Chapter XIX: Section VIII

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THE LIBYAN DESERT.

ROUTES:—By the Mariout Railway to Bahig for Abousir and for St. Menas; each expedition takes a day.

By Railway _via_ Tel-el-Baroud and Khatatbeh to the Wady Natrun; 2 or 3 days.

Alexandria, though so cosmopolitan, lies on the verge of civilisation. Westward begins an enormous desert of limestone that stretches into the heart of Africa. The very existence of this desert is forgotten by most of the dwellers in the city, but it has played a great part in her history, especially in Christian times, and no one who would understand her career can ignore it.

* * * * *

The Mariout Railway was originally the property of the ex-Khedive. The line starts from the central station and diverges from the main line at Hadra. Having passed Nouzha station (Section IV) it crosses the Mahmoudieh Canal (p. 91) then bends westward along the edge of Lake Mariout. Just before Gabbari Garden station is a fishing village built on a tiny creek and quite Japanese in appearance. It is worth going down here when there has been a catch: the lake fish are uncanny monsters. The neighbourhood is very fertile—palms bananas and vegetable gardens. But it does not make pleasant walking owing to the smells.

* * * * *

MEX STATION. (Section VI). The train crosses the western or Mellaha arm of Mariout. Right, are the salt pans that turn dull purple and red in the summer beyond them the white spur of limestone that divides lake from sea.

* * * * *

ABD EL KADER STATION. Now we approach the Libyan desert. The scenery and the people change. From the hill to the right, by the tomb, is a fine view, and wonderful colour effects in the evening.

* * * * *

AMRIEH STATION. This large village was formerly head of the Eastern district of the Western Desert Province, but the Administration is transferring to Burg el Arab. Bedouins come to the train, bigger and wirier than the Egyptians, and more graceful; they wear rough white robes and soft dark red tarbooshes.—There is a fine walk from Amrieh to Mex—the best day’s tramp near Alexandria. The path leads north from the station, by the communal gardens, then makes for a ridge where limestone is quarried. View from the top over the western arm of Mariout. Take the causeway that crosses the lake and on the further bank turn to the right, finally crossing the coastal ridge to Dekhela (Section VI) and so to Mex by the sea shore.

* * * * *

IKINGI MARIOUT STATION. (Ikingi is Turkish for “second.”)—A good centre for the wild flowers of February and March. Go northward towards the lake, and keep to the lower ground; the local flora is one of the finest in the world.

* * * * *

BAHIG STATION.—Centre for two fine expeditions—Abousir on the coast, and St. Menas inland.

ABOUSIR.

The ruins of Abousir lie 5½ miles N.W. from Bahig station. They can be found without a guide. (_see_ map). There is a good road as far as Bahig village (¾ mile). Just above the village is a big quarry, worked in ancient times and very picturesque. A path crosses the ridge rather to the left of this quarry, after which the ruins are in sight all the way. The end of Mariout has to be crossed, so the expedition should not be made in winter on account of the mud. The last half hour of the journey is magnificent. The Temple and the Tower stand out on the height, which is golden with marigolds in spring time; and near the top of the ascent the sea appears through a gap, deep blue, and beating against a beach of snowy sand. The flowers can be amazing, colouring the earth in every direction. The ruins are supposed by the Bedouins to be the palace of Abou Zeit; they really mark the Ptolemaic city of Taposiris, whose name is preserved in the modern Abousir.

_Taposiris_ must have been built soon after Alexandria (about 300 B.C.), and it is instructive to compare the two towns. They stand on the same spur—Taposiris at its base, where it has emerged from the mass of the desert. The lake is to their south, the sea to their north, so each commanded two harbours, to the advantage of their trade. Each has a lighthouse, each worshipped Osiris. Little is known of the history of Taposiris—called the “Great” to distinguish it from “Little” Taposiris at Montazah (p. 175). Its immediate trade was with the lake, its sea-harbour being ½ mile below, at the vanished port of Plinthinus. The Arabs turned the Temple of Osiris into a fortress, and in modern times coast guards have been installed here.

The Chief remains are:—

(i). _Temple of Osiris._ The eastern, and main, entrance adjoins the
coast-guard station. At first sight it looks no more than a hole in
a ruined wall, but it can easily be reconstructed. Each side of the
entrance were Gate-towers (Pylons) like those of Edfu or Kom Ombo in
Upper Egypt. Their bases project from the main wall, and up the face
of each are two grooves for flag staffs, from whose tops crimson
streamers floated. Staircases, reached from the inside, ascend each
tower, and there are also two square rooms in the base of each.

