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England: Stone Age Sites of Britain

March 16, 2018 0 Comments

Part II – England: Stone Age Sites of Britain

See Also:
Part I – Scotland: Stone Age Archaeological Sites of Britain
Part III – Wales, Channel Islands and Other Stong Age Sites of Britain

Stonehenge Stone Layout

Stonehenge Stone Layout – Wikipedia

Paleolithic (2.6 million B.C. – 10,000 B.C.):  The first evidence of a human ancestor living in Britain comes from a set of 50 fossilized footprints left in an ancient streambed near the town of Happisburgh in County Norfork, England, about 850,000-950,000 B.C. These early arrivals to Britain would have come at a time when most of Britain was connected to mainland Europe via a now submerged area of the North Sea, known as Doggerland.  The Paleolithic was a time of monumental fluctuations in climate, that led to significant sea level variation, vegetation and animal life changes, and the spread and retreat of giant glacial icefields. These changes also affected the spread and retreat of early human populations, and it appears at times the complete depopulating of Britain.

Most of the evidence gathered to date comes from preserved human and animal remains, and stone tool fragments.

Video:
Doggerland Time Team Documentary (BBC)

Mesolithic (11,000 to 5,500 B.C.):  The Mesolithic in Britain is marked by the first permanent habitation of Britain by modern humans, and a gradual warming of the climate that saw a change in the landscape from Arctic tundra, to one more temperate that brought about the rapid spread of birch, pine and alder forests. The Mesolithic also saw the final submergence of Doggerland, making Britain into the island it is today.

Neolithic (4,300 – 2,000 BC): As one might imagine, the Neolithic period offers the best-preserved evidence of stone age peoples in Britain, and there are a number of archaeological sites open to the public that offer beautiful examples of the buildings and monuments they constructed. These structures are due in large part to a fundamental shift in the human story, from primitive hunter-gathers to settlement builders focused more and more on agriculture and cattle herding. With the shift to a more stable food supply, Britain also saw a growth in its population and the appearance of permanent settles and buildings designed to last.

WILTSHIRE NEOLITHIC SITES

Wiltshire is a county in southwest England that seems to have been another focal point of Neolithic culture in Britain, or at least of its famed stone monument builders. Quite a few of Britain’s most famous Neolithic sites lay within the county’s boundaries, including Stonehenge and Avebury, and Silbury Hill. I explore these and other sites just as interesting below.

STONEHENGE (Find It) is one those sites that have received so much attention from archaeologists to new age spiritualists that entire books could be written about what has actually been discovered about the site, and what has been speculated about. So I am just going to touch on the highlights, and offer plenty of sources for further reading. Stonehenge has a long history and has gone through many phases, and how it’s reflected today on the landscape, does not necessarily fit what it meant to the very first people who buried their dead here.  And a burial site for cremated remains really was the first use of the Stonehenge site in 3,100 B.C., with any standing stones on the site representing headstones. In time the significance of Stonehenge changed, as we see the first evidence of pillars being erect about 3,000 B.C. But the first pillars were made of wood, not stone. The final phases of Stonehenge, beginning about  2,600 B.C, involved the bringing of the massive Sarsen stones to the site, that make up the giant stone pillars and capstones we see today.  It also saw a repurposing of the smaller stones (known as bluestones) that had been used to mark the location of early graves sites.

If there is one purpose that has remained true to the Stonehenge site through the ages, its that of a place to remember the dead. And like our use of headstones today, the use of stone, a material much more durable than wood and other materials, was no accident.  It allowed people to build a permanent spot they could return to for generations and celebrate their ancestors.

