Defensive Arrangements in Coptic Architecture

Alexandria Engineering Journal (2011) 50, 257–268 Alexandria University Alexandria Engineering Journal www.elsevier.com/locate/aej www.sciencedirect.com Defensive arrangements in Coptic architecture Nelly Shafik Ramzy * Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Sinai University El Masaeed, El Arish City, Egypt Received 18 April 2011; revised 23 July 2011; accepted 24 July 2011 Available online 30 August 2011 KEYWORDS Abstract Roman persecution to Copts started as early as the first century. Even after Christianity Coptic architecture; had become official religion in Egypt, as they refused to espouse the Emperor’s sect. Monasticism; Another critical relation was arising in Eastern and Western Deserts between the monks and the Keeps; Bedouins, who started to regularly attack them. Monastic cells For four centuries following the Arab conquest, Moslem rulers retained relatively peaceful relations with the Copts, but at the beginning of the second millennium, Copts started to live in some expectation of hostility, which periodically flared into violence. Therefore Coptic architects developed peculiar religious architecture with exceptional defensive arrangements and this research is an attempt to overview those peculiar arrangements inside churches as well as in monasteries. It concluded that -unlike any other religious architecture- safekeeping was a determining factor in Coptic buildings’ design and that the development and the distribution of these arrangements had followed certain patterns and characteristics. ª 2011 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Bedouins, fanatic rulers and even some mobs. As never been under the total protection of governors, they were instantly As early as the first century, Coptic Churches had been always burnt or stolen by hoodlums, especially in Mamlouks era. Evi- subject to persecution and aggressiveness from Romans, dence to that are the 2084 churches and 834 convents in Egypt mentioned by Abu Saleh the Armenian in the thirteenth century, which were decreased during the Mamlouks era into * Tel.: +20 123 765 567. 193 churches and 74 convents. E-mail address: [email protected]. Safekeeping was hence one of the most important factors that influenced the design of both churches and monasteries. 1110-0168 ª 2011 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. In churches, some specific arrangements concerning the open- Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ings and the interior arrangements had taken place due to the need for defense. Even more precautions were needed for mon- Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. asteries due to their -usually- isolated locations. Early monas- doi:10.1016/j.aej.2011.07.001 teries were nothing but scattered cottages. But, monks had to start living in groups when the Bedouins started to attack them in early fifth century and they needed to protect themselves by Production and hosting by Elsevier building additional defensive elements such as keeps, fences, huge gates and underground-cells. 258 N.S. Ramzy Site selection and site organization were also largely influ- twelfth century, the face of Egypt was converted into a pre- enced by these defensive needs. dominantly Muslim country and the Coptic community occu- Based on the above considerations, the hypotheses of this pied an inferior position and lived in some expectation of research is that Coptic architects had developed a very peculiar Muslim hostility, which periodically flared into violence. religious architecture with exceptional defensive arrangements It was not rare that the monks had to handle the problem of and that these arrangement had certain pattern and were care- lack of income by giving up some properties. The Syrian con- fully planned as an inseparable part of the overall character of vent was given to the Syrians as a lien [5], and the church of Coptic architecture and not only a secondary additions. Angle Michel was sold to the Jews (the Jewish synagogue) to The objective of the paper is to analyze these unique pay the very high head-taxes imposed by Ahmed Ben Tolon arrangements and trace their development and distribution [6]. The priests, although would prefer to give their lives up throughout the centuries and how they differed from region than to give churches’ vessels to enemies, had sometimes to sell to another. It aims to reach and determine the pattern they fol- these vessels, or anything else, to rich tourists to feed poor peo- lowed from one era to another and from one region to another. ple or pay the tax on their behalf [7]. It concluded that -unlike any other religious architecture- As never been under the total protection of governors, safekeeping was one of the most determining factors that influ- Coptic Churches were instantly burnt or stolen by hoodlums, enced Coptic buildings’ design, especially in desert convents, especially in Mamlouks era. Evidence to that are the 2084 and that the development of these buildings and compounds churches and 834 convents in Egypt mentioned by Abu Saleh (in form, inner components, site selections, ...etc.) had fol- the Armenian in the thirteenth century, which were decreased lowed certain pattern owing to the influence of this factor. during the Mamlouks era into 193 churches and 74 convents [6]. 