Misplaced Pages

#617382

40-518: The history of the foundation of the Red Monastery is not known. It is thought to have been built in the 4th century . by an Egyptian saint called Pishay , a contemporary of Pigol, founder of the White Monastery . Almost nothing is known about the history of the Red Monastery near Sohag, though it is one of Egypt's most famous Christian monasteries. It lies about two miles (3.2 km) north of

80-733: A civil holiday on 25 December (the " Festival of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun ") to celebrate the deity Sol Invictus . Finally, joyous festivals are needed at that time of year to fight the natural gloom of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere ). Until the 16th century, 25 December coincided with 29 Koiak of the Coptic calendar. However, upon the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, 25 December shifted 10 days earlier in comparison with

120-433: A date that currently corresponds with 7 January on the more widely used Gregorian Calendar (which is also when Christmas is observed in many Eastern Orthodox countries such as Russia). The 25 December Nativity of Christ was alleged very early by Hippolytus of Rome (170–236) in his Commentary on Daniel 4:23: "The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born at Bethlehem, took place eight days before

160-531: Is the first Sunday after a full moon occurring after the northern vernal equinox , which falls on or after 21 March in Alexandria. When Julius Caesar reformed the calendar, the northern vernal equinox was nominally on 25 March which was abandoned shortly after Nicaea. The reason for the observed discrepancy was all but ignored (the actual tropical year is not quite equal to the Julian year of 365 1 ⁄ 4 days, so

200-605: The Alexandrian calendar , is a liturgical calendar used by the farming populace in Egypt and also used by the Coptic Catholic Church . It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar on 11 September 1875 (1st Thout 1592 AM). This calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar . To avoid the calendar creep of the latter (which contained only 365 days each year, year after year, so that

240-694: The American Research Center in Egypt has undertaken a restoration and conservation project with grant funding from the United States Agency for International Development . In 2017, a team of architectural conservators, under the direction of Nicholas Warner, completed a conservation project on the keep beside the south wall of the church which revealed an ancient hydraulic system of ceramic pipes. 26°33′18″N 31°37′11″E  /  26.554931°N 31.619686°E  / 26.554931; 31.619686 4th century The 4th century

280-566: The Ethiopian calendar but have different numbers and names. Unlike the Gregorian calendar , the Coptic calendar does not skip leap years three times every 400 years, and therefore it stays synchronised with the Julian calendar over a four-year leap year cycle. The Coptic year is the extension of the ancient Egyptian civil year, retaining its subdivision into the three seasons, four months each. The three seasons are commemorated by special prayers in

320-423: The chancel . The relative narrowness of the triumphal arch, for reasons of stability, created a discordance between the wide nave and the narrow passage into the chancel, and the two columns were a clever artistic and architectural solution which resolved the aesthetic problems by removing the discrepancy between the dimensions of the nave and those of the entry to the sanctuary. This was such a brilliant idea that it

360-695: The 4th century to show the existence in Korea of the Three Kingdoms (300/400–668 CE) of Baekje , Goguryeo , and Silla . Historians of the Roman Empire refer to the "Long Fourth Century" to the period spanning the fourth century proper but starting earlier with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian in 284 and ending later with the death of Honorius in 423 or of Theodosius II in 450 . Coptic calendar The Coptic calendar , also called

400-540: The Coptic Liturgy. This calendar is still in use all over Egypt by farmers to keep track of the various agricultural seasons. The Coptic calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and one at the end of the year of five days (six days in leap years). The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Julian Calendar so that the extra month always has six days in the year before a Julian Leap Year. The year starts on

440-453: The Coptic communities of the surrounding villages and pilgrims who come here during the big feasts of the liturgical year. The Church of Saint Pshoi (Bishoi) is situated in the northeastern corner of the monastery. The monastery's principal church was built as a basilica during the second half of the fifth century. Though smaller, It is also architecturally similar to the Church of Saint Shenute in

SECTION 10

#1732851251618

480-453: The Coptic pope, and Pope Francis , the Catholic pope, agreed to the proposal to celebrate Easter on the same day. Pope Tawadros's suggested to celebrate Easter on the second Sunday of April. The following table refers to dates for Coptic years not containing 29 February . Such years are preceded by a Coptic leap day at the end of the preceding year. This causes dates to move one day later in

520-571: The Feast of Neyrouz , the first day of the month of Thout , the first month of the Egyptian year. For 1900 to 2099 it coincides with the Gregorian Calendar's 11 September, or 12 September before a leap year, but for any year, it coincides with the Julian Calendar's 29 August, or 30 August before a leap year. Coptic years are counted from 284 AD, the year Diocletian became Roman Emperor, whose reign