Much has been made of the astroarcheological significance of Stonehenge over the years, and more than a few scientists have tried to make the case that it offers evidence of alignments with significant cosmological events, including both equinoxes and solstices. However, the only concrete evidence in this regard points to Stonehenge as a gathering point during the Winter Solstice. And this evidence comes from the teeth of very young pigs, that shows they were consistently killed about nine months after they were born,  around the Winter Solstice.  The evidence comes from Durrington Walls, another henge site just upriver from Stonehenge, that is believed to have played a part in a larger ceremonial ritual that connected the two sites together. Durrington Walls also provides evidence that suggests for at least 50 years it was the largest known Neolithic settlement in northwest Europe. This 50 year period occurred around the time the large Sarsen stones were erected at Stonehenge. This may indicate that Durrington Wells may well have served not only as a gathering place for the annual Winter Solstice celebration of the dead but also as the work camp for construction of the final stage of Stonehenge. One other piece of evidence gathered from the pig and cows teeth collected at Durrington, is that the people who brought these animals to the annual feast weren’t just locals, but people who came from as far away as Scotland. They know this because of the very specific chemical signature that is stored in teeth when they are formed, and which reflects the soil composition of the place they were raised.

Finally, it seems that soon after the final stage of Stonehenge’s development, a change began to occur in Britain’s culture. The great feasts and gatherings that had marked the site in times past slowly disappeared, people began to bury their dead instead of cremating them, and metal implements of gold and copper, as well as other grave goods, started to show up in burials. This marked the arrival of the technological shift in Britain known as the Bronze Age, and the ideas brought with it from mainland Europe.

Videos:
 Nova: Ghosts of Stonehenge
Time Team  The Secrets of Stonehenge
Time Team: Durrington Wells

Suggested Reading:
Stonehenge – A New Understanding: Solving the Mysteries of the Greatest Stone Age Monument – Mike Parker Pearson
Daily Mail: How the builders of Stonehenge 5,000 years ago were almost completely wiped out by mysterious ‘Beaker people’

AVEBURY (Find It) lies only 23 miles from Stonehenge and is the largest known stone henge in the world. It compromises a larger outer ring of megalithic stones, and two inner circles. It was constructed in the same time frame as Stonehenge around 3,000 B.C. Beyond its clear roll in religious or social rituals, its exact purpose remains unknown. I also suspect given its proximity to many of the other Neolithic sites in Wiltshire that all the different sites were connected in some manner or other that made this area special compared to other parts of Britain. There is just too much going on to think otherwise.

WEST KENNET LONG BARROW (Find It) lies roughly twenty miles north of Stonehenge. Long barrows are amongst oldest remaining examples of Neolithic architecture in Britain, and many were built before either Stonehenge or Avebury. In the case of West Kennet, it was constructed around 3,600 B.C., an was used up through about 2,500 B.C. Excavations revealed the bones of at least 46 different individuals buried at the site, over the centuries. And it seems it was not only a place of burial but a site of regular ritual activity that often involved the temporary removal of bones from the tomb. The most likely explanation for this was that some kind of ancestor worship was occurring.

In doing research on long barrows, the question immediately arose, so what is the difference between a long barrow, and a passage tomb. I found the best explanation here, and the answer seems to involve a few things. One, long barrows seem to be the earliest version of what would become passage tombs. Their names also tell you something about their shape, which tends to differ from the larger, rounded passage tombs. And third, and this is just speculation on my part. Most passage tombs are noted for their connection to astronomical events such as the Winter or Summer Solstice. And while some Long Barrows seem to have this feature, it doesn’t seem to be as prevalent.

One last item that seems unresolved to me, is burial practices among the Neolithic culture in Britain.  On the one hand, I have read that cremation of the dead, with almost no grave goods, was predominant. This was the case for example at Stonehenge, which started out as a large cemetery before becoming the monument we see today. Yet the long barrows and passage tombs were all about storing the remains and grave goods of the ancestors, to be revered by future generations. And both examples appear within roughly similar geographic regions and timeframes. And not to confuse the issue, but another type of barrow came into wide use as Neolithic sites like Stonehenge were abandoned. These barrows can be found in significant quantity very close to Stonehenge, however, research suggests these tombs were the result of the Bell Beaker People that entered Britain at the beginning of the Bronze Age and were fundamental in reshaping Britain, and perhaps wiping out the Neolithic farmers that had inhabited the island for thousands of years. The discovery of the skeleton known as the Amesbury Archer is a good example of this group of people.

Here are some other long barrows in England that are worth exploring.
Belas Knap Long Barrow (Find It) – Official Website
Wayland’s Smithy Long Barrow (Find It)  – Official Website
Stoney Littleton Long Barrow (Find It) – Official Website
Wind Mill Tump Long Barrow (Find It) – Official Website
Uley Long Barrow (Find It) – Official Website

Suggested Reading:
Long barrows, dolmens and passage graves
BBC: The Amesbury Archer: The King of Stonehenge?
Schoolboys uncover ‘Amesbury Archer of the North’ at Kirkhaugh burial site

Video
Peter Knight Lecture: West Kennet Long Barrow
The Mysterious Chambered Long Barrow in the Cotswolds

SILBURY HILL (Find It) if you have done any following of British prehistoric archaeology the first thing you probably think of when seeing Silbury Hill is that it’s probably a giant passage tomb. And if it were, it would be the biggest one ever created. But it turns out that while the hill is the biggest manmade prehistoric structure in Europe, it doesn’t seem to have much significance beyond the effort that clearly went into creating and shaping it over the centuries. And it appears based on the latest research of archaeologists, that it was the act of creating Silbury Hill that was more important to the Neolithic people’s of the era, than anything else. And that seems to be a general theme of this prehistoric society…mass communal cooperation on projects that took centuries to construct. It reminds me of the quote – “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in“.

Suggested Reading:

Britain Begins – Barry Cunliffe
Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland – Bryan Sykes

Next: Part III – Wales, Channel Islands and Other Stong Age Sites of Britain

Europe

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Scotland: Stone Age Archaeological Sites of Britain

March 16, 2018 0 Comments

Part I – Scotland: Stone Age Sites of Britain

See Also:
Part II – England: Stone Age Sites of Britain
Part III – Wales, Channel Islands and Other Stong Age Sites of Britain

Skara Brae - Neolithic Settlement - Orkneys

Skara Brae – Neolithic Settlement – Wikipedia

Paleolithic (2.6 million B.C. – 10,000 B.C.):  The first evidence of a human ancestor living in Britain comes from a set of 50 fossilized footprints left in an ancient streambed near the town of Happisburgh in County Norfork, England, about 850,000-950,000 B.C. These early arrivals to Britain would have come at a time when most of Britain was connected to mainland Europe via a now submerged area of the North Sea, known as Doggerland.  The Paleolithic was a time of monumental fluctuations in climate, that led to significant sea level variation, vegetation and animal life changes, and the spread and retreat of giant glacial icefields. These changes also affected the spread and retreat of early human populations, and it appears at times the complete depopulating of Britain.

Most of the evidence gathered to date comes from preserved human and animal remains, and stone tool fragments.

Video:
Doggerland Time Team Documentary (BBC)

Mesolithic (11,000 to 5,500 B.C.):  The Mesolithic in Britain is marked by the first permanent habitation of Britain by modern humans, and a gradual warming of the climate that saw a change in the landscape from Arctic tundra, to one more temperate that brought about the rapid spread of birch, pine and alder forests. The Mesolithic also saw the final submergence of Doggerland, making Britain into the island it is today.

Neolithic (4,300 – 2,000 BC): As one might imagine, the Neolithic period offers the best-preserved evidence of stone age peoples in Britain, and there are a number of archaeological sites open to the public that offer beautiful examples of the buildings and monuments they constructed. These structures are due in large part to a fundamental shift in the human story, from primitive hunter-gathers to settlement builders focused more and more on agriculture and cattle herding. With the shift to a more stable food supply, Britain also saw a growth in its population and the appearance of permanent settles and buildings designed to last.

ORKNEY NEOLITHIC SITES

While it seems counterintuitive today, given its remoteness in modern Britain, the Orkney Islands were a center of human activity during the Neolithic. The Orkney’s offer some of the most extensive and well-preserved evidence of human habitation, and monument building in all of Britain. Part of this undoubtedly had to do with the building materials the inhabitants of these islands were forced to use in constructing their dwellings. The climate then and now simply didn’t offer easy access to wood and other less durable materials that would have been used by Neolithic farmers in other parts of Britain. Also, it is believed from the geologic evidence that the Orkney’s were one of the first ice-free parts of northern Britain and given their connection to the rest of Europe because of lower sea-levels, would have been a logical place for early fisherman and hunters to migrate to. Not only that but the Gulf Stream,  a permanent warm current pattern in the North Atlantic,  which today keeps parts of northern Europe much warmer than other places at a similar latitude, made the Orkney’s in Neolithic times much milder than they otherwise would have been.

