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The White Monastery at Sohag in upper Egypt is one of the most impressive surviving early Christian monasteries. It may date to approximately 440 CE. It was the monastery of famous fifth-century Coptic ascetic Shenoute of Atripe, who composed many Coptic texts and struggled to eliminate remnants of pagan cults in Egypt. Its church contains one of the largest basilicas in Egypt. It is possible that as many as several thousand monks and nuns once lived here. It remains an active monastery today, and therefore is one of the oldest continuously active monasteries in the world.

Palmyra

Name: The White Monastery at Sohag

Material: White limestone

Size: Originally 75m by 35 m (246 x 115 ft)

Date: ca. 400 CE

Place of Origin: Sohag, Egypt

Location: Sohag, Egypt

Source and Registration#: Wikimedia Commons. Link to resource
Creative Commons Copyright
Attribution: Einsamer Schütze
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. (accessed April 1, 2010).

Walter E. Kaegi

Professor of History, University of Chicago