Wadi Natrun is located in the eastern desert of Egypt. It is a valley, surrounded by ten lakes, that is abundant with salt and sodium carbonates. In the ancient times, the Egyptians used the Natron found there for mummification, the Romans used the silica for glass, and when the British came in, they built railroads to transport the salt to Cairo. But it is best known for the monasteries that were built there in the fourth century. Because the Christian monks were given reprieve to practice their religion freely after the Arab invasion, it became the official inhabitation of the Coptic patriarch. The patriarchs are still today chosen from the Wadi Natrun monks. Throughout the Wadi’s history, the monasteries were attacked on numerous occasions. Due to this, the monks built a 10-meter high by two-meter thick fortified wall and an escape tower to protect them from these invasions, which came mostly from the Bedouins and the Berbers.
The initial churches’ architecture is similar to the Roman/Coptic architecture.
The inside of their dwellings are divided into sections for living quarters,
churches, kitchens, storage facilities, and a well. They also have certain
areas for communion, catechism, and a basin in which sinners bathe. The
monks of the Wadi Natrun are completely self-sufficient. They have high
school educations and in addition to practicing their religion, they also
use various methods of cattle breeding and agriculture and promote the
development of the crafts, like: textile production and glass treatments.
Of the nearly 50 monasteries erected, only four are still actively in use.
Those monasteries are Deir al-Baramus, Deir Al Anba Bishoy, Deir al-Surian,
and Deir Abu Magar. Deir al-Baramus, also known as the monastery of the
Romans, is the northernmost of the four. It is believed that Macarius the
Great settled there in 340 B.C. Today, it holds the oldest church in the
entire region. The monastery maintains its original qualities and dedicates
itself to the Virgin of Baramus. Deir Al Anba Bishoy was founded by St.
Bishoy, a student of St. Macarius and it is the easternmost Christian monastery.
It contains five churches, one used in summer only, one used in winter
only, two that aren’t used at all, and one used on a regular basis.
Around 1971, his Holiness Pope Shenouda III took up the restoration of the land and buildings in this area. He also purchased new land for cattle breeding and for poultry and dairy establishments. Deir al-Surian is believed to have been established in the sixth century by the monks of the St. Bischoi monastery because of the disagreements they encountered with the Julianist doctrines. But in the eighth century, the troubles between the Orthodox Christians and the Julianists had faded, and thus, the need for two separate monasteries was no longer necessary. It was sold to the Syrians, who changed the name from the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Theotokos to the Monastery of the Holy Virgin of the Syrians. Deir Abu Magar is a memorial to the St. Magar, and it is probably the first of the monasteries to have been constructed. In the sixth century it became the seat of the Coptic Church and has kept its important position to this day. It is also the richest of all the monasteries in the Wadi due to its numerous amounts of precious relics.
References:
“Tourismus in Ägypten” http://www.manetho.de/touri/z_natrum.htm 19 Sept. 2003
“Wadi Natrun” Tour Egypt http://touregypt.net/alwadi.htm 19 Sept. 2003
Written by Megan Schmaltz