Coptic bishop reopens monasteries

1261

In Mamluk Egypt, the patriarch of Alexandria negotiated permission to restore several Coptic monasteries in the Wadi Natrun, which had fallen into ruin during periods of persecution. The ancient desert tradition of Egyptian Christian asceticism received a brief reprieve. The monks who returned to these monasteries maintained the Coptic liturgical tradition and manuscript-copying practices that preserved one of Christianity's oldest literary heritages.