Coptic

The Christian Monastery of Saint Anthony, or Deir Mar Antonios, is the the first ever monastery, and lies at the coast of the Red Sea, to the east of the Fayum oasis. Dedicated to St Anthony, it was founded in 356 AD immediately after the saint's death, and is now the oldest Christian monastery still active in the world. Near the monastery (2 km away) there is also St. Anthony's cave, where he lived as a hermit.

This video provides a rare glimpse inside this wonderful monastery, filled with art and the postumous home of a hermit saint, Saint Anthony. Monasticism was a reality in Egypt after the first followers of Jesus entered the country and from here, from the land of the extinct pharaohs, monks and monastic life spread out to all the rest of the world.

Egypt's oldest church will finally reopen its doors this December, after Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass announced that a project to save it from harmful air is coming to an end. The 3rd century AD Hanging Church has been decaying sharply over the past few hundred years, with much of its ornate imagery and wooden iconography in danger of disappearing forever.

One of Toronto’s most unique cultural getaways is a place dedicated to one small, but important, facet of human culture – shoes. The Bata Shoe Museum, as its name suggests, is a museum dedicated to the history of shoes. It shows shoes ranging from 4,500 years ago to the modern day. You can find shoes worn by Anasazi, the ancient Egyptians and, yes, even Pamela Anderson – all in the same building.

Shoes in the ancient world are rare archaeological finds. An archaeologist can excavate a decent sized city and not find a single pair. As such the bulk of the museum’s collection postdates the ancient world.

But, there are a number of treats for those of us interested in ancient shoes. The museum has a pair of 2,000 year old yucca leaf sandals from the Anasazi culture, from the American Southwest, which are remarkably well preserved.