy of monasticism in paintings of,
40-47; ho rses of, 105-106; hor setai l kno ts in
pain tin gs of, 1I5; as princes.u z- u x; spa tial
placement in nave, 80. Seealso names of
ind ivid ual eq uestrian martyrs; Dr agon s;
Dra gon slayers; Snak e motifs
Esna. See Monastery of the Martyrs (Deir al-
Sho hada )
Ethiopia , 176, 189-1 90, 266n.24
Ethiopian Ch ur ch, 12, 176, 244
Ett in ghau sen , Richard, 122-1 23
Eucharist, 40, 62, 65, 69-71, 134, 257n n·148, 154
Euchi us, 61, 1I9, 231
Eulogia loaf, 70, 134
Eutychius , 225
Evagr ius Pont icus, 3
Fano us, Isaac, 207
Faras Cathedra l, 259n.28
Far ida h, 192
Paro uk. rc z
Fatim id dyna sty, 99,107-109, 1I0-1ll, 125, 150, 178,
260 n.23
Fayoum . See Na qlun Mo nas tery
Feast days (mii/ids): absence of depi ction s in
Th eod o re's art, 101; celeb ratio ns oflit urg ical
year, 39, 101, 199, 204, 267nn .6, 7, 9, 26. See
also AI-Iayla al-ka bira
Fed de n, H . Ro mi lly, 182-183
Figura l Mas ter , 127- 140, 152-154 , 245-248
Floor, of Ch urch ofSt. Anto ny, arch itectur al
features of, 30
For bi ns, Co u nt de, 180
Four In corporeal Bein gs, 201; Ch rist in Maj esty
and, 65, 70-71, 74-75; Deesis Chape l and,
255n.14, 257n .164; eagle- headed creature 32,
65,201,217, 232, 238; human -h eaded creat ure,
32, 65, 96 ,232,239; inscriptions in paintings
of, 232-233, 237-238; lion -h eaded creat ure, 32,
65, 232, 239; ox -headed creatu re, 32, 65, 20 1,
217, 232, 237; twelfth- and th irteenth-centur y
paintings of, 96, 96
Fra mes, in Coptic art, 71, 79-81, 101, 123, 130, 147
Franc iscans , 25, 178
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30 0
Fu lloni, Stefano, 155, 241
Funaro, Girogio, 2541l.7 (chap. 2)
Funerary Complex of Sulta n Qa lawun, Ca iro ,
145, 150,221, 263n·77
Ga briel (archangel), 97, 130; cleaning of, 169; d isk
held by, 134; Ethio pic graffit i under pa intings
of, 190 ; hand of, xxiii; inscriptions in paint-
in gs of, 232, 233, 239; in khurus, 128,
128-1 29,1 36,13 7,1 38-14 0
Ga briel ( mo nk), 218
Gabr iel III (pat riarc h) , 173, 176
Ga briel VI (patriarch), 12, 173, 174
Gabriel VII (patriarch), 174, 183, 186-1 87
Gab riel of Petp eh , 107
Garsh uni, 176, 189
Ge'ez, 176, 190
Geniza Docum ents, Cairo, 2 6 0 11.1
Geor ge, 44, 60, 9°, 101 , 101, 11 6 , 120, 121, 243;
Ara bic gra ffiti und er paint in gs of, 188; ea rly
paintings under paintings of, 159; inscript ion s
in paint ings of, 226, 231; over-p ain t ing of, 164
Gha b riitl ibn Turaik , 12
Glajor Go spel s, 149, 151, 263n n.55, 56
Glass, in Ch urch of St. Anton y, 26
Good Friday, liturgical celebra tio ns asso ciated
with, 200 -20 1
Gra bar, Oleg, 123
G raffiti: Arab ic, 184, 184-192; Ar menian, 178, 191;
Ethio pic , 189-1 9° , 266n.24; Eur opean visito rs
o n, 182; Franc isca n, 25, 178; heraldi c, 191,
191-1 92, 266n.31; inscription s, resembla nce
to, 149; inscription s versus, 185; med ieval
Weste rn , 25, 178, 191-1 92, 25111.16, 254n .6; at
Mo na stery of Apa (St.) Jeremi ah , Saqqara, 15;
sign ificance of, 192-1 93; Syriac, 189, 189; tool s
for wr iting, 266n.2. See also Ga rshu ni; Ge' ez
Greek Orthodox Patri ar ch ate, Istanbul, 132
Gr egory, 61, 114, 123, 229, 259n.18
Gross man n, Peter , 35-36, 183, 253n.84, 254n.1
(chap. 3), 270n.17
G uillaumo nt, Antoine, 5, II
Habachi , Labib , 182
Hairstyles: in Archangel Michel icon from
Koutsove nd is, 131; ar ch an gels, 128-131; in
ea rly paintings, 32, 254n. 1O (cha p. 3); mon as-
ti c, 69; Turkish so ld iers, 1I9
Hand gestur es: contemporar y Islami c cu lture
and, 121, 124, 124; di fficult y of int erpretation
of, 256n.95 ; of sta nd ing saints, 53
H an gin g Ch urc h, Old Ca iro . See AI-M u'a llaqa
Church
Hannaniah, 56
Hassaballa al-Bayad i, 183
Ha yati, Georges, 192
Hayka l (haikal). See ent ries un der Sanct ua ry
H eaven ly Jeru salem , 62, 63-64, 65-66
Hebron , 60
Heraclius.ua
Heraldi c graffit i, 191-19 2, 266n.31
Hercu lean kn ot , III
Hermitage of St. Neo phyt us, Cyprus, 100, ' 35, 135
Hexagon al patt ern s, 147, 147-148
Hilarion. y
Historia MOllachorIlm, 5, 8, II
History of the Churches alld Monasteriesof Egypt.
