Christmas trees and pilgrimages

The Christmas season has come round again -- for Western Christians next Tuesday, 25 December, and for Orthodox Egyptians (Copts) on 7 January. It is a time for Christmas trees and images of Christ in the manger. Jill Kamil traces the biblical tradition of the Holy Family's travels in Egypt
There is no contemporary evidence of the Gospel story of the Holy Family's flight into Egypt to escape King Herod's edict. The Coptic Synaxarion is a compilation of writings by various authors who drew from different sources and oral traditions about the holy people -- saints, martyrs and religious heroes -- and the 22 places associated with the flight. There is, however, a mediaeval manuscript which details the sites visited by the Holy Family as revealed in a dream to Pope Theophilus, 23rd partiarch of Alexandria, in the early fifth century. These places are held sacred until today (see Box).
Not surprisingly, there is no universally-agreed itinerary, and in many places the oral traditions evolved as new traditions were assimilated. As Stephen Davis, professor of New Testament and Early Church History at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, pointed out in his contribution to Be Thou There: The Holy Family's Journey in Egypt, the whole question of the Holy Family's travels in Egypt "is a complicated science, full of hidden pitfalls for the casual historian." He added that the date of a given source was often difficult to determine, and the itineraries presented differed frequently from one to another because later scribes updated older sources by adding new sites.
I visited two sites in the eastern Delta, Zagazig and Belbeis. I was careful to bear in mind that, as traditional stories popularly regarded as historical pass from one generation to another, new ones are added to the chain of belief. Both places provide typical examples of the contradictory and ever- evolving traditions.
When the Holy Family entered Egypt and reached the Pelusiac branch of the Nile -- now dried up -- they proceeded towards Zagazig where, now, are the ruins of Tel Basta, the once prosperous town of Bubastis. According to the most widely-accepted tradition, Joseph walked to the village in search of food and drink, but he was turned harshly away and returned to his family empty-handed. At sunset, however, a farmer called Aqloum, returning home from his work in the fields, spotted the family under a tree and asked who they were. Mary told him that they were a poor Jewish family who had come from Palestine looking for the fortress of Babylon (Old Cairo) and that they would soon be on their way. Aqloum invited them to his house so they could replenish their supplies before continuing their journey. As they approached his house, Aqloum explained that his wife was ill and could not join them. Jesus called her name and said: "Sarah, you are well, rise and join us," and she immediately rose to her feet.
The husband and wife were gracious hosts, and during their stay Aqloum's wife told Mary of the great temple in the city. This was the temple of Bastet where, she said, religious feasts in honour of the cat-goddess were held amid great celebration. Mary expressed a wish to see the temple, and Sarah accompanied her there with the child Jesus in her arms. As soon as they set foot inside, however, the temple's colossal statues crumbled in a cloud of dust. News of the incident spread rapidly, and the dismayed governor of the region ordered an immediate search for the woman and child. Rumours filled the streets about his determination to deliver the child to Herod. Aqloum and his wife, realising it was no longer safe for them to linger, guided them towards Belbeis and accompanied them part of the way, carefully avoiding the Roman forces.
Another version of the story from Bubastis had the Holy Family accosted by two brigands, Titus, an Egyptian, and Dumachus, a Syrian, who attempted to rob them of their garments. The latter stole Jesus' silver sandals, and Mary wept. Jesus comforted her and, at his touch, a spring flowed to the surface of the earth. Jesus said the water would heal all who drank from it, with the exception of the people of the town who had turned him away. In 1997, a well was excavated by the University of Zagazig, which is believed to be the sacred one blessed by Jesus.
In Belbeis, Muslims and Christians alike relate that the Holy Family were warmly received and that the inhabitants kept company with the Virgin, played with the child, and talked to Joseph El-Naggar (the carpenter). Father Mina of Mari Girgis Church in Belbeis relates the legend that a funeral procession of a much loved inhabitant was leaving the town just as the Holy Family arrived. Jesus felt great compassion for the mourners, and especially the deceased's wife, and raised the dead man, who recognised him as the Saviour born of the Blessed Virgin. The family rested beneath a tree, and, indeed, there was once a tree in the city known as the Virgin Mary's Tree. In one of many accounts, it was cut down by Napoleon's soldiers in their search for firewood -- apparently, at the first strike of the axe, the tree started to bleed and the soldiers were aghast. In another tradition it succumbed to urban expansion, but it is said that the spot where it once stood, believed to be at the cross-roads of Al-Ansari and Al- Boghdadi Streets, is a place of special sanctity. The mosque of Osman El-Haress El-Ansari stands there today, built in commemoration of the visit of the Holy Family.
Their travels to Mataria, Old Cairo, Maadi, Gabal Al-Tair and Al-Muharraq are better known, and faith in oral tradition is sound in Egypt. Its origins may be vague, often contradictory, but it is interesting to observe that until today Egyptians, both Christian and Muslim, seek blessings and cures in many of these pilgrimage sites. As Davis writes, the ever expanding traditions are "motivated by familiar factors: the interpretation of Scripture in new contexts, the authority of divine visions, the miraculous discovery of new artefacts, the desire to fill 'gaps' in the route of the Holy Family." These have shaped perceptions throughout the centuries, and mark the vitality of Holy Family devotion until today.
Recommend this page
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor