Archaeological and Multidisciplinary Investigation of the White Monastery Federation, near Sohag, Egypt
FAIN: RZ-50431-05
Temple University (Philadelphia, PA 19122-6003)
Elizabeth Stinette Bolman (Project Director: November 2004 to April 2008)
Excavation and analysis of an important Coptic architectural complex (fourth through thirteenth century, C.E.) that promises to yield valuable evidence bearing on late antique monasticism. (36 months)
This is a request for funding for the archaeological survey, excavation, conservation, analysis and publication of a uniquely well-attested monastic settlement outside of Sohag, Egypt. The prolific author and early monastic leader St. Shenoute of Atripe (346-465) established a monastic federation comprised of two men’s monasteries, a nunnery, and some hermitages. Uniquely at this site, materials and texts from all major categories of evidence have survived. The site is now at great risk. A Consortium of scholars has been studying the site from several disciplinary perspectives. With the results of the proposed excavations, at this remarkably rich site, we will be able to increase our understanding of early monasticism exponentially.
Associated Products
“Shenoute and a Newly Discovered Tomb Chapel at the White Monastery,” (Article)Title: “Shenoute and a Newly Discovered Tomb Chapel at the White Monastery,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman, Stephen Davis and Gillian Pyke
Abstract: First post-conservation publication of a newly discovered tomb.
Year: 2010
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Early Christian Studies
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
“The Tomb of St. Shenoute? More Results from the White Monastery (Dayr Anba Shenouda), Sohag,” (Article)Title: “The Tomb of St. Shenoute? More Results from the White Monastery (Dayr Anba Shenouda), Sohag,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman et al
Abstract: Article on conservation work in a newly discovered painted tomb.
Year: 2011
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Bulletin of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)
Publisher: ARCE
“A Late Antique Funerary Chapel at the White Monastery (Dayr Anba Shenouda), Sohag,” (Article)Title: “A Late Antique Funerary Chapel at the White Monastery (Dayr Anba Shenouda), Sohag,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman et al
Abstract: Publication on archaeological work at the White Monastery.
Year: 2009
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Bulletin of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)
Publisher: ARCE
“Late Antique and Medieval Painted Decoration at the White Monastery (Dayr al-Abiad), Sohag,” (Article)Title: “Late Antique and Medieval Painted Decoration at the White Monastery (Dayr al-Abiad), Sohag,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman et al
Abstract: article on a survey of paintings at the White Monastery
Year: 2007
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Bulletin of the American Research Center in Egypt
Publisher: ARCE
“The White Monastery Federation (Sohag, Egypt),” (Article)Title: “The White Monastery Federation (Sohag, Egypt),”
Author: Stephen Davis and Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: encyclopedia entry on the White Monastery
Year: 2012
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Publisher: Blackwell Reference Online
The White Monastery Project (Web Resource)Title: The White Monastery Project
Author: Bentley Layton et al
Abstract: Website introducing the monuments and the archaeological, conservation and documentation work being undertaken.
Year: 2009
Primary URL:
http://www.yale.edu/egyptology/ae_white.htmPrimary URL Description: Yale University collaborated with me in my NEH funded work, and have created a website on it for the public.
Materializing Salvation in Late Antique and Medieval Egypt: the Case of the Red and White Monasteries (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Materializing Salvation in Late Antique and Medieval Egypt: the Case of the Red and White Monasteries
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: I taught a graduate class on the White Monastery (and its associated community at the Red Monastery) at Temple University. The class was designed to familiarize the students with the monuments, and also plan an exhibition on them.
Year: 2009
Audience: Graduate
Art and Salvation: The Red and White Monasteries (Exhibition)Title: Art and Salvation: The Red and White Monasteries
Curator: Elizabeth Bolman and graduate student Agnieszka Szymanska
Abstract: The exhibition was mounted in the large front atrium of the Tyler School of Art, Temple U., in Sept. - Oct. 2010. It was on the monuments, their history and function as tools for salvation, and also on their current relevance. Two artists (also faculty at Tyler) contributed works of art inspired by the monasteries.
Year: 2009
“Second Report on the Excavation of the SCA in the Area of the Monastery of Shenute at Sohag" (Article)Title: “Second Report on the Excavation of the SCA in the Area of the Monastery of Shenute at Sohag"
Author: Darlene Brooks Hedstrom and Peter Grossman
Abstract: Publication of work at the White Monastery by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities"
Year: 2012
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Dumbarton Oaks Papers
Publisher: Harvard University Press
"An Archaeological Mission for the White Monastery,” (Article)Title: "An Archaeological Mission for the White Monastery,”
Author: Darlene Brooks Hedstrom
Abstract: Report on archaeological work at the White Monastery.
Year: 2005
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Coptica
Publisher: St Mark Foundation
“The Tomb of Shenoute of Atripe? Post-Conservation Evidence at the White Monastery, Sohag, Upper Egypt,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “The Tomb of Shenoute of Atripe? Post-Conservation Evidence at the White Monastery, Sohag, Upper Egypt,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Presentation on the newly conserved painting in the tomb chapel of Shenoute.
Date: 10/9/10
Conference Name: Gaudeamus Igitur: Symposium in Honor of Dale Kinney
“The Red and White Monastery Projects, 2000 – 2009: Conservation, Archaeology and Interpretation,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “The Red and White Monastery Projects, 2000 – 2009: Conservation, Archaeology and Interpretation,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Overview of work at the White and Red Monasteries
Date: 12/20/09
Conference Name: Centinial Lecture of the Friends of the Coptic Museum
“Discovering Early Byzantine Monasticism in Upper Egypt: Art, Archaeology and Conservation,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “Discovering Early Byzantine Monasticism in Upper Egypt: Art, Archaeology and Conservation,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Discussion of the significance of the findings at the Red and White Monasteries
Date: 11/18/09
Conference Name: Kurt Weitzmann lecture, Princeton University
“The Art of Monasticism: Aesthetic Manifestations of the Angelic Life in Late Antique Egypt,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “The Art of Monasticism: Aesthetic Manifestations of the Angelic Life in Late Antique Egypt,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Discussion of the significance of the paintings at the Red and White Monasteries.
Date: 4/15/09
Conference Name: Dumbarton Oaks
“Painting Monastic Identity in the Shenoutian Federation,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “Painting Monastic Identity in the Shenoutian Federation,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Discussion of the painting of St. Shenoute in a newly discovered tomb at the White Monastery as an agent of identity construction.
Date: 9/28/08
Conference Name: panel on: “Saints and Identity: Use and Abuse of Holy Patrons in Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt,” International Association for Coptic Studies, Cairo.
“Upper Egypt, Late Antique Aesthetics, and Transformative Conservation at the Red and White Monasteries,” (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: “Upper Egypt, Late Antique Aesthetics, and Transformative Conservation at the Red and White Monasteries,”
Author: Elizabeth Bolman
Abstract: Lecture on the archaeological and conservation work at the Red and White Monasteries.
Date: 11/15/06
Conference Name: American Institute of Archaeology, Honolulu Chapter