560-483: The Julian and Coptic calendars. Furthermore, the Gregorian calendar drops 3 leap days every 400 years to closely approximate the length of a solar year. As a result, the Coptic Christmas advances a day each time the Gregorian calendar drops a leap day (years AD 1700, 1800, and 1900). This is the reason why Old-Calendarists (using the Julian and Coptic calendars) presently celebrate Christmas on 7 January, 13 days after

600-575: The Nativity under the name "Epiphany." John Chrysostom, in a sermon preached in Antioch in 387, relates how the correct date of the Nativity was brought to the East ten years earlier. Dionysius of Alexandria emphatically quoted mystical justifications for this very choice. 25 March was considered to be the anniversary of Creation itself. It was the first day of the year in the medieval Julian, or Old Style, calendar and

640-506: The New-Calendarists (using the Gregorian calendar), who celebrate Christmas on 25 December. From AD 2101, the Coptic Christmas will be on the Gregorian date of 8 January. The First Council of Nicaea (325) sent a letter to the Church of Alexandria stating "all our brethren in the East who formerly followed the custom of the Jews are henceforth to celebrate the said most sacred feast of Easter at

680-495: The Red Monastery to hear Father Antonius speak. Today the Red Monastery is also very significant for art and architectural historians. It includes the only monumental ensemble of architecture, sculpture, and paint (areas fully covered with paint) left from the Greek, Roman and late antique periods in the entire Mediterranean. The paint in the triconch area dates between the late fifth and the late sixth or early seventh century. Since 2003,

720-490: The White Monastery at the extreme western edge of the cultivated land. However, unlike the White Monastery, it is situated in a small village, and some houses lie to the south and east. The area to the north and west of the monastery is mainly covered with debris. Its name is derived from the colour of its construction material, consisting of red (burnt) brick, of its outside walls, distinguishing it from its nearby neighbor,

760-422: The White Monastery, which is made of stone. These walls are considerably thicker at the base than at the top, and like ancient Pharaonic temples, as well as the White Monastery, are surmounted by cavetto moldings. Otherwise, this monastery is architecturally similar to the White Monastery, and most likely, its construction dates to the same period, probably the 5th century . The monastery was dedicated to Pshoi. He

800-399: The White Monastery. It, too, is built of red brick rather than stone. Measuring forty-four meters in length by twenty-three meters in width, the church does not have a west narthex like the Church of Shenute, but all other elements are identical. The nave has small side aisles connected on the west, and there are upper galleries, a triconch apses and a large rectangular room on the south side of

840-504: The birth of Christ, Christmas , on 25 December. There may have been more practical considerations for choosing 25 December. The choice would help substitute a major Christian holiday for the popular Pagan celebrations surrounding the Winter Solstice (Roman Sol Sticia, the three-day stasis when the sun would rise consecutively in its southernmost point before heading north, 21, 22 and 23 December. In AD 274, Emperor Aurelian had declared

SECTION 20

#1732851251618

880-476: The calends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, 5500 years from Adam." "Another early source is Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea (115–181): "We ought to celebrate the birth-day of our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen." However, it was not until 367 that 25 December began to be universally accepted. Before that, the Eastern Church had kept 6 January as

920-556: The century Christianity became the official state religion, and the empire's old pagan culture began to disappear. General prosperity was felt throughout this period, but recurring invasions by Germanic tribes plagued the empire from 376 CE onward. These early invasions marked the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire . In China , the Jin dynasty , which had united the nation prior in 280, began rapidly facing trouble by

960-514: The current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian 's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor. The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I . As the century progressed after his death, it became increasingly apparent that

1000-516: The date of the equinox keeps creeping back in the Julian calendar). Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, there are different dates for holidays. In recent years there have been multiple attempts to unify these dates. Some people are skeptical about the success of these attempts. Eastern Orthodox use the Julian calendar while Catholics use the Gregorian calendar. Pope Tawadros ,

1040-462: The edifice. There are elements within this church, however, that distinguish it from the Church of St. Shenute in the White Monastery. In the White Monastery, considerable building material was robbed from towers dating to the Ptolemaic or Roman period, while in the Church of Saint Pshoi, the portals and columns (bases, shafts and capitals) were made for this building. Also, two columns are added before

1080-410: The empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus . The two-emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell into regular practice, and the east continued to grow in importance as a centre of trade and imperial power, while Rome itself diminished greatly in importance due to its location far from potential trouble spots, like Central Europe and the East. Late in

