dayr durunkah, today the church of the Holy Virgin near the village called Dayr Durunkah, to distinguish it from the more important village called Durunkah. It is situated about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of asyut on the edge of the mountain in the quarries and tombs.
abu salih the armenian (beginning of the thirteenth century) mentions a church in the region of Durunkah and three monasteries (pp. 250-51) dedicated to the Holy Virgin: that of Qarfunah, near the Monastery of Saint Severus, it seems, and those of Azilun and Abu Harith.
Al-maqrizi (d. 1441) devotes a fairly long notice to the monasteries of the region of Durunkah, and mentions three that bore the name of the Holy Virgin: Qarfunah, Saint Severus, and Isaac (1853, Vol. 2, p. 506). The one where the church is still standing perhaps corresponds to the monastery that Abu Salih and al-Maqrizi call Qarfunah. Al-Maqrizi explains that the name comes from the Greek grafon and means "scribe" because this monastery had a famous scriptorium for the copying of manuscripts. In fact, there exists a manuscript from the library of Dayr al-Abyad that was written there, as its colophon shows (van Lantschoot, 1929, no. 69, fasc. 2, p. 47). A very archaic funerary stela probably comes from this monastery. In fact, it carries the very name, "monastery of the scribes" (Elanskaya, 1975-1976, pp. 221-22). This would indicate that the monastery is very old.
The inscriptions and graffiti have been published by the following authors: F. L. Griffith (1889, pl. 19); Ahmad Kamal (1916); A. J. Gayet (1900, pp. 53ff.; Gayet speaks of the textiles found in the cemetery); and G. Maspero (1893, p. 208). The travelers J. vansleb (1677, pp. 364, 394-95; Eng. ed., 1678, pp. 218, 227) and M. jullien (1901, p. 213) have described the site. The present state is given by O. Meinardus (1965, p. 384; 1977, pp. 394-95).
Today, Dayr Durunkah is a place of pilgrimage, the mawlid (birthday) of which is held from 1 to 16 Misra (Muyser, 1979, pp. 52-53). The church was reconstructed in 1955. A good description of the ancient state is given by S. Clarke (1912, p. 175).