St. Anthony's monastery restored

ST. ANTHONY'S MONASTERY in Egypt has undergone restoration:

World's oldest monastery restored

(BBC)

Egypt has completed the restoration of reputedly the world's oldest Christian monastery, called Saint Anthony's.

The monastery is believed to be 1,600 years old. The government-sponsored restoration project cost over $14m (£8.9m) and took more than eight years.

The monastery is a popular site for Coptic Christian pilgrims.

The restoration comes soon after Egypt's worst incident of sectarian violence in a decade, when six Copts were shot dead on Christmas Eve.

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Of tangential interest to PaleoJudaica, but noted because of the connection the Egyptian authorities (including Zahi Hawass) have been making with the Nag Hammadi murders, already covered here. And the restoration is a good demonstration that the Egyptian Government is taking care of non-Muslim antiquities. This should go without saying, of course, but under current circumstances I can see why they would want to emphasize it.