The enclosure—about 100 yards square—is in a terrible mess. The
actual temple has disappeared. There must have been a colonnaded
court with an altar in the middle, and beyond it the temple facade:
on north and south of temple would have been other courts. The
arrangements were Egyptian, but some of the workman were Greek;
mason marks with Greek letters (e.g. Alpha Kappa Rho) have been
found on the stone in the boundary wall.

The north boundary wall of the enclosure is very fine; it projects
over the slope of the hill and rests on substructures: in it is a
gate for the descent to the sea. Note the projections in the
masonry. In the north west corner are some architectural fragments,
piled up by the Arabs. (ii). _Lighthouse._ The ruined tower on the
hill to the east of the temple was once mistaken for a tomb, since
it stands in the ancient cemetery. It is really the Ptolemaic
lighthouse of Taposiris, first of a chain that stretched from the
Pharos at Alexandria all down the North African coast to Cyrene. It
has, like the Pharos, three stages: a square basement, an octagonal
central stage and a cylindrical top. On the north, where the outer
wall of the octagon has fallen, one can see the marks of the
staircase by which the wood was carried to the top—a simpler version
of the double spiral that ascended the huge Alexandrian building.
There can be no doubt that the Taposiris lighthouse was modelled on
its gigantic contemporary—scale about ⅒th—and it is thus of great
importance to archaeologists and historians. (_see_ throughout p.
133).

There are tombs close to the lighthouse, and tombs and houses all
along the slope to the south of the temple.

(iii). _Causeway._ South of the town, in the bed of the lake, are
traces of the embankment that connected with the desert. It was
doubtless pierced with arches like the Heptastadion at Alexandria,
to allow boats to go through.

* * * * *

The other point of interest in the district is _Burg el Arab_ (Modern Bahig). It lies some miles west of Bahig village (_see_ above) but is easily located by the tower of the new carpet factory. Here is to be the capital of the Eastern District of the Western Desert Province Frontier Districts Administration; it is being planned and executed with great taste, thanks mainly to the genius of the Officer Commanding, W. E. Jennings Bramly, M.C. The factory consists of a great cloister and of two halls, one each side of the big tower. Fragments of antique sculpture and architecture have been cleverly introduced. The carpets are woven from camels’ and goats’ hair by Bedouin and Senussi women—the industry was started at Amrieh, during the late war. Specimens can be had in the Alexandrian shops. Further to the west other buildings are rising, including a small walled town. It is all most interesting, and one of the few pieces of modern creative work to be seen in these parts.

ST. MENAS.

Seven and a half miles south of Bahig Station, in the loneliness of the desert, lie the ruins of a great Christian city. They can be visited between trains on a good horse, but it is better to camp out. The track passes over gently undulating expanses of limestone. The scenery grows less interesting, the flora scarcer, as the coast is left behind. At last the monotony is broken by the square hut where the excavators used to live. The ancient name of the place is preserved in the modern—Abumna.

Menas, a young Egyptian officer, was martyred during his service in Asia Minor because he would not abandon Christ (A.D. 296). When the army moved back into Egypt his friends brought his ashes with them, and at the entrance of the Lybian Desert a miracle took place: the camel that was carrying the burden refused to go further. The saint was buried and forgotten. But a shepherd observed that a sick lamb that crossed the spot became well. He tried successfully with another lamb. Then a sick princess was healed. The remains were exhumed, and a church built over the grave.

This church can still be traced. It is the Basilica of the Crypt (Plan I p. 196) date 350, to which, at the end of the century, an immense extension was added by the Emperor Arcadius. What caused so rapid a growth? Water. There were springs in the limestone that have since dried up, and that must have had curative powers. Baths were built, some of them opening out of a church (Plan II). Little flasks, stamped with the Saint’s image, were filled from the sacred source by his tomb. The environs were irrigated, houses, walls, cemeteries built, until in the pure air a sacred city sprang up, where religion was combined with hygiene. Nor did the saint only protect invalids. He was also the patron of the caravans that passed by him from Alexandria to the Wady Natrun, the Siwan Oasis, and Tripoli, and so he is always seen between two camels, who crouch in adoration because he guides them aright. By the 6th century he had become god of the Lybian Desert, then less deserted than now, and his fame, like that of his predecessor Serapis, had travelled all round the Mediterranean, and procured him worshippers as far as Rome and France.

