CAIRO

The Hanging Church, courtesy, Coptic-Cairo.com

The city of Cairo is the capital of Arab-occupied Egypt. It is also the seat of its government, presently headed by President Abdel Fatah al Sisi. The indigenous Copts today, have a high regard for President al Sisi which puts to rest that all Arab Muslims are evil, which they certainly are not. Should Egypt free itself from the occupation and become a Coptic state, like Israel is a Jewish state, President al Sisi could very well find himself with an honored place in society, perhaps continue as president. Unfortunately, he is just one individual and there are many more Arabs who are evil and who try to make the lives of the indigenous Egyptians a living hell. Regarding Cairo, such incidents include, but are not limited to, the following: 2009 – a Coptic protest over a church burning resulted in an Arab Muslim mob of rage that killed 9 of the protesters and injured 150; 2011 – another mob attacks two churches. Twelve are killed and 232 injured; that same year, a peaceful protest over a church burning angered an Arab Muslim mob, including members of the military, and 27 protesters were killed, 329 injured; 2016 – a suicide bomb during a church service killed 27 and injured 49; and in 2017 – Arab gunmen opened fire on a church service killing 9 and injuring 9.

History books give the foundation year of Cairo as 972 and built by the Fatimid Arabs. This, however, is not true. Present-day Cairo was actually an outgrowth of several ancient sites in the area namely, Memphis, at one time, the capital of ancient Egypt, today hovering around Cairo’s southern border. Heliopolis also served as capital when Memphis was not. It hovers on Cairo’s northern border. In between, the ancient Egyptians erected several monuments that have stood the test of time including: the Pyramid of the Pharaoh Djoser, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx. In the 6th century BCE, the Persians built a fort settlement on the Nile and called it “Babylon” after the ancient city on the Euphrates. The Persians also built a canal from the Nile (from today’s Fustat) to the Red Sea. From that time and for many centuries afterwards, Babylon gained importance while nearby Memphis, as well as Heliopolis declined. 

In the period when Egypt was under Roman occupation, it is believed, in Christian tradition, that the Cairo area was one of the places the Holy Family visited during their flight from Judea to Egypt, and they stayed at the site that became the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (today, in the neighborhood of Abu Serga). By the 4^th century, as Christianity spread in Egypt, the Copts staged a revolt against Roman rule, but it was summarily crushed resulting in the Romans establishing a fortress and settlement on the site of the old Persian structures built centuries earlier. It was that fortress settlement that became the nucleus of the Cairo proper, and Coptic Cairo in particular. In the late 4^th and early 5^th centuries, many churches were established in the area. The Hanging Church, located on the fortress grounds and so named because it was built over the southern gate, was said to have been built during the time of the Patriarch Isaac (690-692), fifty years after the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs. Eventually, it became the official seat and residence of the Coptic Pope and remained so for the next 1200 years. Alexandria remained the historic and traditional seat until today.  

Since the Arab conquest and probably until the 8^th century, the neighborhood of Fustat, the first Arab settlement in Egypt which intermittently served as capital of the local Arab occupation, was also a Coptic center. It is said that the Amr ibn al As Mosque, named after the leader of the Arab conquerors, was built in part from columns stolen from local Coptic churches.

The Moqattam area of Cairo was, according to Coptic tradition, the scene of the moving of the Moqattam Mountain. Al-Mu’izz, a Fatimid Arab caliph, asked Patriarch Abraham (reigned 975-978), the 62^nd patriarch, to prove the truth of a verse in the Bible (Matthew 17:20) that he believed related to the Mountain: “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” After three days of praying and fasting for guidance in front of a painting of the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary appeared to the Patriarch in a vision and instructed him on his response. When he returned to the caliph, he made the Mountain move. Al-Mu’izz was therefore convinced of the truth of the Christian faith and thereafter, allowed the Coptic Church certain privileges. However, from the 12^th century onward, the Copts suffered persecution and high taxation imposed on them by the Arab authorities. This problem became so acute, that they felt forced to sell one of their churches, built in the 8^th century, to the local Jewish community who thereupon built the Ben Ezra Synagogue which still stands (empty) today.

Since 1300, the Papal seat was transferred several times to different locations around Cairo: in 1300, to the Church of Saint Mercurius; in 1400, the Church of Saint Mary in Harat Zawila neighborhood; in 1660, under Pope Matthew IV, to the Church of the Virgin Mary in Harat Elroum neighborhood; in 1800, under Pope Mark VIII, to Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, in Azbakeya neighborhood; and in 1971, to Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Abbassiya neighborhood where it remains today.

In 1908, after receiving approval and a number of silver antiquities from Patriarch Cyril V and raising funds by public subscription, a certain Marcus Simaika Pasha built the Coptic Museum and inaugurated it on March 14, 1910. It was a modern architectural wonder, competing with some of the local churches. Some of the most prominent churches found in and around Cairo today, aside from those mentioned above, include: Saint George and Saint Abraam, Saint Gawargious and Saint Anthony, and Saint Mark Churches, located in Heliopolis; Saint Marc, and Saint Mona Churches in Giza; Saint Mary in Masarra; Saint Mary and Saint Bishoy, and Saint Mary and Saint Rewies, in Abbassiya; Saint Mary in Zeitoon; Saint Saman el Dabagh in Moqattam; Saint Mary, Archangel Saint Mikhail, Saint Anthony, and the Martyrs Saint Philopateur and Saint Demyana Churches in Shoubra; Saint George in el Zaher; Saint Mary in Ard el Golf; Saint Marc in el Maady; The Virgin Mary in el Faggala; Saint Mary in el Matareyta; Saint George in Almaza; Saint Mary, and Saint Mina Churches in Old Cairo; Saint Barbara in el Sharabiya; Saint George and Saint Abo Sefein, and Saint Mary Churches in Central Cairo; Saint Mona in al Farag; the Holy Virgin in Babylon el Darag; Saint Menas in Fum al Khalig; and Saint Mona in Garden City.