Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Christian missionary
Longinus (Greek: Λογγῖνος; fl.565–580) was a ByzantineMonophysite missionary and the first ordained Christian bishop in Nubia. The main sources for his life are his contemporary and fellow Monophysite, John of Ephesus, who knew him; the 9th-century historian Eutychius of Alexandria; and the 15th-century Muslim historian al-Maqrizi.[1] John includes a letter written by Longinus in his chronicle.[2]
Longinus was a native of Alexandria in Egypt, who became a member of the Church of Antioch. The Patriarch Paul II sent him on a mission to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, where he was detained on the orders of the Emperor Justinian I. He was even imprisoned for a time by Justinian's successor, Justin II, on account of his Monophysitism. He escaped from prison and returned to Egypt in 567.[1]
Missionary activity in Nobadia
Model of the ruins of Faras Cathedral, probably built over the mudbrick church founded by Longinus.
On his deathbed,[2] Patriarch Theodosius I of Alexandria commissioned Longinus to continue the evangelisation of the Nubian kingdom of Nobadia that had begun under Julian the Evangelist and Theodore of Philae in 543, but had been interrupted in 551. Longinus arrived in Nobadia in 569 and remained for six years.[1] He built the first church in Nubia, probably the mudbrick building which was discovered beneath the ruins of Faras Cathedral. He also established clergy and a liturgy, effectively institutionalising the Nubian church.[3]
In 575, Longinus was consulted by Syrian envoys concerning the readmission of the deposed Patriarch Paul II into communion.[4] That same year, Longinus returned to Alexandria because Theodosius had died and the patriarchal office was vacant. In a disputed election, Longinus took the side of the Syriac candidate over the Egyptian. When his candidate lost, he was forced to go into exile in Arabia. In 580, he returned to Nobadia.[1] While he was there the king of Nobadia received a letter from the king of Alodia requesting that the bishop who converted Nobadia be sent to the southernmost Nubian kingdom to baptise the Alodians.[2][3] Longinus had at that time been bishop of Nobadia for eighteen years.[2]
Missionary activity in Alodia
Longinus was unable to travel up the Nile to Alodia because the kingdom of Makuria that lay between Nobadia and Alodia had adopted the non-Monophysite Chalcedonian creed and the Makurian king intended to intercept and arrest Longinus.[1][2] Accompanied by a Nobadian royal escort,[2] he took the Korosko Road[3] through the Eastern Desert in a Blemmyan camel caravan.[1] According to John of Ephesus, the heat was so intense that seventeen camels died on the journey.[2] He was welcomed in Alodia by a royal delegation and given a royal audience. His mission was, according to his account, a complete success.[1] The royal court and all the nobility received baptism.[2]
Longinus sent a report to the king of Nobadia, who sent his own letter to the patriarch of Alexandria. The king of Alodia also sent a letter to the king of Nobadia thanking him for sending the "holy father" Longinus to Alodia. All three letters were copied by John of Ephesus into his chronicle.[2] Longinus' subsequent career is totally unknown.[1]
Legacy
Salim Faraji calls Longinus, the Patriarch Theodosius and the Empress Theodora (who commissioned Julian for the Nubian mission field) the "Monophysite Triumvirate" of the sixth century for their role in maintaining and expanding the Monophysite church. The Nubian mission to which they were all connected was "one of the earliest manifestations of imperial Christianity in Africa".[2]
Faraji, Salim (2012). "Longinus". In Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong; Henry Louis Gates (eds.). Dictionary of African Biography. Vol.3. Oxford University Press. pp.516–518.
Grillmeier, Aloys; Hainthaler, Theresia (1996). Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume 2: From the Council of Chalcedona (451) to Gregory the Great (590–604), Part 4: The Church in Alexandria, with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451. Westminster John Knox Press.
Moawad, Samuel (2013). "Christianity on Philae". In Gawdat Gabra; Hany N. Takla (eds.). Christianity and Monasticism in Aswan and Nubia. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. pp.27–38. ISBN978-977-416-561-0.
Richter, Siegfried G. (2013). "The Beginnings of Christianity in Nubia". In Gawdat Gabra; Hany N. Takla (eds.). Christianity and Monasticism in Aswan and Nubia. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. pp.47–54. ISBN978-977-416-561-0.