Islam checked the cult. But as late as the year 1,000, an Arab traveller saw the great double basilica still standing. Lights burned in the shrine night and day, and there was still left a little trickle of “the beautiful water of St. Menas that drives away pain.”

The site, entirely forgotten, was discovered in 1905. It has been carefully excavated. Little more than the ground plans of the buildings remain, but they are most interesting, and the marble decorations delightful.

_The Sanctuary Group._ This lies a little to the south of the excavators’ huts. Combined length, nearly 400 ft. In the centre is the original church covering the tomb. To its east is the impressive addition of Arcadius; to its west a baptistery. On its north side a monastery. The best view of the group is from a mound outside the baptistery. The general arrangement is quite clear. (Plan I, p. 196). Taken in detail:—

(i). _Church of Arcadius._—Length nearly 200 feet. A cruciform
basilica with a nave and two aisles, and aisled transepts. Over the
intersection was a dome, beneath which, now much ruined by its fall,
is the High Altar. Behind the altar are curved steps that supported
the ecclesiastical throne. Both altar and throne are in a square
enclosure where the priests and singers stood; a narrow alley
connects it with the nave. The eastern apse has been used for
burials.

The Nave is paved with white marble from the Greek archipelago.
Green and purple marbles (verde antico and porphyry) were also used.
From its south aisle, three doors open into a fine atrium. This was
the principal approach to the church. The north aisle opens—at its
east end—on to a staircase that ascended to the roof of the church;
the other doors to the monks’ apartments and hospice (_see_ below).
The west end of the nave is irregular, because the apse of the
primitive church impinges.

(ii). _Primitive Church._ A small, three-aisled basilica, not well
preserved, but with interesting crypt. The descent to this is by a
marble staircase that starts in the Arcadian church, passes by a
portico with a vaulted roof of brick, and then, after a little,
turns to the south into an oblong subterranean chamber. Here, amid
rich decorations, the ashes of the young saint once lay, is a tomb
that was probably visible from the church above. A bas-relief of him
was fixed to the south wall; the place for the marble slab can still
be seen there. The ugly bas-relief in the Alexandria Museum (Room I)
is a copy. Attached to the crypt is a chapel once vaulted with gold
mosaic; the well in it was made by treasure-hunters.

On the west of the church runs the sacred water course from which
the sanctuary derived its fame. It is a subterranean cistern, over
80 yards long; a shaft was sunk into it from the nave. Passing, as
it did, so near to the saint’s remains, it had special sanctity. The
water was used to fill flasks, and also in the adjacent Baptistery.

(iii). _The Baptistery_ is square without and octagonal within. In
its centre, down steps, is the chief font, which had an over-flow
canal; we do not know how it was filled. The floor was richly inlaid
with serpentine, porphyry and other marbles. There was a dome. On
its south side is an atrium. On its western exterior, niches for
statues.

A Baptistery of this type—separate from the rest of the church—is
common enough in the West. But in the East it is unique. Only at St.
Menas, where water was so prominent in the worship, does it occur.

* * * * *

Immediately to the north of the Sanctuary Group are the _Monastery Buildings and Hospice_, a confused labyrinth. Best is a hall paved with marble and one supported by eight columns. It lies 40 yards due north from the gate of the Primitive Church. These buildings, together with the Sanctuary Group that they served, cover an area of over 40,000 square yards.

* * * * *

_The Sacred Baths_ (Plan II). About 80 yards from the Monastery Buildings. Best located by the fine circular cistern of well-cut limestone blocks. The main building has a heating apparatus and three baths. Also a small but finely finished church; basilica type; apses at each end; three aisles. Two baths open straight out of its south aisles, and in its nave are two marble fountains that were probably filled from the source in the central sanctuary (_see_ above). Throughout the arrangements are significant. The line between the hygienic and the miraculous is nowhere clearly drawn; heating apparatus and church have each to play their parts. Date of the group, probably 5th century. Another group lies beyond.

* * * * *

_Northern Cemetery._—This, the most important in the city, is some way from the groups above described. Indeed the visitor from Bahig leaves it to his left on his way to the hut. There is a good view of it from a mound. The main object is a church (150 ft. long), with three aisles, a square apse and numerous mortuary chapels where the more prominent invalids were buried. Others lie outside. Late date—7th-9th cent.

