DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26282#0037
Chapter Three
THE CATHEDRAL OF AETIOS
3.1. The bishopric of Pachoras
The Pachoras bishopric is the only episcopal see
in Nubia to have a list preserved of those in
charge of the church province. Recorded on the
wall of the apse in the baptistery of the Faras
cathedral, the list starts with the first bishop,
Aetios, and runs through to Iesu II, who died
around 1175 (Jakobielski 1972: 160-168). The
only bishop omitted from the list is Marianos
(1005-1036), who died at Qasr Ibrim (Plumley
1971; Kubinska 1974: 38-40); also missing are
the last stewards of the cathedral from the late
12th, 13 th and first half of the 14th centuries
(Godlewski 1995.1). The list of bishops is only
indirect evidence for when the bishopric was
established. Jakobielski (1972: 26-30) believes
this event to have taken place in the late 620s
on the grounds of the baptistery list and
a foundation stele belonging to the cathedral of
Paulos. From the stele, we can surmise that
Bishop Paulos, fifth in line according to the list,
held office in 707 and presumably for some years
before that.
The first bishop of Pachoras to be appointed
was Aetios, known only from the said Faras list.
Actually, Jakobielski had to reconstruct the begin-
ning of the name. There is little evidence for the
early bishops of Pachoras. The first to be known
from a source other than the list is the fourth in
line, Bishop Pilatos, who also has two monograms
preserved on surviving pieces of architectural
decoration (Jakobielski 1972: 30-31). These two
objects would seem to argue in favor of this bishop
being active in building, something that should be
kept in mind when considering the chronology of
the first Faras cathedral.
In point of fact, the erection of the Faras
cathedral is attributed to Bishop Aetios. The name
itself is not known from Nubia and hardly
common in Egypt. Jakobielski was of the opinion
that the first bishop of Pachoras may have been of
Byzantine origin (1972: 28). In the light of this
fact, it might be of consequence to review the
situation from a historical standpoint. To begin,
the 620s were an important, if difficult period for
Christian Nubia. Violent expansion by the
Sassanids, who took Egypt in 618 (Altheim-Stiehl
1992; McCoull 1992) and may have also
detoured to Nobadia (Godlewski 2004: 58), not
only impacted the church in Alexandria, but also
quickened political development in Nubia. Weak-
ened after the Sassanid raid, Nobadia fell easy
prey to Makuria’s expansionist policies, which led
to Nobadia’s incorporation in the late 620s
(Godlewski 2004, 58-61) and the introduction
of a single uniform church system subject to the
metropolitan in Dongola. It was this metropolitan
presumably who established the see at Pachoras at
this time. It is hardly likely that this initiative
came from Alexandria. Incapacitated as it was by
the Sassanids, with many of the bishops not
residing in their sees for fear of repression, the
Church in Alexandria was hardly in a position to
look to the sacral buildings of Egypt, not to
mention elsewhere. It is not even clear whether
after Longinus’ return from Nobadia in 574 a new
bishop was appointed. There is no evidence and
the rivalry between Makuria and Nobadia,
coupled with Byzantine policy with regard to
the Monophysites, may have resulted in the
Nobadian church not having a successor to
Longinus residing anywhere in Nobadian terri-
tory. Neither are we aware of what happened to
Bishop Longinus, who had converted the king-
dom of Alodia in the early 680s and organized the
church structure there (Richter 2002: 51-57, 78-
85), as well as erecting his first episcopal church,
possibly Church A (Welsby, Daniels 1990), at the
Alodian capital of Soba. Taking these circum-
stances into consideration, it seems highly pro-
bable that Aetios was the first Melkite bishop to
have been appointed to the see in Pachoras by the
metropolitan of Dongola.
