The Churches of Egypt: From the Journey of the Holy Family to the Present Day.
Norris, Frederick W.
The Churches of Egypt: From the Journey of the Holy Family to the
Present Day.
By Gawdat Gabra and Gertrud J. M. van Loon, with Darlene L. Brooks
Hedstrom. Edited by Carolyn Ludwig. Photographs by Sherif Sonbol. Cairo:
The American Univ. in Cairo Press, 2007. (A Ludwig Publishing Edition.)
Pp. 330. E 350 [pounds sterling] / $59.95.
A number of books share a title similar to The Churches of Egypt,
but this one is in a class by itself. Recent research and discoveries
are reflected in the articles, but the book is remarkable primarily
because of Sherif Sonbol's breathtaking photographs. Sonbol not
only brings out the mystique of modern edifices with his sense of
lighting, sun and artificial, as well as focus, but also preserves the
fading images that time effaces from the ancient buildings. Were any
reader not a bibliophile, a number of the pictures would be cut out and
framed. Some require double pages, and one demands a four-page foldout.
Because the photographs treat both freestanding and monastic churches,
the tome is especially rich.
The introduction emphasizes where the lists of churches and
monasteries appear in important medieval Arabic histories. Gabra is a
visiting professor at Claremont Graduate School. His eight-page
historical summary is solid and enlightening, the best short piece on
this subject that I have encountered. Hedstrom's overview of the
architecture pulls you into the plans. Both she and van Loon are
independent researchers. The latter describes the art so well that you
anticipate the photographs. There are articles for each church.
Footnotes, bibliographic references, a bibliography, and a glossary
offer assistance. Missing are the dimensions of the church plans and
their compass orientation that one finds in archaeological reports. The
end maps, so beautifully rendered, might have included all the
place-names mentioned.
The authors thank the many Egyptians who made their travels
possible and thus indicate how delicate it is in the Middle East to get
permission for the visits necessary to study churches. Carolyn Ludwig,
the editor and publisher, has fine artistic judgment and knows where to
get great books assembled. For any volume, being marked "A Ludwig
Publishing Edition" means high quality. The paper used receives the
text and the photos well. The American University in Cairo Press has
farmed this volume out to a Chinese publisher, which explains why a book
of over 300 photographs can be purchased for under $45 from Amazon.com.
Frederick W. Norris, Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at
Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, worked within a
Christian church research institute and congregation in Tubingen, West
Germany (1972-77).
