by Ashraf Naggui.
On Christmas Eve, it is the tradition for Coptic Orthodox Christians to light a candle before icons of the saints, either in church or in a monastery or at home.
A Coptic household is never devoid of an icon. Icons have a prominent place in the life and worship of the all Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The word 'icon' is derived from the Greek eikon or the Coptic word eikonigow both of which are similar in their pronunciation.
Icons are representations or pictures of a martyr or other saintly Christians. They usually depict specific saints, a group of saints, angels or Christ. For the most part strikingly simple, they sometimes portray a specific being, with little or no background.
Despite their simplicity, we also find groupings such as the Virgin Mary and Child, which might have somewhat elaborate backdrops.
Others may depict biblical events or other religious themes, although the latter aren't so prevalent nowadays.
There are no accurate statistics about the number of icons in Egypt, as they are hosted by a large number of churches and monasteries.
The Church of Abu Seifein in Old Cairo alone is home to about 280 icons, while Egypt's oldest extant icon is thought to be seen at Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai.
This icon was originally located in Europe, where it survived the 'icon war' that was originally launched nearly 1,300 years ago.
According to Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) statistics, there are icons in many churches and monasteries in Cairo, the most famous being the Hanging Church (el-Kenisa el-Mu'allaqa) and the Church of Abu Serga (Saint Sergius), both in Old Cairo, as well as the Church and the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary in Zuweila Alley (near Bab Zuweila, Islamic Cairo). The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary contains an icon of the Annunciation dating back to 1335.
Historians say that iconography started very early in the first three centuries of Christianity. Archaeologists agree, believing that icons first began popular among the Christian faithful, both in their homes and in churches, at the end of the third century AD.
By the late fourth or early fifth century AD, their use was widespread. According to the Arab historian el-Makrizi, Pope Cyril I hung icons in all the churches of Alexandria in the year AD 420 and then decreed that they should be hung in the other churches in Egypt.
Dr Isaac Fanous, the most famous Coptic iconographer and chairman of the Icons Institute in el-Abassiya district of Cairo, says that iconographers have to study the Bible, because for every shape there is a background history.
"Besides, every church in the world has its own icons. In Egypt, for example, icons depend on Ancient Egyptian writings, while at Saint Catherine's Monastery they are influenced by Byzantine Christianity," Dr Fanous told Al-Mosawer weekly Arabic-language magazine.
Dr Fanous, 75, has painted the icons for the Church of the Virgin in the Ard el-Golf district of Heliopolis, as well as seven churches in Los Angeles, and others in England and Canada. Dr Gawdet Gabra, peripatetic Professor of Coptic Studies, who lectures at a number of US universities, says there is a lacuna in the history of icons.
"We don't know why none of the icons painted between the eighth and 13th centuries is still in existence," he told Al-Mosawer.
"In Europe, a war on icons erupted in the eighth and ninth centuries, known as the 'icon war', when the Roman Catholic Church, acting upon an edict from the Pope in Rome, destroyed all icons in churches, as they were considered at the time to be pagan symbols," he said.
'There was a movement to eliminate icons from churches on the grounds that they were being worshipped as idols," he added.
However, he said, the war wasn't extended to Saint Catherine's Monastery because it was under the rule of Arabs.
"That is why Sinai is still home to some of the world's oldest icons. There are three Egyptian icons still in existence, dating back to the seventh century: one is a painting of Christ and Abbot Menas now in the Louvre Museum in Paris; another of Bishop Abraham is in Berlin; and the third, that depicts Saint Theodore, is in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo," he explained.
In fact, major restoration of the icons at the Coptic Museum started in 1989. They are like a living account of Egypt's history, reflecting the different civilisations that have graced the land of Egypt, starting with the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, passing through the Greek, the Roman, the Coptic and lastly the Islamic.
The Coptic Museum lies behind the walls of the famous Roman Fortress of Babylon in the ancient district of Old Cairo (Misr el-Qadima).
The area surrounding the museum abounds in many ancient places of worship that have recently been undergoing large-scale restoration work.
Five years ago, a giant project was launched by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchy and the SCA, with funds from a US research centre, to count and study more than 2,000 icons in Egypt. A register of these precious religious paintings is gradually being compiled.
