The complex of religions
THE HISTORY OF THE BABYLON FORTRESS
In “A Guide to the Ancient Coptic Churches of Cairo”, O.H.E. KHS-
Burmester records significant historical information about the
fortress area. According to him, Ptolemy (121-151 A.D.), in his
book “Geography”, mentions a town named Babylon which
existed from Pharaonic times on part of a site of what is now
included in Cairo.
A canal ran through this town connecting the Nile with the Red
Sea. Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.) reopened this canal
and also enlarged and equipped a fortress which was located at
the southern end of the town. The fortress, known as the “Castle
of Babylon”, or “Castle of Egypt” (Khemi), was further enlarged by
Emperor Arcadius (395-408 A.D.). There was a fluvial port at this
location where ships could anchor. In 335 A.D., the Roman
Emperor altered shipping routes from Alexandria to the Babylon
fortress. The area of Old Cairo was the first nucleus of present-
day Cairo.
It is not known exactly when this city became a bishopric but it
must have been before the first half of the 5th century as a
certain Cyrus, Bishop of Babylon, was present at the Council of
Ephesus held in 449 A.D.
At the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt, Babylon seemed to
have been a large city extending northwards as far as Tendounias
(‘Um Dunain’), the present district of al-Azbakiah, where there
was a fortified outpost. The Arab general ‛Amr Ibn al-‘As captured
this outpost and occupied the city as far as the Castle of Egypt, to
which he laid siege. On April 9th, 641 A.D. this castle, which the
Arabs named “Qasr ash-Sham’a (wax castle) surrendered. After
the Arab conquest of Egypt, the name Babylon was more
commonly used to denote the district immediately around the
Castle of Egypt or Qasr ash-Sham’a. Eventually this became a
quarter inhabited mainly by Christians.
This fortress is similar to the Roman ones found in Europe and
North Africa. At one time the course of the River Nile flowed under
the fortress walls at the Roman Orthodox St. George’s Church.
Roman methods of construction used a pattern of five blocks of
limestone with three blocks of red bricks. The fortress, as well as
older parts of the church, contain such patterns in their
foundations.
The fortress’ towers are almost 10 meters high and 31 meters in
diameter. The walls are almost 3 meters thick. The floor of the
fortress is below the level of St. George Street by about 6 meters
due to city construction over time.
The Fortress of Babylon echoes with memory; limestone and
mudbrick lock together, footsteps wander narrow halls, and a
collective nostalgia is created in the silence. Sitting on the
pinched streets of Old Cairo, the fort is cupped by culture; it is
considered a distinguished product of Egypt’s Roman era, and an
illustrious monument in Cairo’s universal architectural history.
Although fortresses are known as houses of violent history,
Egypt’s Babylon was not intended to be a fort at its inception.
Initially, the site was used as a harbor entrance by the Ptolemies
for a canal linking the Red Sea to the Nile between 246 and 46
BC. The canal was attempted as far back as the twenty-sixth
Pharaonic dynasty, with little success, but saw prominence when
re-established under Persian rule between 521 and 486 BC.
The fort itself, however, came into being under the commission of
Roman Emperor Tarjan in 107 BC. Scribes of the time write that
“Tarjan went to Egypt and there built a fortress with a powerful
and impregnable citadel, having an abundant supply of water.”
It is believed the fort’s foundations were initially set by
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Medes and Persians, who called it the
Fortress of Babylon after his own Macedonian capital, i.e. Babylon.
Upon first glance, it was a typical Diocletianic-era fortress
designed to serve a field army; it had high walls and an isolated,
elevated location, and was built with dense planning.
Still, Babylon possessed idiosyncrasies that set it apart from the
structures of the time – its second purpose as a harbour, and the
fact “the size and strength of the fortifications were much more
solid than those of any other Diocletianic fortress in Egypt.”
Additionally, archeological evidence suggests that a bridge
existed over the Nile and connected to the western gate of the
fort, which was the only one of its kind.
By the Arab conquest of 640 AD, the fort had expanded to include
forty foot outer walls, a moat, and a nationally famed port with
two nilometers and the aforementioned Red Sea to Nile canal. It
was an ideal location that controlled traffic and trade, but also
became a “refuge of Coptic Christians, who were persecuted by
the Roman Christians in Alexandria.”
The fort was never a seat of the Egyptian government, but some
argue that Cairo evolved around the fortress, and owed much of
its glory to the location. As a result, for years, Europeans
misguidedly – or perhaps with romantic intent – referred to Cairo
as Babylon.
