ANTONIUS SUBIA FIRST PRIEST OF ANTINOUS TO VISIT ANTINOOPOLIS IN 1,600 YEARS (PART TWO)

OUR police escort was trying to persuade us to wrap it up and leave as we had SEEN SO MUCH ALREADY ... but I insisted on one last stop ... on the way to the christian church we passed the recent archaeology site and I saw that it was only fenced off on three sides, so I had them stop there.

This is where the Antinoeion Temple of Antinoopolis is currently believed to have been.

It is a small temple if which only the limestone foundation and vestiges of steps remain. 

Nearby is a circular pit that was probably a cistern with spiral steps that may have had served a ritual purpose like for ritual bathing or something.

There is also a stairway that led underground to an INTENTIONALLY BURIED STRUCTURE, but it only went down a few steps and was full of mud and trash.

There were some broken columns with beautiful papyrus capitals lying on the ground.

And surrounding the entire area is a mostly intact paving stone border that may have been the portico within the “Temenos” or outer wall.

I left a special paper ivy leaf that I had prepared with the intention of leaving somewhere in Antinoopolis,and this seemed like the perfect place, so I slipped it between two stones in the foundation.

I then collected sand from the foot of the steps.

Before leaving I said a heart-felt prayer to Antinous thanking Him deeply for all the blessings he has given me, and for letting me come to his sacred city.

I renewed my vows of devotion to him and asked his blessing for the work that is still to be done. 

I also thanked the Ancient Priests and asked their blessing.

The Cardo or main North-South street of Antinoopolis was exactly where the French maps by Jomard showed it to be! I was surprised to see how much of it was left...you could clearly see the broken granite columns on both sides of the street where the covered portico was with some of the curb still intact.

The Rameseum of Hir-wir ... This temple predates Antinoopolis, it is believed that the body of Antinous was laid out in the fore-court of this little temple ... it may have been here that Hadrian wept.

And here that the local people began to say that Antinous was a god.

And then it was time to leave.

I could have spent DAYS wandering the ruins.

There were still a few things I wanted to see.

I wanted to go into the Hippodrome.

I wanted to find where the Cardo met the other main street of the town.

I wanted to see the city walls.

And I wanted to find whatever was left of the Theater but there just wasn’t time...the day had flown by it was about 4:00 p.m. when we left with a long drive back to Cairo.

As we left Antinoopolis I took one last look back and saw my final glimpse of Antinoopolis ... an image that will treasure in my heart for the rest of my life.

Then we took the road South through the little villages and fields upstream ... on that side of the river. 

The towns on the East bank of the river are Coptic, we didn’t stop to explore but there is a church in one of them that was built in the 300s and is supposedly a site where Jesus Mary and Joseph stopped while they were in Egypt.

Then we dropped the policeman off at the Amarna gate and made our way back to the highway to Cairo.

The entire trip took about 14 hours, it was exhausting but also extremely exhilarating ... I have felt completely recharged and ready to get back into the fight for Antinous again.

Everyone said that I made the visit to Antinoopolis completely more enjoyable because I knew my way around and pointed out things they didn’t even notice were there which made what looked like a pile of rubbish come alive and become a living city.

As we drove through the Coptic towns I pointed things out and our guide said...”you know your way around like you were born here.” I said...I was born here...this is my home."

Ave Antinous!

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

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