See Ab u al-Ma ka rim; Abu Salih
History of the Patriarchs, 14
Homilies of Gr egor y of Nazianzos, 100
Ho no rius, 1I3
Horses. See Eq ues trian mart yrs
Human -h ead ed creature. See Four In corpor eal
Bein gs
Humid ity dam age, in Ch urch of St. Anto ny, 156
Hunt, Lucy-Ann, 89, 124, 152, 258-25 9n.35,
258nn .9, 16, 259l11!.3, 4, 270nn. 13, 20
Ibn Kha ld nn, 110
Ico nocla sm, 91, 95, 99
Ico ns, '9 5; Abra ham (bisho p), 34, 34-35 ; An to ny,
3, 9, 17, 196 ; Anto ny an d Paul, 9, '96; An to ny
with Onno phr ius and Paul th e Hermit, \7;
Ar me nian icon paint er, 180; bapti sm of
Christ, 200 ; Byzantine, 111, 113 , 117 , 129 , 133,
140, 270n.12; Chr ist and Apa Mena, 35, 36;
devot ion s associate d with, 196-1 97; of th e
Entom bmen t, 201; Ethiopian, 176, 177, 182;
Gabr iel (archangel), 130, ' 31; ivo ry, 1I3; in
liturgy, 198-1 99; Macarius (saint) an d
cheru b, 102; Mic hael (Archangel), 131, 140;
mo dern mo nastic production of, 198; mod-
ern versus old, 20 9-2 10; monks and, 19 5- 2 01 ;
Paul th e Hermit, 9, 17; Sergius an d Bacchu s,
1I6, 117, 121; textile, 33, 254n.8 (chap. 3);
Virgin Ma ry, 32, 33, 132, 133;vita, 100-10 1
Imit ation . See Mim esis
Innernee, Karel C , 183, 259n.29, 270n. 19
Inscriptions: in annex, 239; apotropaic, 110;
Arabic, 83, 109-IIO, 140, 149-150, 219, 232;
archway, 229, 263n.65; bib lical nam e
identification, 217-218; bibli cal or liturgical
text, 2 18 ; co nventions used in, 2 19 -220;
Co ptic, 32, 109, 140, 143, 150, 152,217-239; in
Deesis Chapel, 218, 237-239; Esna, in Sah idic
Co ptic, 267n.12 (cha p. 14); graffiti versus, 185;
 GENERA L INDEX
in Kh ur u s, ' 38, 149-1 51, 229-232; la ngu age o f,
109,219; m em o rial, 37-38,84,218, 227, .
227-228; narrative, 218; in nave, 42, 44. 51, 83,
84. 221-229; in sanc tuary, 232-237; signature,
107, 217,218-219,229,235, 268 n. 16; tira z, n i ;
typ es of, 217. Seealso names of spec ific
individuals and paintings; Donors
In sect damage, xviii, in Deesis C ha pe l, 156, 163
In st itute for Co ptic Stu d ies, 20 6-207
Isaac (ab u n of Ethiopian church ), 176
Isa ac (b iblical patriarch ), 70; in scr iptions in
p aint ing s of, 230; in liturgical sa nc tua ry
pain tings, 70 ; in parad ise painting, 59, 79 ;
sacr ifice of, 65, 66, 67, 93, 96 , 235
Isaa c the Pre sbyter, 221, 268n .30
Isa iah (p ro ph et) , 81, 236, 257n. 148; and th e Burn -
ing Coal, 66 , 68, 96 , 236
Isla m ic art. See Coptic art: Arabization of;
sp ecific medium type s
Jaba l al-Ialalah al-Q ibliyyah, 10
Jaco b (b ib lical patriarch ), 59, 79, 79, 85, 172, 230
Jam es (p atriarc h), 25311.93
Jep hth ah (b ib lical ju dge ), 66 , 67 , 68, 235
Jer emi ah (p ro p het), 70, 236
Iern stadt Rul e, 221
jerome (sa int ), 5, 9, 70 , 221
Jerusalem , pi lgrimages o f m onks to , 12
Jews an d Jewish ar t, 103- 104, 106, 144, 260 n .1,
270 lLl4
Joh ann Geo rg, Duke o f Saxo ny, 182
John (p a in ter) , 268n .16
John V (pa t r iarc h ), 14
John VI (patria rch ), 176
John XI (p at r ia rch), 173
John XII I (pat riarc h ), 174
John XVI (patr ia rch) , 174
Joh n o f Bakansi, 55, 57
Joh n o f Heraclea (m artyr), 41, 225-226, 242
Joh n of Shmu n (bisho p), 14
John the Almoner , 14
Jo h n th e Baptist , 6, 74, 86, 237-238. See also
Dee sis (petitio n)
John the Litt le (mo nk ), 51, 52, 53, 82, 82, 84; body
of, 14, 2531111.113, 114; id en tification of, 242,
253n .115; in scriptions in paintings of, 221;
Life of lohn the Little, 10
Julian the Apostat e, 61, 229
Ju litta ,12 2
Iulli en, Michel, Per c, 8, 180 , 181-1 82, 25311.94
Justinian L 13 , IDS, 111, 113
https://coptic-treasures.com/
301
Kalawta, " 3, 118, " 9
Kallin ikos (Greek patri a rch ), 192
Karatay M adrasa, Ke nya , 149
Kat o Lefk ar a , Cy prus . See Ch urch o f th e
Arch an gel M ichael
Kazagh and, " 3, 115-116, 125, 260 ILl02 (chap .z)
Kaza zian , 182
Keep s, 12, 29, 182-1 83, 253n .88
Kellia, Cyp rus, 251n.2
Kellia , Egyp t, 4-5, 11, 13, 15, 91, 93, 253nn .91, 127
Kh ali l I, 173
Khidma, 206, 208, 272
Kh ludov Psa lter , 257n .139
Khurus, C h u rch of St. An ton y: angels in, 130, 135;
Arabic gra ffit i in , 187-1 88; a rch itectur e of,
xx iii, 25-30, 39, 26-27, 127, 151-152; arch-
ways, 70, 1} 6, 138-1 40 ; Armenian influence
on, 14 9) 152, 247; ceiling, after cleaning, xviii,
26; ceiling pa intings in, 127-1 54, 141, 142,
16 0-16 1, 256n ,104. 26411.20; cro sses in, 139;
damage in , 156, 162, 264n .ll; dati ng of, 36;
da ting of ce ilin g pain tings in , 127-12 8, 139,
' 52-1 54, 245, 26211.3, 263n .71; decorative
mo tifs in , 140 , 141, 142, 143, 143. 145-149 , 146 ,
148; eas te rn wa ll, 129, 134-1 35, 142, 143, 143,
180; Figu ral Mas te r's wor k in , 127-1 40;
iconography in , 133- 136; illuminated ma n u-
scr ip t influen ce o n pai ntings in , 123-124, 149;
inscript ions in , 138, 218, 229-232; or igins an d '
fu nc tio n of, 39; O rna me n ta l Mas ter's wo rk in
(see O rname n ta l Mas te r: kh u rus p ain tin gs
