Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 22 March 2025
naqlun: the monastery of the archangel gabriel—written
sources
Ibrahim Saweros and Jacques van der Vliet Keywords: Archangel Gabriel, Saint Aūr, Naqlun, Coptic Literature, Coptic Papyrology, Greek Papyrology, Christian Arabic Heritage, Coptic Monastic Sites, Early and Medieval Coptic Monasticism.
The Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel (Dayr al-Malāk or dayr al-naqlun) at Naqlun—referred to in Coptic sources as Nekloni and located in the Fayoum province (see monasteries of the fayyum)—has been the subject of extensive scholarly investigation since 1986 by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw. The research was initially directed by Włodzimierz Godlewski and, from 2020, by Robert Mahler. As a result of this sustained effort, Naqlun stands today as one of the most comprehensively documented ancient monastic sites in Egypt.
This entry provides a bibliographical survey of the ancient and medieval written sources associated with the monastery, offering readers rapid access to the principal publications. The study is divided into two sections. The first examines hagiographical traditions that circulated outside the monastery in Arabic and Ethiopic, while the second focuses on Greek, Coptic, and Arabic texts discovered in situ—some during illicit excavations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but the majority through archaeological work conducted by the Polish mission. For a more comprehensive overview of these findings, readers may consult the annual reports published in Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (from 1990 onward). Earlier discoveries and reports are reviewed in Timm (1984–2007: II, 762–767). Publications produced for local audiences in the past three decades are not considered here.
1. Hagiographical traditions 1.1. Saint Antony and monastic life at Naqlun A monastic rule, described as “rules and prescriptions,” is attributed to saint antony and purportedly composed for “his sons, the monks in the monastery of Naqlun” (Graf, gcal I: 457–458). This rule is extant only in Arabic and unquestionably postdates Antony’s death. Nevertheless, it remains a crucial source for understanding monasticism at Naqlun (Wipszycka 1996). The edition by Mokbel (1966), with corrections provided by Breydy (1996), replaces earlier ones.
The association between Saint Antony and Naqlun is further elaborated in a medieval hagiographical text, the Life of Anba Isaac of the Mountain of al-Barambil, attributed to serapion of thmuis—a source not mentioned by Graf (gcal). The relevant passages are edited and analyzed in Clara ten Hacken (2019: 293–326).
1.2. The History of Aūr and related traditions The most prominent hagiographical narrative linked to Naqlun is the legendary account of the foundation of the Church of the Archangel Gabriel by a converted magician named Aūr (Graf, gcal I: 544; II: 507). The History of Aūr is presented in the form of a homily, originally composed in Arabic in or shortly after the eleventh century. This text rapidly gained popularity across medieval Egypt and Ethiopia. The Arabic versions, along with their variants and derivatives, have been extensively examined in a monograph by Clara ten Hacken (2019; see also ten Hacken 2017). The same monograph further discusses various medieval Arabic © Claremont Graduate University 1 Saweros and van der Vliet, Naqlun: The Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel–Written Sources 22 March 2025 sources—primarily liturgical in nature—such as synaxarion entries that reference Naqlun and its church (ten Hacken 2019: 9–20, 409–423). An appendix catalogs the Ethiopic (Ge‘ez) manuscripts of the Aūr legend (ten Hacken 2019: 425–435; cf. 29–31).
A text clearly dependent on the History of Aūr is an anonymous homily on the archangels michael and gabriel, which recounts the origins of monastic life at Naqlun and Qalamun. This text, absent from Graf’s gcal, is tentatively dated to the fifteenth century and has been partially edited by ten Hacken (2019: 327–371) based on a single Arabic manuscript. The textual coupling of Naqlun and Qalamun may reflect earlier hagiographical traditions concerning samuel of qalamun, in which both Fayoum monasteries feature prominently (Sahidic text, eighth–ninth century: Alcock 1983).
2. Texts found on site 2.1. Inscriptions 2.1.1. The Church of Saint Gabriel Most of the inscriptions within the church pertain to the refurbishment and redecoration of the building during the first half of the eleventh century under the archimandrite Papnoute (Urbaniak-Walczak 1993; Godlewski 2000; van der Vliet 2005: 83–85). These inscriptions form an integral component of a broader program of mural paintings and serve primarily commemorative functions, including prayers for donors and artists, as well as explanatory legends identifying the subjects of the depicted scenes.