Articles:
Neolithic discovery: why Orkney is the centre of ancient Britain
National Geographic – Scotland’s Stone Age Ruins
Current Archaeology – Orkney’s First Farmers

SKARA BRAE (Find it), is a Neolithic village discovered on Mainland Island, in the Orkney Archipelago of Scotland. What I find interesting about Skara Brae, is that it’s perfectly suited to the harsh environment in which it was built. Devoid of trees, unlike most of Britain, and regularly buffeted by winds, the Neolithic villagers built their huts into the surrounding earth, reinforced them with stone, and connected each of the huts with passageways to the rest of the village. This in effect minimized to the extent possible, the impact the weather had on their living conditions while indoors.

Occupied from about 3000 B.C. to 2500 B.C., Skara Brae is older than both Stone Henge and the Pyramids of Egypt and is considered the best preserved Neolithic village in Scotland.

Seven of the dwellings incorporate various pieces of stone furniture (beds, dressers, storage bins, cupboards, and seats), and also included a fairly sophisticated drainage network, with a rudimentary toilet in each dwelling.  The Eighth building in the village is thought to have been more of a workshop for creating tools and other implements.

Related Websites
Discovery of Skara Brae
Skara Brae Official Website

Video:
Short Tour of Skar Brae

NESS OF BRODGAR (Find It). Located about six miles south of Skara Brae, the area around the Ness of Brodgar was a focal point of Neolithic activity. Its situated on a narrow strip of land between two lakes, the Loch of Stenness, and the Loch of Harray. To the south are the Standing Stones of Stennes, and to the north is the Ring of Brodgar. The archaeological evidence suggests that the Ness of Brodgar was a Neolithic temple, that in one location had a wall that was more than 20 feet thick. The temple was built around 3,300 B.C. and abandoned about a thousand years later.  At least 14 structures have been identified at the site, with most built roughly during the same time frame. Geophysical evidence suggests that only about 10% of the site has been unearthed so far. So much remains to be discovered.

There is some debate about what events led to the site’s abandonment. Part of what scientists have learned is that a giant feast appears to have occurred at the site shortly before the abandonment. There also appears to have been a deliberate attempt to cover the site over with dirt. This might suggest a monumental event occurred, such as a fundamental shift in the social order, religious beliefs, or occupation of the island by a new group of people. Given its abandonment close to the accepted beginning of the  Bronze age, it’s possible that technological changes were a significant driver in what happened.

Video:
Ness of Brodgar 2017 Archaeological Dig
PBS Newshour Report

RING OF BRODGAR (Find It) is a henge, similar in nature to Stonehenge, that was erected on Mainland Island in the Orkneys between 2,500-2,000 B.C., more than a thousand years after most of the Neolithic buildings and monuments found nearby.  The stones are vertically set in a ditch that is more than 1,250 ft in circumference. The general view is that henges were created by Neolithic peoples, either for a ritualistic purpose or for astronomical observations. The importance of astronomical events, in particular, the marking of the Winter Solstice has been incorporated into other monuments, like passage tombs, which are a common feature of Neolithic Britain.

BARNHOUSE SETTLEMENT (Find It) was a Neolithic settlement of 15 houses built around 3,000 B.C., just south of the Ness of Brodgar on the shore of Loch Harray. Barnhouse shares many similarities in its design with Skara Brae. One way it differs, however, is that unlike Skara Brae its houses were free-standing structures, rather than encased in mounds of earth. A few notable items about this village is that it appears to have been deliberately destroyed in about 2,600 B.C. A later building was also built on the site built on top of the site, whose entrance aligns with another important Neolithic monument nearby, the passage tomb of Maeshowe.

