On the desert ridge about six km northeast of Akhmim
(seven km south of the Greco-Roman
Temple of Khnum at Esna there are three
monasteries. The northern one near as-Salamuni is dedicated to the Angel
Michael, the central one to the Martyrs and the southern monastery to the Holy
Virgin. The monastery of the Martyrs lies about one kilometer from the road
connecting Esna and Edfu, This monastery, also known as the Monastery of St. Ammonius (Deir
Manawus), is not to be identified with the 15th century Church of Asutir
(Soter, Savior), in Akhmim, which according to al-Maqrizi (15th century) was
also known by the name of the martyrs. The Monastery of the Martyrs (Dair
as-Shuhada') is situated on an elevation at the edge of the desert east of
al-Hawawish,
The Monastery of the Martyrs is built within a large necropolis. Many
tombs were desecrated and plundered. Obviously they belong to various periods.
This necropolis provided the large quantity of Coptic textiles which are
exhibited in the art-collections of Europe and America. Among these are, for
instance, the famous 8th/9th century orbiculi with the history of the Old
Testament Patriarch Joseph. While the oldest building within the monastery
today date back at the earliest to the second half of the eleventh century,
many funerary stelae with Greek inscriptions attest to the more ancient age of
the monastic complex.
In 1740 Richard Pococke mentioned
that the monastery was inhabited but a short time later it was reported that
only one priest lived in the monastery. A wall, built of mud-bricks about three meters high, encloses the
Monastery. Upon entry through the western gate one reaches an extensive outer
courtyard with 24 tombs belonging to notable citizens of ancient Akhmim and
al-Hawawish. The inner court is separated from the outer court by another
mud-brick wall. A passage leads from the inner court to the church (actually
two churches attached to each other), which extends to the eastern section of
the outer wall. The southern of the two churches is undoubtedly the older of
the two dating to about the 11th or 12th century. Its structure is similar to
that of the church of Deir al-Fakhuri. It has a naos that consists of a nave
divided into two square spaces, each of which are covered by cupolas. There are
two small side aisles that serve as ambulatories, a khurus (choir) and a
sanctuary with two adjacent rooms. The north room serves as a baptistery.
The northern of the two churches was almost certainly built soon after the
southern church. It has two aisles, a khurus and two sanctuaries. Apparently,
at a later date, three additional sanctuaries were added to the south side of
the churches and one on the
north.
Both the north and south churches are interestingly both architecturally
and pictorially. Noteworthy is the device which here replaces the iconoclasts
(screen) which usually separates the sanctuaries from the nave. Here, simple little
columns separated by small doors and windows fulfill this function.
The three original, central sanctuaries of the two churches are dedicated
to the Holy Virgin (or perhaps, Saint Gregory, south), the Holy Martyrs
(center) and Saint Michael (north). Only the central sanctuary has a wooden
ciborium, which consists of a freestanding vaulted canopy supported by columns.
The iconography of this ciborium corresponds to that of the Church of St.
Mercurius (Abû's- Saifain) in Akhmim and may be assigned to the 18th or 19th
century.
The sanctuaries and choirs of the two churches are decorated with fine
wall paintings, though in rather bad condition. Many of these are as old as the
two churches.
Notably, from this monastery comes the now famous Book of Proverbs that
was discovered in 1904, which is one of the earliest complete papyrus
manuscripts in existence. It contains a translation of the Proverbs of Solomon
into the Akhmin dialect. It was probably written in the 4th century, and is one
of the longest texts in this dialect ever preserved.