To this day, although only a fragment of the fort remains, the
Fortress of Babylon is a vision of several of Egypt’s bygone eras.
The Hanging Church
is also referred to as the Suspended Church or Al-Moallaqa. It is
called the Hanging Church because it was built on the southern
gate of the Roman Fortress. Logs of palm trees and layers of
stones were constructed above the ruins of the Roman fortress to
be used as a fundament. The Hanging Church is a unique church
that has a wooden roof in the shape of Noah’s ark. From the 7th
century to the 13th century, the Hanging Church served as the
residence of the Coptic Patriarch. Al-Moallaqa has witnessed
important elections and religious ceremonies.
The famous miracle of moving the Moqattam Mountain is closely
related to al-Moallaqa. Al-Mu’izz, a Fatimid khaliph, asked
Patriarch Abraham (975-978), the 62nd Patriarch, to prove the
truth of a verse in the Bible. Al-Mu’izz asked Patriarch Abraham to
move the Moqattam Mountain in order to prove the words of the
gospel “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you shall say
to this mountain: Remove from hence to yonder place, and it shall
remove“ (Matthew 17-20).
After three days of praying and fasting in front of the painting of
the Virgin Mary depicted on a column in al-Moallaqa, the Virgin
Mary appeared to Patriarch Abraham in a vision and told him what
to do. The painting of the Virgin Mary exists in the church to this
day. Al-Mu’izz was convinced of the truth of the Christian belief
and allowed the Coptic Church certain privileges.
There are three sanctuaries at the eastern side of the church, the
one in the middle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the one to the
left is named after St. George and the one to the right is named
after John the Baptist. Inside the sanctuaries painted baldachins
are placed above the altars.
The wooden screen is a unique piece of art and is richly decorated
with geometric patterns and crosses in ebony and ivory.
The wooden screen is crowned by precious icons, in the center
the enthroned Jesus, on the left side the Virgin Mary, Archangel
Gabriel and St. Peter, on the right side John the Baptist, Archangel
Michael and St. Paul.
15 icons describe the life and torture of St. George, and 7 icons
give an insight into the life of John the Baptist.
The impressive pulpit of the Hanging Church is from the 5th
century and rests on 15 gracile columns. On each side of the
pulpit a cross is depicted above three steps symbolizing the three
days during which Jesus Christ was in his tomb and his
resurrection.
There is an icon of St. Mark on the southern wall of the main
church (St. Mark is the first Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox
Church).
A total of 110 icons are kept in the Hanging Church, the oldest of
which is the “Coptic Mona Lisa” dating back to the 8th century
A.D. and representing Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and John the
Baptist. Numerous altar icons date back to the 18th century A.D.
There is a door at the south-eastern corner of the church leading
to the oldest part of the building. This part has three sanctuaries
at the eastern side. The one in the middle is called after St.
Dimiana, the one to the left is named after St. Takla Hymanot (an
Ethiopian saint), and the one to the right is named after St.
Andrew.
Beside these sanctuaries is the baptistery.
There is also a fresco on the eastern wall of the chapel showing
the Nativity (the birth of Christ) and the midwife Salome, next to
it a second fresco of 24 men of the apocalypse. Furthermore, on
the first floor a church dedicated to St. Mark.
ABU SARGA
Abu Sarga is the oldest church in Egypt dating back to the 5th
century A.D. The church owes its fame to having been
constructed upon the crypt of the Holy Family where they stayed
for three weeks during their sojourn in Egypt.
_MG_2437
According to a biblical narration by evangelist Matthew (Chapter
2), the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled from Palestine
to Egypt out of fear of the persecution of the Jewish King Herod
the Great. The Holy Family travelled as far as Assiut (“Deir el
Muharraq”) and on their way back home spent some weeks in Old
Cairo.
Abu Sarga is dedicated to the two Saints Sergius and Bacchus
who served as soldiers in the Roman Army. They were faithful
followers of the Lord Jesus and refused to worship the Roman
gods. For their Christian belief, Sergius and Bacchus eventually
suffered martyrdom in Syria in 296 during the reign of the Roman
Emperor Maximinus. Their relics are partly kept in Abu Sarga and
others are buried in Syria.
From the 9th to the 12th century, significant patriarchs were
elected and several bishops were consecrated in Abu Sarga until
the 11th century. Although the church was restored several times
(11th and 17th century, the last restoration was undertaken in
2000), it still preserves its Medieval charm.
