The Monastery of St Macarius: Survey and Documentation Work 2009-2012
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ECA 10 (2014-2016), p. 21-32; doi: 10.2143 / ECA.10.0.3223623 The Monastery of St Macarius: Survey and Documentation Work 2009-2012 Karel C. INNEMÉE A century ago, Hugh Evelyn White, while prepar- pace. This had as a consequence that many of the ing the text for his monumental publication The old buildings within the perimeter wall were replaced Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n Natrûn, wrote about the by new constructions, while the wall itself was archaeological remains he detected in and around demolished and replaced by construction consisting the Monastery of St Macarius: of a skeleton of reinforced concrete, filled in with limestone. During the renovation works countless Unfortunately the day for the excavation of these archaeological objects were found, most of which ruins is probably remote, though the light which were later stored in a row of glass showcases and in will then be thrown on Egyptian monasticism is the open air, next to the building that now houses likely to be great. […] Possibly substantial remains the library of the monastery. of the VII, VI and even earlier centuries may be In 2009, 2010, and 2012 a team of Leiden Uni- brought to light1. versity2 has carried out survey work around the monastery. In addition to this, documentation The Monastery of St Macarius or Deir Abu Maqar is work on the collection of architectural sculptures the most southern of the four still inhabited monas- and other stone implements was done. The aim of teries in the Wadi al-Natrun, the area known as Ske- these investigations was to gain more insight into tis in Late Antiquity. For centuries the monastery has the structure and the functioning of the monastery taken a prominent place among Coptic monasteries. during its most prosperous period, between the 6th Many in the list of Coptic patriarchs were recruited and the 11th centuries. from its population and its library must have been a In 2007, during the fieldwork at the site of Deir very important one, judging from the many manu- al-Baramus, Abuna Yuhanna Anba Maqar invited us scripts that are preserved in libraries all over the to come for an informal visit to the site surrounding world. With the gradual decline of monasticism the perimeter wall of the monastery in order to under the Mamluks and the Ottomans, Deir Abu examine the archaeological remains that were threat- Maqar also went into a period of decay and dilapida- ened by encroachment of agriculture and the results tion. The population decreased and the monastery of illegal digging by individuals from the local popu- gradually fell into ruins, apart from the central part lation. It was not until 2009 that permission for with the main church, although by the 18th century archaeological fieldwork was granted by the SCA. In even of the church only the eastern parts survived. June 2009 and January 2010 survey work was done Western travellers have left us accounts about a mon- with a Garmin GPS and a Sokkia total station. This astery that was depopulated and half in ruins. survey was concentrated on the area within the new When at the beginning of the 20th century a team from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York started a documentation project of the monasteries 1 in the Wadi al-Natrun, they found a similar situa- Evelyn White 1932-1933, III, 51 n. 2. 2 Members of the teams during these seasons were Lisa Agaiby, tion. Under the patriarchate of Kyrillos VI a monas- Marlies Bruin, Roderick Geerts, Martin Hense, Karel tic revival was begun and in this framework in 1969 Innemée (field director), Laurens Jansen, Silva Kluitenberg, father Matta al-Meskeen was sent by the patriarch to Els Kokkelkoren, Hanneke van der Kooij, Liliane Mann, the dilapidated monastery. Within a few years the Vincent Oeters, and Pieter Veen. Inspector was Mr. Mohi Bassiouni. Survey work took place. The team wishes to population grew from 6 to 130 monks and during thank Abuna Youhanna Anba Maqar and Abuna (now this period the monastery was renovated at rapid Anba) Epiphanius for their hospitality and cooperation. 