Before you go across the desert to the tombs of the nobles, you should definitely go from the lower valley to the ruined monastery of St. Simeon (daily, 7: 00-16: 00; 12 pounds). You can also immediately climb the hill by walking through a sea of sand (it will take 30 minutes) or hire a camel near where you alighted (the way there and back costs 25 pounds, waiting time is half an hour). The latter is more pleasant and less tedious, but whichever way you choose, it will be good to stock up on water.
Founded in the seventh century and rebuilt in the tenth, Deir Anba Samaan serves as the main decoration of the desert valley, which is now trying to make it suitable for agriculture up to the banks of the river. Built as a fortress, it was originally dedicated to Anba Khadra, a fourth-century local Saint who, after meeting a funeral procession on his wedding day, decided to give up the world for a hermit’s cave before the wedding took place. From here the monks went to preach Christianity to Nubia, where he proselytized the tribes of Oberon. After the Islamic conquest, the nomads used the monastery as a base of support for their own raids on Egypt.
One of the keepers will guide you through the various levels of the complex, the lower floors of which are built of stone, and the upper ones of raw brick. The roofless Basilica contains the remains of frescoes depicting the apostles, whose faces were destroyed by the Muslim iconoclasts. Next door is a room with a font, where Saint Simeon (about whom little is known) stood awake reading the Bible. At the same time, the Saint’s beard was tied to the ceiling in such a way that the jerk would cause him pain if the reader began to feel sleepy. The Central structure is a room designed for three hundred monks, who sleep five people in a cell, as well as a corridor-like refectory, bathrooms, kitchens, and bakeries (note the millstones.