2. Premise The position of the Copts began to improve early in the nineteenth century under the stability and tolerance of Roman persecution to Christians had started as early as the Muhammad Ali’s dynasty and by 1855 the main mark of first century. Therefore, for the first three centuries, they did Copts’ inferiority, the ‘Gezya’, was lifted and shortly thereafter not have any chance to build real churches. Ceremonies were Copts started to serve in the Egyptian army [8]. conducted in remote places; i.e. caves, mountains, pagan tem- ples, ancient tombs and cemeteries, or in any houses in which an apse was added. The severity of persecution differed from 3. Churches’ design an emperor to another and perhaps from time to time within the age of the same emperor [1]. Safekeeping was one of the most important factors that influ- Yet, the Roman emperors paid great attention to afford enced Coptic Churches’ design. Some specific arrangements proper defense to the convents in Eastern and Western De- had taken place due to the need for defense. In the following serts, defending the monks was not of course the real issue are some examples of such arrangements: here, but the location of these monasteries as the gates for Bed- ouins into Egypt. One example was St. Catherine convent, 3.1. Entrances which was erected by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565)1, enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered The arrangement of having three western doors was doubtless to be built by Helena, the mother of Constantine [2]. Justinian the ordinary one in Egypt. But when the Copts were harried added a new keep to the same convent later. He had also built with incessant persecutions, it became a necessity of existence fences and keeps for Anba Bola and Anba Antonyous convents to fortify their churches, hence, the absence of windows other [3]. than small skylights, and the early disuse of the triple western In theses deserts a critical relation had developed between doorway. A. Butler mentions many churches that have had the monks and the Bedouins, who started to regularly attack two entrances blocked up such as Abu Saifain Church, the them. But, by becoming the most convenient place to replenish White Monastery and Abu Mina Convent in Cairo; the one their stock of food and water, the convents had become safe left was usually one of the side entrances, not the central one from Bedouins’ attacks and by paying them regular salaries [9]. These entrances were usually indirect or hidden entrances to guard the convent and purchase their requirement, the and in some cases the area of the opening was even reduced. monks of St. Catherine convent had developed a relatively Nowadays, most of these churches have the original arrange- organized relations with them [4]. ment of the three entrances back. It was probably a temporary For four centuries following the Arab conquest of Egypt, situation that was dispensed of when it was not needed the Coptic Church generally flourished, Egypt remained basi- anymore. cally Christian and Coptic language remained the language of the land almost until the eleventh century. Despite addi- 3.2. Sanctuary screens tional sumptuary laws imposed on them in 750–868 and 905–935 under the Abbasid Dynasties, Copts prospered and Although were found in almost all the Eastern Orthodox their Church enjoyed a peaceful era. The Christian face of Churches, but they served a different function in Coptic Egypt started to change by the beginning of the second millen- Churches, where there is not the slightest sign of any screen nium, when Copts, in addition to the head tax ‘Gezya’, suf- other than a lofty and opaque iconostasis. These screens were fered from some specific disabilities. By the end of the most probably meant to hide the people inside the sanctuary from attackers [10] 1 In another source, i.e. Coptic Defensive Architecture by I. Hagagi, it On each side of the main sanctuary’s door was a small is said that it was built by Emperor Zenon at 474 AD square opening with a sliding shutter, which might exist in Defensive arrangements in Coptic architecture 259 the choir screen as well, though in either case could they ever indifferently, and are sometimes pilled in almost impossible allow a glimpse from outside, as they were meant for observa- positions one on top of another [17]. tion from inside. [11] 3.8. Structural systems 3.3. Narthex As churches were frequently burnt by prosecutors, most of Outer narthex had almost disappeared around the 11th them had their wooden roofs replaced by brick domes or century, as the number of people getting into Christianity vaults in order to resist fire, although this replacement usually had been decreasing and there were no more catechumen (to needed totally different distribution for loads.

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