(CE:805b-806a)
DAYR AL-HADID. The name of this monastery, no longer in existence, is today preserved by the locality ‘Izbat Dayr al-Hadid, situated on the right bank of the Nile opposite al-Fashn. The village sits on a mountainside in the upper reaches of which are large caves (Daressy, 1917, pp. 202, 227; 1918, p. 18). Daressy identified it with Ahrit, known from Coptic and Arabic texts as the site of a monastery, that of Saint ONOPHRIUS, and also from the Futuh al-Bahnasa (Galtier, 1909, p. 131), which speaks of Ahrit and of Sharunah (about 12 miles, or 20 km, to the south of ‘Izbat Dayr al-Hadid). Ramzi (1953-1963, Vol. 1, pp. 133-34) thought that Ahrit was the present-day village of al-Shaykh Fadl, opposite Bani Mazar, 8 miles (12 km) south of Sharunah. Drew-Bear (1979, p. 101) placed Ahrit in the nome of Hermopolis.
RENÉ-GEORGES COQUIN
MAURICE MARTIN, S.J.
