he Red Monastery (Deir al-Ahmar, Deir Anba Bishoi or Bishai)

The Red Monastery (Deir al-Ahmar, Deir Anba Bishoi or Bishai) by Jimmy Dunn

We know almost nothing of the history of the Red Monastery (Deir al-Ahmar, Deir Anba Bishoi or Bishai) near Sohag, though it is one of the most famous hristian monasteries in !gy"t# $t lies about three kilometers north of the White Monastery at the e%treme western edge of the &ulti'ated land# (owe'er, unlike the White Monastery it is situated within a small 'illage, and some houses lie to the south and east# )he area to the north and west of the monastery is mainly &o'ered with debris# $ts name is deri'ed from the &olor of its &onstru&tion material, &onsisting of red (burnt) bri&k, of its outside walls, whi&h distinguishes it from its nearby neighbor, the White Monastery whi&h is made of stone# )hese walls are &onsiderably thi&ker at the base than at the to", and like an&ient *haraoni& tem"les, as well as the White monastery, are surmounted by &a'etto moldings# +therwise, this monastery is ar&hite&turally similar to the White Monastery, and most likely its &onstru&tion dates to the same "eriod ("robably the fifth &entury AD)#

!%terior of the Red Monastery (Deir al-Ahmar, Deir Anba Bishoi or Bishai) (owe'er, !li,abeth Bolman tells us that.Shenute has, of &ourse, made the White Monastery mu&h more famous# /rom an ar&hite&tural "oint of 'iew, it is more interesting as well# But gi'en the fa&t that most of the stonework in the White Monastery was sha'ed down and the surfa&e of mu&h of it was lost, along with all tra&es of "aint, the Red Monastery is a&tually mu&h more signifi&ant for art history today# $t may in&lude the only standing ensemble of ar&hite&ture, s&ul"ture, and "aint (areas fully &o'ered with "aint) left from the late anti0ue "eriod in the entire Mediterranean# Some of the "aint is &ertainly "ost-fifth &entury, but a lot of it may well be early#.

)he monastery was dedi&ated to St# *shoi (Bishoi in Arabi&), who is not to be &onfused with the more &elebrated indi'idual who li'ed in the Wadi al-1atrun# (e was a &ontem"orary of A"a *2ol, the founder of the White Monastery# $n fa&t, it was "robably St# *2ol who founded this monastery as well# $n his .3ife of Shenute., Besa says that, .)he holy a"a *2ol and the young man Shenoute went out walking together, and with them also went a"a *soi (*shoi) from Mt# *soou# (e too was a holy man who walked after godly things. (Besa 4, "# 55)# (en&e, one may identify .*soou. (*sou) with the Red Monastery# Regrettably, while the fifteenth &entury Arab historian al-Ma0ri,i names the monastery, he "ro'ides us with none of its history# )he "robable reason is that it was &losely related to the White Monastery at that time# Domini0ue 6i'ant Denon 'isited the monastery during 1a"oleon7s &am"aign in 894:-8944, but states that the fa&ility had been ransa&ked and burned down by the Mamluks only a few days before his arri'al# urrently, the monastery is a""arently o&&u"ied by only a few monks, but the &hur&h still ser'es the o"ti& &ommunities of the surrounding 'illages, as well as the "ilgrims who &ome here during the big feasts of the liturgi&al year# The Churches

Abo'e- e%terior west &a"ital, lintel and u""er moldings of north door

)he hur&h of Saint *shoi (Bishoi) is situated in the northeastern &orner of the monastery# We do know that the "rin&i"al &hur&h of the monastery, named for St# *shoi, was build during the se&ond half of the fifth &entury, in the form of a basili&a# $t also is similar ar&hite&turally to the hur&h of St# Shenute in the White Monastery, though smaller# $t too is built of of red bri&k rather than stone# Measuring forty-four meters in length by twenty-three meters in width, the &hur&h does not ha'e a west narthe% like the hur&h of Shenute, but all other elements are identi&al# )he na'e has small side aisles &onne&ted on the west, and there are u""er galleries, a tri&on&h a"ses and a large re&tangular room on the south side of the edifi&e# )here are elements within this &hur&h, howe'er, that distinguish it from the hur&h of St# Shenute in the White Monastery# $n the White Monastery, &onsiderable building material was robed from edifi&es dating to the "haraoni& or Roman "eriod, while in the Red Monastery &hur&h of St# *shoi, the "ortals and &olumns (bases, shafts and &a"itals) were made for this building# Also, there is the addition of two &olumns before the "resbytery in this &hur&h# )he

relati'e narrowness of the trium"hal ar&h, for reasons of stability, &reated a dis&ordan&e between the wide na'e and the narrow "assage into the "resbytery, and the two &olumns was a &le'er artisti& and ar&hite&tural solution whi&h resol'ed the aestheti& "roblems by remo'ing the dis&re"an&y between the dimensions of the na'e and those of the entry to the san&tuary# $n fa&t, this was su&h a brilliant idea that it was subse0uently used in "ra&ti&ally all &hur&hes ha'ing a narrow entry into the "resbytery#

)he tri&on&h san&tuary is 'ery fine# $t has three a"ses that are embellished by two orders of su"er"osed ni&hes se"arated by small elegant &olumns# )hese &olumns are &om"letely "ainted, and lend to the s"a&es7 ri&hness and sa&redness# )he motiff of the broken tym"anum surmounting ea&h ni&he is "arti&ularly interesting# Atta&hed to the haikal (san&tuary) s&reen that shields the san&tuary from the "ubli& areas are i&ons of Saints Shenute, Bishoi and Bigoul# )he north and south a"ses ha'e no altars#

)o"- )he half dome of the &hur&h dedi&ated to Saint *shoi; Abo'e- 1i&hes below the half dome &eiling

Abo'e - 3ower 1i&he in hur&h

Abo'e- <""er 1i&he in

hur&h

=ust as in the White Monastery, the &olla"se of the roof and the la&k of monasti& habitation led sometime in the Middle Ages to the &onstru&tion of a wall in front of the "resbytery, whi&h diminished the s"a&e destined for liturgi&al &elebrations#

)here is also a hur&h of the (oly 6irgin Mary situated in the southwestern &orner of the monastery# )his &hur&h a""ears to be of great anti0uity# $mmediately west of this &hur&h is an an&ient well# $t should be noted that a "lan is at least being de'elo"ed for the restoration of the Red Monastery, a""arently by the <ni'ersity of Rome and the South 6alley <ni'ersity in !gy"t# A few in'estigations were made regarding this restoration in >??>, but is e%"e&ted to "ro&eed in full during >??@#