Among the most prominent inscriptions are two monumental lines of text, strategically placed in the central apse. These inscriptions attribute the church’s refurbishment to the reign of Patriarch Zechariah of Alexandria (1004–1032) and acknowledge the generosity of a civil patron, John of Fayoum.
Additional inscriptions, primarily left by visitors, are also present within the church. A dipinto in the central apse documents a meeting between the bishops of Fayoum and Atfih at Naqlun, likely dating to 1033 (Godlewski 2000: 94–95). A particularly rare funerary inscription, written in both Coptic and Arabic, commemorates the death and burial of a Bishop Andrew on 24 April 1183 (Lagaron Khalifa and Vanthieghem 2020: 178–179).
Linguistically, most of the inscriptions are couched in a local Fayoumi-Sahidic dialect, while some legends incorporate Greek elements. Arabic inscriptions are also attested (Lagaron Khalifa and Vanthieghem 2020).
2.1.2. Funerary monuments Funerary monuments from Naqlun primarily consist of decorated stelae—limestone slabs inscribed with brief Greek texts—assembled in Godlewski and Łajtar (2006). These monuments conform closely to the textual and iconographic conventions characteristic of the Fayoum region during the sixth to eighth centuries. Additionally, a single wooden funerary cross, dating to the ninth–tenth centuries, bears an inscription in Greek (Łajtar 1989–1993: 265–269).
2.1.3. Textiles The fashion of the originally Muslim tirāz-style of inscriptions on luxury garments, in both Coptic and Arabic, had around the turn of the millennium also spread to Naqlun; see van der Vliet 2000a; Czaja-Szewczak 2004 (Coptic); and Helmeke 2005 (Arabic).
© Claremont Graduate University 2 Saweros and van der Vliet, Naqlun: The Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel–Written Sources 22 March 2025 2.2. Literary and liturgical texts 2.2.1. Biblical texts A sixth- to seventh-century dossier of Greek Psalm texts on papyrus, including a list of incipits, was discovered in one of the hermitages, though all texts are fragmentary (P. Naqlun I, 1– 6). Another fragmentary Psalms manuscript is preserved as P. Naqlun II 15. Additionally, two ostraca bear Greek quotations from the Gospel of Matthew (P. Naqlun II, 16–17).
The most significant Coptic discovery is a nearly intact small codex of the Gospel of John in Sahidic, dated to AD 1099–1100. This manuscript is one of only five complete copies of the Gospel extant in Sahidic (Hagen and van der Vliet, forthcoming; ms. no. 19 in Förster et al. 2021). Other Coptic biblical texts from the site survive only in fragmentary form, including a Fayoumic fragment of Matthew 3 (Urbaniak-Walczak 1996), a Sahidic leaf from Colossians (Urbaniak-Walczak 2006: 1000–1003), and a brief portion of Psalm 38 (Saweros 2024: 66– 67). The final verses of the Gospel of John in Sahidic are followed by a colophon dated to AM 593 (AD 876–877; Urbaniak-Walczak 2006: 995–1000; ms. no. 65 in Förster et al. 2021). This, alongside a similar colophon in another Gospel manuscript, indicates that the Naqlun biblical manuscripts of the ninth–tenth centuries originated from the Touton (see tuṯun) scriptorium and share close affinities with manuscripts from the Fayoum Monastery of Saint Michael (see dayr al-malak mikha’il), most of which are now housed in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (Saweros and van der Vliet 2022).
2.2.2. Literary texts Greek patristic literature is represented by a sixth- to seventh-century papyrus fragment containing an unidentified text that quotes Saint cyril of Alexandria (P. Naqlun II, 19; Hagedorn 2010). The corpus of Coptic literary texts is similarly sparse. Two unidentified fragments, one in Bohairic, are edited in Urbaniak-Walczak (1997). A fragment of the Sahidic Investiture of Michael (Saweros, forthcoming) shares its format and text with the known copy from the Fayoum Monastery of Saint Michael, suggesting a common origin in the Touton scriptorium.
A colophon now housed in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, dated to AM 732 (AD 1015– 1016), provides evidence that Naqlun maintained its own scriptorium in the early eleventh century (Saweros and van der Vliet 2022: 505–506). This colophon follows the conclusion of an unidentified homily, possibly dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Elanskaya 1994: 333–338, no. 10).
