The Monastery of St. Paul
6
The Monastery of St. Paul In Egypt's Eastern Desert The Monastery of St. Paul In Egypt's Eastern Desert by Jimmy Dunn Egy pt' s Eastern Des er t, at lea st for now, pr ovide s us lit tle in the way of antiq uit ies for travelers. Pharao nically, there are a f ew trade routes and other ruins. However, it is the home to two of Egypt's best known hristian monuments which include the well known monastery of !t. "nthony #"ntonios $ and perhaps the less well known %onastery of !t. Paul of &hebes. &he %onastery of !t. Paul probably dates to the fifth century and was founded in memory of one of Egypt's greatest saints and anchor ites, who is said to have lived in a cave over which it was built for a period of some eighty years. e mostly know of his life from the writings of !t. (erome and his work, )ita Pauli #*ife of Paul$, which was written between +- and +/ "D. !t. (erome tell us that, while it may have been !t. "nthony who founded the monastic way of life by inspiring others, "mathas and %acarius, who were disciples of "nthony, affirm that Paul of &hebes was actually the originator of the practice. !t. Paul was apparently born to rich parents in the year 00, However, by the age of si1teen, he had lost his parents. &his would have corresponded with the terrible period of hristian persecutio n perpetuated by Decius and )alerian betw een 023 and 04/ "D. "fter the death of his par ents , Paul renounced his inheritance and cons ecra ted his life to 5od, eventually seeking refuge in the wilderness of Egypt's Eastern Desert, where he is said to have lived until the age of one hundred and thirteen. *iving in his cave, and clothed in a tunic made of plaited palm leaves, tradition holds that a raven brought a half of a loaf of bread which day for him to eat. (erome tells us that "nthony, who was apparently at least a contemporary of Paul, was told of someone living in the desert that was holier then he. Hence, he set out to find Paul and, having succeeded, had a friendly conversation with him. &hat evening when the 6aven came to bring the saint's nourishment, he came with a whole loaf so that both the holy men might have substance. "pparentl y, "nthony an d Paul con tinued to be friends for many years . hen Paul th ought that he was approaching death, he asked "nthony to fet ch the cloak which the patri ar ch "thanasius had given him. However, when "nthony arrived at the cave where Paul had lived those many years, he saw angels carrying the soul of the holy ascetic to heaven. Paul's body remained in the cave, but two lions approached and dug a grave into which "nthony placed Paul's body wrapped in the cloak he had fetched. "nthony is said to have kept Paul's tunic of palm leaves, which he wore to celebrate the occasions of Easter and Pentecost.
-
Upload
nabil-roufail -
Category
Documents
-
view
222 -
download
0
Transcript of The Monastery of St. Paul
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 1/6
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 2/6
&he %onastery of !t. Paul #Deir "nba 7ula$, which has also been called the %onastery of the
&igers #Deir al89umur$, perhaps because of its wilderness location, has always been
associated with the %onastery of !t. "nthony, usually in a subordinate manner. &he first
travel narrative we have of the monastery was provided by "ntoninus %artyr, a native of
Placentia who visited the tomb of !t. Paul between the years -4/ and -/ "D. &he firstmonks to occupy the monastery may have been %elchite, but they were followed by Egyptian
and !yrian monks. &he !yrians may have had a sustained e1istence at the monastery, for it
appears that they also occupied the monastery during the first half of the fifteenth century,
after which their presence disappears. :t should also be noted that, according to an isolated
Ethiopian reference, the seventieth patriarch of the optic hurch, 5abriel :: #;;+;82- "D$
was banished to the monastery for three years.
*ike many of Egypt's earliest monasteries, this one suffered at the hands of 7edouin tribes.
<ne during the year ;22 was particularly destructive, when many of the monks were killed
and their library was put to the torch. "fterwards, the monastery was rebuilt under the
patronage of Patriarch 5abriel )::, who sent ten monks from the %onastery of the !yrians
#adi al89atrun$. =et, during the second half of the si1teenth century, it was again attacked
and ransacked twice, forcing the monks to finally leave.
&he monastery apparently set deserted for the ne1t ;;3 years, only to be repopulated by a
group of monks from the %onastery of !t. "nthony under the patronage of (ohn >):, who
promoted an e1tensive reconstruction in ;/;.