Assuming the Sassanids had indeed reached
Pachoras, they would have behaved like in
Palestine and Egypt, destroying many religious
structures in Nobadia, as well as the fortifications
at Pachoras, Ikhmindi and other localities (God-
lewski 2004: 58). Hence, it is quite tenable that
Bishop Aetios was forced to build a new church at
Pachoras not only for sectarian purposes. How-
ever, it should be kept in mind that testimony of
building activity in the form of monogrammed
PAM Supplement Series 1
33
THE CATHEDRAL OF AETIOS
3.1. The bishopric of Pachoras
The Pachoras bishopric is the only episcopal see
in Nubia to have a list preserved of those in
charge of the church province. Recorded on the
wall of the apse in the baptistery of the Faras
cathedral, the list starts with the first bishop,
Aetios, and runs through to Iesu II, who died
around 1175 (Jakobielski 1972: 160-168). The
only bishop omitted from the list is Marianos
(1005-1036), who died at Qasr Ibrim (Plumley
1971; Kubinska 1974: 38-40); also missing are
the last stewards of the cathedral from the late
12th, 13 th and first half of the 14th centuries
(Godlewski 1995.1). The list of bishops is only
indirect evidence for when the bishopric was
established. Jakobielski (1972: 26-30) believes
this event to have taken place in the late 620s
on the grounds of the baptistery list and
a foundation stele belonging to the cathedral of
Paulos. From the stele, we can surmise that
Bishop Paulos, fifth in line according to the list,
held office in 707 and presumably for some years
before that.
The first bishop of Pachoras to be appointed
was Aetios, known only from the said Faras list.
Actually, Jakobielski had to reconstruct the begin-
ning of the name. There is little evidence for the
early bishops of Pachoras. The first to be known
from a source other than the list is the fourth in
line, Bishop Pilatos, who also has two monograms
preserved on surviving pieces of architectural
decoration (Jakobielski 1972: 30-31). These two
objects would seem to argue in favor of this bishop
being active in building, something that should be
kept in mind when considering the chronology of
the first Faras cathedral.
In point of fact, the erection of the Faras
cathedral is attributed to Bishop Aetios. The name
itself is not known from Nubia and hardly
common in Egypt. Jakobielski was of the opinion
that the first bishop of Pachoras may have been of
Byzantine origin (1972: 28). In the light of this
fact, it might be of consequence to review the
situation from a historical standpoint. To begin,
the 620s were an important, if difficult period for
Christian Nubia. Violent expansion by the
Sassanids, who took Egypt in 618 (Altheim-Stiehl
1992; McCoull 1992) and may have also
detoured to Nobadia (Godlewski 2004: 58), not
only impacted the church in Alexandria, but also
quickened political development in Nubia. Weak-
ened after the Sassanid raid, Nobadia fell easy
prey to Makuria’s expansionist policies, which led
to Nobadia’s incorporation in the late 620s
(Godlewski 2004, 58-61) and the introduction
of a single uniform church system subject to the
metropolitan in Dongola. It was this metropolitan
presumably who established the see at Pachoras at
this time. It is hardly likely that this initiative
came from Alexandria. Incapacitated as it was by
the Sassanids, with many of the bishops not
residing in their sees for fear of repression, the
Church in Alexandria was hardly in a position to
look to the sacral buildings of Egypt, not to
mention elsewhere. It is not even clear whether
after Longinus’ return from Nobadia in 574 a new
bishop was appointed. There is no evidence and
the rivalry between Makuria and Nobadia,
coupled with Byzantine policy with regard to
the Monophysites, may have resulted in the
Nobadian church not having a successor to
Longinus residing anywhere in Nobadian terri-
tory. Neither are we aware of what happened to
Bishop Longinus, who had converted the king-
dom of Alodia in the early 680s and organized the
church structure there (Richter 2002: 51-57, 78-
85), as well as erecting his first episcopal church,
possibly Church A (Welsby, Daniels 1990), at the
Alodian capital of Soba. Taking these circum-
stances into consideration, it seems highly pro-
bable that Aetios was the first Melkite bishop to
have been appointed to the see in Pachoras by the
metropolitan of Dongola.
Assuming the Sassanids had indeed reached
Pachoras, they would have behaved like in
Palestine and Egypt, destroying many religious
structures in Nobadia, as well as the fortifications
at Pachoras, Ikhmindi and other localities (God-
lewski 2004: 58). Hence, it is quite tenable that
Bishop Aetios was forced to build a new church at
Pachoras not only for sectarian purposes. How-
ever, it should be kept in mind that testimony of
building activity in the form of monogrammed
PAM Supplement Series 1
33