Deir el-Anbā Bāchūm (Luxor) - Deir el-Anbā Bāchūm (Luxor)

The monastery Deir el-Anba Bachum (Arabic:دير الأنبا باخوم‎, Dair al-Anbā Bāchūm, „Monastery of St. Pachomius / Pachomios") Is located on the east bank of the Nile, approximately eight kilometers northeast of Karnak near the airport on the outskirts of the village of Minschāt el-ʿAmmārī (Arabic:منشاة العماري‎).

getting there

You take the road to the airport, but then continue to the northeast until you reach the monastery.

background

The monastery is named after St. Pachomius the Elder or Pachomius the Great (292/298 in Latopolis /Esna, † 346 in Pbow) named. The monk founded the first monasteries in Egypt and was later canonized.

Today monks live again in this monastery. It was made by St. 1997 Synod recognized as a monastery.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Duke Johann Georg reported that the monastery is said to be 1,300 years old and was in ruins for a long time. The Frenchman Claude Sicard first mentioned the monastery in 1718.^[1]

Tourist Attractions

The monastery is surrounded by a rectangular enclosure wall. Inside is the Church of St. Pachomius, a large garden and several workshops. The church was built in 1842 from fired bricks on the site of a previous building and is crowned by numerous domes, the small openings of which let only sparse light into the building. Nowadays the church is illuminated by artificial light. The walls are plastered, but apart from a few stone crosses they have no other decorations.

You enter the church in the north. It consists of three transepts with five heicals (Holy of Holies), which is quite a specialty. These are from the left for Victor / Buqṭur, St. George, Jesus, for St. Virgo and the Archangel Michael intended. Nowadays, the hot spots are separated from the church with a wooden screen wall. One door at a time leads to the individual holy of holies.

There is another entrance for women in the south. You first come to an annex in the south where the baptistery is located. Here are also the graves for three church fathers, father Micha'il Etausch [the Ethiopians] and the bishops Micha'il Episkopous and Mathäus Episkopous.

shop

In the area of ​​the monastery there are various workshops for metal construction and carpentry. The main production here is for church inventory, for example gates and bars, doors, shrines and much more. Souvenirs are also made, which can also be purchased here.

kitchen

Restaurants can be found in the nearby Luxor or Karnak.

accommodation

Accommodation can be found in the nearby Luxor or Karnak.

literature

• Clarke, Somers: Christian antiquities in the Nile Valley: a contribution towards the study of the ancient churches. Oxford: Clarendon Pr., 1912, Pp. 118-120, panel XXXV.
• Meinardus, Otto F. A.: Christian Egypt, ancient and modern. Cairo: American University at Cairo Press, 1977 (2nd edition), ISBN 978-977-201-496-5 , P. 420 f.
• Johann Georg : Forays through the churches and monasteries of Egypt. Leipzig et al.: Teubner, 1914, P. 54 f., Fig. 162–165 on plates 74 f. There is a supplement in the following volume “New forays through the churches and monasteries of Egypt”, Leipzig and others: Teubner, 1930, p. 48. Duke Johann Georg mentions the There is also a triptych depicting Christ on the cross around 1600, two baptismal fonts and a stone prosthesis table (table for the sacrifice).

Individual evidence