Abu Sarga is based on a basilican structure with a nave and two
side aisles. The west end of the church is occupied by a return
aisle. Twelve columns are set between the nave and the aisles,
eleven of which are made of white marble and only one is of red
granite. Some of the marble columns show clear traces of figures
most likely representing saints. Corinthian capitals originating
from older buildings are placed between the column shafts and
the wooden architraves. On the east side of the church, a
tripartite sanctuary is separated from the congregation hall by an
impressive wooden screen which is beautifully decorated with
ebony and ivory and whose oldest part dates back to the 13th
century. Exceptional icons with various scenes from the life of
Christ, Virgin Mary and diverse saints embellish the walls of Abu
Sarga. Inside its main sancturary a wooden canopy supported by
four pillars is placed above the altar and painted with biblical
scenes, among them are Jesus Pantocrator and Archangel Gabriel
appearing to Virgin Mary. The apse behind the altar is richly
decorated with strips of marble and mosaics. A clerical seat is
incorporated into the apse and can be reached by seven steps.
Abu Sarga once kept Egypt’s oldest altar which was transferred to
the Coptic Museum. The roof is one of the most interesting
features of the church and is said to have been constructed in the
shape of Noah’s ark. On the northwest side of the church is a
baptistry. The marble ambon is a modern copy of the one in the
neighbouring church of St. Barbara. Parts of the original wooden
pulpit were brought to the Coptic Museum, and also to the British
Museum in London. Above the side and return aisles is a gallery
with two chapels (one dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus, the
other to Ibraham, Isaac and Jacob) that are used for private
service and during the fasting of Easter.
ST.GEORGE (GREEK ORTHODOX)
The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George was erected upon the
northern tower of the Fortress of Babylon and echoes its round
shape. The church can be reached through a flight of stairs and is
crowned by an impressive dome. Tradition has it that St. George
was kept in a prison close to the church and martyred there. The
present building dates from the beginning of the 20th century.
SYNAGOGUE
Evidence of synagogues from the 3rd century BCE was discovered
on Elephantine Island. The findings consist of two synagogue
dedication inscription stones and a reference to a synagogue in a
papyrus letter dated to 218 BCE.[1][2]
The oldest synagogue building uncovered by archaeologists is the
Delos Synagogue, a possibly Samaritan synagogue that dates
from at 150 to 128 BCE, or earlier, and is located on the island of
Delos, Greece.[3][4]The Synagogue of Ben Ezra was originally a
church. However, it needed to be sold to pay the annual taxes
imposed on the church by the government in 882 A.D. The
synagogue is named after Abraham Ben Ezra who bought the
church for a sum of 20,000 dinars. The basilican structure with a
nave and two aisles is still recognizable. The synagogue has
become famous for its Geniza, an archive of ancient Jewish
manuscripts, comprising thousands of rare manuscripts.
Ben Ezra Synagogue
Ben Ezra Synagogue, Old Cairo
Religion: Affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Rite Sephardic
Location Cairo, Egypt
Architecture Completed 1892
Specifications Length 17 meters (56 ft)
Width 11.3 meters (37 ft)
The Ben Ezra Synagogue (Hebrew: ;בית כנסת בן עזראArabic: معبد بن
)عزرا, sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue (בית כנסת
)אל גניזהor the Synagogue of the Levantines (al-Shamiyin),[1] is
situated in the Fustat part of Old Cairo, Egypt. According to local
folklore, it is located on the site where Baby Moses was found.[2]
This was the synagogue whose geniza or store room was found in
the 19th century to contain a treasure of forgotten, stored-away
Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic secular and sacred
manuscripts. The collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, was
brought to the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England at
the instigation of Solomon Schechter. It is now divided between
several academic libraries, with the majority being kept at the
Cambridge University Library.
History
Outline
Ben Ezra as an institution is ancient and has occupied at least
three buildings in its history. There have been many major and
minor renovations. The current building dates to the 1890s.[3]
Establishment
The founding date of the Ben Ezra Synagogue is not known,
although there is good evidence from documents found in the
geniza that it predates 882 CE and is probably pre-Islamic.[3][4]
In 882, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
sold a church and its grounds to a group of Jews, and some 19th-
century scholars assumed that this was the origin of Ben Ezra.
