About 40 kilometres south of Cairo, this was the
oldest capital of Pharaonic Egypt. It has now been
reduced to the status of a simple village.
This is how Abba Theophilus is described by the
French writer Pere Ch. d’Orleans in his book “Les
Saints de l’Egypte.’ Vol. 11, p. 619.
Ward-Perkins, Christian antiquities of the
Cyrenaican Pentapolis. Pub. In Le Bulletin de la
Societe d’archaeologie Copte. Tome ix (1943) pp.
132-3.
Matt. 3:13-15.
W. Budge. Legends of Our Lady Mary the
Perpetual Virgin and her Mother Hannah – including
“The history of the Virgin Mary as told by Her to
Theophilus Patriach of Alexandria.” (A. Folio 90al,
Brit. Mus. Orient. No. 604, Fol. 5a and No. 605
Fol. 162a) pp. 61-2; and “The narrative of the
Virgin Mary as told by Herself to Timothy Patriach
of Alexandria” (Brit. Museum Ms. Orient. No. 604
Fol. 25b ff) p.99.
In: Le Bulletin ... Tome VI (1940) pp. 161-7 in a
reprinted article entitled “Les Monuments Coptes
d’apres le Pere Michel Jullien.” The article had
been written during his visit to Egypt in 1902. In it
he asserts that the Copts never destroyed the age-
old temples, but rather conserved them that they
may transform them into churches.
