INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP SLIVANUS, OLD CAIRO
This location is in a Fortress named the Fortress of Babylon. Its foundation is in the site where we stand today. Within the fortress are a lot of churches and other buildings: Abu Sarga, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the Church of Saint Barbara the Martyr, Mar Girgis (Coptic), The Hanging Church, The Church of the Monk Mar Girgis, the Fortress of Babylon, The Greek Orthodox Church Mar Girgis, the Coptic Museum and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
Extract from the interview
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In the Name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit: The One True God. May he bestow upon us
righteousness and blessings, now and forever. Amen.
A beautiful saying from his eminence the Pope Father
Shenouda III says:
“Whoever cannot visit the holy city of Jerusalem in the
Holy land, may he or she visit the religious sites and/or
the churches of Ancient Egypt”.
So in this way, he encourages us to visit the sites in
Egypt and these are amongst the oldest and most ancient
churches that exist in all of Christianity.
Old Cairo
In 576 B.C.E ancient Egypt was invaded by Bokhas Nasr (King
of Babel). In it was a
fortification on the eastern shores of the Nile near the
capital city of Memphis.
King Menes, the unifier of the two regions, built this
fortification for protection. Although the building of the
fortress was time consuming, it served its purpose for a
period.
Trajan the Roman emperor, invaded Egypt and began to expand
the property around the fortification. He extended roads
and captured property around the area of the fortification.
For those who are unaware, Memphis was the capital of
ancient Egypt at that time and remained famous until the
7th century C.E. But after some time its popularity
declined and what remains now is a very small village named
Mit Rahina which is next to a town called Badrashein in
Giza.
When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he established
the city of Alexandria and the fortress of Babel’s name
changed from Babel to Babylon, according to the Greek of
the time.
It is said, that the Roman Emperor Trajan (100 C.E.)
entered the Egyptian territories and concentrated on this
Babylon fortification. He then started to build many things
within it and expanded the fortress around the area where
we stand today.
The southern side (of this fortress) is the Hanging Church
of the Virgin. Inside of the fortress, he started building
grinding stations for grains, sites to extract juice from
raisins and also living spaces.
The fortress is said to have a large wall with width of 2.5
meters and height of 20 meters.
After this, the city started developing outside the walls
of the fortress. There was a very small cave in the city
where people would go to seek refuge and live. So when the
Holy family: the Virgin Mary, Joseph the Carpenter, baby
Jesus and the midwife Salome (who accompanied them) fled
from Palestine, they came to this cave. This is now
underneath a church named Abu Sarga which is located next
to the Church of the Martyr Saint Barbara.
After Christianity spread in the 4th century C.E. the Roman
Empire adopted Christianity as the state religion, Roman
authorities living around this area heard that the cave had
been inhabited by the Virgin Mary. Hence, built a church on
top of it named Abu Sarga for two martyrs belonging to the
patriarch of Constantinople. It became a small church where
the Romans prayed. This church is the oldest church (in
Egypt) from the 4th century C.E.
When the Arabs arrived in the year 645 C.E. they conquered,
looted the city and ousted the Roman authority. They then
expanded the area and the Copts made use of the situation
by building a church on two high towers in the fortress by
the name of the Hanging Church of the Virgin. It is present
today in Old Cairo.
Afterwards, Copts built other churches around the fortress
and in an area that is a bit further away.
Within the walls of the fortress was a group of Roman
Orthodox who built a church for themselves named Mar Girgis
in the 10th century C.E. There was also a group of Jews who
bought a church from the Orthodox Copts named for the Angel
Michael next to the Church of Saint Barbara turning it into
a synagogue named Ben Ezra.
When Amr Ibn Al-‘As expanded the Islamic empire into Egypt
he established another town nearby named Fustat and in it a
mosque named Amr Ibn Al-‘As. He built the foundation for a
large city with streets, parks and luxurious buildings.
History states that Coptic architects, engineers and
craftsmen contributed their ideas.
In this period other churches were built in Fustat: The
Church of Abu Sayfayn, the Church of the Virgin and the
Church of his Holiness Father Shenouda. Furthermore, a
convent for nuns and this location started to expand
greatly.
Old Cairo was also where the patriarch from Alexandria
would come to meet with the Arab governors and discuss the
state of the churches in this area also known as the area
of Babylon.
From the early times of Christianity there were three
famous bishoprics in Egypt: Old Cairo or Babylon, Memphis
(Capital of Ancient Egypt) and Ouseem.
The fortress has also produced Patriarchs and has been a
center of learning for the patriarchic fathers. His
Holiness Father Michael the 46th was said to be part of the
Church Abu Sarga which is next to us now. There have been
many famous bishops who emerged from here throughout
history.
