antinoopolis (Arabic, Ansina). [The entry on this ancient town in Upper Egypt consists of two articles: Literary and Archaeological Sources; and Architecture.] Literary and Archaeological Sources In the fourth and fifth centuries the town of Antinoopolis flourished, for it was the capital of the province of the Thebaid as far as Aswan. The nuns were numerous, and the hermits and monks lived in the vicinity. This we learn from contemporary documents: the texts relating to Saint pachomius repeatedly speak of it; the letter of ammon quotes one of the monks living at Antinoopolis (ed. Halkin and Festugière, 1982, pp. 115, 164); Palladius Historia Lausiaca speaks of the twelve convents of women in the town of Antinoopolis and of the 1,200 hermits living around the town. It speaks of the monasteries and of the caves where they lived (1898, Vol. 1, pp. 151-54). In the sixth century, John Moschus still knows this monastic community (Chaps. 143 and 161, PG 87). The Coptic texts also mention two places where veneration was paid in particular to the relics of the saints Claudius and Colluthus (Drescher, 1942, p. 77; Muyser, 1937, p. 21; Till, 1935-1936, Vol. 1, pp. 168, 181; Godron, 1970, p. 566).
In the Middle Ages the only author who gives a general view is abu salih the armenian (beginning of thirteenth century). He wrote after the destruction of Ansina by Salah al-Din (Saladin, 1169-1193), according to A. Grohmann (1959, p. 44b). Abu Salih (The Churches, 1895, pp. 228-29, 244-45) places the monastery at Antinoopolis, no doubt through confusion between the place-names Ansina and Isna, then the monastery of the great saint Shinudah, which he puts at the mountain Andariba. We may wonder if the author has not confused Andariba and Atrib, and must also remember that the province at this period was called Taha wa-Shinudah (cf. Grohmann, 1959, p. 43a). We may raise the question of the existence of another celebrated monastery dedicated to Saint Shinudah, whose name was added to that of the province. Abu Salih also names the monastery of Saint Colluthus with his relics, that of Abu Tabyah with his relics, and finally the dayr al-khadim, which al-maqrizi and the State of the Provinces place in the province of al-Bahnasa. Abu Salih thus seems rather confused about the region of Antinoopolis. Al-Maqrizi (1853, Vol. 2, p. 502) names only the monastery of Yuhannis al-Qasir near Antinoopolis. We must also note the testimony of the travelers, for they saw the town before its remains were used for the building of a sugar works at Rudah. We may note in particular:
1. The anonymous Venetian of 1589 who describes ancient Antinoopolis in detail (Voyages en Egypte, 1971, pp. 57-63). 2. J. vansleb, who in 1673 spent several days at Abu Hinnis (1677, pp. 141-52; Eng. ed., 1678, pp. 232-40). He also saw the tomb of Ammonius, martyr bishop of Isna, transformed into a mosque, and thought that Shaykh ‘Abadah (the present name of the village close to the ruins of Antinoopolis) comes from a confusion between the appellation ‘abid (devout), given to Ammonius and misunderstood by the Arabs, and Abadah, the name of the village.
3. C. sicard, who in 1714 described at some length what he saw at Antinoopolis, and in particular the inscription mentioning Saint Colluthus (1982, Vol. 2, pp. 82-110; Vol. 3, pp. 60-63). 4. Father Jullien, who toward 1890 still saw the church of Saint Ammonius "on the river's edge" (Munier, 1940, pp. 158ff.). Two series of excavations have been carried out in the town and the necropolises that surround it.
1. Between 1898 and 1910 Gayet excavated especially the necropolises. A critical account of these excavations is given by H. Leclercq in Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie (Vol. 1, pt. 2 cols. 2326-60) and by A. Mallon in the same dictionary (Vol. 3, cols. 2819-86). Their information was completed by G. Lefebvre (1910, 1915). A general view with a bibliography on the subject can be found in H. Munier (1949).
2. Since 1936 the Italian missions from the universities of Rome and Florence have excavated chiefly the town (Breccia and Donadoni, 1938; Donadoni, 1974, 1975).