Vol.I - The Coptic Orthodox Church

2io Ancient Coptic Churches. [CH. TV.
of them ?' 'The church was falling down in 1879,
'
and doubtless they were destroyed.' What ? only
'
a ? year ago in 1879 ?' No,' he said, changing his
'
'
tone I ; mean seven years ago.'
Or seventy-seven,'
I thought ; but it was idle arguing, since obviously
the doors had been either stolen, or sold by the
priest *.
The porch of the church is used as a mandarah or
guest-room, the place of gossip and coffee. Against
each of the three walls is a wooden bench worth
noticing for its antique design. Four doors open
into the church, one north and south and two east
of the porch. But only the south door is generally
used 2 ; it leads into a small chamber from which
1 The latter seemed on all grounds most likely, and I have since
ascertained it for a fact. The price given to the priest was 100 ;
the doors adorned the buyer's house in Paris for some time,
and were ultimately resold to the British Museum, their fittest
destination if they could not remain in their place at Al Mu'allakah :
but of course they are comparatively uninteresting, and quite lost in
their present position. I have no desire to palliate the priest's con-
duct. The rudeness and cupidity of the man, the mean shifts he
found for evading the patriarch's orders and refusing admission
or information, have not prejudiced me in his favour ;
but in justice
let it be remembered that the miserable pay of the Coptic priesthood
averaging 2 monthly makes it very hard for them to
resist the offers they may receive from wealthy curiosity-hunters.
2 See plan. I may here perhaps explain how it happens that
M. Rohault de Fleury gives this same plan of Al Mu'allakah, which
he calls Sitt Miriam, and I claim as my own. It is figured in La
Messe, vol. ii. pi. ccli, together with St. Sergius, and both plans are
labelled '
d'apres M. Middleton.' The truth is that the plan
of Abu
Sargah is entirely the work of Mr. Middleton ; though I was present
when Mr. Middleton made the plan, I cannot claim any share
in it whatever. On the other hand my friend was not even in
Egypt when I made the plan of Al Mu'allakah, which I did without