By Jill Kamil THE AREA around Akhmim and Sohag was heavily populated by a pluralistic, multi-ethnic community in the early centuries of the Christian era, and possesses a wealth of archaeological interest. Akhmim, ancient Panopolis, was an important centre for cartonnage and portrait mummies, and is until today renowned for its textiles. Sohag is the site of two famous monasteries, the so-called White Monastery, founded in the fourth century by St Pjol and re-built on a monumental scale by Pjol's nephew and successor St Shenouda, and the Red Monastery built by St Bishoy. Hermits' cells and churches once covered the enormous area of some 12,800 square feddans (acres) in the area where the Coptic seminar is scheduled to take place, and apart from the above mentioned monasteries there are others to the north and south of Akhmim. These include the monasteries of St Pachomias (Anba Bakhum), St Psote (Bishada), St Thomas the Anchorite, and St George, as well as the Monastery of the Holy Virgin, the Monastery of the Martyrs and the East Monastery of St Shenouda. St Shenouda, one of the pre-eminent personalities of Egyptian monasticism, was born in 440 in a village near Akhmim. He was a charismatic figure, an ardent nationalist, a great social reformer and a strict disciplinarian. A well- educated man with a profound knowledge of both ecclesiastical and classical Greek language and literature, Shenouda tried to purge Greek influence from Coptic writings, thus gaining wide renown as the first important author of Coptic literature. He encouraged literacy by requiring monks to read and engage in the art of manuscript copying and illustration, and he was the first and most prominent theologian to write in Coptic. He constantly preached to peasant farmers, defending them from greedy landlords and encouraging their faith in the face of Byzantine oppression. The religious guidance and charitable institution of this great Coptic saint were so inspiring that after his death thousands of people came to pay pilgrimage to the site, and the so-called White Monastery became one of the best known monasteries in Egypt. It is also one of the oldest to survive. The monastery gained its popular name because it is built of white limestone. From a distance it somewhat resembles an Egyptian temple with sloping walls like a pylon, finished off with a fine cornice. A mere 30 monks lived in the large, quadrangular, fortress-like building when St Shenouda became the abbot, but the population of monks in the monastery and surrounding areas soon numbered 4,000. Unfortunately the monastery declined after the death of the saint, and after being beset by heavy taxation in the eighth century it began to fall into ruin. It was inhabited by Armenian monks in the 11th and 12th centuries, and from literary evidence we know that within the enclosure wall there was a second church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a keep (that survived until the Middle Ages), and many varieties of trees. After the 14th century, however, literary evidence is lacking, which suggests that the monastery was again in an advanced state of decline. The church complex is all that survives today. The White Monastery once had one of the greatest libraries, but unfortunately the scriptorium was plundered towards the end of the 19th century. Texts were removed from their bindings and dismembered, and different folios ended up in different libraries and museums on different sides of the globe. The White Monastery underwent major catastrophe in the latter part of the 18th century when the southwest corner of the surviving church complex collapsed. This was restored at the beginning of the 20th century, but by mid- century there were no more than four resident monks. Several Coptic families were also living there. Following their relocation the complex underwent further restoration in the 1980s, when it was re-occupied by monks. In the early 1900s an industrial area dating from the fifth century was found, with cloth- dying and oil press plants, a 20 metre high water wheel. In 1987 hundreds of Byzantine coins were unearthed. A year later excavations carried out in the vicinity of the White Monastery resulted in the discovery of huge decorated earthenware pots of the kind used at monastic sites for storage, and a stone stelae carved with an Old Testament scene of the Prophet David wearing a war garment and fighting a bear armed with a stick. Presentations at the seminar will include the latest research on the Life of St Shenouda, including the Arabic and Coptic versions; Shenouda's place in the history of monasticism; and the ancient rules of his White Monastery federation. There will also be papers on church architecture, wall paintings, icons, and on the discovery of the bodies of the martyrs of Akhmim. Thirty-nine scholars have so far confirmed their participation. This seminar, which will cast more light on one of the largest and most important early Christian communities in Egypt, promises to be the largest to date.