During the 1991 season of Polish excavations, a finely crafted casket was discovered (Ahmed 2023), containing several books and documents in Arabic (briefly inventoried in Ragheb 1992). Given their exclusively Islamic content, it is likely that these materials were concealed within the monastery under unknown circumstances. Additionally, a stray Latin fragment, possibly from Livy (Bravo and Griffin 1988), was found on site, though it was likely not originally associated with the monastery.
2.2.3. Liturgical texts The most well-known liturgical text from Naqlun is a bilingual parchment leaf containing Bohairic translations of the Greek deacon’s biddings in the liturgy (P. Naqlun II, 20, tenth– eleventh century; cf. Budde 2002). Although preserved within a codex, this leaf was not part of a formal liturgical book, but rather, a scholarly miscellany intended for private use. Two hymns from the Sahidic Antiphonary (see difnar and coptic liturgical book of difnar), transcribed in a late informal hand, have been published in Saweros and van der Vliet (2020).
© Claremont Graduate University 3 Saweros and van der Vliet, Naqlun: The Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel–Written Sources 22 March 2025 Other notable liturgical texts include a fragment of a Greek creed (P. Naqlun II, 18) and several examples of Coptic hermeneia texts—lists of keywords from the Psalms—edited in Urbaniak-Walczak (2004).
2.2.4. Magical texts Coptic magical texts (see magic) are rarely discovered in their original archaeological contexts, making those from Naqlun of exceptional scholarly interest. A sixth-century curse discovered in one of the hermitages has been edited by van der Vliet (2000b), while a much later charm against fever, dating to the tenth–eleventh century, is published in Kalchenko and van der Vliet (2022). Additionally, one of three unidentified paper fragments edited by Urbaniak-Walczak (1995: 166) appears to be of a magical nature.
Of further significance are two hemerologia (calendars of auspicious and inauspicious days) in Bohairic. They belong to a single very fragmentary papyrus codex, possibly dating to the sixth–eighth century, and remain unpublished (cf. Ghica 2016).
2.3. Documentary texts Documentary texts, spanning a wide range of genres, constitute the majority of textual finds from Naqlun. They are categorized here by language, reflecting a gradual linguistic shift over time.
2.3.1. Greek Documents published in P. Naqlun I, 9–12, and P. Naqlun II, 21–34, include various legal and administrative texts, such as loan agreements, lists, and correspondence. Of particular significance are four fragmentary letters associated with a Bishop Nikolaos, who may have been a resident of the monastery in the sixth or seventh century (P. Naqlun I, 12; P. Naqlun II, 32–34). Equally valuable is a possibly seventh-century letter on agricultural affairs, in which the inhabitants of the village of Tebetny address the monks of Naqlun (Derda and Wegner 2016).
2.3.2. Coptic Fifteen Coptic documentary texts, mostly dating to the tenth–eleventh centuries, were found in a single hermitage (no. 25) and have been edited in Urbaniak-Walczak (1999). Among the hundreds of documents unearthed at the monastery site, only a selected few have been published, comprising correspondence and administrative records (van der Vliet 2008; Saweros 2025a; 2025b; 2025c). Most are written in a local variant of Sahidic, with a late letter in Bohairic preserved in the British Library, first published by W. E. Crum (see van der Vliet 2016).
The most important Coptic documentary text from Naqlun is the account book British Library Or. 13885, dating to the late 1030s, which remains unpublished. Though known since the mid-twentieth century, its definitive association with Naqlun was confirmed only by the discovery of one of its missing pages by the Polish mission (van der Vliet 2015). The account book records payments made to various individuals and institutions. While primarily written in a local form of Sahidic, it contains numerous Arabic names and titles transcribed in Coptic script. Beyond its linguistic and lexical value, the text provides a vivid insight into the social and economic interactions of the Naqlun monastic community with its surrounding environment.
2.3.3. Arabic The most significant find of Arabic documentary texts at Naqlun was the 1997 discovery of the Banū Bifām archive. Stored in a jar within the monastery, this archive comprises official © Claremont Graduate University 4 Saweros and van der Vliet, Naqlun: The Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel–Written Sources 22 March 2025 documents—primarily related to real estate transactions—belonging to a Christian family from a village near Lahun. Dating to the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, it constitutes an invaluable resource for understanding the Fayoum countryside during a period when it remained predominantly Christian. The archive has been fully published and analyzed by Gaubert and Mouton (2014). The Arabic documents related to the monastery’s administration are currently being prepared for publication by Naïm Vanthieghem.