This by no means catalogues the ruins of St. Menas. There is a Southern Cemetery, private houses, wine presses, a kiln where the terra cotta flasks were made. All the desert around shows remains of the curious cult, which in some ways anticipated the methods of Lourdes.

Half a day over the desert southward brings a rider to the Wady Natrun.

THE WADY NATRUN.

The Wady is best visited by arrangement with the Egyptian Salt and Soda Company, who have the concession for developing that section of it where the Lakes and the Monasteries lie. The Company’s private railway starts at Khatatbeh, on the branch line between Cairo and Tel-el-Baroud (_see_ Map. p. 174). The train curves up the desert to Bir Victoria, where it waters beneath a solitary tree. Then it leaves civilisation, and for three hours nothing is seen except an occasional gazelle. At the end of that time the ground falls away to the left, and the monastery of St. Macarius appears far off. Then is seen the chain of the lakes, and across them, often in mirage, the monasteries of St. Pschoi and The Syrians. The train descends to the terminus of Bir Hooker, close to the Company’s factory and rest house.

* * * * *

The Wady Natrun (_i.e_. Natron, Soda) is a curious valley that begins near Cairo, and slopes north-westward into the heart of the Lybian Desert. It may have once been an outlet of the Nile, though it is barred now from the sea by coastal hills. Its upper and lower reaches are both barren, but in the central section—that which the railway taps—water survives in the form of a chain of mineral lakes.

The deposits were worked from antiquity, but with the rise of monasticism the Wady took a new importance, owing to its discomfort. As early as A.D 150 St. Fronto retreated here from Alexandria. St. Ammon followed in 270; St. Macarius or Mercury a hundred years later. The more moderate ascetics extracted soda with the assistance of laymen; the extremists sought a waterless stretch called Scetis—probably the southern portion of the valley where the monastery to St. Macarius still stands. There were soon 5,000 monks. It is natural that so remote a community should lose touch with the theological niceties of the capital, and in 399 the Patriarch Theophilus was obliged to rebuke the monks for minimising the divine element in the Second Person. Their reply was startling. They crossed the desert, stormed Alexandria, and made the Patriarch apologise. A few years later he led an army into the Wady to punish them, but by now, oddly enough, they had veered to the opposite error; they minimised the human element. The truth is they represented native Egypt, the Patriarch the Hellenising coast. (_see_ p. 51). The quarrel was racial rather than theological, and when in the 6th century it came to a head, the Wady became the natural stronghold of the national or Monophysite party who, under the name of Copts, worship there to this day.

With the 19th century came a new colony—the industrial. It is the factory chimney of the Salt and Soda Company that now dominates the scene. The lakes are dredged for their deposits. The chief product is caustic soda which is poured red hot into metal drums, and exported all over the east. Ordinary soda (natron) is also produced. The factory is interesting. It, and the surrounding settlement, are due in their present form to Mr. A. H. Hooker, after whom the settlement is named.

More than eighty different species of birds have been identified in the marshes surrounding Bir Hooker.

* * * * *

_The Mineral Lakes._

These lie between the factory and the monasteries. Some of them are squalid, others are indescribably beautiful, especially in summer. The deposits form at the bottom. As they reach the top, the lake seems to be covered with white and crimson ice, in the midst of which are pools of blue and green water, and trickling streams of claret, and tracts that blush like a rose. When the scene is in mirage, its strangeness passes belief. A bird looks as big as a man, and the lump of salt it perches on shows like a boat of snow. The finest of these lakes is just to the left of Bir Hooker.

* * * * *

_The Monasteries._

Four of these survive, and there are the ruins of many others. They are all of the same type, and to avoid repetitions it may be thus summarised:

* * * * *

Exterior:—an enclosure of stone laid in the middle of the desert, covering about an acre. Palm trees and buildings show over its walls. The walls are blank except for one high arch, which indicates the position of a little door, the only entrance. The black-robed monks, when the bell has been rung, look down from the parapet, then unbar the door, and take the traveller to the Guest House for coffee and lemonade. They are dirty and ignorant, but most courteous and hospitable. All payment is refused.

* * * * *

In the enclosure:—two or three churches, normally consisting of nave, choir, and sanctuary (kaikal). Refectory. Sleeping cells for the monks. Mill for grinding corn. Oven, where is baked the hard brown bread, and also the “isbodikon” (somatikon, sacrament), a cake of fine flour beautifully stamped with a cross and used for the Eucharist. Olive press. Granary. Garden of palm trees, bananas, capsicums, etc. Keep (kasr) for final retreat when attacked; reached only by a drawbridge from the parapet of the wall; contains library, dungeons, chapels; usually dedicated to St. Michael.

