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Deir el-Abyad (The White Monastery) The White Monastery was founded by Shenute, a Coptic abbot born in 348 AD and is located about 7 1/2 miles north west of Sohag. His biographer and disciple, Besa tells us that he took the monastic orders at age seven after which he became a hermit in the desert. We know that he took part in the Council of Ephesus in 431 and died in 466. At one time it is said that there were 2,000 monks living in the monastery, but today one may count them on one hand. The fortress walls still stand, but inside only the church has survived. The monastery was build with limestone blocks, very purposefully, removed from local pagan temples, attesting to Shenute's wrath towards that faith. Several fires have damaged the original beauty of the structure, but one may still see the types of arches used in its construction. It is historically significant do to age, size and state of preservation of the church, which consists of a nave with a basilican layout, columns 'borrowed' from older monument and a tri-conical sanctuary. |