21 Fig. 1. Survey map (drawing: Martin Hense) perimeter wall of the monastery covering an area of A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION approximately 2 km² (Fig. 1), with the plan of grad- ually expanding the range to a radius of 3 km around The Monastery of St Macarius is located in the the core of the present monastery. This final goal has southernmost part of the geological depression of not yet been achieved, due to the fact that since Wadi al-Natrun. According to tradition, based on 2011 it became more difficult and eventually impos- the Vita of Macarius by the pseudo-Serapion of sible to receive security clearance for the area outside Tmuis, it was in this area that the desert father the perimeter wall. The objects outside the wall that spent his last years in search of the seclusion that have been mapped are the results of the data of the was no longer to be found in the region of Deir preliminary survey in 2007 and the contours that are al-Baramus, where he had settled down initially. visible on the satellite photographs of Google Earth A cherubim guided the desert father “and he drew and Worldwide Telescope. him and led him to the top of the rock which is to the south of the marsh, to the west of the well up above (?) the valley”3. What happened around his 3 Satoshi 2006, 450. first cell repeated itself here: followers settled 22 around him, and formed a community from which the Book of the Consecration of the Sanctuary of Ben- the later monastery of St Macarius developed. jamin and in the History of the Patriarchs. The The rather informal communities of the 4th cen- appearance of Macarius to Benjamin in a vision and, tury in Wadi al-Natrun were still part of a lay- later on, even the hand of God that performed the movement that was gradually brought under super- anointing of the sanctuary underline the importance vision and control of the Church. This became a of the church8. The special position of the monastery formal fact at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, is also apparent from the fact that here for some time where a canon was adopted to put bishops in the head of St Mark, the major relic of the Coptic charge over monasteries and anchoretic communi- Church, was kept9. ties4. The ties between the Monastery of St Macar- After the Arab conquest, when the struggle ius and the Patriarchate of Alexandria became espe- between Melkites and nationalists played no longer cially close when the monastery became the a role, there was in fact no practical reason or patriarchal residence in the middle of the 6th cen- necessity anymore for the patriarchs to keep their tury. Following measures by Emperor Justinian residence in St Macarius’ Monastery, but appar- against the anti-Chalcedonians in Alexandria the ently the honourable position that the monastery position of the patriarch became more and more had acquired meanwhile was enough reason to keep difficult. Churches were confiscated by the Mel- it as a location where the patriarch would be kites and according to Eutychius5 and Maqrizi6 enthroned and celebrate his first liturgy after his many citizens fled to Sketis while Patriarch Theo- consecration in Alexandria and where he would cel- dosius moved his residence to St Macarius’ monas- ebrate Easter10. In other words, it was no ordinary tery. Since then a considerable number of patri- monastery and the archaeological evidence con- archs have been elected from the population of firms this. monks from this monastery, until the 12th century Like the other monasteries in the Wadi al- even the majority by far. Natrun, it must have been an open settlement for There was little physical evidence so far for the centuries, consisting of cells and other buildings, changing position of St Macarius’ monastery as centred around a church and a keep. And just like mentioned by Eutychius and Maqrizi; the latter the other monastic settlements it suffered from wrote his account almost 850 years later, and it is Bedouin raids at certain intervals. This, and the fact difficult to say how much of their time the anti- that the monastery enjoyed a special position as a Chalcedonian (Coptic) patriarchs really spent in the patriarchal residence and the place where the patri- monastery. We have, however, certain reasons to arch would celebrate Easter at least regularly, was a believe that the monastery grew considerably in size reason for Patriarch Shenouda I to have a defensive and importance. The anti-Chalcedonian Patriarch perimeter wall constructed in 869: Benjamin I (622-661) lived in the period when Her- aclius, after having re-conquered Egypt from the In his great care for the Holy Desert, he, the father, Persians in 629, embarked on a violent campaign to the patriarch, raised up at the church of Abu subdue the anti-Chalcedonians in Egypt and Macarius an excellent memorial, for, remembering appointed Cyrus as prefect and patriarch in Alexan- the deed of the Lord with regard to the monks and dria to carry out this task. Benjamin was forced to the church, he resolved to build a fortified wall flee and hide in monasteries in the Fayoum and round the Catholic church. He did this that it Upper-Egypt. Between December 18, 645 and Janu- might become a cave and a fortress after the Lord ary 646 (or 647), when after the Arab conquest the position of the Melkite Church had been reduced considerably, he was asked to consecrate the new 4 church of St Macarius’ monastery, a building of Caner 2002, 206.