of); o rn ame nta l p aintings in , 140-1 43; p aint-
in gs o f Theodore in , 56-62, 127-128; p ro -
gra ms of paintings in , 127- 128; roof, 26; salva-
tion p aintin gs in, 57, 58, 60-62, 120, 134-135;
spatial layout of, 127; vault, 24, 24, 27, 127, 140,
'51-152, ' 54, 254n .7 (cha p. 2); wes te rn -facing
wa ll, 129-134, 129. See also Abr aham, Isaac,
a nd Jacob in Par adise; Decorati ve m oti fs;
Eq ues tr ian sai n ts; Ga b r iel (a rc ha nge l), in
khurus; M ichael (a rcha ngel) , in kh urus;
Neb uc ha d ne zzar; Three Hebrews
Kilus, bi shop of Fuwah, 12
Kitb ug ha (am ir), 147
Knights Templar , 131
Knotted dragon , sym b o lism of, 117, 117-118,
26 m .67
Kon ya, See Karatay Madrasa ; Sircali Madrasa
Kufic script, 10 9 -110 , 12 5 , 150 , 26111.55
Kuhnel, Gustav, 57
Kuj awski , Mich ael J. , 155
Kunyas.joc
Kyrollious VI. See Cy r il VI
Laferr iere , P ierre- He nry, ' 78, 217, 225, 226, 234,
268n .41
Lagoudera , Cy p rus , xiv
Lait y: pil grimages o f, 39, 178, 183, 203-204, 206 ,
244; rol e of, 206 , 207, 244
Language. See spec ific lan gu a ges
Lannoy, Gh illebe rt d e, 173, 179
Laura of Qal amun, Fayum, 221
Lausiac History (Pallad ius ), 8
Lazarus (m o nk ), 8-9, 253n.99
Lazarus (b ib lical po or m an ), 60
Lebna Den gel of Eth iopia, ' 74 , 176 , 177, 182
Leo III (e m pe ro r), 91
Lern s, m onk s, 3
Leroy, Ju les, xiv, 77, 87, 88, 93,1 82, 242, 255n .29
Lett er s, of St, Anton y, 6
Life of Antony (Atha nas iu s): o n asceti cism of
Anton y, 4, 6, 7; on burial of Anton y, 252n. lO;
Cass ia n an d , 3; Eu ro pea ns readers of, 178; on
imitati on of An to ny, 54; o n mart yr ro le o f
Anton y, 48; painting of au thor of, 71, 86;
name s Antony «father of monasticism," 16;
on travel of Anton y to Red Sea area , 10 . See
also Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophtheg:
mata Patrum )
Life of lohn the Little, 10, 13
Life of PallI, the First Hermit, The (St. Jerom e), 9
Life of the [uta Fathers, 3
Lio n -hea ded crea ture. See Fo ur In co r po real
Beings
Litu rgy: Co p tic, 9, 69, 73, 195, 198- 20 1, 209-211,
2671U (c ha p. 14 ); ico ns in , 198-1 99; p aint ed
im agery an d, 39, 62-73
Livi ng crea t u res . See Fo ur In corpo real Beings Th e
Logo s, 57, 66, 70 , 140
Los Ange les , Un ivers ity of Ca lifo rn ia at Los
Ange les, Glaj or Gos pels. See under Glajo r
Gos pels
Lus ignan , G uy de, 131
Luster-painted ceramics, 109 -110 , 109 , 110
Ma carius th e Alexa nd ria n (m o nk ), 9, 228,
268n .42
M acarius the Great (m o n k) , 5, 50-51, 84, 95,
260n .57; cherub and, 49, 50, 50-51, 87- 88, 88,
95, 102; Ethiopic under paintings o f, 190;
in scr iptio n s in p aintings of, 51, 228; twelfth-
and th irt eenth -century paintings of, 95
Macrobi u s, 84, 228-229, 242
Madeleine, La, Vezelay, 251J1 .6
Madrasa o f Su lta n al-Za h ir Baybars, Ca iro, 148,
149
 GENERAL INDEX
Mag nifica t, in in scr ip tio ns, 218, 239 M ena s ofThm ui s (b isho p) , 12
Mag u ire , Henry, 135 M eno logio n of Basil II, 260 n.57
Ma lo ne , Edward , 48 Me rcurius ( m arty r), 93, 105, 248; co nse rvatio n
record for , 156-159, 161-162, 166- 167; as
Ma m lu ks, Ill , 11 9 150-151, 178
equestrian m artyr, 61, 61-62, 80, 113, 114,
Ma 'rn un, al- (ca liph) , 185
115-116,119, 121; gra ndfat her o f, 62, 104, 229;
Ma n d orlas, 57, 62, 65, 74, 93, 95, 97-98 in scrip t ion s in pain tin gs of, 38, 230; ove r-
pain tin g of khu ru s pain tin g o f, 164 ; pages o f,
Ma ns, Belon d u, 183
11 9, 119, 127
M anuscr ipt ill um inatio ns, 100 , 105; Arab, Ill, 111,
Me ta n o ia, 195, 272
119 , 119 , 122 - 12 4 , 122-125, 151; Armenian, 14 9 ,
149,1 52; Byza nt in e, 113,122, 135, 152; Co p tic, M icha el (a rcha ngel), x, 44, 47, 86 ; ico ns o f, 131,
44, 105, 122,136, 123,1 51,151, 154; Gos pe l o f 140; inscriptio ns in pain tin gs o f, 231, 239; in
M att h ew, 122; Syrian, 147; T heod or e Strate- kh urus, 128, 128- 129, 136, 137, 138, 138- 140 ,
lates in, 44, 44 139 ; m a rb le relief o f, 134
Ma p, of Egyp t, 2 M ichael (m o nk ), 12, 38
Ma ph o rio n, 133, 272 Mi litar y m a rtyrs. See Eq uest rian m artyrs
Maq am at (al- H ariri), 111, 119, 119, 122-123, 123, M ilitar y vestme n ts, Ill , 113, 113, 114, 115-116
124 ,1 51 Militia spiritualis, 48
Ma rk (eva ngelist an d pat ria rch ), 70, 71, 86, 87, 94, M ime sis, 48- 54, 76, 212-213
98
Mi nb a r of Am ir Baktimu r, M osq ue of Salih
Mark (patria rch ), 174
Tala'i ' , Cairo, 148, 149
Ma rk II, 15 M inbar o f Sulta n Lagin , M os que o f Ib n Tulu n,
Ma rk III, 14, 176, 178 Ca iro, 145, 145, 148
Ma rk ib n al- Ka nbar, 14 M ini atures, Ar ab ic. See Man uscr ipt illu m in a-
tion s, Arab
Ma rtin o f Tours, 3
M in ya. See M o nas tery of Apa Fan a
"Martyrd o m o f St. Th eodore th e Ori en tal," 47
Mishael.s«
Martyrs: eq uest rian (see Equ est rian martyrs);
figures in n ave, 40-48; fu nc tions of pa inti ngs Monastery of Abu Sefein (Me rcur ius) , O ld Cairo .
