SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

Its real attraction was in fact the presence of the body of the greatest saint in the Coptic Church in the first half of the 20 th Century. The third part of the tour included a visit to the many craft shops operated there and the Museum. They provide much needed employment to skilled Coptic workers and their apprentices. This is extremely helpful for the Copts in al-Fayoum, who like all Egyptians suffer from a high unemployment rate, but more specifically has to endure a hostile job market because their religion. They included shops for making textiles, wood carving, carpentary, candles, and cheese. There was even a place where a local artist was painting replicas of the Fayoum Portraits. The quality of the products seen is good enough for worldwide distribution. As for the Musuem, it is an L-shaped spacious room with large display cases. It included many artificats that were found in or donated to the monastery. The manuscript section has about 120 manuscripts which Mrs. Samiha Abdel-Shahid has prepared a catalog that will be published soon. The third visit was a tour of the most distinguished landmark of al-Fayoum, Lake Qarun. Our guide was the president of Government Company that mines the lake. This took place on Sunday February 8, 2004. This trip was a tribute to the high regard that this Symposium enjoyed in the official circles of al- Fayoum. The group was introduced to the work of this company in protecting this major historical lake. It serves now as a large reservoir for the drainage water coming from the surrounding agricultural lands. Because of the rising salinity of the lake, this company was formed to reduce it by extracting the excess minerals, such as table salt and other industrial compounds, and market it for distribution within Egypt and in the Middle East. At its conclusion, we were treated to a nice lunch made up primarily of fish caught from the lake. Also every member of the group received a complimentary package of the salt that the company produces.

The fourth visit was a tour of the BYU excavation on Monday February 9, 2004. This was the second archeological site to be visited. It is situated at the edge of the agricultural land in the Eastern side of al-Fayoum, about an hour drive from Deir al-Azab. Our tour guide was the excavation director, Prof. Griggs. He showed the group the more prominent of the burial chambers that were excavated there and explained how it was done, what was found, and how they analyzed them. All the excavated chambers were empty except for one that had a smashed stone sarcophagus, and some large bones that were sticking from the ground. Unfortunately, no one from the excavation team had a key at the time to the building on the site that contained the items that were recently found. The trip was also cut short by the tight schedule of the Symposium, but it helped to place Prof. Griggs' paper into perspective. The fifth visit was a tour of the newly discovered wall paintings in the Virgin Mary Church at Deir al-Surian on February 10, 2004. This was the c ncluding trip for the group. It was made on the way back from al-Fayoum to Cairo. Some members of the group were introduced to the work done at that church in the previous Symposium. It was designed as a follow-up visit to see the new work done there since. Our previous guide, Dr. Karel Innemee, was not present, so Prof. Bolman ably substituted for him. Because many members of this group did not attend the previous symposium, she gave a quick review of what was discovered from the beginning, including the magnificient Coptic wall painting in the western apse of the Nave. The newer work included further cleaning and restoration of the wall paintings in the Khurus area, which date to the 7 th Century or earlier. Resolutions and Suggestions: On Tuesday morning, February, 10, 2004, the participants and others in attendance met to discuss resolutions and suggestions. Dr. Estafanous delegated the chairmanship of that session to Prof. Dr. Emmel.

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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