Coptica 15, 2016

72 Carolyn Schneider Athanasius, Peter, Timothy I, Theophilus, Cyril, Dioscorus, and Timothy II. Shenoute became apa of his monastic congregations in 385, the same year that Theophilus became bishop of Alexandria, and both of them waged war against pagans and their acts of devotion and places of worship. The anecdote about Athanasius from the Arabic Life of Shenoute makes Athanasius’s spirit complicit in Shenoute’s anti-pagan activity. The Arabic Life of Shenoute is set in the context of Shenoute’s funeral, and is presented as an oration honoring Shenoute by his successor, Besa. Our story comes near the beginning of the oration. 3 After calling the audience to a life of virtue in adherence to Shenoute’s example and teachings, Besa begins to tell Shenoute’s life story, starting before he was born, with accounts of two witnesses to the pre-natal Shenoute’s future greatness. Both witnesses were famous and revered, namely Horsiesios, the third Apa of the Pachomian monastic community, and Athanasius, whom the text calls “the beloved father, our father Athanasius, the apostle, the patriarch.” 4 It sets the story about Athanasius at a time when Athanasius was in Akhmim in Upper Egypt. This city was earlier known as Panopolis (Greek) or Šmin (Coptic), and it was located just across the Nile from Shenoute’s monastic federation. According to the story Athanasius was there because the Arians, referred to as the “friends of innovation,” were fighting against him. 5 This would seem to refer to Athanasius’s third exile under the Arian Emperor Constantius in 356-362, during which he may have gone to Upper Egypt, but there are several problems with the dating of the story, as will be made clear. In short, the dating of events is not historical. While in Akhmim, Athanasius spent his time praying for his conflicted church. His quotation of 2 Corinthians 10:4 sets the tone for the action that follows: “By the power of our God, we will demolish unassailable fortresses.” One night, after Athanasius was awakened by the noise of a crowd worshiping in the nearby pagan temple called Metros, the Archangel Michael appeared to him. Greeting him in Jesus’ name, Michael invited Athanasius to follow him to see Jesus’ strength and the strength of the prayers of the saints, including Athanasius’s own prayers. Michael brought Athanasius to the temple and told him to stand on one side and to stretch out his hands in the form of the cross. While Athanasius watched, Michael 3 I have made my interpretation of the story from the French translation by Émile Amélineau. I wish to thank Dr. Willem de Wit, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, and Maurice Gaber, student at ETSC, for checking my interpretation against the Arabic text. For suggesting corrections of specific phrases based on the Arabic text, I wish to thank Coptica ’s anonymous reviewer. 4 Émile Amélineau, Vie de Schnoudi , in Monuments pour servir a l’histoire de l’Égypte chrétienne , Mémoires publiés par les membres de la mission archéologique française au Caire, 4.1 (Paris: Ernst Leroux, 1888), 298. 5 Ibid .