Sheneset-Chenoboskion


Chenoboskion, also called Chenoboscium, Chenoboskia and Sheneset, is the name of an early center of Christianity in the Thebaid, Roman Egypt, a site frequented by Desert Fathers from the 3rd century and the site of a monastery from the 4th.
It is close to the modern village of al-Qasr, just east of the larger town of Nag Hammadi, Qena Governorate.
The Nag Hammadi library, a collection of 2nd-century Gnostic manuscripts discovered in 1945, was found in the Nile cliffs to the north-west.

History

At Chenoboskion, St Pachomius was converted to Christianity in the 4th century. Pachomius retreated to this place, having ceased his military activity sometime around 310-315, and converted to Christianity whilst dwelling in the desert.
There is a monastery located at Chenoboskion that is dedicated to St Pachomius.
People moved to the region to be near Saint Anthony the Great. A monastic community formed around the saint for the purpose of spiritual guidance, beginning in Pispir and from there moving eastward. The mountainous area east of Pispir is the place of the present Monastery of Saint Anthony. The settlement of Chenoboskion created from this eastward movement began in the Thebaid.