o f, 40-47, 55-56; im perial att ribu tes and, 113; See Monastery of St. M ercu riu s
in inscri p tions, 217- 218; salvat ion a nd ro le of,
Monaster y of Anba Shen uda , 178. See also White
40 -48; sta n d ing, 47-48. See also names o f M on aste ry
spec ific martyr s
M o n as tery of Apa Apo llo, Bawit: Ch rist in
Mar y (Virgi n Mother of God ). See en t ries begin - Majesty, 96 , 96 ; dating of pai ntings in, 91;
nin g with Virgin Ma ry ea rly d epi ct ion s o f An to ny at, 251l1.1; eq ues-
trian saints, 9 2, 92; excavation of, 25711.2;
M ass. See Liturgy
h or se head po sitio n in g in paintings at, 105;
Ma ssaia, Gug liem o, 176, 180
icon of Ch rist an d Apa M en a, 35, 36; o ldes t
Materia Medica ( Dios ko rid es), 124 Co ptic painting o f Antony at, xiv ; ties with
Ch ur ch of St. An to ny, 32, 92-93; Virgin
Ma ximu s, 51, 95, 194; Arab ic gra ffit i under paint-
Mary, 92
in gs of, 189; Eth iopic gra ffit i under paint ings
o f, 190 , 190; in scri pt ion s in paint ings o f, 38, Mo na stery o f Apa Fana , regio n o f M inya , 98
228; twelfth - a n d thi rteenth-century paint-
Monaste ry of Apa jeremiah , Saq qara, 15,32, 35,
in gs of, 95
91,93, 254n.12 (ch a p. 3), 257n.2
Me inra d us, Otto , 182, 253n.1I3, 258n .16
Mo nas tery o f Ar sen ius, Tura h, 248
M elchi zed ek, 66, 68 , 68-69, 96, 96, 236, 25711.139
Monastery of Ha gio s Chrys osto mos ,
Me lk ites, 13-1 5, 253n. 1I3
Ko utsove nd is, 131
Mem or ials, insc riptio ns. See Don o rs
Monaster y of Pho ebammon, Deir al- Bahari ,
M en a, 35, 36 Lu xo r, 34-35
M enas (ma rtyr), 225; Arabi c gra ffiti u nd er paint - M o nas te ry of St. Anto ny, Red Sea, 5, 11, 11, 16
ings of, 187, 187, 188, 192; as eq ues trian mar - (see also Ch urc h o f St. An ton y; Copt ic art ;
tyr , 41- 42, 42, 117-118, 255n.20; graffit i under Co ptic pain tin gs); An to ny a n d Pau l in , 9- 10;
painting of, 191- 192; heali ng a nd int er cesso ry Ar me n ia ns a n d , 176, 178; Ch urc h o f the Holy
fun ct ion s of, 55; inscri pt io ns in paint in gs of, Apo stles, xii, 21, 23, 25, 75, 182, 183; Ch urc h of
224 St. Ma rk, 183; co ns ervat io n a nd resto rat io n
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30 2
pro cedures for (see Co nse rvatio n and res-
toration procedures, for Ch urc h of St.
An ton y); in eigth teen th cen tury, 180;
Ethiopia ns and, 176; European t rave lers to ,
178-182; Fra nc iscans and, 178; garden of, 241;
geog rap hy and or igins of, 10-12 ; graffiti in
(see Graffi ti); hi stori c co re of, 20; hi sto ry of,
12- 15, 173- 175, 260n.58 ; lon gevity o f, 15-1 6;
m ap of, 181; Me lkites and, 14; in n inetee n th
cen tu ry, 180 -182; n umber of m onks in ,
173-176, 178- 179,1 82- 183; o ral h istory a nd
d at ing of, 31; panorami c view o f, 21; plans of,
xxi v-xxv, 22, 202; pi lgrima ges to , 39, 178, 183;
plan of, 22, 202; ritu als pra cticed at, 210-213 ;
sch ism between M elkites an d Cop ts an d,
13-1 5; scho la rly stud ies o f, 182- 183; in seven -
tee nth cen tu ry, 179- 180; Syria ns and, 14-1 5,
54,76, 175-1 76; views o f ex te rio r o f, viii , 11,
16, 20, 173, 17 9 , 2 05 , 2 12; visito rs an d sc ho lars
co m me n t o n th e Ch urc h of St. Anto n y 173,
176,1 78- 182,1 83; visito rs a n d scho la rs com -
m ent o n the Monastery o f St. Anto ny
178-1 82; visito rs'a nd scho la rs' ph otos a n d
drawings of, xv, xvii, xxii, 25, 179, 173,
180 -1 83, 198,
Mo nastery of St. Bish oi , Soh ag. See Red
Mo nastery (M o nastery of St. Bisho i)
Monastery of St. Bishoi, Wadi al-Na trun. 208;
Ch apel of Benjamin. 258n.33
Monastery o f St. Cathe rine o n M o u nt Sina i:
icons in co llect io n of, 17, 102, 11 7, 133; im per-
ial patronage an d co nstruc tion of, 37-38 ; pil -
. grim ages to , 178; ties with Ch urc h o f St.
An to ny, 88, 102, 11 6, 131-133, 136, 152-154, 245,
254nn.8, 11 (chap. 3), 257n .137, 261n .67
Mo na stery o fS t. Joh n the Litt le, Wad i al-Na trun,
12
Mo na ste ry ofSt. Ma ca rius, Wad i al- Na tru n, 9, 12,
77, 77, 87- 88,87-89, 95, 95-98, 102, 208, 245,
247, 262n.4, 267n.13(chap. 14); Me lkites a n d ,
13; number o f monks in , 179; Sa nct uary
(Haikal) of Benjamin , 262n-4, 267n.13(cha p.
14); San ctuary (H aikal) of St. M ark , 77, 87,
87-89, 95, 245, 247, 258n.24, 267n.13 (ch ap. 14)
Mo naste ry o f St. Me rcu rius, O ld Cairo , 55,
258n.24; Chapel o f th e Virgin, 96, 98, 247,
258n.16; sty list ic ties with Mo nas te ry o f St.
Bish oi, 258n .33; ties with Ch urc h of St.
