The Nitrian Desert is a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

region in northwestern

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, lying between

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

west of the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

. It is known for its history of

Christian monasticism Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of Christians who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural ex ...

."Nitrian Desert", in F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', 3rd rev. ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005, online 2009). There were three monastic centres in the Nitrian Desert in

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

. Around 330,

Macarius the Egyptian Macarius of Egypt, ''Osios Makarios o Egyptios''; cop, ⲁⲃⲃⲁ ⲙⲁⲕⲁⲣⲓ. (c. 300 – 391) was a Christian monk and hermit. He is also known as Macarius the Elder or Macarius the Great. Life St. Macarius was born in Lower Egypt. ...

established a monastic colony in the

Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt d ...

(Scetis), far from cultivable land. In the 330s,

Saint Amun Ammon, Amun ( cop, Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ), Ammonas ( grc-gre, Ἀμμώνας), Amoun (), or Ammonius the Hermit (; el, Ἀμμώνιος) was a 4th-century Christian ascetic and the founder of one of the most celebrated monastic commun ...

founded Nitria, only southeast of Alexandria, using the rules of Saint Anthony. He founded a second centre,

Kellia Kellia ("the Cells"), referred to as "the innermost desert", was a 4th-century Egyptian Christian monastic community spread out over many square kilometers in the Nitrian Desert about 40 miles south of Alexandria. It was one of three centers of ...

, on Anthony's suggestion, deeper into the desert. Kellia has been the object of scientific excavations.Janet Timbie, "Egypt", in William M. Johnston and Christopher Kleinhenz, eds., ''Encyclopedia of Monasticism'' (Routledge, 2015), pp. 432–435. Only Scetis in the Wadi El Natrun remains a monastic site today.Roger S. Bagnall and Dominic W. Rathbone, eds., ''Egypt from Alexander to the Early Christians: An Archaeological and Historical Guide'' (Getty Publications, 2004)
pg. 108–115
(map on p. 109).

References

{{coord, 30.42, 30.14, display=title Deserts of Egypt *

See also

References