Egypt: The Monastery of St.

Shenouda the Archimandrite (The White Monastery)

The Monastery of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite (The White Monastery) by Jimmy Dunn

The White Monastery at Sohag is names so for the limestone walls of the surviving church, which in some ways resembles a the pylons of a Pharaonic temple. This monastery, founded actually be the uncle of St. Shenouda, St. Pigol, lies 4 1 ! "ilometers south of Sohag, with the #ed Monastery very nearby.

$t its pee", after St. Shenouda became the monastery%s abbot, there were some 4,&&& mon"s and nuns, and the grounds of the monastery covered some 1!,'&& acres. (acilities included "itchens, storehouses and mon"%s cells, the remainder of which can still be seen to the north, west and south of the church. $ccording to ancient documents, during the middle ages there was also a second church dedicated to the )irgin Mary and a "eep. $fter St. Shenouda, the monastery continued to be very active up until around the middle of the eighth century, when without the strong leadership it had en*oyed in it%s early period, and under heavy ta+ation that was imposed about this time in ,gypt, it fell into decline. $ctually, the ta+es of this period put many monasteries out of e+istence, and it is a tribute to the strength of the While Monastery that it survived at all. -uring the 11th and 1!th centuries, we "now from paintings of the central apse of the church that the monastery hosted $rmenian mon"s. -uring the 1.th century, $bu Salih $l/$rmani tells us of a now none+istent "eep of middle age construction, and of an enclosure wall around the monastery. 0e also spea"s of a garden within the walls full of all sorts of trees. $pparently this serves to indicate that monastery%s further decline, lac"ing now the vast acreage outside the monastery that it once en*oyed. We do "now that the monastery underwent considerable restoration between 1!&! and 1!12. (rom the 14th century onward, the lac" of literary manuscripts cements this advanced state of decline, from which in ancient times, it never recovered. 3n 145!, we here of visits by Wansleben and again in 15.5 by Pococ"e, both of whom wrongly attributed the founding of the monaster 6or at least the surviving church7 to St. 0elena, ,mperor 8onstantine%s monther. 3n 152', a (rench traveler named -enon tells us that he visited the monastery merely a day after its destruction by the Mamlu"es. We "now that in the latter part of the 1'th century, the southwest corner of the surviving church comple+ collapsed. This was later repaired under the direction of Muhammad $li in 1'&!, who is also credited with the final demise of the Mamlu"e influence in ,gypt. 3n 1'..,

#obert 8ur9on visited the monastery, leaving us a written record of such and in 1'2., (ergusson published a plan of the church comple+. :y the early 12&&s there was apparently considerable interest in the Monastery. Significant studies of the monument were made by such visitors as W. de :oc" in 12&1, 8.#. Peers in 12&4, and in 12&5 by W.M.(. Petrie, at which time more restoration too" place to the facility. $dditional studies of the monastery too" place in 121! by S. 8lar"e and by Monneret de )illard in 12!1. Description What survives of the original monastery is only the :asilica style church comple+. 3t had si+ entrances, with three in the north, south and west walls, and the other three south of the west wall, east of the south wall and east of the north wall. $s mentioned earlier, outwardly the church much resembles an ancient ,gyptian Temple.

The body of the church is now an open courtyard and contains a nave flan"ed by two isles. To reali9e the grand style of this 1th century basilica, one needs only to observe the dimension of this open courtyard. 3t measures 15! feet long by 54 feet wide, of which the nave occupies half that width. ,nclosed within a solid red bric" wall built during the middle ages, the current church occupies what was once only the choir and sanctuary area. The original sanctuary was built with three apses and is one step higher than the nave in the open court. The altar is located within the central, or eastern apses. There is also a new, solid wood iconstasis with small icons on the top register. The central apses is divided into thirds with the center section dedicated to St. Shenouda the $rchimandrite, the southern one to the 0oly )irgin and the northern section to St. ;eorge. The original three apses are grand, each containing two registers of columns separated by a decorative firese and surmounted by architraves. there is a wonderful simidome above the registers, with paintings. 3n the central apse, there is a painting of the Panto"rator and the four evengelists. The dormition of the blessed virgin is in the northern apse, and in the southern a representation of the resurrection with the two Mary%s and two angels. There are several anne+es along the east and south walls, with the most significant being the great hall alongside the south wall. it has a chamber at each of its east and west ends. The west chamber contains a well. The church is build using various materials, but the original construction used white limeston set in mortar with no bonding. The source of this material was probably from nearby ancient ,gyptian temples. the original nave columns are made of marble or granite and the paving of the nave is of limestone or granite slaps. <riginally there was a wood roof, but that is now of burnt bric". 8omment= 3t is painful to see the great Monastery of St. Shenouda reduced to such a small si9e. (or it must have been a sight to behold in its prime. 0owever, the church comple+ that remains was most li"ely the *ewel of the monastery. There is enough remaining in it to portray

how great it was. The honorable Sommers 8lar"e described it best as >the noblest church of which we have any remains in ,gypt, the chief monument of the 8hristians...> ibrary There was once a great library located in the monastery. 3t may have even been the greatest 8optic library in ,gypt, but today it is scattered about the world. 8odices were dismembered and and ended up in different libraries or museums. We do "now that parts of the library have found their way to the following institutions= :erlin, -eutshce Staatsbibliothe" 8airo, 8optic Museum 8airo, ,gyptian Museum 8airo, 3nstitute (rancais d%$rcheologie <rientale 8ambridge, ?niversity @ibrary (lorence, :iblioteca @aurentiana @eiden, #i*"s/Museum @eningrad 6St. Petersburg7, Public @ibrary @ondon, :ritish @ibrary @ondon, ,ton 8ollege @ouvain, :ibliotheAue de l%?niversite Manchester, Bohn #ylands ?niversity @ibrary Michigan, ?niversity @ibrary Moscow, Push"in Museum Caples, :iblioteca Ca9ionale Cew Dor", Pierpont Morgan @ibrary <+ford, :odleian @ibrary Paris, :ibliotheAue Cationale de (rance Paris Musee de @ouvre Strasbourge, :ibliotheAue de l%?niversite )atican, :iblioteca $postolica )enice, :iblioteca Caniana )ienna, <sterreiche Cationalbibliothe" $pparently, after some centuries of abandonment, it would appear that limited monastic life has returned to this monastery and the 8optic 8hurch of ,gypt is wor"ing to increase the number of mon"s in the area.