An tony, 85, 85, 86, 88, 89, 89 , 98, 245
Mo nas tery o f St. Paul , Red Sea, 9-10 , 10, 181-182,
247; m ap o f, 181; M elkites a nd , 14; mo nk s o f,
197; Syrians an d , 14- 15, 54, 175-1 76; W h itte
more ph ot os of (1930- 1931), 10, 197
Mo naste ry o f St. She n ute, Sohag . See White
M o nas tery
Mon astery of th e Archan gel Ga briel. See Na qlu n
M o nas tery
Mo na stery o f the Ma rt yrs, Esna , 93-97, 95, 97,
25911.18, 261l1.5
 GENERAL I N D EX
Monaster y of th e Rom an s, Wadi Natrun, 208;
Co pt ic style seq uenc e and, 77, 94, 95, 98,10 2,
247, 259n .36, 270n.13;guidebo ok to, 207-208;
Westerners on , 207
Monasticism . See Coptic monasti cism
Monks, xxv ii, 12, 40, 47-56, 84, 195-201, 197, 244;
clothing of, 26711.4 (chap. 13); fastin g and,
267n.1 (chap. 13); icons and, 196- 199, 207;
liturgical life of, 198-201 ; modern ro le of,
208; numbe rs of, 5-6, 173-176, 178-1 79,
182-183, 208, 252n.22, 265n.85; rihla pi lgrims
and, 204- 206, 209, 212-213
Mo nograms, in inscriptions, 220, 227, 25711.154
Mo no phys ites, 13,14, 175,183
Mo rga nti, Luc ia, 263
Moses (pro phe t), 70,236
Moses th e Black (mo nk), 12, 13, 51-53 , 51, 95, 108;
inscr ip tio ns in pa int ings of, 226-227; twel fth -
and thirteen th-cen tur y paintings of, 95
Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tu lu n, Cairo, 145, 260 n.21
Mosque ofSalih Ta la'i ' , Cairo, 107, 107, 108, 148,
149
Mo sul, 147
Mo n nt Clysma, 212-2 13
Mo u nt Co lzim, 4, 10, 11
Mo unt Pispir, 4, 10
Mount Tabo r, 68. See also Caves; Melchi zed ek
Montoullas, Cyprus . See Church of th e Pana gia
M udbricks, in co nstruction of Ch ur ch ofS t.
Anto ny, 23, 25, 29
Mnlids. See Feast da ys (m iilids)
Murqus II, 14
Naqlu n Mon aster y, Fayoum, 77, 93, 94, 95, 98,
107, 259n.19
Naskh i scr ipt, 109-110, 149, 150
Nave, of Ch ur ch ofSt. Antony: architec tu ral
featu res of, 24-26; after cleaning, xi; befor e
cleaning, xviii; do mes of, 23; early paintings
in, 29, 31-32, 32, 36; func tio n of, 39; inscrip-
tion s in) 42, 44 , 51, 83, 84, 221-229; m artyr
figures in, 40-48; placement of paintings in ,
80; program of pa int ings in, 39-57; views of,
40 ; wall stab ility of, 161. See also Sain ts,
mo nastic
Nebuchadnezzar, 60, 120, 230-231. See also Palace
of Neb ucha d nezzar, kh ur us painting of
Nelso n, Robert, 152, 154, 26111.88, 262n.18
Netchetailov, 182
Niches: in Ch urc h of St. Antony, 94, 161;of th e
precious cross, 72, 74, 74-75, 97, 97, 110 ,
109-110, 237
N ikopoios. See Virgi n Mary and Christ Ch ild
https://coptic-treasures.com/
3°3
N ineve (biblical ric h man ), 59, 6o, 127, 230
Noah's ark, 56, 151
No mi na sacra, in inscriptions, 2 19-220
No ro v, Abr aham, 180
No ua (martyr) , 47, 223, 268n.17
Ogier Vlll, Seigneur d' Anglure, 173> 178, 255n.8
Old Church . See Church of St. Antony
Onnophrius, 17
"O rder of Priest hood," 62
Or igen of Alexandria, 6
Ornamental Mas ter: Armenian manuscript illu-
minations an d, 149, 149; inscript io ns in work
of, 149-151; Islami c trad itio n and, 127,
143- 145,144-145, 147,149, 150; kh ur us pa int-
in gs of, 133, 140, 141, 142, 143, 143, 145-1 49,
146,1 48,1 54, 245, 247; Me d iterranean tradi -
tio n and, 247; pa inted ceilings of Ca iro and,
151- 152,1 53
O rthography, in inscr ipt ions , 220
Over-pa in ting, xviii, 77- 78, 78, 155, 164, 164, 166,
168, 244, 258n.8, 269n .5
Ox-heade d crea ture . See Four Incorpo real Beings
Oxyrhync h us, 5
Pachomius, 3, 5, 48, 48, 50, 52; inscription s in
paint ings of, 223; tenth - and eleventh-ce nt ury
paintings of, 94; twelfth - and thirteenth-
century paint in gs of, 95
Paint ed ceilings: See Fun er ar y Co m plex of Sult an
Q alawun; Qa 'a of Ahm ed Kuh ya; Qa'a of
M uh ib ad -Din al-M uwa qq i': Qa' a of the Deir
al Banat; Qa 'a of the Palace of Am ir Basht ak
Paka ou, 47, 48, 48; inscription s in paintings of,
223
Palace o f Ne buc ha d nezza r, khurus painting of,
60, 120', 121 -1 2 2 , 123, 125 . 243
Palermo. See Ca pe lla Palatin a; Ch urc h of St.
Mar y's of th e Ad m iral
Palladi us, 8, 252n.22
Palm Sunday, liturgical celebrations assoc iated
with. zoo
Palmwood, 57, 152
Pari s: Bibliotheque National, Ms. Arab e 3929 and
Ms . Arabe 5847 (see Maqamat) ; Institut
Catho liq ue, Biblio theq ue de Fels, Ms. copte-
ara be 1 (see Cairo New Testamen t )
Pasicrates, 6 1, 106, 23 1
Passion Week, litur gical celebrat io ns associated
with.zoo
Patriarchs: in sanctuary pai ntings, 70, 71, 76, 94,
98, 112; as theme in Cop tic churc he s, 94. See
also names of individual patriarchs
Paul. See Paul the Her mit (sa int and mon k); Pau l
th e Simple (mo nk); Sayings of the Desert
Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum )
Paul (apos tle), 32, 35, 238, 254n.1O(chap. 3)
Paul of Th eb es. See Paul th e Hermit (sa int and
monk)
Paul the Hermit (saint and monk), xi, xiii, xviii,
9, 17, 50,84,95,196; Arabi c graffit i under
pain tings of, 184; icon of, 9, 17; inscr iptions in
painting s of, 221;Syriac graffit i under paint -
ings of , 189; twelft h- and thirteenth -century
paintings of, 95
Paul th e Simple (mo nk) , 84; Antony the Gr eat
and, 8-9; healing and in tercessory functions
of, 55; inscripti o ns in painti ngs of, 221
Pedesta l of the cha lice, 199
Peter (apostle), 32, 238, 254n.1O(chap. 3)
Peter (archpriest ), 38
Peter (patriarch ), 71, 76, 233
Peter IV (pat riarch), 14
Peter VII (pat riarch) , 175, 176
Ph ilpo tt, L. G., 192
Phocas. jj
Ph oeb amm o n of Ausim (martyr), 41, 90, 92, 92
115, 116, 119; graffiti under pai ntings of, 191;
id ent ification of, 242; inscription s in paint-
in g. of, 226; sold ier under, 106
Pho ebammon of Preh t, 226
Pianko ff, Alexa nde r, 181, 182, 25111.11
Picciri llo, Michele, 265n.53
Pilgrimages: 'a iyad, 204; for healin g, 41; by laity,
39, 178, 183, 203-204, 206, 210-213, 244,
267n n.25, 26 (chap. 13); to Mon astery of St.
Anto ny, 178, 183; of Mo na ste ry of St. Anto ny
monks, 12; rihl a, 203-204, 206, 210-213; self-
mortification and, 267n.26 (chap. 13); terms
for , 202, 203, 272, 267n.22 (cha p. 13)
Pinkoff, Alexand re, 217
Piroou, 24, 40 , 47, 48, 86; healin g and int erces-
sory functi o ns of, 55; inscripti o ns in paint-
in gs of, 223
Pisentius of Qift , 66
Pisho i the Gr eat (monk), 51, 52, 53, 82, 82, 84,
100; inscriptions in paintings of, 221; nave
pa int ing of, x
Platy era. See Virgin Mary and Christ Child
Pococke, Richard, 180
Poggib ons, N iccoldi, 178
Prayer, Coptic, 196-201, 203, 210-212
Prefigurations, oflife of Christ, 62, 65, 66, 93,
134-1 35, 255n.55, 257n .148
Presentation in the Temple, 85, 85
 G EN ERAL INDEX
Pro ph et s, 27, 63, 69 , 70
Pseudo -Me thod ius. vs
Q a'a o f Ahmad Kuh ya, Ca iro , 147, 149, ' SI, 153
Q a'a ofMuhib ad-Din al-Muw aq qi' , Ca iro,
151,152
Qa 'a of t he Deir al- Banat, Ca iro , 2631111.77, 82
Q a'a of the Palace of Arn ir Bashtak, Ca iro, 149
Qalawun. See Funerar y Complex of Su lta n
Qa lawun
Rab ula Go spel s, 135, 135
Ra inwa ter da m age, in Church ofSt. Anton y, '56,
162, 264n .26
Raven na . See C hurch of San Vita le
Ravens, sym bo lism of, 9,221
Red Monaster y (Mo nastery ofSt. Bishoi ), Sohag,
98, 25111.10, 258n ·33
Reliq uary of St. Isid o re, 75, 75, 257n .171
Resurrection, 2 0 1
Rice, Ta lbot, 182
Richard th e Lio n H eart , 131
Rid wa n ibn al-Walakh shi , 104
Rihl a p ilgrim ages, 203-204, 206, 210-213, 272
Rituals, at Mon aste ry of St. An to ny, 62, 210-213.
See also Liturgy
Ro ger II, 154
Roma n Egyp t, 36
Roman esque a rt, 88, 89 , 258n.32, 264n n.16, 21
Roof, Church of St. Anto ny, 20, 23-24, 23-24, 26
Roundels, 32, 62, ' 33-'34, 158, 166, 254n.8
(c ha p. 3), 264 n.15
Ro yal Ne the rla n ds p roj ect , xviii, 25111.13
Rufa ilah , Y. N., 174
Rufinus o f Aq u ileia (m o nk) , 10, 11 , 252n .22
Ru fus, 229. See also Dog-h ead ed ca n n iba ls
(cynocephaloi)
Russ ian Ort hodox Ch urc h , 181 , 192
Sac rifice: Co p tic monasti cism and, 69-70; as
th eme in Th eodore's paintings, 62- 70;
tw elfth - and th irte enth -century painti ngs of,
95-96,235
Sacrifice of Isaac, 65, 67, 66- 70, 93, 96, 235
Sacrifi ce of Iep h tha's Daughter, 66- 70, 67, 235
Sa'id Pasha, 175, 176
Sa ints, monastic: feast da y celebratio ns of, 39,
199, 20 4; in nave, 40 -56; tiraz bands and, Ill.
See also M art yrs; Sta nd ing sain ts
Sain ts, Syr ia n. See Syria n saints
https://coptic-treasures.com/
Salah aI- Di n, 125
Sala ma Ill , 176
Salib, 38, 109
Salvatio n: khuru s p aintings and, 57, 58, 60 -62,
120,134-1 35; khurus vau lt as sym b ol of, 151;
martyrdom and . 40- 48; mim esis and monas-
ticism as, 48-54
Sa m ue l of Q alarnun, 52, 82, 84, 137, 221
Sanbat, 223
Sa nctuar y, Church of St. Anton y: ab sen ce of earl y
pa intings in , 30; ap se of, xv ii, 29, 62- 7' ,
63-69, 70- 71, 73,86; architectural feature s of,
26, 28; arc hi tectural sym b olism of, 62; domes
o f, 24, 28, 99; fun ct ion of, 39, 62; in script io n s
in , 218, 232- 237; meanings of paintin gs in ,
62-73; nor th wall of, 71, 71, 98-99 ; patriarch
pa int ings in , 70, 71, 76 , 94, 98, 11 2; prophet
pa in tings in, 27, 63, 69, 70. See also na mes of
individ ua l pa intings; Church of St . Anton y
Sanct uary ( H a ikal) of Benjamin. See Monastery
of St. Macarius
Sa n ct ua ry ( H a ika l) ofSt. Mark, Wadi al-Natrun.
See Mo na st er y of St. Ma cari u s
Saqqara. See Monastery of Apa Je rem iah
Sawirus al-Saw irus, IS, 25311.93
Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophtheglllata
Patrum), 6-8, 54, 268 n·36. See also Life of
A ntony (Athan asius)
Scetis, 5, 11 , 50-5'
Sch inkel, D et lev, 191
Scho ngauer, Martin, xiv
Schwei nfur th, Geo rge , 25, 180, 182. See also
M o nas te ry of St. Ant on y, Red Sea, visito rs '
an d scho la rs' photo s a nd d rawin gs of
Secca painting, xv iii, 31, 38 . See also Th eod o re
(p a inter )
Sec u lar cu lture. See spec ific ele me nts (e.g., cloth -
ing, m anuscri pt illumi nati on s, text iles, etc. )
Sella curulis, 124, 124
Sera p io n o f Thmu is, 5, 8
Serg ius, 116, 11 7
Setakleh , 109
Severus of An tioc h (p atriarch ); 71, 94, 98, 112, 176,
246 ; in sc ription s in paintings of, 231
Sh akir, Lutfa lla, 183
Shenouda III (p atria rch) , 206, 208, 253n.89,
267 n·5 (ch a p. 13)
Sh enoute (sain t and monasti c found er ), 50,
255n.lO; Co pts an d , 13; G ree k gra ffiti under
paintings of, '9 2; in scriptions in pa intings of,
226; " Life" of, 70; o n St . Anton y,s
Sicard , Claude, Fr. , 180
Sid e chapel, of Church of St. Anto ny. See Deesis
Ch ap el
Sim a ika, Marcus, 182
Simon I, 12
Sina i. See Mo na stery of St. Catherin e o n Mo u nt
Sina i
Sirca li Madrasa, Kenya, 149
Sisin n ius , 41, 43, 86, 92, 105-106 , 113, 118, 119;
dr agon s in paintings abo ut, 11 6-1I 7, 11 7;
gra ffiti under pa int in gs of, 266n.5; id en tifica -
tion of, 242; inscr iptions in paintings of, 225;
po ses of, 105-106
Sisoe s, 7, 52, 53, 82-83, 84, 87, 107; identification
of, 242, 268n .36; inscr iptio n s in pa intings of,
222, 268n.36; m ove to Mount Co lzim , 1O-11
Silt Barbara . See C h urc h ofSt. Barbara
(Silt Barbara )
Skalo va, Zusanna, xviii, 2 5 111.12
Snake m oti fs; Barsuma and , 53; Sisinnius and,
1I6-117; T h eodore St ratelates a nd , 44, 116-117,
26 111.67. See also Dragon s
Sofo nes ar, 47, 48, 223
Sold iers, in Th eodore's painti ngs, 106, 106, " 9,
119-121 , 121-122
Soloviev, P., 192
So nqu i Tino , 257n.164
Sorka ne , 229. See also Dog-heade d cann iba ls
(cynocephaloi)
Sozo me nus, 8 •
Sta nd ing saints, 40, 47-54, 92-95, lSI; Byza n tine
tradition an d , 100-101; hand ges tures of, 53;
m ilitar y m art yrs as, 113, 259n. 40; St ripe d
Palace of Su lta n an -Nasir M u ha m med (see
Cita de l o f Ca iro )
Strzygowski, josef, 182
Sulp icius Severns, 9-10, 11
Synaxa rio n, 176, 268n.36
Synax is of th e Arc ha nge l (s), 137, 139, 140
Syrian Ch urc h, 14, 54, 175-1 76, 256n.80
Syr ia n Mo nas ter y, Wadi al-Nat ru n, 77, 89, 94-95,
152,1 75-1 76, 247, 248, 25111.1 0, 258n·7, 27011.13·
See also Co p tic Orthodox C h u rch; Mo na stery
ofSt. An ton y, Red Sea; Syria n Church; Syrian
Monaste ry
Syr ia n sai nts, 54, 71, 176. Seealso Bar su m a th e
Syrian; Seve rns of Antioc h (pa t riarch)
Tabennesi, 5
Tabltyas, 107
Tagadin (arn ir), 121
Tamgid, 203-204, 211,267n n.2, 3,5 (c hap . 13)
Tatta rn, H enry, 180
Tawahhud , 6, 206, 208
 GENERAL INDE X
Tawudros, Zaki, 182
Tebt u nis, Fayoum , 44, 93-95, 93, 26m .55; d at ing
of paintings at, 259n.18; datin g of T heo do re
Stratelates at, 125; kn otted hor se tail motif at,
115; T he od or e St ratelates painting at, 44, 44
Templates, in pa inting of arc ha ngel s, 160 , 264n .22
Texti les: Arab ic co ur t, 110-111; Cop tic sixth-
cen tury, 106; icon of Christ in Maj esty, 254n.8
(chap. 3); ico n of Virgin Mary , 33; nich e of
th e preciou s cross, 110; Reliquary of St.
Isid or e, 75, 75, 257n ·171
T ha dde us, 238
Th eodore (painter): Arab ic lan guage in painti ngs
of, 109-1 10, 110, 125, 149, 245; co nserva tism of,
125; contempo rary de ta ils in pai nti ngs of,
106- 107, 109, 115-116,118- 119,125,109;
influence of miniatures 00, 122 -124; in inter-
cesso ry inscriptio ns, 75; in memorial inscr ip-
tio ns, 38; secular culture impact on (See
text iles, ma n uscr ipt illumination s, clot hing);
in sig nature inscriptio ns, 10 7 ,2 17 ,219 ,229 ,
235, 268n .16; style of, 78-89, 258n.13, 261n.67;
tea m of, xvi; themes in paintin gs of, 62-70;
trad itio nal de ta ils in pai nti ngs of, 104-10 6,
125;workshop of, 81-85, 104, 122-124,
244-248. Seealso Church of St. Antony;
Co ptic Art ; Co pt ic Paint ings; Sold iers in
Th eodo re's paintings
T heod or e of Armant, 268n.16
Theodore o f Mopsue stia, 257n.148
T heodore Stratelates (the Gener al), 107, 125, 218;
clothin g of, 111, 115-116; co m pariso n of
clean ed versus over-painted versio n, 77-78,
78; d ragon s in pain ti ngs about, 11 6- 117, 117;
early paintings under , 31, 32, 44, 159; as
eq uestr ian ma rtyr, 41, 42, 43, 44, 113; inscrip -
tion s in pai ntings of, 225; in manuscript illu-
min ation s, 44; over -p ainting of, 164; poses o f,
105- 106; tent h- and eleventh-cen tury paint-
ings of, 93; twelfth- and th irt eenth -century
paintings of, 95
T heo do re th e Anatolian, 40- 41, 40, 48, 223- 224
T heo do re th e O rie nta l. See T heo do re the
Anatolian
Th eodoret of Cyrrh us, 54
Th eophilus, 71, 76, 188, 233
T houan. See No ua (m artyr)
T hr ee Hebrews, 57, 58, 60, 93, 101,120, 121, 134;
deta il of, 245; inscriptio ns in pa int ings of,
230; names of, 2560.1°5
T hre e Women at th e Tom b. See Ch rist and the
T h ree Women at th e Tomb
Th ro nes, 107, 124
https://coptic-treasures.com/
305
Till, Walter, 220
Ti mrn, Stefan, 183
Tiraz bands, 11 0-111, 125
Tomb of Ch r ist, 129-130
Tombstones, Co ptic, 60
Tor cello, 132, 133
Tower s, of Ch urc h of St. Anto ny, 23, 253n.88
Transfiguratio n, 85, 85, 89
Trebizo nd. See Ch ur ch ofSt. Sabas
Tr isagio n, 218, 238, 255n.15
Tura h.uas
Tur ba ns, 106, 107-10 8
Turcopole s, 116
Twenty-Fo ur Elders of the Apo calypse, 65-66,
66, 149, 159, 234- 235
' U rnar ibn ' Abd al-Aziz, 15
Umayya d d yna sty, 103
Usarnah ibn Munqidh , 113, 116
Uspensky, Porphyrin s, 180, 181, 192, 255n.14
Van Loo n, Ge rt rude J. 11,1 ., 62, 86- 88, 256n.101,
270 n.13,270n.20
Van Moo rsel, Paul, xiv, 60, 69, 77, 178, 183,
251ll.1I, 25711.164, 257'1.172, 258n .8, 262n·3,
26211.33
Vansleb. See Wan sleb en , Jo han n M ichael
Vatican City , Vatica n Librar y, Coptic Codex 66,
44, 44, 105, 105, 256 n.121
Vaults . See Khur us, Ch u rch of St. An ton y, vault
Victor (ma rty r), 41, 46, 47, 47, 117-118, 118, 121;
graffiti under paintings of, 186; inscriptio ns
in paintings of, 224
Vine-a nd- leaf d esign, 109, 125, 148
Virgin ity, 56
Virgin Mary, xi, xvi , 50, 56, 57, 79, 84, 9 2, 93, 98,
155,164, 165; Ara bic graffiti under paint ings
of, 188; cleanin g of pai nting s of, xvi, 155, 164,
165; Copts devot ion to , 57, 256n.93; Deesis
Chapel painting o f, 74; Ethiopic graffiti under
paintings o f, 190; gra ffiti mention in g, 190;
ico n of, 133; in scription s in paintings of, 239;
m iracle s attrib ut ed to, 56, 256n.92; mos aic of,
101; nave pain tings of, 26 , 55, 57, 164; sanctu-
ary apse paint ing of, 64, 65, 70-7' , 79; texti le
icon of, 33
Virgin Mary and Ch rist Child, xi, xvi, 50, 56, 57,
79, 84, 92, 93, 98, 155, 164, 165; with Clipe us,
56, 57,93 ; Niko po ios, 56; Pla tyem , 25611.97;
healing and intercesso ry functions of, 56, 57;
inscriptio ns in paintings of, 229, 232-233; in
W hi te Monastery, 259n.13;
Visito rs an d Scho lars at th e Mon astery of St.
