the monastery of apollo at bawit

8/12/2019 The Monastery of Apollo at Bawit

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The Monastery of Apollo at Bawit

The Monastery of Apollo at Bawit

by Jimmy Dunn

Part of the ruins at Bawit

Anyone who visits the Coptic (Christian) Museum in Cairowill soon become familiar with a

location known as Bawit, because there is considerable art from this ancient Monasterywithinthe Museum. The Monastery itself is located in the desert, facin the fertile plain, about fifteen

kilometers from!airut, north ofAysut (Assiut). Bawit is actually an ancient, deserted

monastery known as the Monastery of "t. Apollo (!eir Abu Abullu). #ts name probably comes

from the Coptic term, Auht, which means $assembly$, $conreation$, or $Monastery$.
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The first monastery built at this location in Middle %ypt was the work of a monk known as

Apollo, and probably dated to the second half of the fourth century (probably between &'

and &* A!). +e are not sure who compiled the $istory of the %yptian Monks$, an ancient

Christian reference, but apparently he knew Apollo personally, and says of him-

$+e visited another holy man, named Apollo, in the territory of ermopolis... ow we saw thisman, who had hermitaes under him in the desert at the foot of the mountain, and was the

father of five hundred monks. e was renowned in the Thebiad and reat works were

ascribed to him, and the /ord performed many wonders throuh him, and a multitude of sins

were accomplished at his hands. "ince from childhood he had iven proof of reat ascesis, at

the end of his life he received the followin race- when he was eihty years old he

established on his own a reat monastery of five hundred perfect men, almost all of them with

the power to work miracles. +hen he was fifteen years old, he withdrew from the world and

spent forty years in the desert, scrupulously practicin every virtue. Then he seemed to hear

the voice of 0od sayin to him, 1Apollo, Apollo, throuh you # will destroy the wisdom of the

wise men of %ypt, and # will brin to nothin the understandin of the prudent paans1 (cf. #s.

2-34). And toether with these you will also destroy the wise men of Babylon for me, and you

will banish all worship of demons. And now make your way to the inhabited reion, for you will

bear me 1a peculiar people, 5ealous of ood works.1 (Tit. 2.34) ... e set off for the inhabited

reion... and for a while he lived in the neihborin desert. he occupied a small cave and

dwelt there at the foot of the mountain. is work consisted in offerin prayers ot 0od

throuhout the day, and in bendin his knees a hundred times in the niht and as many times

aain in the day. e... 6was7 livin in the power of the "pirit and performin sins and

wonderful miracles of healin. These were so ama5in that they defy description.... Many

monks flocked to him from every 8uarter because of his renown9 and inspired by his teachin

and manner of life, a vast number of people renounced the world. A community of brothers

formed itself around him on the mountain, as many as five hundred of them, all sharin a

common life and eatin at the same table$

!esert :athers, ;*


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The Bawit comple=, thouh mostly one now, is known the world over because of the

abundance of architectural and painted decorations that were recovered there. Many of these

items now reside in either the /ouvre Museum in ?aris, or in the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

%=cavations of this monastery were carried out by :rench archaeoloists durin the early part

of the twentieth century. This work revealed at least two churches and other roups of

buildins, alon with parts of walls. @udin from the enclosure walls, the monastery was

enormous, as they stretched on for some three kilometers in lenth. The two churches

discovered at the center of the comple= were simply termed the $north$ and $south$ churches.

+e appear to have little information on their dedication.owever, the south church has been mostly freed from the sand and even partially

reconstructed. %nraved te=t, apparently on the lintel to an entrance, associates the

archanels Michael and 0abriel with the foundin fathers of the monastery (Apollo and his

companion, Abbot ?hib). #t was apparently built durin the si=th century over an earlier edifice

from the fourth century. The earlier structure was perhaps not a place of worship at all, while

the second structure presents all the characteristics of a basilica church, with a nave, two side

aisles, a sanctuary with a niche, and the entrance on its south and north sides. At one time,

there were decorations carved in stone and wood and painted frie5es with eometrical,

veetal and fiurative motifs that ran alon the interior and e=terior walls of the buildin. The

nearby north church seems to date from the eihth century, and like the south church,

appears to be a transformation of a previous buildin.


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owever, for some reason, the archaeoloical work on the monastery was abandoned in

about 33&. "ince then, little or no research has been conducted on this, one of %ypt1s reat

monasteries. %ven the early work lacks satisfactory written and photoraphic documentation.

#n 3;, apparently a number of wall paintin were discovered at the site durin

unprofessional e=cavations, which were subse8uently transported to the Coptic Museum. o

report was provided detailin this discovery.

ther #maes from Bawit


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the monastery of apollo at bawit

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