5/14/98: Determined not to miss Coptic Cairo we picked up a taxi right outside the apartment door and headed to the Christian part of town.
NOTE: Photo above is a detail of the entrance door to “The Hanging Church” in Cairo, Egypt.
5/14/23: It is estimated that about 10% of the population of Cairo are Christians. Of that group, about 90% belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. I think it was providential that our taxi driver that morning turned out to be a Christian. His name was Wagdy, and upon hearing of our destination, he tested the waters by taking out a small, laminated photograph and asked if we knew who it was. We did not. He explained that on one side was Shenouda III, the current Pope of the Coptic Church, and on the other side was an icon of Saint Christopher. When we told him that we were Christians too, he made a gift of the photo to us, which I still have. (See below.)
We knew next to nothing about the Coptic Orthodox Church, so on the long ride through town we picked his brain about the Church and what it is like being a Christian in a country where Islam is a national religion. By the time we arrived he was so enjoying our conversation that he decided to park his taxi and join us on a couple of stops. First up was the Monastery and Church of St. George, and then “The Hanging Church.” The church was founded in the 3rd century, and the current building was erected in 690AD. The formal name is “Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church,” but gets its colloquial name from the fact that it was built on top of (or suspended over) a passage way to the gatehouse of the famous “Babylon Fortress,” built in 30BC during the reign of Caesar Augustus. That emperor and this church have more in common!
This is the same Augustus referred to in the Gospel of Luke in the account of the birth of Jesus:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. (Luke 2:1-2)
The Gospel of Matthew alludes to another part of the early life of Jesus:
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:13-15)
The Coptic Orthodox Church has long-standing tradition about Jesus’ childhood in Egypt. Included below is an illustration on a panel in the “Hanging Church” that maps the journeys of Joseph, Mary and Jesus during his childhood in Egypt. (See photo below.)
Besides turning out to be quite a tour guide, Wagdy turned out to be a fast friend and a dear brother in Christ. Before he had to move on to his work day, we took time to pray together on the streets of “old Cairo.” He was so overjoyed to have unexpected and sweet fellowship that he refused to take money for the taxi fare. We refused to let him make such a sacrifice, considering we were as wealthy as kings compared to him.
Then we went into The Coptic Museum after he drove off to work, and this museum was every bit as exciting as The Egyptian Museum had been. Later in the evening we helped to make pizza with Nick and some friends, and then played some board games before turning in.