However, the buyers were followers of the Talmudic Academies in
Babylonia, and Ben Ezra was a congregation that observed the
teachings of the rival Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina.[4]
Modern scholars agree that the 882-land sale was to a rival
synagogue.[5]
Little is known about the original building. In about 1012, Fatimid
caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of all Jewish
and Christian places of worship. The original Ben Ezra Synagogue
was torn down, "its bricks and timber sold for scrap".[4]
The second building (11th century – 1168)
The next caliph, al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah, allowed the
reconstruction of Christian and Jewish institutions, and the
synagogue was rebuilt in the 1025–1040 period. A study of a
carved wood Torah ark door reliably attributed to the synagogue
sheds light on the history of the synagogue's renovations. The
door is jointly owned by the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and
the Yeshiva University Museum in New York. Radiocarbon dating
verifies that the wood goes back to the 11th century CE.[6]
Interior of the synagogue
Interior of the Ben Ezra Synagogue from the upper gallery
(mechitza)
Geniza
Historically, synagogues have included a genizah, or repository
for abandoned or outdated documents containing the name of
God, since Jewish teaching is that such papers had to be stored
with reverence, and then eventually buried in a cemetery. The
11th-century building incorporated an unusually large geniza,
"two stories high, more silo than attic – with a rooftop opening
accessible from above."[4] Some documents added to it had been
stored in the previous building, and the oldest dated document is
about 150 years older than the geniza itself. Documents
continued to accumulate there for about 850 years. The diverse
collection of documents included rabbinical texts, historical
accounts, and religious and secular poems, dating from the sixth
century through the nineteenth century CE.[7]
1168 fire
In 1168, a deliberately set fire destroyed much of the city of
Fustat, where the synagogue was then located.[3] Fustat is now a
part of Cairo. The Islamic vizier Shawar ordered the city burned to
prevent it from falling into the hands of an invading Christian
Crusader army. Saladin, who became Sultan of Egypt shortly
thereafter, ordered the rebuilding of Fustat.[3]
Third building
Maimonides in Fustat (1168–1204)
Also in 1168, the Jewish philosopher, physician and astronomer
Maimonides settled in Fustat, within a short walk of Ben Ezra
Synagogue. He lived there until his death in 1204.[8] Maimonides
became Nagid, or leader of the Egyptian Jewish community in
1171, and worshipped at Ben Ezra.[9] Many of the geniza
documents, including some in his own handwriting, discuss his life
and work and are the most important primary biographical
sources for him.[8]
Torah ark
The style of the carving on the Torah ark door is incompatible
with that of the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171 CE), and is more
representative of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1571 CE),
specifically the 15th century. A medallion that decorates the door
is designed with a motif common to the bookbinding of that
period. It is known that a 15th-century fire in the synagogue
damaged the bimah, or pulpit. One plausible theory is that wood
from the damaged bimah was repurposed to make a new door for
the Torah ark.[6] The synagogue was repaired and renovated in
1488.[3]
The door also has traces of paint that conservators have identified
as being no older than the 19th century.[6] It is known that the
synagogue was renovated in the 1880s,[6] completely rebuilt in
the early 1890s,[3] and then remodelled in the early 20th
century.[6]
Discovery of the genizah and fourth building
Jacob Saphir was a Jew of Romanian birth whose family settled in
Ottoman Palestine when he was a boy. He became a rabbi, and in
1859, took a world tour to raise money for the reconstruction of
the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by
the Muslim authorities in 1721. Saphir was the first to recognize
the historic significance of the Ben Ezra geniza, which he
described in an 1874 book. Jewish book collector Elkan Nathan
Adler was the first European to enter the genizah in 1888, and he
purchased about 25,000 documents.[4] While the synagogue was
being rebuilt from 1889 to 1892, the documents lay in an
enormous pile out in the open. Egyptologist Count Riamo d'Hulst
examined some of the documents in those years.[4] In December
1896, Cambridge University instructor Solomon Schechter, who
later became a prominent American rabbi, began the first in-
depth academic investigation of the documents from the geniza
and arranged to have the remaining documents removed from
Cairo to various university libraries.[4]
Dwindling congregation
Egypt's Jewish community is at the end of a dramatic decline,
from about 80,000 people in the 1920s to less than a dozen of
Egyptian ancestry now residing in Cairo.[10] Accordingly, the Ben
Ezra Synagogue functions now as a tourist attraction and
museum, rather than as a functioning congregation.
Finally, there is the Ben Ezra Synagogue, with its cool marble
floors. Lore has it that the Nile once flowed up behind the
synagogue, and there, in the reeds, baby Moses was hidden."