MAESHOWE (Find it) is a Neolithic passage tomb built on Mainland Island, not far from a number of Neolithic sites on the island. Its called a passage tomb because its built with a series of monolithic stones, similar to those used in Neolithic henges.  Some of the stones in Maeshowe are estimated to weigh up to 20 tonnes. The stones form a passage into the tomb that is in alignment with specific astronomical events, like the Summer and Winter Solstices. Thus on the date of the Winter Solstices, the light from the sun shines on a stone placed at the back of the tomb.

Passage tombs are a common feature in Neolithic Britain, Ireland, as well as along the Atlantic coast of Europe, and even parts of northern Africa. Maeshowe appears to share similar design elements to the most famous passage tomb of all, New Grange in Ireland. This seems to suggest a cultural linkage between the two regions, which isn’t all that surprising given the long history of interaction between Scotland and Ireland.

Websites:
OrkneyJar: Maeshowe
Undiscovered Scotland: Maeshowe

Video: 3D Animation of Maeshowe

Article: Were Neolithic Tombs Telescopes to View the Stars?

KNAP OF HOWAR  (Find it), is a Neolithic farmstead located on one of the smaller islands in the Orkney Archipelago, Papa Westray. It is the oldest known stone building in Britain. Radiocarbon dating suggests it was occupied for more than 500 years, beginning in 3,700 B.C. Evidence from rubbish piles (or middens) near the site suggest the inhabitants raised cattle, sheep, and pigs, farmed wheat and barley and harvested shellfish from the ocean.

Like Skara Brae, this farmstead was designed to maximize protection from the elements. Both buildings were made of stone, and surrounded by earth. Such construction would have offered excellent protection from the wind and insulation from the cold.

Video:
Short Tour of Knap Howar

STANDING STONES OF STENNESS (Find It)

CALLANISH STONES

CLAVA CAIRNS

Cairnpapple Hill

Suggested Reading:

Britain Begins – Barry Cunliffe
Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland – Bryan Sykes

Next: Part II – England: Stone Age Sites of Britain

Europe

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Ancient Christian Monasteries of Egypt

February 25, 2018 1 Comment

Saint Catherine’s Monastery (Greek Orthodox)

Google Maps: Find It

St Catherine's Monastery - Wikipedia

St Catherine’s Monastery – Wikipedia

Located in the southern mountains of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Saint Catherine’s Monastery is among the oldest Christian monasteries. Founded in 565 by Roman Emperor Justinian I, the monastery has stood for more than fourteen centuries. During that time it faced many dangers, and been attacked on multiple occasions. But despite the monumental changes brought by events like the Arab Conquest, and the Crusades, it remains. The monks of the monastery believe this is due in part to protection they say was bestowed upon the monastery by Muhammad, in a document known as the Ashtiname of Muhammad.

The monastery, which houses the largest known collection of ancient manuscripts (after the Vatican), maintains the oldest continuously operated library in the world. Discovered within its library were a number of important early Christian manuscripts. Included were the Codex Sinaiticus, which is one of the only complete manuscripts of the early Bible, and the Syriac Sinaitic, which was discovered by two sister from Victorian Britain, Agnes Smith Lewis and her sister Margaret Dunlop Gibson. The Syriac Sinaitic, represents the oldest known copy of the gospels written in Syriac, the original language of Biblical writers.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the Monastery’s namesake, is said to have been a Christian martyr that was put to death by the Roman emperor Maxentiusm. However, many modern scholars believe the legend of Saint Catherine is actually based on the life and death of Hypatia, a well known Greek philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician that lived in Alexandria. Hypatia, while a pagan, worked with and taught many from the emerging Christian community of her time. But the growing sectarian strife between the two groups ultimately cost her her life, when she was murdered by a mob of Christian monks in 415 A.D.

