Wadi El Natrun
| |
|---|---|
Depression | |
 Monastery of the Syriacs in Wadi el Natrun | |
  Wadi El Natrun Location in Egypt | |
| Coordinates:30°35′N30°20′E / 30.583°N 30.333°E /30.583; 30.333 | |
| Country | Egypt |
| Governorate | Beheira |
| Area | |
• Total | 265.7 sq mi (688.2 km2) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 88,380 |
| • Density | 332.6/sq mi (128.4/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Wadi El Natrun (Arabic:وادي النطرون,lit. 'Valley ofNatron';Coptic:Ϣⲓϩⲏⲧ,romanized: Šihēt,lit. 'measure of the hearts'[2]) is adepression in northernEgypt that is located 23 m (75 ft) below sea level and 38 m (125 ft) below theNile River level. The valley contains severalalkaline lakes,natron-rich salt deposits, salt marshes and freshwater marshes.[3]
InChristian literature it is usually known asScetis (Σκήτις inHellenistic Greek) orSkete (Σκήτη, pluralΣκήτες inecclesiastical Greek). It is one of the three early Christian monastic centers located in theNitrian Desert of the northwesternNile Delta.[4] The other two monastic centers areNitria andKellia.[4] Scetis, now called Wadi El Natrun, is best known today because its ancient monasteries remain in use, unlike Nitria and Kellia which have only archaeological remains.[4] The desertified valley around Scetis in particular may be called theDesert of Scetis.[5]
Wadi al-Natrun is the common name for a desert valley located west of the Nile Delta, along the El Tahrir markaz, which is about 10 km west of the entrance toSadat City on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, and about 50 km from Khattabah on the Nile (Rashid Branch), and it falls below the level of the plateau surface surrounding it about 50 meters. The length of this depression ranges between 5, 55 and 60 km, while its average width is 10 km, and its deepest point reaches 24 meters below sea level. The depression is the smallest depression in the Egyptian Western Desert, with an area of about 500 km2. Therefore, it is true that it is a depression and not a valley, because the region is a closed depression that has a beginning and an end, and it has no source, estuary or tributaries, so the launch of the word "Wadi" on the depression is not topographically correct.[6]
The Wadi contains 12 lakes, the total surface area of which is 10 km square and their average depth is only 2 m. The color of these lakes is reddish blue because its water is saturated with theNatron salt.[7]
Fossils dating to thePliocene era (5.3-2.6 million years ago) have been discovered in the Wadi El Natrun region, including the long-snouted crocodileEuthecodon,[8]softshell turtles,[9] the camelParacamelus,[10] the three toedhipparionine equineCormohipparion,[11] the primitive hippopotamusArchaeopotamus andrewsi,[12] antelope includingreedbuck (Renunca)[13] andAlcelaphinae,[14] and the elephant-relativeDeinotherium.[15]
| ||||||||||
| sḫt ḥmꜣwt[16] inhieroglyphs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Era:1st Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) | ||||||||||
Natron valley is first attested in the story of theEloquent Peasant, and it is mentioned among the list of seven oases in theTemple of Edfu. InPtolemaic times it constituted part of the Nitrite nome (Ancient Greek:Νιτριώτης νομός). It was also known in Coptic asMountain of Salt (Coptic:ⲡⲧⲱⲟⲩ ⲙⲡϩⲙⲟⲩ)[16] orPhanihosem (Coptic:ⲫⲁⲛⲓϩⲟⲥⲉⲙ,lit. 'the one (place) on the natron').[17]
The importance of the Natrun valley dates back to the Pharaonic era, as theancient Egyptians and theLibyans fought many battles there. And this ended up with the Egyptians overcoming them and annexed the eastern side of the desert, which still belongs to Egypt. Then, Wadi al-Natrun became an administrative part of the country in the Pharaonic era, but there is no information about its history during their reign, and the latest writings on the wars between theLibu and the Egyptians indicate that the last of them was in 1170 BC during the reign ofRamesses III.[18]
As for the religious significance of Wadi al-Natrun, there are many discoveries that indicate that this area was considered sacred as early as year 2000 BCE at the very least. Among these discoveries is a bust of black granite dating back to the era of theSeventeenth Dynasty of the Pharaohs, and there is also a granite gate and stones from the lintel of a door bearing cartridges for KingAmenemhat I, in a place called the backbone.[19]
Thealkali lakes of the Natron Valley provided theAncient Egyptians with thesodium bicarbonate used inmummification and inEgyptian faience, and later by the Romans as a flux for glass making.