TheMosque of Amr ibn al-As (Arabic: )جامع عمرو بن العاص, or Taj al-
Jawame' (Arabic: تاج الجواِمع, lit. 'Crown of Mosques'),[1] or Masjid
Ahl ar-Rayah (Arabic: مسجد اهل الّر اية, lit. 'Mosque of the Banner
Bearers'),[2] or Jame’ al-Ateeq (Arabic: جاِمع العِتيق, lit. 'the Old
Mosque'),[3] was originally built in 641–642 AD, as the center of
the newly founded capital of Egypt, Fustat. The original structure
was the first mosque ever built in Egypt and the whole of Africa.
[4] For 600 years, the mosque was also an important center of
Islamic learning until Al-Muizz's Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo
replaced it.[1] Through the twentieth century, it was the fourth-
largest mosque in the Islamic world.[5]
The location for the mosque was the site of the tent of the
commander of the Muslim army, general Amr ibn al-As. One
corner of the mosque contains a room related in some significant
way to his son, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As. Due to extensive
reconstruction over the centuries nothing of the original building
remains, but the rebuilt Mosque is a prominent landmark and can
be seen in what today is known as Old Cairo. It is an active
mosque with a devout congregation, and when prayers are not
taking place, it is also open to visitors and tourists.[6]
According to tradition, the original location was chosen by a bird.
Amr ibn al-As, by order of Caliph Umar, was the Arab general that
conquered Egypt from the Romans. In 641, before he and his
army attacked their capital city of Alexandria (at the northwestern
part of the Nile river delta), Amr had set up his tent on the
eastern side of the Nile, at the southern part of the delta. As the
story is told, shortly before Amr set off to battle, a dove laid an
egg in his tent. When Amr returned victorious, he needed to
choose a site for a new capital city, since Umar had decreed that
it could not be in far-away Alexandria. So Amr declared the site of
the dove's egg to be the center of his new city, Fustat, or Misr al-
Fustat, "City of the Tents". Later, the Mosque of Amr was built on
the same location.
Mosque of Amr in Cairo. 1893. Wilbour Library of Egyptology,
Brooklyn Museum
Structure
Interior view of the mosque
Egypt - Mosque of Amru, Cairo. Brooklyn Museum Archives,
Goodyear Archival Collection
Arcades in the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As
The original layout was a simple rectangle, 29 meters in length by
17 meters wide. It was a low shed with columns made from split
palm tree trunks, stones and mud bricks, covered by a roof of
wood and palm leaves. The floor was of gravel. Inside the
building, the orientation toward Mecca was not noted by a
concave niche like it would be in all later mosques. Instead, four
columns were used to point out the direction of Mecca and were
inserted on the qibla wall. It was large enough to provide prayer
space for Amr's army, but had no other adornments, and no
minarets.[6]
It was completely rebuilt in 673 by the governor Maslama ibn
Mukhallad al-Ansari, who added four minarets, one at each of the
mosque's corners, and doubled its area in size. The addition of
these minarets allowed the call to prayer to be heard from every
corner, and taken up by other nearby mosques. Governor Abd al-
Aziz ibn Marwan added an extension to the mosque in 698 and
once again doubled the mosque's area. In 711 a concave prayer
niche was added to replace the flat one. In 827, it had seven new
aisles built, parallel to the wall of the qibla, the direction that
Muslims were to face during prayer. Each aisle had an arcade of
columns, with the last column in each row attached to the wall by
means of a wooden architrave carved with a frieze.
In 827, Governor Abd Allah ibn Tahir made more additions to the
mosque. It was enlarged to its present size, and the southern wall
of the present-day mosque was built.
In the 9th century, the mosque was extended by the Abbasid
Caliph al-Mamun, who added a new area on the southwest side,
increasing the mosque's dimensions to 120m x 112m.
At a point during the Fatimid era, the mosque had five minarets.
There were four, with one at each corner, and one at the
entrance. However, all five are now gone. The current Minarets
were built by Mourad Bey in 1800. Also, the Fatimid Caliph al-
Mustansir added a silver belt to the prayer niche which was
eventually removed by Saladin when the mosque was restored
after the fire in Fustat.
In 1169, the city of Fustat and the mosque were destroyed by a
fire that was ordered by Egypt's own vizier Shawar, who had
ordered its destruction to prevent the city from being captured by
the Crusaders. After the Crusaders were expelled, and the area
had been conquered by Nur al-Din's army, Saladin took power and
had the mosque rebuilt in 1179. During this time Saladin had a
belvedere built below a minaret.
