Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 9 May 2017
wadi naqqat, the laura of
Jan Ciglenečki Keywords: Monasteries, Churches, Hermitages, Hermits, History, Eastern Desert (Egypt), Red Sea, Greek language, Inscriptions, Buildings the laura of wadi naqqat. About 35 miles (55 km) west from the Red Sea city of Hurghada in the broader area of ancient mons porphyrites lies the early monastic settlement of Wadi Naqqat, surrounded by red granite mountain peaks, steep slopes and precipes of jabal qattar. The Arabic name of the wadi (“the valley of the dropping water”) is derived from the fresh water of Bir Naqqat which drops slowly down the rocks. The path to Wadi Naqqat extends 6.9 km SE from the poorly preserved Roman fort in Wadi Qattar, located on the ancient quarry road between Abu Sha'ar on the Red Sea coast and the emporium town of Qena (ancient Kainopolis) in the Nile Valley.
According to ancient sources Mons Porphyrites area was inhabited by Christian hermits between 4th and 6th Century AD.1 The central building of the laura Wadi Naqqat was first discovered in 1823 by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson during his trip through the eastern desert (Wilkinson 1832: 49). Nearby, Wilkinson found a Greek inscription that clearly identified the building as a church and enabled its approximate dating to 339 AD at the latest. The church and the surrounding laura, consisting of about a dozen built hermitages, rock shelters and other minor structures, might thus well be the oldest known monastic settlement in the Eastern Desert, predating the earliest foundations of dayr anba antuniyus and dayr anba bula approx. 140 miles (225 km) flying distance to the North.
Geographically, Wadi Naqqat is divided in two parts by a massive cataract, where excellent drinking water of Bir Naqqat slowly trickles down the rock, overgrown with hanging water-weeds. On the naturally protected plateau, located on a 40 m high rock directly above the water source, lies the central building of the laura, the church (27°5' N, 33°18' E) (Figs. 1–2). (Fig. 1) (Fig. 2) It is a simple edifice of small dimensions (max. 7.5 meters north-south x 8.3 meters east-west) (Sidebotham, Zitterkopf, Riley 1991: 584) and consists of three rooms and a small portico, supported by two pillars. The building is constructed of rough cut granite blocks, no mortar has been used in the construction and no traces of plaster have been found. The roof of the building is no longer preserved, while the narrow windows, doors, and walls remain in perfect condition. (Figs. 3–4). The church has no apsis and is oriented towards east; no traces of an altar can be seen.
© Claremont Graduate University J. Ciglenečki, Wadi Naqqat (Fig. 3) (Fig. 4) The commemorative stela (original dimensions 50 cm x 30 cm x 22.5 cm) with Greek inscription, which was found in situ outside the building, identifies it with the church and reads as follows: “Flavius Julius, the most eminent leader of the Thebaid, built here a public church, at the time when Hatres was the bishop of Maximianopolis”.2 (Wilkinson 1832: 49, Bernand 1977: 68–70, Łajtar, Wipszycka 1994: 71–72, Ghica 2016: 244–247). The approximate dating of the inscription is based on a letter of St. Athanasius to Sarapion of Thmuis from 339 AD. In this letter, St. Athanasius mentioned that Hatres, the bishop of Maximianopolis, had died that same year. Hence, 339 AD is the latest possible dating of the construction of the church. According to Peter Grossmann the church of Wadi Naqqat is “the oldest main church of an anchorite colony certainly dated by the founding inscription” (Grossmann 2002: 51). (Fig. 5) (Fig. 6) (Fig. 7) (Fig. 8) The laura of Wadi Naqqat stretches SE for more than 1 km walking distance farther up from the church along the wadi and consists of about a dozen built hermitages (Figs. 5–11), rock shelters (Figs. 12–16) and other minor structures (Fig. 17). The well-preserved buildings are scattered on the plateaus, on both sides of the upper part of the wadi as well as in the vertical cliffs of the arid riverbed.
The settlement ends at the point where the wadi turns into narrow gorge with steep sides. The hermitages are made of the same stone as the church, only less Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 2 J. Ciglenečki, Wadi Naqqat elaborate (Fig. 18). A great quantity of pottery lies among the ruins on the plateaus, especially near the hermitages on the far end of the laura on the western side of the wadi (Figs. 19–20). No Christian graffiti or paintings have been found.
(Fig. 9) (Fig. 10) (Fig. 11) Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 3 J. Ciglenečki, Wadi Naqqat (Fig. 12) (Fig. 13) (Fig. 14) (Fig. 15) (Fig. 16) Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 4 J. Ciglenečki, Wadi Naqqat (Fig. 17) (Fig. 18) Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 5 J. Ciglenečki, Wadi Naqqat (Fig. 19) (Fig. 20)
bibliography:
Bernand, André. 1977. Pan du desert. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Ciglenečki, Jan. Forthcoming. “The Laura of Wadi Naqqat in the Eastern Desert,” in G. Gabra and H. Takla (eds.), Christianity and Monasticism in Alexandria and Its Surroundings and in the Eastern and Western Deserts. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
Ghica, Victor. 2016. “Vecteurs de la christianisation de l'Égypte au IVe siècle à la lumière des sources archéologiques”, in Acta xvi congressus internationalis archaeologiae Christianae, Vol. I, Rome, 237–263.
Grossmann, Peter. 2002. Christliche Architektur in Ägypten. Leiden-Boston-Köln: J. B. Brill. Łajtar, Adam, and Ewa Wipszycka. 1994. “Deux katholikai ekklêsiai dans le Mons Porphyrites”, Journal of Juristic Papyrology 24, 71–85.
Meredith, David. 1952. “The Roman Remains in the Eastern Desert of Egypt”, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 38, 94–111.
Murray, G. William. 1951. “The Christian Settlement at Qattâr”, Bulletin de la Société royale de géographie d’Égypte 24, 107–114.
Sidebotham, E. Steven, Ronald E. Zitterkopf and John A. Riley. 1991. “Survey of the ’Abu Sha’ar Nile Road”, American Journal of Archaeology 95, 571–622.
Wilkinson, G. John. 1832. “Notes on a Part of the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt”, The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 2, 28–60.
1 See Palladius, v. Chrys., xvii, 79–96, h. Laus. xxxiv, 3, and xxxvi, 1-3, John Cassian, Inst. cen. X, 24, Apophthegmata patrum (The Systematic Collection) xviii, 50 and John Moschus, prat., 124 (Murray 1951: 110–111; Meredith 1952: 108; Ghica 2016: 245).
2 Greek text: φλαούιος ἰούλιος ὁ διασημότατος ἡγεμὼν θεβαίδος ὁ κατασκευάσας ἐνταῦθα καθολικὴν ἐκκλεσίαν. ἐπὶ [῾A]τρῆτος ἐπισκό[πο]ν Mαξιμιανοπόλ[εως].
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