SJEDS Travels to Egypt

When we entered the Coptic Christian area of Cairo, the sights were very different. Few women wore scarves on their heads or the long dresses more present in other parts of Egypt. There were no men wearing galabiyas and the most obvious difference in the local landscape was that there were crosses in abundance. There were crosses on the buildings, on the books at stands, on the grave sites, and in the churches. Before the arrival of Islam, the official religion of Egypt was Christianity. Christianity came around 40 A.D., when St. Mark came to preach the good news of Christ. Many people were converted and by the 4^th century, Christianity was the official religion.

Eventually the church in Egypt broke away from the Orthodox Church of Byzantine and the Coptic Church was established. Christians in Egypt are known as Copts or Coptic Christians. The first Christian monks, St. Anthony and St. Pachomius, were Copts, and Egypt was home to the first monasteries. A monastery is a place where monks live after taking vows to live a religious life. Monks often live in partial or complete seclusion from other people. Coptic Christians have their own language and is spoken in some church services. A Coptic Christian in Egypt is fairly easy to spot. As infants, Coptic Christians receive a tattoo of a cross on the inside of their arm, forever making them as Christians. The Coptics are the largest Christians denomination in Egypt, but other denominations are also present including Catholics, Episcopalians, and Greek Orthodox.

The Coptic Christian area is home to many famous churches and our first stop was at the Hanging Church, sometimes known as the Suspended Church. The name comes from the fact that the church is built on top of, or hangs over, a water gate of from ancient Roman times. The water tank can be seen and the Roman architecture clearly seen. The church is still in use today and many people had traveled to the church to say special prayers and drink from the waters of its fountains, which some consider to be holy.

Only a short walk away was St. Sergius Church, which dates from the 9^th century. This church is said to be built over a cave where Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus stayed after fleeing the persecution of Herod. The cave is now a crypt and you can see the stairs that descend to the cave, but you can’t actually go down in to the cave. In recent years the crypt has been flooded so it is not accessible.

Leaving the church we walked through an old Greek Orthodox Cemetery, which was crowded with graves and mausoleums. Our guide told us that one difference between Muslims and Christians is in their burial practices. In Egypt, Christians place the bodies in a mausoleum, while Muslims bury their bodies in the ground. The grave markers were very elaborate and each had a photograph of the person on it.

We then continued to the church and convent of St. George. Everywhere we looked were paintings, pictures, and statues of St. George slaying a dragon. St. George is one of the most popular saints in Egypt and it was evident by the crowds of visitors in this area. Even though St. George appears to be a warrior saint, always depicted on top of a rearing stallion slaying a dragon, this church is mostly used for weddings. The pictures in the entrance hall depict the pictures of many who have been married in this church. There is also an area where people drink the water and wash their face and hands as they consider it to be holy water. Our guide did not know the story of St. George and the slaying of the dragon and neither did I. If you want to read more about it check out this site.

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