In the 14th, century Burhan al-Din Ibrahim al-Mahalli paid the
costs of restoring the mosque. In 1303, Emir Salar restored the
mosque after an earthquake. He also added a stucco prayer niche
for the outer wall of the mosque, which is now gone.
In the 18th century one of the Egyptian Mamluk leaders, Mourad
Bey, destroyed the mosque because of dilapidation and then
ordered the rebuilding of it in 1796, before the arrival of
Napoleon's French Expedition to Egypt. During Mourad's
reconstruction, the builders decreased the number of rows of
columns from seven to six and changed the orientation of the
aisles to make them perpendicular to the qibla wall. It was also
probably at this time that the current remaining minarets were
added.[6] During the French occupation much of the interior wood
decoration was taken for firewood by the French Army.[5]
In 1875, the mosque was again rebuilt. In the 20th century,
during the reign of Egypt's Abbas Helmi II, the mosque underwent
another restoration. Parts of the entrance were reconstructed in
the 1980s.[6]
The only part of the mosque's older structure which can still be
seen are some of the architraves, which can be viewed along the
southern wall of the Mosque. These were probably added during
reconstruction in 827.[7]
Religion
Affiliation Sunni Islam
Location
Location Old Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
Architecture
Type mosque
Groundbreaking 641
Completed 642
Specifications
Length 120m
Width 112m
Minaret(s)4
Other name(s)
Taj al-Jawame
Jame al-Ateeq
Masjid Ahl ar-Rayah
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the
largest collection of Coptic Christian artifacts in the world. It was
founded by Marcus Simaika in 1908 to house Coptic antiquities.[1]
The museum traces the history of Egypt from its beginnings to the
present day. It was erected on 8,000 square meter of land offered
by the Coptic Orthodox Church, under the guardianship of Pope
Cyril V.
The Coptic museum houses the world's most important examples
of Coptic art.[2]
History
In 1908, after receiving approval and a number of silver
antiquities from Patriarch Cyril V and raising funds by public
subscription, Marcus Simaika Pasha built the Coptic Museum and
inaugurated it on 14 March 1910.[3] The Coptic community was
generous in their support of the museum, donating many
vestments, frescoes, and icons. In 1931 the Coptic Museum
became a state museum, under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Antiquities, and in 1939 the collection of Christian antiquities in
the Egyptian Museum was moved there.[4] These were housed in
the New Wing, completed in 1944. Because of damage, the Old
Wing was closed in 1966, and the entire museum was renovated
between 1983 and 1984. The foundations of the museum were
strengthened and reinforced between 1986 and 1988, which
helped the museum survive the 1992 earthquake.[5] Further
renovations took place in 2005–06.[6]
Marcus Simaika Pasha was followed by Dr Togo Mina and then by
Dr Pahor Labib, the first to have the title of Director of the Coptic
Museum. Besides the museum buildings, there are gardens and
courtyards and the area is surrounded by old Coptic churches.
There are six churches, some which have origins as early as the
5th century AD. These old edifices include the (Hanging church) of
the Virgin Mary and the church of St. Sergius.
The Coptic Museum's grounds are a peaceful and tranquil place.
Its airy building is paved with mosaics and decorated with old
mashrabiya screens. The museum houses an extensive collection
of objects from the Christian era, which links the Pharaonic and
Islamic periods. The artefacts on display illustrate a period of
Egypt's history which is often neglected and they show how the
artistic development of the Coptic culture was influenced by the
pharaonic, Graeco-Roman and Islamic cultures. The museum was
renovated in the early 1980 with two new annexes, which with
the original aisles, houses the collection of 16,000 artefacts
arranged in chronological order through twelve sections.[7]
Collection
Coptic Museum entrance
The Coptic Museum contains the world's largest collection of
Coptic artefacts and artwork. Coptic monuments display a rich
mixture of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Axumite and
Ottoman traditions,[8] linking ancient and Islamic Egypt.[9]
The objects are grouped into different mediums, such as
stonework, woodwork, metalwork, textiles and manuscripts.[10]
The total number of objects on display is around 15,000 objects.
[11]
Nag Hammadi Library
The Coptic Museum also houses a corpus of 1,200 Nag Hammadi
manuscripts in a library open to specialist researchers only.[12]