1120-482: The monastery, he provides none of its history. The probable reason is that it was closely related to the White Monastery. Vivant Denon visited the monastery during French invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1798–99, but states that the facility had been ransacked and burned down by the Mamluks of Ottoman Egypt only a few days before his arrival. Currently, the monastery is occupied by only a few monks. The church still serves

1160-573: The nominal vernal equinox (it had been the actual equinox at the time of the Decree of Canopus in terms of the Julian calendar which adopted it without correction when originally designed). Considering that Jesus was thought to have been conceived on New Year's Day of the Old Style calendar, 25 March was recognised as the Feast of the Annunciation which had to be followed, nine months later, by the celebration of

1200-651: The north under his banner, and planned to conquer the Jin dynasty in the south, so as to finally reunite the land, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Fei River in 383, causing massive unrest and civil war in his empire, thereby leading to the fall of the Former Qin, and the continued existence of the Eastern Jin dynasty. According to archaeologists, sufficient archaeological evidence correlates of state-level societies coalesced in

1240-501: The public areas are icons of the saints Shenute, Pishoi, and Bgul. The north and south apses have no altars. The monastery is currently occupied by a rapidly growing number of monks. The several churches (most new) still serve the Copts of the surrounding villages and pilgrims who visit during the big feasts of the Coptic liturgical year . More and more people from the surrounding area now come to

Red Monastery - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-407: The putative creation of the world; it then stands for Anno Mundi . Easter is reckoned by the Julian Calendar in combination with the uncorrected repetition of the 19-year Metonic cycle . To obtain the Coptic year number, subtract from the Julian year number either 283 (before the Julian new year) or 284 (after it). Coptic Christmas is observed on what the Julian Calendar labels 25 December,

1320-575: The same time with the Romans and yourselves and all those who have observed Easter from the beginning." At the Council of Nicaea, it became one of the duties of the patriarch of Alexandria to determine the dates of the Easter and to announce it to the other Christian churches. This duty fell on this officiate because of the erudition at Alexandria he could draw on. The rules to determine this are complex, but Easter

1360-545: The seasons shifted about one day every four years), a reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at the time of Ptolemy III ( Decree of Canopus , in 238 BC) which consisted of adding an extra day every fourth year. However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the reform was not adopted until 25 BC, when the Roman Emperor Augustus imposed the Decree upon Egypt as its official calendar (although initially, namely between 25 BC and AD 5, it

1400-591: The start of the century due to political infighting, which led to the insurrections of the northern barbarian tribes (starting the Sixteen Kingdoms period), which quickly overwhelmed the empire, forcing the Jin court to retreat and entrench itself in the south past the Yangtze river, starting what is known as the Eastern Jin dynasty around 317. Towards the end of the century, Emperor of the Former Qin , Fu Jiān , united

1440-430: Was a contemporary of Apa Pigol, the founder of the White Monastery. In his Life of Shenute , Besa says, "The holy apa [Pgol] and the young man Shenoute went out walking together, and with them also went Apa Psoi (from Mt. Psoou). He too was a holy man who walked after godly things" (Besa 9, p. 44). Hence, one may identify "Psoou" (Psou) with the Red Monastery. While the 15th-century Arab historian al-Maqrizi names

1480-574: Was marked by tortures and mass executions of Christians, especially in Egypt. Hence, the Coptic year is identified by the abbreviation A.M. (for Anno Martyrum or "in the Year of the Martyrs"). The first day of year I of the Coptic era was 29 August 284 in the Julian calendar. Note that the abbreviation A.M. is also used for unrelated calendar eras (such as the Freemasonic and Jewish calendar epochs) which start at

1520-415: Was subsequently used in practically all churches having a narrow entry into the chancel. The triconch sanctuary has three apses embellished by two orders of superposed niches separated by small elegant columns. These columns are painted and lend to the spaces' richness and sacredness. There is a motif of a broken tympanum surmounting each niche. Attached to the chancel screen that shields the sanctuary from

1560-568: Was the time period from AD 301 (represented by the Roman numerals CCCI) to AD 400 (CD) in accordance with the Julian calendar . In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great , who became the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity . Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over

1600-517: Was unsynchronised with the original implementation of the Julian calendar which was erroneously intercalating leap days every third year due to a misinterpretation of the leap year rule so as to apply inclusive counting). To distinguish it from the Ancient Egyptian calendar, which remained in use by some astronomers until medieval times, this reformed calendar is known as the Coptic or Alexandrian calendar. Its years and months coincide with those of

#617382