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202 Oriental Cairo
Behind this screen is a perfect basih'ca presbytery, semi-
circular in form, with seats rising in tiers Hke the lecture
theatre of a hospital, and fine mosaics on the apse behind.
The Christ under the cupola is like the great mosaic Christs
of Palermo and Monreale. Abu Sefen has other screens, a
fine baldacchin like a Roman basilica, and a beautiful specimen
of the octagonal font set in a marble pavement, used
for baptism by immersion. The other Coptic churches of
old Cairo have mostly deep tanks covered over carelessly
with boards, for this ceremony. Baptism plays such a very
important part in Coptic religious ceremonials. Here, too, is
a lovely old narrow pulpit resting on fifteen marble columns,
with panels of mosaics and rare marbles. This church is
also very rich in paintings. There are sixty-five very ancient
pictures of the saints, bordering the screen round the square
in front of the choir. Abu Sefen, the Father of Two Swords,
is St. Mercurius. Guide-books have very little to say
about this church, which in some ways is the best after the
Mo'allaka.
The little church of Sitt' Miriam adjoining is perfect, and
it is ancient and characteristic, but it is very dirty and not
very beautiful. I shall describe it because it was the first
Coptic church we saw, and it is so typical. In the first
chamber we entered were two black sheep—the Egyptians
love to fatten sheep in incongruous places. The Copts
perhaps do not demand that their sacrifices should be
without blemish. The second room was surrounded with
mastabas with very dirty coverings, upon which perhaps the
faithful sleep ;
the third room looked like a mosque with a four-
of-hcarts design on its matting. It was divided into three
parts by screens, the first and second being of rude nieshre-
Inya, the third of some hard dark wood inlaid with almond-
shaped pieces of bone—a poor specimen of the favourite
woodwork of the Copts. It had a row of small pictures of
the saints along its top, and a good Byzantine ikon hanging
on it. In the chapel to the left of the sanctuary were various
old pictures, one of St. Mary suckling the infant Christ.
The room corresponding to it on the other side was a sort