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 3/6
General Plan of the Monastery
The Walls
%ost ancient, remote Egyptian monasteries are in fact fortifications for good reason. *ikewise,
!t. Paul's %onastery has high defensive walls surrounding the monastic buildings. &he history
of this enclosure is comple1 and corresponds to various periods. e know that the walls were
considerably enlarged during the eighteenth century under (ohn >):, but the final walls we
see today were completed during the nineteenth century. "lso like many other monasteries,
the fortress appears to have had no original door and therefore we find on the inside of the
east wall the ancient hoist used to haul food, goods and even visitors up the wall and into the
monastery.
The Tower
&he tower #keep, or qasr$ is perhaps one of the most obvious structures within the comple1.
"s usual, it was entered via a drawbridge and represented the last defensive bastion against
the desert raiders. !ituated ne1t to the church of !t. Paul, in the past, its ground floor servedas a cemetery for the monks, while the second floor was a storeroom for the food reserves
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 4/6
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 5/6
&he wooden cupola which roofs the chapel is decorated with the equestrian figures of !aints
"pater and his sister :rene, :sidore, "pa :skhirun, (ames and (ulius, all warrior saints. &hese
were produced by the monastery monks in ;;+, but probably overlay earlier iconography
that is lost to us. &he paintings on the walls of the cave date to the same restoration work,
portraying biblical sub?ects such as the archangels %ichael, 5abriel, and 6aphael, as well asthe angel and "niel's three companions, Hananiah, %ishael and "@ariah, respectively called
!hadrach, %eshach and "bednego by the officer of Aing 9ebuchadne@@ar #Dan +B;/804$.
However, in the middle sanctuary dedicated to !t. "nthony, though in poor condition, are wall
paintings that date to the first half of the fourteenth century. Here, we can ?ust make out
depictions of hrist enthroned, the annunciation, !t. (ohn the 7aptist, angles and archangels.
&he body of !t. Paul is kept in a marble shrine on the south side of the nave. <ne traditional
story holds that the saint's relics were taken to onstantinople in ;02/, and from there they
were sent to )enice in ;+;. :ndeed, an urn in the church of !t. (ulian in )enice is believed to
contain some of his remains. 6ecent analysis has shown that the remains in )enice are that
of only a leg of a very old man #over eighty$ who lived between the first century and the first
half of the forth centuries, "D. Hence, they certainly may be a fraction of the body of the saint
that mostly rests in the Egyptian monastery that bears his name.
The hur!h of St. Mer!urius
*ocated above Paul's cave, and almost atop the hurch of !t. Paul, the church of !t.
%ercurius #"bu al8!eifein$ dates from the end of the eighteenth century. Hence, it contains
few interesting elements, with the e1ception of a precious iconostasis inlaid with ivory and
mother8of8pearl. &his church is connected to the cave by a much older staircase. %any
churches in Egypt are dedicated to this saint, themost well known of which is probably in <ld
airo. &his church is only used once a year during the week prior to *ent.
The hur!h of St. Mi!hael
&he hurch of !t. %ichael #al8%alak$ was built in ;, with a roof consisting of twelve
cupolas. :t has two sanctuaries including one dedicated to !t. %ichael to the north, and to !t.
(ohn the 7aptist in the south. hile the true spiritual center of the monastery is the
8/12/2019 The Monastery of St. Paul
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-monastery-of-st-paul 6/6
subterranean church of !t. Paul, it is two small for the daily liturgy, so this service is held in
the the hurch of !t. %ichael, which is the largest church in the comple1.
The "efe!tory an# the Mill
ithin the monastery is an ancient refectory that is no longer in use, but which dates back to
medieval times. :t is situated in the east wing of the comple1. &he main a1is of the refectory is
covered by a barrel vaulted roof. ithin, a heavy masonry table with a lectern fashioned on its
west end, from which the sacred te1ts and the lives of the saints and martyres were read
during the community meal, dominates the room. &he refectory is entered by way of a narrow
passage, and on the west side of the passage are two rooms that were once used as mills.
ithin are big stone millstones which were operated by huge wooden gears turned by draft
animals.
The Spring of St. Paul
"n ancient spring named for !t. Paul resides in the north wing of the comple1. :t continues to
supply water at the rate of about four cubic meters per day. &he water comes from a
mountain crevice and flows into a cemented reservoir tank that is used for drinking and
cooking. " small drain allows the surplus water into a second reservoir, which is used by the
monks for washing, and a final drain carries off the remaining water into a large basin where it
is distributed for irrigation. However, a second spring, known as the Pool of %iriam is located
about one hundred meters to the south of the monastery. :t was named after the sister of
%oses and "aron, who according to tradition washed there during the E1odus.
