Archaeological work on one of the oldest monasteries in Egypt is now nearing completion. Jill Kamil describes how lost paintings have emerged from walls blackened by smoke and dust A team of Italian conservators specialising in restoring wall paintings has been painstakingly revealing, through layers of grime, magnificent images in what has become known as the Cave Church at the Monastery of St Paul near the mainland Red Sea coast. Restoration of this monastery is being carried out by ARCE (American Research Centre in Egypt) with funding from USAID in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and with the blessing of the Coptic Church. Work started in 1999 with detailed photography of the visible standing remains and some structural consolidation. Three years later the project is in its final stage. A team of workmen is renewing the crumbling plaster on the external domes and restoring the walls of the church, together with the stonework and windows, under the supervision of Father Maximus, himself a professional conservationist of portable icons. Truly remarkable images have come to light during the restoration of the Cave Church. The 18th-century Dome of the Martyrs at the entrance revealed saints on horseback, with fresh light cast on them though windows hitherto plastered over. Earlier paintings dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, including the figure of Christ depicted against a pale blue sky raising his hand in blessing, appeared in the formerly blackened dome in the sanctuary of St Antony. In response to recommendations from structural engineer Conor Power, who examined the church in 2001 (ARCE Bulletin No 183, 2002-2003), the portland cement coating on the floor and on the lower parts of the walls was removed, and as a result important archaeological details were revealed. Various phases of development in which the church grew and changed to achieve its present form were made clear. Moreover, it proved possible to identify differences in the style of painting of different periods -- both in technique and in the range of colours used. St Paul (250/1-360) is widely regarded as the First Hermit -- as recorded in his Life, written about 30 years after his death by St Athanasius. But to Copts (Egyptian Christians) Paul was by no means atypical of the period in which he lived. He was one of many pious individuals of the third century, a time of great uncertainty in Egypt when there was a growing nationalism which the Roman Emperor Decius (249-251) blamed on the Christians. To identify the insurgents Decius issued a decree ordering the people, on pain of death, to sacrifice to the ancient gods in the presence of officials to prove that they were not practising Christians. Many preferred martyrdom rather than obdure their faith. Others chose to escape from the evils of the material world and join ascetic communities, or live a life of celibacy and poverty in extreme isolation devoting their lives to God. Paul, who was born in Alexandria to a wealthy Christian family, chose the latter. He gave up his worldly possessions and found a secluded haven in the foothills of the South Galala sandstone mountains near Zaafarana on the Red Sea coast. It was a place of extraordinary beauty where a spring emerged from a crevice about 350 metres above sea level, its clear water flowing into a pool and cascading down the rocks. He saw this as an ideal retreat and lived in a cave there for some 80 years. St Paul was a man of great spiritual fortitude who followed a completely solitary life. His only known visitor in his desert retreat was St Antony, who visited him in his cave shortly before his death. When Paul died, it was Antony who buried him close to his cave with the help of the two lions which always appear on the icons of St Paul. Sometime after his death the site of his cave became the nucleus of a desert monastery. Today this early foundation forms the historic core of the present Monastery of Saint Paul. "It comprises the ancient cave church, a defensive tower (keep), the old refectory, with rooms, and a group of churches including those of St Mercurius (Abu Seifein) and St Michael the Archangel," says Michael Jones, manager of ARCE's Antiquities Development Project (ADP). With the aid of a pulley, early pilgrims were pulled up to a window that served as a door; later they entered from ground level by a door at which they had to ring a bell to inform the monks of their arrival. Over the years some of the buildings in the monastery fell to ruin and were abandoned, while others were restored, their walls repainted with images of saints and holy men. Throughout the mediaeval period, from the 12th to 19th centuries, patriarchs, priests and pious individuals, travellers and historians, came on pilgrimage from as far afield as Britain and France in the West to Russia in the east, sometimes singly, frequently in travelling in groups. On occasion they found the monastery sparsely populated with monks and in a state of disrepair. At other times more monks lived there, and some attempt at maintenance and restoration had been made. The most challenging, and perhaps most fascinating, aspect of any restoration of an ancient church lies in the artwork, especially the wall paintings. This task was placed in the capable hands of an Italian team which had earlier worked on the magnificent 13th- century wall paintings in the now completely restored Church of St Antony in St Antony's Monastery across the Galala mountain range. Here at St Paul's, as in the Monastery of Saint Antony, the walls were blackened by candle and incense smoke, lamp oil and dust. Test cleaning of wall paintings in the sanctuary of the Cave Church of St Paul was carried out before any other work began. This entailed removing the thick accumulation of grime, soot, and overlying paintings that obscured the images beneath. As these began to appear in their original, startlingly bright colours, great excitement was generated. It was now felt safe to move ahead with the cleaning and conservation. The initial project, which ran from February to May 2002, centred on the 13th and 14th- century wall paintings on the ceiling of the nave. In the nave of the church a later, 18th-century painting of the three youths in a fiery furnace was uncovered. Although the end is now in sight, the project is expected to continue to the end of 2004.
