Author
Karel Innemée
studied art history, archaeology and Egyptology at Leiden University (The Netherlands) and wrote his PhD thesis on the history of ecclesiastical dress in the Near East. He is a researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University and is the field-director of three research projects in Wadi al-Natrun: the excavation of the monastery of Deir al-Baramus, the survey of the Abu Maqar area, and the research and conservation of the mural paintings and doors of the church of Deir al-Surian.
Articles by this author
Though dedicated to tradition, Egypt's modern monks live quite radically different lives from the first Christian hermits, who disappeared into the desert to retreat from society almost two millennia ago. We explore how monastic life has changed and why.
A collection of nineteenth-century protective amulets for the possessed is brought to light.
Wadi al-Natrun, a geological depression west of the Delta, is one of the cradles of Coptic monasticism. In the fourth century, hermits retreated here in search of asceticism and solitude, but soon the monasteries that developed out of these anchoretic communities became centres of ecclesiastical culture. One of them, Deir al-Surian (the Syrian Monastery), is of particular interest.