Recentagricultural efforts in the area have led to a significant rise in thewater table, which has caused a number of the site's buildings to collapse or become unstable. The site was added to theList of World Heritage in Danger in 2001. Authorities were forced to place sand in the bases of buildings that are most endangered in the site.
Menas of Alexandria wasmartyred in the late 3rd or early 4th century (seeEarly Christianity).[2]: 16 Various 5th-century and later accounts give slightly differing versions of his burial and the subsequent founding of his church. The essential elements are that his body was taken from Alexandria on acamel, which was led into the desert beyondLake Mareotis. At some point, the camel refused to continue walking, despite all efforts to goad it. This was taken as a sign of divine will, and the body's attendants buried it on that spot.
Most versions of the story state that the location of the tomb was then forgotten until its miraculous rediscovery by a local shepherd. From the EthiopianSynaxarium (E.A.W. Budge, trans.):
And God wished to reveal the [place of the] body of Saint Mînâs. And there was in that desert a certain shepherd, and one day a sheep which was suffering from the disease of the scab went to that place, and dipped himself in the water of the little spring which was near the place, and he rolled about in it and was healed straightway. And when the shepherd saw this thing, and understood the miracle, he marvelled exceedingly and was astonished. And afterwards he used to take some of the dust from that shrine, and mix it with water, and rub it on the sheep, and if they were ill with the scab, they were straightway healed thereby. And this he used to do at all times, and he healed all the sick who came to him by this means.
Word of the shepherd's healing powers spread rapidly. The synaxarium describesConstantine I sending his sickdaughter to the shepherd to be cured, and credits her with findingMenas' body, after which Constantine ordered the construction of a church at the site. (Some versions of the story replace Constantine with the late-5th century emperorZeno, butarchaeologists have dated the original foundation to the late 4th century).[3] By the late 4th century, it was a significant pilgrimage site named Martyroupolis,[4] where Christians sought healing and other miracles.[5][6]Menas flasks are a particular type of smallterracottaampullae sold to pilgrims as containers forholy water or holy vigillamp-oil which are found very widely around the Western Mediterranean, dating roughly from the century and a half before the Muslim conquest. They are cheaply made but impressed with images of the saint that are of significance in the study oficonography; it is presumed they were made around the city.[7]
During the reign ofArcadius, the local archbishop observed that crowds were overwhelming the smallchurch. He wrote to the eastern emperor, who ordered a major expansion of the facilities, the first of three major church expansions which would eventually take place. By the end ofLate antiquity, Abu Mena had become the leading pilgrimage site in Egypt.[8][9]
Around the mid-6th century, the port town ofPhiloxenite was established on the southern shore of Lake Mareotis to support pilgrimage to Abu Mena. Built on the ruins of a Roman settlement, it served as a transit hub fit equipped with rest houses where pilgrims could stay before continuing their journey. Its construction is believed to have been financed by Philoxenos, a prominent figure in Byzantine politics at the time.[10]
The site was first excavated from 1905 to 1907. These efforts uncovered a large basilica church, an adjacent church which had probably housed thesaint's remains, andRoman baths.[11]
A later, long-term series of excavations by theDAI ended in 1998. The most recent excavations uncovered a largedormitory for poor pilgrims, with separate wings for men and for women and children. A complex to the south of the great basilica was likely the residence of thehegoumenos, orabbot. Excavations suggest that the greatxenodocheion, a reception area for pilgrims, may originally have been acemetery. Abaptistery, adjacent to the site of the original church, appears to have gone through at least three phases of development. Also uncovered was a complex ofwine presses, including underground storage rooms, which dates to the 6th and 7th centuries.[8]
The site of Abu Mena was added toUNESCO'sWorld Heritage in Danger list in 2001 due to the threat of rising local water tables. This rise in water is due to agricultural development programs aimed at reclaiming the land. The hard clay soil that surrounds the site can support buildings when dry. However, it becomes unstable when wet and has led to the collapse of cisterns and other structures about the ancient city.[12] As the ground collapses, large cavities form enveloping the overlying structures.
Immediate action was taken to fill the bases of particularly important sites with sand and close them off to the public. In attempts to counteract this phenomenon, the Supreme Council of Antiquities spent 45 million digging trenches and adding pumps in hopes of decreasing the pressure of irrigation. In addition, a fence was added to prevent encroachment and threat.[13] These proved to be successful and the site was removed from UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger list in 2009.[14]
Since then, water has continued to rise and cause destruction of monuments. The site is once again on UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger list. Factors found to negatively impact the property most recently in 2018 include housing, management activities, managements systems/plan, and water.[15]
Recent conservation endeavors at the site of Abu Mena involve the implementation of advanced drainage systems and community engagement programs to mitigate the ongoing threats posed by rising water levels and other factors.The Egyptian government has implemented emergency plans and indeed solved the problem with the water table, but the government does not currently have a thorough management plan or anything related to it. Since UNESCO requires a management plan for all the cultural and natural sites, several proposals have been made. The most reliable option is the use of a smart, sustainable membrane. It has been designed to solve issues with ventilation, energy, and water on the site. This plan involves building a dome-shaped smart membrane, which would provide the site an appropriate amount of airflow (as is required for every world heritage site). The smart-membrane dome would also provide a self-sustainable energy supply through solar cells located on the outside layer of the dome. The membrane would also be designed to have a filtration system for dehumidifying the air by filtering the water out of it so that the site can be better preserved.[16]
^Grossmann, Peter (1998). "The Pilgrimage Center of Abû Mînâ". in D. Frankfurter (ed.),Pilgrimage & Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt. Leiden-Boston-Köln, Brill: p. 282
^Talbot, Alice-Mary (2002). "Pilgrimage to Healing Shrines: The Evidence of Miracle Accounts".Dumbarton Oaks Papers.56. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University:153–173.doi:10.2307/1291860.JSTOR1291860.
^Weitzmann, Kurt (1977). "The Late Roman World".The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin.35 (2). The Metropolitan Museum of Art:2–96.doi:10.2307/3259887.JSTOR3259887.
^Wilber, Donald N. (1940). "The Coptic Frescoes of Saint Menas at Medinet Habu".The Art Bulletin.22 (2). College Art Association:86–103.doi:10.2307/3046689.JSTOR3046689.
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