Ant on y, (ind ivid ua l visitors also listed by
nam e): co m me nts on the Ch urch o fS t.
Anton y 173, 176, 178-1 83; comment s on th e
Monastery of St. Anto ny 178-1 83; dr awin gs
by Ge o rg Schweinfu rth, 25, 179, 182; map of
Richa rd Pocok e, 181; ph ot os of Io han n Geo rg,
183, 198; pho tos of Wh itt em or e Expe d itio n
xv, xvii, xxii, 173, 180
Vogue, Ada lbe rt de, 6
Von Suchem, Ludo lp h, 178
Von Tischendo rf, Baro n, 207, 209
Voserie fami ly, 191
Wadi al-Ar abah, 10, 11
Wadi al-N atrun, 50,174,245. Seealso Mo na ste ry
of St. Bishoi, Wadi al-Na t run; Monaster y of
St. Macariu s; Monastery of th e Romans;
Syrian Mon astery
Wadi Sarga, 93
Walls, of Ch ur ch of St. Anton y: easte rn , 91-92,
94, 129-130, 134-135, 180; nort h, 41; sou th, 47;
sta bility of, 161; western , 28, 95, 129- 130, 142
Walters, C C , 125, 255n.lO, 26m.55, 263n.56
Wan sleben , Joh ann Michael (Vansleb), 176,
179-1 80, 253n.85
Wasiti , Yahya al-, 111, 123, 124, 145
Wax treatmen t, in pa int ing of archa ngels, 160
Weit zma n n, Kur t, 132, 26m .67, 262n.19
White, Evelyn, 5
White Mona stery, So hag, 5, 97-98, 247, 25911.13,
263n.84; She no ute a nd, 50
Whittemor e, Th om as, xxii, 25,182
Whittemo re Exped itio n, xxii, xxii, 25, 182
Wilkin son , Gar d ne r, Sir, 180
Williams, Jo hn, 257n.171
Windows, of Ch urc h ofSt. Anton y, 24, 24, 26,27,
29, 73-74, 73,1 56, 254n.12 (chap. 2), 262n.2,
263n.6
Wom en , in Ch urc h of St. Antony, 39, 188, 255n·9
Wom en at the Tomb. See Christ and th e Three
Wom en at the Tomb
Wii stenfeld, Ferd inand, 253n.93
Yaqoub i. us
Yuan nis V I, 12
https://coptic-treasures.com/
 PHOTO CREDITS

Unless ot herwise noted, all photographs are by Patrick

Godeau.
All icon s and objects show n without a no te oflocation
belon g to the colIection of the Monastery of St. Antony.
AlI int erior and exter ior sho ts descri bed witho ut th e
nam e of the bu ilding are of th e Churc h of St. Antony,
Monastery of St. Anto ny.
ADP/SA = Ant iquities Developme nt Project, St.
Anto ny (photography by Godeau) .
EAP/ARCE = Egyptian Antiquities Project, American
Research Center in Egypt (pho tog raphy by Godeau) .
The plans were d rawn by Peter Sheehan from a sur -
vey cond ucted by Mallin son Archi tects. The copyright for
alI plans is held by ARCE.

Archivi Alinari/Art Resource (figs. 6.14, 8.16); Eliza-

beth S. Bolman (figs. 1, 6, 20, 29, 1.3, 1.4, 1.10, 2.8, '3.2, 3.6,
3.8,4.34, 4.35,4.42,5 .1,5.8,5 .14, 5.15,5. 18, 5.19, 5·20, 6.9, 6.10,
6.12, 6.13, 6.16, 6.19, 7.28, 7.34, 8.5, 8.8, 8.11, 8.14, 8.27, 8.29,
8·34, 8·36, 8-40, 9.8, 9·9, 11.2, 11.3, 11·5, 13·5); Cledat 1904
(figs. 6.2 [pI. 53]; 6.3 [pI. 55], 6.5 [pI. 96]); Johann Georg
1930 (figs. 10.8 [pI. 102], 12.4 [pI. 112]); Giraudon/Art Re-
so ur ce (fig. 3.10); Cynthia HalI (fig. 5.21 [Horste 1992, pI.
147]); Michael Jones (fig. 11.4); Adr iano Luzi and Luigi De
Cesaris (figs. 9.2, 9.3, 9·4, 9·5, 9·6 , 9·7, 9·10, 9.11); William
Lyster (figs. 7.26, 8.33, 8.35); Maspero 1931 (fig. 6.4 [pI. 21]);
Elizabeth E. Gram (figs. 13.3, 13.6); Prisse d'Avennes 1877
(fig. 8.33 [pI. 58]); Robert Vince nt (figs. 17, 23, 1.8); Evelyn
White 1933, pt . 3 (fig. 6.11 [pI. 28]); Scala/Art Resource
(figs. 6.23, 7.16); Schweinfur th 1922 (figs. 2.10 [facing p.
178], 10.4 [plate facing 163], 10.7 [plate facing p. 179]); Peter
Sheehan (figs. 21, 2.3, 13.1); WoolIey 1913 (fig. 8.15 [facing
P·44] .

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