In the 13th century, Monk Boulus al-Boushi and also from
among the famous priests is Ibn Khabar who was the pastor
of the Hanging Church in the 14th century. Amongst the
famous who were present was the monk Boutros Ibn T’abaan
who lived here in the Hanging Church. His educators were
the sons of ‘Asaal who were famous in Church history.
Also the liturgical cantor famous from this Church (the
Hanging Church), Abu Shaakir Rahib Abu al Karam Boutros has
been written about in famous books which exist in the
libraries of ancient churches. We cannot forget the Saint
Sam’aan Al-Kharaaz who is known from the Church of the
Mountain Muqattam. Finally, Barsoum Al-Aria’an, whom was
present in the Church of Abu Sayfayn.
During the days of Father Theodosios II (1298 C.E.) the
chrism of the Hanging Church was completed and 25 bishops
contributed to its making. Not to mention the famous
architect S’aid Ibn Al-Kaatib Al Fara‛aani, the
contemporary of Ahmed Ibn Tulun, who designed and made the
nilometer in Rhoda and the designer of the mosque of Ibn
Tulun, a masterpiece of architecture.
In the place where I stand, came many prominent people. It
was the seat of the Patriarch after it left from
Alexandria. The Hanging Church witnessed the naming of 11
Patriarchs and two in the Church of Abu Sayfayn.
Another piece of information is that this area is called
the “wax castle”. It is so called because when Amr Ibn
Al-‘As and his troops surrounded the fortress at night the
Copts and the authority in Rhoda (as it is known today)
would give signals with lights to each side and each would
understand. Arab historians said that there was a castle
with lit candles in it and this is how it acquired its
name. This is just a quick historical insight of the
significance of Old Cairo.
Currently, it is considered a visiting site for all those
who desire to visit ancient places and you notice tourists
coming daily to visit this place or that. Egyptians or
anyone who is Christian feel they must come to these sites
for the antiquities in them. It has become a ray of
antiquities, monuments, and churches. It is a spark of
light to anyone who wants to know about Christianity in
Egypt because Christianity in Egypt stems from this
location. Another significance of this location is the
presence of the famous popular saints and it is present in
their birthday celebrations and many people come to
celebrate.
As for the Holy Family, when the divine command came to
Joseph the carpenter to come to Egypt fleeing from the
tyrant Herod in the year 3 C.E. Mary, Jesus and the midwife
who witnessed the virgin birth came from Palestine and
entered Sinai on the Northern side in the city of Farma
(today between el-‘Areesh and Port Said). They then went
down to the city of Tell al-Basta in Sharqiyya following
Mostorod, Belbeis and Sammanoud, Qafr al-Sheikh and
afterwards directly to Wadi el-Natrun in the western
desert.
Something miraculous happened there and whoever visits Wadi
el-Natrun knows of the spring of Mary. When the baby Jesus
got thirsty God sprang for them very sweet water and this
spring still exists and is surrounded by salt lakes. Of
course it is a miracle that fresh water exists amongst
these lakes. It is still known as Mary’s spring today.
After the western desert, they moved on to Matariyya, Ain
Shams and then they came to Old Cairo. However, before they
came to Old Cairo, they went to an alley called Zuweila in
which now is a church called the Church of the Virgin. So
they came to Old Cairo and the Virgin settled in the cave
(below the church of Abu Sarga) that is now a visiting site
for anyone who desires to smell the holiness and sweetness
of the place blessed by the Virgin Mary, Joseph the
Carpenter and the Baby Jesus.
There are many Churches in Fustat: Mercurius, the Convent
of Father Shenouda, the Church of the Virgin, Abu Sayfayn,
the Church of the Monk Father Shenouda, the Church of the
Father of Babylon, the Church of Amir Tadros, the Church of
the Angel Michael, the Church of Mar Mena from the days of
his Holiness Father Kyrillos IV.
We made a CD that includes beautiful pictures of relics,
icons, antiquities and churches. Also visible is the
beautiful celebrations from the Church of Mar Girgis. There
are examples how we pray, how we revere him, like we treat
relics, how we go around (benediction) the church with the
cross and devotional singing. Afterwards, we go to the
convent of Mar Girgis and this is a representation of the
similar fashion we celebrate of all the saints (for example
Abu Sayfayn or Saint Barbara) and remember their martyrdom
and their lives.
This is the conclusion to the discussion of Old Cairo.
Anyone interested in further explanations about Old Cairo
is welcome to call or send an email with any questions that
he or she may have and we would be more than happy to
answer them or provide more information:
ava.silvan@gmail.com
May our Lord bless you all. May his light shine upon us and
on Old Cairo. We pray for our Pope Father Shenouda III (may
God watch over and protect him) and we pray for all of our
fathers and all of us as well.
Bishop Slivanus, Old Cairo
Interview translated by
Stefanie Boyle