* * * * *

Date: general appearance and arrangement are of the 6th century. Most of the details are later.

Extract from the Thanksgiving offered at the arrival of a distinguished visitor:—

He who visits these mansions with firm faith, fervent desire, true
repentance and good works, shall have all his sins forgiven. Then, O
my reverend fathers and my beloved brethren, come that we may pray
for these our dear and honourable brethren, who are come upon this
visit and have reached these habitations, let us pray that Jesus
Christ, who was with his servants in every time and every place, may
now be with them, and may deliver them from all sins and iniquities.
May he grant them the best of gifts and full reward, recompensing
them for all that they have endured through toil and peril and the
weariness of the journey as they travelled hither; giving them
abundance of blessing; bring them back to their homes in safety; and
after long life transport them to the brightness of Paradise and the
life of bliss, through the intercession of Our Lady the Virgin, and
of all our holy fathers. Amen.[7]

Footnote 7:

From A. J. Butler’s Ancient Coptic Churches.

* * * * *

THE FOUR MONASTERIES.

(A). _Convent of St. Pschoi_ (Deir Abou Bishoi). About an hour’s
ride from Bir Hooker. Dedicated to St. Pschoi or Besa. “B” is the
Coptic article, so the saint’s name is ultimately “Isa” _i.e._
Isaiah. Little is known about him.

The convent enclosure contains:

(i). _The Church of St. Pschoi_ (Plan I, p. 202). 6th-11th
cents. with later additions. A spacious entrance porch leads to
the dark but impressive interior. There are three divisions:
Nave, Choir and Sanctuary.

The Nave has an arched vault; massive piers with pointed arches
divide it from its aisles. In it is an Ambon (lectern for
reading the Gospel), and a small marble basin level with the
floor, where the priest washes the feet of the people on Maundy
Thursday in commemoration of the action of Christ. Many of the
Nave arches have been blocked up to strengthen the building.
High and narrow folding doors—recalling a Japanese screen—close
the lofty arch that leads from the Nave into the Choir; they are
set with fine carved panels, enclosed in ivory borders. Other
doors lead from the aisles.

The Choir too has vaulting, but it is at right angles to that of
the Nave. At each side of the Choir are chapels, probably of
later date. Left—Chapel of the Virgin, with a chest containing
the relics of St. Pschoi, whom the monks state remains intact.
Right—Chapel of St. Ischyrion; off it is the Baptistery. The
entrance into the Sanctuary is through ancient carved doors;
over them is a triumphant arch.

The Sanctuary has, behind the altar, a fine tribune of six
steps—three straight and three curved. In the centre was the
throne of the Abbot. It has gone, and the marble decorations of
the steps are ruined. Above the throne is a marble mosaic. In
the centre of the eastern dome is a Cross.

(ii). _The Refectory._—This solemn room contains the immense
stone table, narrow and low, at which the monks break their
yearly fast. They do not eat here usually, and use the table as
a drying place for onions, bread, etc., while cakes of salt are
stacked against the wall. At the head of the table is the
Abbot’s seat. The place is rough and indescribably untidy. But
one could scarcely find a more striking relic of primitive
Christianity.

(B). _Convent of the Syrians_ (Deir es Suriani).—Close to the
Convent of St. Pschoi. Founded by monks from Syria. Dedicated to the
Virgin. Here Robert Curzon (1833) discovered in the oil cellar
priceless Syrian, Coptic, and Abyssinian MSS., now in the British
Museum. He describes his find in “Monasteries of the Levant”: it was
facilitated by plying the Abbot with liqueurs. More were brought
away by Archdeacon Tattam, and nothing valuable remains now.

The enclosure contains:—

(i). _Church of the Virgin_ (Plan II, p. 203)—A fine building 40
ft. by 90, probably the model for the church in St.
Pschoi—_i.e_. originating in the 6th century.

The Nave has piers with high pointed arches, and lofty vaulting,
slightly pointed. In the middle, the basin for the Maundy feet
washing, a marble slab with a circular depression. In the
western semi-dome, fine fresco of the Ascension. Precious
folding doors between nave and choir, inlaid with ivory panels
of Christ in the nimbus of the Cross, the Virgin, St. Peter and
St. Mark; round their posts and lintels a Syriac inscription,
dating them back to the 7th century.