Welsby, Derek (2002). The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims Along the Middle Nile. British Museum. ISBN978-0-7141-1947-2.
Further reading
Richter, Siegfried (2002). Studien zur Christianisierung Nubiens. Reichert Verlag.
Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche. Lit. ISBN978-3-643-12196-7.
Related Research Articles
Year 1408 (MCDVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.
Makuria was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Its capital was Dongola in the fertile Dongola Reach, and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital.
Alodia, also known as Alwa, was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers.
The Philae temple complex is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt.
Saint Parsoma the Naked (1257-1317) is a Coptic saint, recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Samannud is a city (markaz) located in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Known in classical antiquity as Sebennytos, Samannud is a historic city that has been inhabited since the Ancient Egyptian period. As of 2019, the population of the markaz of Samannud was estimated to be 410,388, with 83,417 people living in urban areas and 326,971 in rural areas.
Nobatia or Nobadia was a late antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the two other Nubian kingdoms, Makuria and Alodia, it succeeded the kingdom of Kush. After its establishment in around 400, Nobadia gradually expanded by defeating the Blemmyes in the north and incorporating the territory between the second and third Nile cataract in the south. In 543, it converted to Coptic Christianity. It would then be annexed by Makuria, under unknown circumstances, during the 7th century.
Gabriel IV was the 86th Coptic Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 1370 until his death.
John VIII ibn Qiddis was the 80th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church from 14 February 1300 until his death.
Apollinarius served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 551 and 569. Before his appointment by Justinian I, he was a reader of the monastery of Salama.
Paul II the Black, also known as Paul of Bēth Ukkāme, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from c. 551 or 564 to his deposition in 578. He succeeded Sergius of Tella as the spiritual leader of the Syrian non-Chalcedonians, in opposition to the Chalcedonian Imperial Church, and led the nascent Syriac Orthodox Church as it endured division and persecution.
The Icon of Christ and Abbot Mena a Coptic painting which is now in the Louvre museum, in Paris. The icon is an encaustic painting on wood and was brought from the Apollo monastery in Bawit, Egypt. The icon measures about 57 by 57 centimetres and is 2 centimetres thick. The icon has been damaged over the years with some of the pigment missing and it has two vertical cracks running through the image, but it can still be readily made out.
The kingdom of al-Abwab was a medieval Nubian monarchy in present-day central Sudan. Initially the most northerly province of Alodia, it appeared as an independent kingdom from 1276. Henceforth it was repeatedly recorded by Arabic sources in relation to the wars between its northern neighbour Makuria and the Egyptian Mamluk sultanate, where it generally sided with the latter. In 1367 it is mentioned for the last time, but based on pottery finds it has been suggested that the kingdom continued to exist until the 15th, perhaps even the 16th, century. During the reign of Funj king Amara Dunqas the region is known to have become part of the Funj sultanate.
The Enaton was a monastic district in Egypt during the Middle Ages. It lasted into the 15th century, but it was at its height between the 5th and 7th centuries. It takes its name, which means "ninth", from its location at the ninth milestone southwest of Alexandria along the coastal road.
Longinus was the hegumenos of the Enaton, a monastic community outside Alexandria in Roman Egypt. He is the subject of a Sahidic Coptic hagiography, the Life of Saints Longinus and Lucius the Ascetics, and a Sahidic homily, In Honour of Longinus, by Bishop Basil of Oxyrhynchus.
The bishop of Tanis was the head of the Christian church in the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis. Although it is no longer a residential bishopric, it has been a titular bishopric in the Roman Catholic Church since the Middle Ages.
Athanasius of Qus was a Coptic monk, bishop and scholar. He was a leader of the church in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. He wrote in both Arabic and Coptic. His works include theology, Coptic grammar and poetry. His primary dialect was Sahidic.
Moses Georgios was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. During his reign it is believed that the crown of Alodia was also under the control of Makuria. He is mostly known for his conflict with Saladin.
Timothy was a Nubian monk and bishop. He was the titular bishop of Faras (Pachoras) with his seat in Qasr Ibrim (Phrim) from 1372.
The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. This was done in order to make way for the building of the Aswan Dam, at the Nile's first cataract which was a necessary infrastructure project following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. This project was undertaken under UNESCO leadership and a coalition of 50 countries. This process infamously led to the creation of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and thus the system of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