TheEgyptian Salt and Soda Company Railway was built at the end of the 19th century as a 33 miles (54 km) long narrow gauge railway with a gauge of 750 mm, which attracted the first tourists to the wadi.
The desolate region became one of Christianity's most sacred areas. TheDesert Fathers andcenobitic monastic communities used the desert's solitude and privations to develop self-discipline (asceticism). Hermit monks believed that desert life would teach them to eschew the things of this world and followGod's call. Between the 4th and 7th century AD, hundreds of thousands of people from the world over joined the hundreds of Christianmonasteries in the Nitrian Desert, centered on Nitria, Kellia and Scetis (Wadi El Natrun).
SaintMacarius of Egypt first came to Scetis (Wadi El Natrun) around 330 AD where he established a solitary monastic site.[20] His reputation attracted a loose band ofanchorites,hermits andmonks who settled nearby in individual cells. Many of them came from nearby Nitria and Kellia where they had previous experience in solitary desert living; thus the earliest cenobitic communities were a loose consolidation of like-minded monks.[4] By the end of the fourth century, four distinct communities had developed: Baramus, Macarius, Bishoi and John Kolobos. At first these communities were groupings ofcells centered on a communalchurch and facilities, but enclosed walls and watchtowers developed over time and in response to raids from desert nomads.[4] Nitria, Kellia, and Scellis also experienced internal fractures related to doctrinal disputes inEgypt.[4] At its peak the place contained 700 monasteries. The monasteries flourished during theMuslim conquest of Egypt (639–642), but in the eighth and ninth centuriestaxation and administration concerns led to conflicts with theMuslim government.[4]
Scetis was attacked by theMazices who "came sweeping off the Libyan desert" in 407-408 AD and was decimated,[21][22] causing many notableDesert Fathers to leave the region, such asAbba Anoub.[22] One of the survivors,St. Arsenius the Great, remarked in 410 that, "The world has lost Rome and the monks have lost Scetis."[21][23] As the Jesuit historian and Professor Willian J. Harmless said, "Scetis’s destruction marked a turning point in the history of early Christian monasticism. The site would be resettled a few years later, and in fact would suffer other raids, notably in 434, 444, and 570."[21]
Nitria and Kellia were eventually abandoned in the 7th and 9th centuries respectively, but Scetis continued throughout the Medieval period.[4] Although some of the individual monasteries were eventually abandoned or destroyed, four have remained in use to the present day:[4]
Some of the most renowned saints of the region include the variousDesert Fathers, includingSaint Amun,Saint Arsenius,Saint John Cassian,Saint Isidore of Scété,Saint John the Dwarf,Saint Macarius of Egypt,Saint Macarius of Alexandria,Saint Moses the Black,Saint Pishoy, Sts. Maximos and Domatios,Saint Poimen The Great andSaint Samuel the Confessor.
To this day Wadi El Natrun remains the most important center of Copticmonasticism.[24]
The environs of Wadi Natrun have been identified as the likely site of where the plane of French aviatorAntoine de Saint-Exupéry crashed on December 30, 1935. After miraculously surviving the crash, he and his plane's mechanic nearly died of thirst before being rescued by a nomad. Saint-Exupéry documented his experience in his bookWind, Sand and Stars.[25] The event is thought to have inspired his most famous work,The Little Prince.
