FAITH AND TRAVEL - PART ONE : ANCIENT SACRED SITES OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD- LAND OF THE PHARAOHS by Joan Foo Mahony in Kuala Lumpur
Smitten By Faith Issue # 000043 May 28th 2022
My readers already know how smitten I am about my Catholic faith and the joy and transformation it has brought me. I was asked recently whether there are other passions of my life. For sure, I have plenty of ‘earthly’ passions, one of which is travelling. It’s summer again and most of the world ( including me ) are waking up from the border restrictions of the 2 year Covid Pandemic. We have gleefully packed our bags and my husband Terry and I are ready to hop on the plane for our long European summer. So, I have decided to combine my 2 passions - faith and travel - for our summer articles. But, instead of an article each week, I hope you will bear with me with perhaps just an article every now and then during the long hot summer.
For the two millennia since Christianity was established - sacred sites – churches, birthplaces, places of martyrdom, burial places, miracles and of course of Marian Appearances have been visited by an endless stream of faithful Christians. Throughout history, pilgrimages have formed part of Christian custom, from antiquity to now. What is the purpose of visiting sacred sites ? For Christians, it’s about finding God. For others, there is the element of curiosity, a way to de-stress and meditate or simply just cultural tourism. To travel to some of these places requires more than faith; you will need physical endurance. Some sacred sites are in isolated deserts, the tops of mountains, steep mountain slopes, outcrops of rock, caves, ravines, miraculous springs of water and grottoes. But the effort is surely worth it. To pray in the ruins of an ancient chapel, church or monastery and be dazzled by centuries-old frescoes, carvings and statues preserved by time - and simply just to feel the energy of the place.
Today, in Part One of my ‘faith and travel’ series, I invite my readers to come with me and explore some ancient sacred sites of the Christian world. We begin with the Land of the Pharaohs - biblical Egypt. For the Jews, Egypt was both a threat and also a place of refuge. From Abraham, the prophets of the Old testament, the Jewish people, the Holy Family - all were connected in one way or other to Egypt - a land which was crucial to the early history of Christianity.
THE HOLY FAMILY’S EGYPT
The Lost Tomb of Nebamun and Ipuky c.1350 BCE. Picture from the public domain
Egyptian civilization was so advanced that beautiful and amazing Hieroglyphs or pictorial writing were already carved in stone so many millennia ago and still astound today. The above picture taken from the ‘Lost Tomb of Nebamun and Ipuky’ shows the daily lives of Egyptians seen in the many hundreds of hieroglyphs used for funeral texts.
The name 'Mizraim' is the original name given for Egypt in the Hebrew Old Testament. In terms of ancient sacred places in the Christian world, aside from the Holy Land itself, Egypt stands out. It is a country rich in its historical artifacts and heritage; and when the Holy Family took flight into Egypt 2,000 years ago, Egypt as a place of refuge of the Holy Family became one of the most important sacred sites in Christian history. In fact, in 2017, Pope Francis declared Egypt as an official Roman Catholic pilgrimage destination and to its credit, the Egyptian Government has made huge efforts to develop and enhance the experience of the ‘Holy Family Trail’ for pilgrims and tourists. Today, the Egyptian Holy Family Trail of 3,500 kilometers with as many as 25 stops is perhaps the longest pilgrimage route in any single country, running from Northern Sinai and the Nile Delta, all the way down south to Asyut in upper Egypt. There are many ancient and beautiful churches and sites of pilgrimage along the Holy Family Trail marking the places where the Holy Family stayed or visited and where many miraculous events took place.
Ancient Egypt was the land of the Pharaohs and a great civilization in existence since its unification around 3,100 BCE. In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded and conquered Egypt. This was soon followed by the Roman conquest in 30 BCE when Egypt became part of the vast lands of the great Roman Empire which by 63 BCE had also included all the Jewish Kingdoms. When Jesus Christ was born, the Roman Empire, which was to last a thousand years (from 27 BCE to 476 CE ) had already ruled most the ancient world which included parts of Europe and most of the lands around the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa. In terms of travelling time from Jerusalem thousands of years ago, Egypt was a physically demanding, hard and difficult journey of at least 2 weeks travel across hot, unwelcoming and arid deserts. However, since both Egypt and the Jewish territories of Judea, Samaria and Galilee were under the suzerainty of the same Roman Emperor, part of the so-called ‘Pax Romana’, they were linked by a coastal ‘road’ known as the ‘Way of the Sea’, a much-travelled and safe route for trade between Rome, Egypt, the Jewish Kingdoms and beyond.
