(CE:392a)
BIRMA, town located in the Egyptian Delta about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Tanta in the province of Gharbiyyah.
Although Birma is listed in a number of Coptic-Arabic scales and in a list of Egyptian bishoprics (Munier, 1943, p. 64), the town is rarely referred to in Christian-Arabic literature and no bishop for the place is attested in any source. The earliest mention of Birma in Coptic-Arabic literature is as a geographical reference point for the place where the amir al-Juyush defeated the Kurds in 1077.
Patriarch MATTHEW I (1378-1409) had the relics of Saint George that were venerated in Birma brought to DAYR ANBA SAMU’IL of Qalamun in the Fayyum. In 1424, Patriarch GABRIEL V (1409-1427) returned the relics to Birma (Viaud, 1979, p. 30).
Birma has two Coptic churches, both of which are dedicated to Saint George. One of these churches was built in 1206 and later abandoned; the other was erected in 1611 (Viaud, p. 30).
RANDALL STEWART
