The Journey of the Holy Family through Egypt | Jesus' Footsteps in Egypt
The Journey of the Holy Family through Egypt
The arrival of Jesus Christ and the Holy Family is one of the most important events to take place on the territory of our beloved Egypt during its long history.
At that time, there were three routes from Palestine to Egypt. The Holy Family, on their way from Palestine to Egypt, followed none of these known routes but took a special one because it was obvious that to escape the threat of King Herod, they had to take another, unknown route, which God and his angel led them to.
The route that Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus traveled when they attempted to leave Bethlehem from King Herod's persecution is known as the Holy Family Route in Egypt. When Herod issued the command to slaughter newborns, the Holy Family was sent into exile in Egypt. They wandered several parts of Egypt, taking shelter at different places, which have now become holy sites for pilgrims.
The journey started from Bethlehem, in Gaza, to Zaranik, located between the towns of Al-Ariche and Port Said. It entered the town of Tel Basta near Zagazig in Sharkiya governorate, then headed south to Mostorod. Then the family moved north to Belbeis, still in Sharkiya.
The next station was in the city of Samanoud. From the city of Samanoud, the Holy Family went northwest in the region of Borullus to Sakha, Khast, and Bekha Isos (currently in the governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh). Then it headed south to Wadi al-Natroun. From Wadi El-Natroun, the Holy Family headed south towards the city of Cairo and crossed the Nile on the east side, heading for Al-Matariya and Ain Shams. In Matariya, the Holy Family took refuge under a tree called “the Tree of Mary.”
Then the Holy Family went to Old Cairo. The area of Old Cairo is considered one of the most important stations of the Holy Family during its trip to Egypt. The Virgin Mary and her son subsequently took a sailboat on the Nile southward to Upper Egypt, from where the church of the Virgin Mary, known as Al-Adawiya, is now located, because from there the Holy Family crossed the Nile to the Upper Nile. Egypt, hence the name of Maadi, and the stone ladder on which the Holy Family descended still exists on the bank of the Nile.
Countless churches and shrines are a testament to this journey within Egypt, marking areas where it is believed the Holy Family stopped or performed miracles.
In the year 1 BC, Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, appeared to a fiancée, betrothed, whose name was Mary, to preach to her the birth of a son named Jesus.
Of course, the angel realized that her fiancé, Youssef El-Naggar, would be suspicious of this issue, so he also appeared and assured him.
It was clear that the sky was busy with this birth. With these two, a vision appeared for three kings from Persia and foretold them of the news; an angel appeared to one of the rabbis of the Jews and preached the birth of his son named John the Baptist, and he foretold that this would be a sign of the birth of Jesus.
The Torah was full of ancient prophecies talking about the details of this birth, its location, what the kings will give this child, and his journey to the land of Egypt, as well as the madness of the king who will lead to this journey.
The family did not settle in one place, so there are many monasteries and churches, and this is documented through religious sources and rare manuscripts in Coptic monasteries and churches in Egypt, adding: “The trip ranged from a week or a few days in some cities, and in others, it settled a month and the longest period in Qasqam Mountain Who is in the city of Assiut now and spanned 185 days.
After God commanded the Virgin to escape her newborn from the oppression of Herod, heading to Egypt, there were 3 known commercial and war routes that a traveler could take at that time, avoiding the known methods and choosing unknown paths, and the journey that split into three stages.
They crossed the Nile to the west at Desouk and headed south to Beheira Governorate until they reached Tarana near Khattabah, then Wadi El Natrun in the wilderness of Shihit, where 500 monasteries were built, including four of them, Saint Abu Makar, Anba Bishoy, Alsaryan, and Braamos, they crossed the Nile south until they reached the charitable barrages.
Then the march included a direction to Al-Matariyah and Ain Shams, which was inhabited by 2000 Jews the family rested under a sycamore tree and there witnessed a miracle that Christ took the stick on which Joseph the carpenter leaned and broke it into pieces and then planted and put his hand on the ground so the water spring and the balsam extracted from which balsam oil is extracted It has a smart smell, and the remains of the well and the tree are still there inside an open museum called the Mary Tree Museum,
and there are the remains of the tree and have names for the soldiers of the French expedition who registered it after recovering from purulent ophthalmia, after washing their face from the water of the well, and also there is the provider in which Christ was washed.
Then the family headed to the Zewaila Gate and the Hanging Church with a water well, then they went to the ancient Roman fortress of Babylon, where the archaeological Church of Abu Serga, known as the two martyrs Sergius and Wajis, then installed the Nile complex for Maadi, where the Church of the Virgin is now.
The journey lasted two years, six months, and ten days, and the family returned from Qusiya to Maadi, then to the Babylon Fortress, where a cave was located at the bottom of the Abu Sergius Church, then north to Musturod, then to Belbis, then Qantara, then to Palestine, via Gaza, and finally settled in Nazareth. Churches, and considered tourist attractions.
The Church of Abu Serga is one of the important stations where the Holy Family settled in the Babylon Fortress, after taking refuge in Egypt to escape the oppression of the Roman ruler in Palestine.
Historians confirm that it is the oldest church in ancient Egypt, and indeed in all of Cairo. The Holy Family passed through the same location where it was constructed. The grotto where the Holy Family slept during their flight to Egypt is located there.
Holy Family Church in Matariya: The Holy Family took the road east of the Nile, and Herod's soldiers came from west of the Nile and came to Matariya while leaving Egypt and not while entering... In the church, there is an amazing statue representing the size of Jesus Christ. When he was in the Matariya area, he was five years old.
The Holy Family traveled from Bethlehem to Gaza to the Zaraniq (Falsiyat) reserve, 37 km west of Al-Arish, and entered Egypt via the northern side of Al-Farma (Balusium), located between the cities of Al-Arish and Port Said.
The precise amount of time the Holy Family stayed in Egypt has been disputed by historians, but Coptic tradition describes it as more than three years and just under four years.
The Journey of the Holy Family to Egypt Pope Theophilus, the 23rd Patriarch of Alexandria (385–412), decided his decree during the Ninth Coptic Week of 1999 that "the journey from leaving Bethlehem until returning to Nazareth is three years and six months, which is consistent with the estimate that the Holy Family will remain in Egypt for nearly two years, and the rest has departed on the journey of coming and returning."
The Holy Family serves as an excellent model for families worldwide to always be receptive to God's will and to constantly listen for His voice. He might speak his will in prayer or through another person. By our own prayer and discernment, we too can follow God's lead for our life.
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