As such, geographically Egypt would have been a logical place to find refuge. Even though, it is to be noted, that as described in the Old Testament, for the Jewish people, Egypt was historically a place from which to flee; not a place of refuge to go to. In the Book of Exodus, the entire nation of the Jews ( the Israelites ) had been enslaved in Egypt for generations (some say 430 years), until the time when in 1300 BCE, according to biblical legend God appeared to Moses in the burning bush in the desert and Moses was told that he would be given the grace to lead his people out of Egypt to the ‘promised land of milk and honey’.
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT AND THE HOLY FAMILY TRAIL
Right : Map of the Holy Family’s Flight Into Egypt by Lim Hui-Lin courtesy of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’
Left : DI-GIOTTO’S amazing fresco on the Flight to Egypt, 1304
The Flight into Egypt is related in the Gospel of Matthew; how Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus had to flee Jerusalem and King Herod to avoid the infant being killed. Looking at the map above, for the flight into Egypt along the ‘Way of the Sea’, Joseph, Mary and Jesus would have journeyed first westwards from Jerusalem and the hill country of Judea, past the arid desert hills and caves of Hebron. Then they would have reached the Mediterranean coast at Gaza. From Gaza, they would have continued westwards along the coast to reach the first Egyptian town of Farama or Farma in what is today Northern Sinai. Once safely in Egypt, the Holy Family stayed north for a while travelling in the Nile Delta ( there are lots of places there where they stayed to rest and are now well-marked in the Holy family Trail) before ‘settling’ down for around 3 years in a cave located in what is now Old Cairo. Finally, when they were ready to return home, the Holy Family travelled to the southern end of the Holy Family Trail to the area near Asyut where they stayed for 6 months before finally leaving Egypt.
Gentile da Fabriano , 1370 – 1427 Flight into Egypt - Tempera on wood
In this painting of the Flight into Egypt, you can see the skill of the Italian Gothic artist, Gentile Da Fabriano as he shows Joseph leading Mary and the baby Jesus amidst a most beautiful landscape background. In this scene, Da Fabriano includes figures, animals, and what is perhaps quite extraordinary for paintings of that period, a very vast landscape. In addition to the rocky low hills which frame the central figures, the landscape convincingly opens out on either side revealing very broad vistas. On the right is a walled hill-town.
OLD CAIRO
Today, ‘Old Cairo’ is the ‘home’ of what remains of Cairo's Coptic Christian community. The Coptic Orthodox Church traces its founding to the Apostle Mark the Evangelist in 42 CE, and is thus arguably the world's oldest Christian denomination and the Copts or Coptic Christians still survive as a small minority with the majority of Egyptians converting to Islam in the 12th century.
When the Holy Family left the River Nile Delta, they stayed the longest at a cave in what is now Old Cairo, the historic area (Masr al-Qadima) in southern Cairo which includes the precinct known as ‘Coptic Cairo’. Some of these places of pilgrimage in Old Cairo which were impacted by the presence of the Holy Family include MOSTOROD also known as El Mahamaah or ‘the Bathing Place’. According to legend, it was here that Mary bathed the baby Jesus and a sick leprous child was healed when his mother put him in the same bath water. Also located in the Old Cairo district 2,000 years ago were the ancient towns of AL-MATARIYAH and AIN SHAMS where water wells were created when the Holy Family rested there. In fact, at Al- Matariyah , there is a sycamore tree, an 1672 planting and re-planting of an earlier tree under which Mary was said to have rested.
After the death of Jesus, the Christian faith took root and began to grow in Egypt. As mentioned Mark, the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel of Mark came to Egypt and founded the episcopal see of Alexandria, which was one of the 5 most important Sees of early Christianity. And, today, there are so many ancient beautiful churches and places of pilgrimage in the Coptic Cairo district of Old Cairo; a maze of historic churches that date as far back as the 3rd Century BCE ; its architecture, frescoes and interiors showing the great cultural, artistic and Christian heritage dating from Egypt’s early Christian past. Let’s just see some of them.
Right : The Hanging Church – see the steep stairs
Left : The beautiful interior of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus Church
Above : The beautiful interior of the Hanging Church - feel the sacred energy of 2,000 years
THE HANGING CHURCH or the Church of the Virgin Mary dates as far back as the 3rd or 4th century making it one of the oldest Christian sites in Egypt. It’s a beautiful church with an intricate ornate interior and was designed and built to literally ‘hang’ high ( 13 meters above the ground ) upon the walls between 2 towers of the Babylon Fortress, a former Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo. Through the centuries, with ground levels rising, this dramatic ‘hanging’ effect is not so perceptible. The nave of the church is suspended over a passage and the approach is via some 29 steep steps, hence its other name, "the Church of the Stairs".
