0 THE MONASTERY OF ANBA BISHOI

THE NAME AND ORIGIN OF THE MONASTERY:

THIS IS ONE OF THE SURVIVING ANCIENT MONASTERIES IN WADI AL-NATRUN (ANCIENT SCETIS ) THERE IS NO  HISTORICALLY RELIABLE INFORMATION ON ITS FOUNDATION  BUT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT LITTLE IS KNOWN OF THE EARLIEST MONASTIC ESTALISHMENTS IN WADI AL-NATRUN THE MONASTERY MAY BE FOUNDED BETWEEN (535 AND 580 AD).

ACCORDING TO THE VARIOUS RECENSIONS OF THE LIFE OF BISHOI ANBABISHOI WENT TO WADI AL-NATRUN AROUND THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTH CENTURY AND FOUNDED HIS COMMUNITY NEAR HIS COMPANION ST. JOHN COLOBOS THE SHORT AFTER A BARBARIAN RAID ANBA BISHOI FLED TO A SPOT NEAR THE CITY OF ANTINOE (ANTINOOPOLIS) IN MIDDLE EGYPT .

WHEN HE DIED HIS BODY WAS TAKEN TO ANTINOE WHERE IT RESTED UNTIL IT WAS AGAIN TRANSPORTED TO THE MONASTERY IN WADI AL-NATRUN THAT BEARS HIS NAME.

         

THE SITE OF THE MONASTERY:

THE MONASTERY OF ANBA BISHOI IS SITUATED ON THE NORTHEAST EDGE OF THE WADI AL-NATRUN THE DISTANCE FROM THE REST-HOUSE AT WADI AL-NATRUN TO THE MONASTERY IS APPROXIMATELY 12 KM    

THE WALLS AND GATE:

THE MONASTERY OF ANBA BISHOI IS ASYMMETRICAL RECTANGLE IN SHAPE ENCLOSED BY HIGH ENCLOSURE WALLS 2 METERS IN WIDTH AND 10 METERS IN HEIGHT THESE WALLS ARE SURMOUNTED BY A PARAPET WALK STANDING SHOULDER HIGH THE WALLS PERHAPS BELONG TO THE END OF NINTH CENTURY .

THE ONLY ENTRANCE TO THE MONASTERY IS THROUGH A GATEWAY NEAR THE WEST END OF THE NORTH WALL.IT CONSISTS OF THE USUAL LOFTY BARREL-VAULTED GATEWAY LEADS INTO THE INTERIOR THROUGH AN INNER GATE HOUSE  THE BEST OF ITS KIND PRESERVED IN THE WADI AL-NATRUN.

       

The church of st. abu iskhirun:

From the south side of the choir two doors lead into the church of st. abu iskhirun the body of church is divided into nave choir by a skeleton screen of wood. There is only one sanctuary (haikals ) in this church, and its floor is raised one step higher than the level of the body of the church the whole covered by a hemispherical dome which is borne upon squinches similar to the squinches  in the central haikals of the main church . the dome is later in date than the building it self. And may be assigned to the fourteenth –century.

The baptistery:

A small door to the north of the sanctuary leads into the baptistery  which is fitted with a plain circular stone font, set in a block of masonry.

The chapel of the holy Virgin Mary “al –adhra”:

On the northeast of the main church, is a chapel dedicated to the holy Virgin Mary. The body of this church is covered   

With a single barrel vault the sanctuary is wider than its deep, and is covered with a dome upon squinches.