Videos:
Greek-Orthodox: Monastery Of St.Catherien, Sinai (Egypt)

Suggested Reading: 
The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels – Janet Soskice
The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia–and How It Died – Philip Jenkins

Monastery of Saint Anthony (Coptic)

Google Maps: Find It

Saint Athanasius

Saint Athanasius

The Monastery of Saint Anthony, is named after the monk considered the father of Christian monasticism. Born in 251 A.D. and supposedly dying in 356 A.D. he is said to have lived to be 105, an extraordinary feat at a time in history when most lived into their 40’s and 50’s if they were lucky. Anthony was born to very wealthy landowners, but at an early age, decided to sell or give away his family’s wealth and become an ascetic.  For much of his life he lived in isolation, even purposely avoiding those who would try and follow him, by disappearing deeper into Egypt’s Eastern Desert. But he is also known to have come out of his isolation on several occasions to teach others what he had learned, and to console prisoners in Alexandra. He even offered himself up as a martyr to local rulers who were persecuting local Christians, but was never harmed.

Much of what we now know of Saint Anthony was passed down by several of his followers, including Saint Athanasius, who wrote a biography titled Life of Saint Anthony the Great, and Saint Macarius of Alexandria. The monastery itself was built after Anthony’s death, between 298–300 A.D., near where he’d lived as a hermit.  Over the many centuries of its existence, the monastery saw both periods of peace and persecution. At times it served as a refuge for monks from other monasteries that were being attacked by Bedouin and Berber tribesman.  And at others times it fell victim to attacks itself.

In the Middle Ages it became a destination for religious pilgrims, in particular from the various Crusader armies that visited the Middle East from the 11th through the 13th centuries.

Its more recent history has been marked by periods of prosperity, and others that left the monastery in near ruin.

Videos:
The Origin: Monasteries Of The Desert, Wadi-Al-Natroun (Egypt) • Abbeys and Monasteries
The Last Anchorite –  Father Lazarus El Anthony

Suggested Reading:
 Life of St. Anthony of Egypt – St. Athanasius of Alexandria
Desert Father: A Journey in the Wilderness with Saint Anthony – James Cowan
Stories from the Egyptian Desert – Bishop Macarius

Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great (Coptic)

Google Maps: Find It

This monastery was founded by its namesake, Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt, in 360 A.D. Macarius, like many other ascetics of the period, lost his family connections at a young age, gave away what inheritance he had to the poor afterward, and devoted his life to his Christian faith. He also suffered from accusations of immorality by local villagers, which further turned him away from society. This ultimately led him to flee to the Scetis Desert southwest of Alexandria. Through his actions, and eventual relationship with St. Anthony, he soon gained his own following of ascetic monks, around which he built a monastic community, and ultimately the monastery that exists today.

In time, Scetis became a center of Christian monasticism, and home to many Coptic monasteries, a number of which survive to this day.

Videos:
The Light of the Desert Documentary on St Macarius Monastery, Egypt

Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite (Coptic)

Google Maps: Find It

This monastery was named in honor of Saint Paul of Thebes, who is often called the first Christian hermit. Paul spent much of his life alone in Egypt’s desert, in part to avoid persecution by various Roman Emperors of the time. Much of what we know of Saint Paul comes from his brief interaction with Saint Anthony, who after a dream sought out the hermit that he’d heard about from others. Legend says that they spent an evening together, eating and talking, and when Anthony arose the next day he found Paul who was already 113, dead. Saint Anthony buried the monk, and brought back what there was of Paul’s possessions to his monastery.

The story of his life was composed in the book Life of Saint Paul the First Hermit , by Saint Jerome around 375 A.D.

The monastery was established in the 5th century, on top of the cave where Paul spent much of his life. Over the course of its existence, the monastery has been inhabited by various groups of monks from Byzantium, Egypt and Syria.

Suggested Reading:
The Cave Church of Paul the Hermit: At the Monastery of St. Paul in Egypt – William Lyster

Syrian Monastery (Coptic)

Google Maps: Find It

Syrian Monastery

Syrian Monastery – Wikipedia

The Syrian Monastery derives its present name, not from a particular saint as most in Egypt, but from the origin of most of the monks that have inhabited it throughout history. Most historical sources suggest the monastery started in the 6th century, and was founded because of a religious disagreement about the nature of Jesus, and whether he was perfect without the ability to sin, or a flawed, potentially corruptible person as we all are. Those who did not share the idea that Jesus was perfect, decided with the blessing of the government at the time to break away and form their own monasteries. In this particular case it was monks who left the nearby Monastery of Saint Pishoy that led to the monastery’s creation.