The Choir—North semi-dome; fresco of the Death of the Virgin.
South semi-dome; fresco of the Annunciation and Nativity.
Admirable work. More ancient doors between Choir and Sanctuary;
ivory panel representing Dioscurus (Patriarch of Alexandria 450
and founder of Monophysism _see_ p. 51), Mark, Emmanuel, the
Virgin, Ignatius, and Severus (512). Syriac inscriptions of
rather later type—8th century.

Sanctuary. Skilful and effective plaster frieze with a border
below and panels of conventional trees and vines above. Above
the eastern niche a panel of crosses. This unique decoration
should be studied closely.

(ii). _Smaller Church of the Virgin._ Over its entrance to the
south-west a marble cross in low relief. Inside, another cross
in black marble. Probably dedication crosses. Pulpit in the
choir.

(iii). _Tamarind tree under the enclosing wall._ St. Ephraim the
Syrian (date 373) inadvertently, so they say, laid his staff
down, and it took root at once. But it is unlikely that St.
Ephraim ever visited Egypt.

* * * * *

(C). Convent of St. Baramus (Deir el Baramus). About two hours ride
from Bir Hooker. Dedicated to an unknown saint (Romaios?).

In the enclosure are:—

(i). _Church of the Virgin._ The piers of the nave are built
round antique marble columns. There are ten dedication crosses,
marking places signed with holy oil at the consecration of the
church—six in the nave and four in the choir. Fine carvings on
the sanctuary screen. In the reliquary lie the brothers S.S.
Maximus and Domitius from whose mouths, when they prayed, fiery
ropes ascended to Heaven. Attached to this church are two
smaller ones—St. George (Mari Girgis) now used as a granary; it
has an ornamented dome—and St. Theodore (Al Amir Tadrus).

(ii). _Church of Baramus_, ruined by restoration.

(iii). _The Refectory_—similar to that at St. Pschoi. Date 5th
or 6th century. At this entrance is a great book-rest of stone.

(iv). _Keep_, with chapel to St. Michael.

(D). _Convent of St. Macarius_ (Deir Abou Makar).

This monastery is the least accessible of the four, being ten miles
from Bir Hooker.

St. Macarius, or Mercury, the founder, was an Alexandrian who was
seen by another saint in a vision killing the apostate Emperor
Julian (d. 363). He is also celebrated for a bunch of grapes that he
refused to eat, and for a mosquito that he killed. Overcome with
remorse at its death, he retired naked to the marshes near, and at
the end of six months was so distended by stings that the brethren
could only recognise him by his voice. He selected this site for his
monastery on account of the badness of the communications and water
supply. It was repaired in 880. Of its later history nothing is
known.

The monastery enclosure is on the usual plan. It contains:—

(i). _Church of Macarius._ Byzantine in character; three
sanctuaries, a choir, and an irregular western end. The central
sanctuary is roofed by a fine brick dome, once covered with
frescoes, and still showing traces of its ancient windows, with
their stucco partitions and tiny panels of coloured glass. There
were also frescoes in the eastern niche, and paintings upon the
entrance arch. The sanctuary doors are well carved.

Left of Sanctuary: Chapel of St. John, with a double screen. The
outer screen is set with exquisitely carved panels—probably 8th
century. Frame later. The plaster of the dome has fallen; it too
was once coloured. St. Macarius lies in the Reliquary.

(ii). _Church of the Elders_ (Al Shiulah), marked by a detached
bell-tower. A small building of similar plan. One of its columns
has a late classical capital.

(iii). _Church of St. Ischyrion_ (Abou Iskharun)—one of the
martyrs whom Alexandria, in the past, so freely produced. A
magnificent low-pitched dome almost covers both choir and nave.
It is made of bricks that must have been carried on camels from
the Delta.

(iv). _The Keep_ (Kasr), reached by a flight of steps and a
drawbridge. On its first floor are three chapels dedicated to:—

St. Michael—Corinthian and Doric capitals in the nave; the
Sanctuary Screen has ivory inlay; in the Sanctuary are the
bodies of sixteen patriarchs, each in a plain deal box: St.
Anthony—three ancient frescoed figures: and St. Suah, with more
frescoes. On the ground floor, a chapel to the Virgin, with a
triple altar containing depressions of unknown use.

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