The basilica architecture of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus Church
ST. SERGIUS and ST. BACCHUS CHURCH ( also known as Abu Serga) , which dates from the late 4th to 5th century, named after 4th century Roman soldiers who became Christian martyrs in Syria, is another very beautiful ancient church – another priceless gem of Christian antiquity and unique Coptic architecture which has been well maintained and worth visiting. The Church of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus was built with a basilica layout consisting of 3 sections, the narthex, nave and sanctuary; each section divided by decorated marble columns. The church is full of history especially since the sanctuary inside the Church is built on the very site ( a humble cave ) in which the Holy Family stayed for 3 years when they ‘settled down’ to stay in Old Cairo during their long journey through Egypt.
ASYUT ( ASSIUT ) UPPER EGYPT AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE HOLY FAMILY TRAIL
DAYR AL-MUHARRAQ – MONASTERY OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Dayr Al-Muharraq Monastery or the Monastery of the Virgin Mary
Left : One of the ancient façades
Right : The aerial view of the courtyard and the crowds
See the ‘Jerusalem-like ‘ walls encircling the Dayr al- Muharraq as the ancient stones of the monastery glow quitely in the desert sky
About 400 km south of Cairo, on the banks of the River Nile, at the southern end of the Holy Family Trail is the town of Asyut or Assiut ( also known as the ancient city of Lycopolis). It would be from Asyut that 3 years after they arrived to seek refuge in Egypt, Joseph would receive a dream from an Angel informing him of the death of King Herod and that it would be safe for the Holy Family to return to the Holy Land ; to their home in Nazareth. But before the Holy Family bade Egypt farewell, when they left Old Cairo, they did not proceed straight to the Holy Land. Instead, they travelled south to Asyut where they stayed for another 6 months. Today, this sacred spot near Asyut is marked by the DAYR AL-MUHARRAQ or Monastery of the Holy Virgin - the place where the Holy Family stayed on Egyptian soil for the last time ; a very important and sacred site for pilgrims.
Legend says that this was also the exact same spot where Jesus ‘returned’ after his death and Resurrection to consecrate an altar fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 19:19 – “ … in that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt”. And so, the DAYR AL-MUHARRAQ ( since the 1st century ) can be said to be the first Christian church in Egypt and probably in the world ! The holiest place in the monastery is located inside the sanctuary with the divinely consecrated altar. Inside the Dayr Al-Muharraq, there are also some beautiful and well preserved icons from the 18th and 19th century.
The Dayr Al-Muharraq Complex is now not just a church but also a vast complex of many buildings which include not just the original Monastery of the Holy Virgin but also more churches which were added In 1880 and 1964 and dedicated to the Holy Virgin as well. The other buildings in the Dayr al-Muharraq complex include a 6th century episcopal palace and a keep located within a courtyard. This complex is surrounded all around by imposing fortress walls – resembling the walls of Jerusalem, which makes the sacred site - for Coptic Christians - a very important - if not a suitable- alternative pilgrimage site to Jerusalem.
Dayr Al-Muharraq is indeed a stunning ancient pilgrimage site.
RETURN FROM EGYPT
Nicolas Poussin 1594-1665 The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt ; oil on canvas
We end our little tour of ancient Christian sites in Egypt with a marvellous painting above by Nicolas Poussin – the Return of the Holy Family From Egypt. Poussin was the leading French painter of the classical Baroque period. In this painting, you can almost feel that you are with Joseph, Mary and Jesus on the banks of the River Nile as they board the little boat to finally return home. Can you see the Egyptian ruins, pyramid and obelisk in the far background on the opposite side of the river ? This welcoming land of Egypt which gave the Holy Family refuge; this land which now the Holy Family are clearly travelling away from rather than towards it. You can also see in the painting that the child Jesus ( who arrived as a newly born infant ) is now a little boy walking around. You can see the boat and the boatman preparing to disembark the Holy Family. The donkey is still on the boat, and Joseph is kneeling on the edge of the boat, lifting the little boy out of the boat into the waiting arms of his mother Mary standing on the shore. Overhead, high up among the clouds, the Angels are carefully keeping watch from above and they are carrying a cross perhaps, alluding to Jesus’ future sacrifice.
( The text on the Poussin painting is courtesy of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’ Chapter Five - The Flight Into Egypt )
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