Some believe the monastery derives its name from a group of Syrian merchants who purchased the monastery in the 8th century, and filled it with monks from their homeland. However the monastery has a long history of accepting refugees from other regions, including Syrians fleeing to Egypt in the 12th century.

Like other monasteries over the centuries, it has faced its own challenges, including attacks from local tribes, and at one point the monastery was decimated by the plague, leaving only one known monk at the monastery when it was visited in 1413.

Over the centuries numerous manuscripts were acquired from the monastery’s library, and now reside at the Vatican and British Museum.

Monastery of Saint Shenouda  (Coptic)

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This monastery takes its name from one of the most revered saints in Coptic Christianity, Shenouda the Archimandrite. It is also called the White Monastery, a name that comes from the color of the limestone it was created from.

Even though the monastery was  founded by Shenouda’s uncle, Saint Pigol (442 A.D.), the monastery saw its greatest growth and influence under the leadership of Shenouda. During Pigol’s time the monastery housed 30 elderly monks. Shenouda grew this number to over 2000. And its name honors his achievements.

Shenouda was also an instrumental player during Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. It was this council and the religious disagreements that followed,  that split a significant segment of the Christian Church in the Middle East from the rest of the Christianity.

Like many other monasteries, the Monastery of Saint Shehounda went through periods of peace and strife, prosperity, and decline. Probably its greatest test occurred during the Arab conquests, when it was highly taxed by the Muslim rulers of the time. This ruined many other Christian monasteries in Egypt, but this particular monastery managed to survive. It also experienced periodic attacks from Bedouin and Berber tribesmen, forcing the construction of a keep to protect the monks.

One other aspect that the White Monastery is widely known, and this again reflects back on Saint Shehounda, was its ancient library. Shehounda strongly emphasized literacy among his fellow monks, who in turn created and preserved a treasure trove of codices and manuscripts that have found their way into countless libraries around the world.

On a side note, the White Monastery shares a historical and geographic connection to another monastic community, known as the Red Monastery.  Its name like the White Monastery, reflects the color of its building material, a red sandstone. Not much is known of the early history of the Red Monastery, other than it was built in the 4th century and is dedicated to Saint Pishay, who was a contemporary of Shenouda.  Its been suggested that the overshadowing, or control of this monastery by the White Monastery may have contributed to the limited knowledge of its history. One historical event we do know about though  was the ransacking and burning of the Red Monastery by the Mamluks. This was reported by the 15th century historian Al-Maqrizi who arrived in the area shortly after it happened, and just reflects the challenges that many Christian monastic communities faced over the centuries in Egypt.

Today the Red Monastery is occupied by a growing community of monks, and was recently the focus of a major restoration effort by the US agency USAID.

Video:
Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition—The Red Monastery
Virtual tour of the Red Monastery

Saint Bishoy Monastery (Coptic)

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Saint Bishoy Monastery

Saint Bishoy Monastery – Wikipedia

This monastery is named after Saint Bishoy, a well known saint in both the Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions. The monastery is considered the most important monastery in Coptic Christianity and the final resting place of the Coptic Pope Shenouda III. Bishoy founded the monastery in the 4th century, and was later buried there at his request, Pope Joseph I of Alexandria.

It is said that Saint Bishoy at the age of 20, was sent went into the desert wilderness of Scetis by God, to live a monastic life. And it was on the site of the current monastery that he chose to live as a hermit in seclusion. In response to attacks by Berbers, he was also known to have sought refuge further south for a time, at the mountain of Ansena, where he befriended another future saint (Paul of Tammah), and founded another monastery that still bears his name.

During its long history, the monastery has been pillaged on at least 5 separate occasions, with its monks both persecuted and killed. There is a well within the monastery, known as the Well of the Martyrs, which commemorates 49 monks that were supposedly killed by raiding Berber tribesmen, and their bodies dumped into it.

The monastery has also seen precious manuscripts stolen by visitors, and turned away other vistors out of fear they would do the same thing.

Africa