Ammonius of Tūnah was a fourth-century hermit. The name of Ammonius of Tūnah (Thone in Coptic) is mentioned in the Coptic inscriptions of al-Jabrāwī (see DAYR AL-JABRĀWĪ), on the right bank south of Asyūt, in tombs used by the hermits, along with the names of Apollo, Anoup, Phib, and Pshoi of Jeremiah (Crum, 1902, pp. 45-46 and pl. 29, no. 3). He is represented on a fresco from Bāwīt (Clédat, 1904-1916, p. 91) and also at FARAS (Kubinska, 1974, no. 90 and fig. 80). A summary of his life is given by the Copto-Arabic SYNAXARION (PO 16, pp. 399-401; CSCO 67, pp. 130-31 [text]; 90, pp. 129-31 [trans.]). A papyrus leaf preserves part of the Coptic life (Crum, 1913, pp. 162-64). Mount Tūnah is situated on the left bank of the Nile, to the west of al-ASHMŪNAYN (Shmūn or Hermopolis Magna) in central Egypt, about 12 miles (20 km) north of Bāwīt.
After experiencing a vision in which Saint ANTONY invited him to become a monk, Ammonius went to Saint Isidorus (perhaps ISIDORUS OF SCETIS) (Evelyn White, 1932, pp. 101-02), who clothed him in the monastic habit. After his initiation, he withdrew to Mount Tunah. One day, the devil tempted him by persuading a woman to seduce him, but Ammonius converted her and she remained near him as an ascetic. The devil then took the semblance of a monk and made a circuit of the monasteries, crying out, "Anba Ammonius, the hermit, has married a wife who lives in his cave, and thus he dishonors the monks and does shame to the holy habit." Apollo, "the fellow of the angels," no doubt APOLLO OF BĀWĪT, accompanied by Ānbā Yūsāb (Joseph) and Anbā Papohe (perhaps author of the life of Phib), went to Mount Tūnah to investigate. There they found the woman, called al-Sādij by the Synaxarion. An angel revealed to Apollo that they had been brought to Ammonius to be present at the death of al-Sādij, which then took place; she had spent eighteen years with Ammonius without ever looking upon him and living only on bread and salt. Ammonius himself died soon after.
Perhaps we have here a distant witness to the agapetae (beloved) who lived with ascetics (Guillaumont, 1969). If it is indeed Apollo of Bāwīt, this Ammonius lived toward the end of the fourth century. H. Torp (1965, pp. 167-68) thinks that this Ammonius of Tūnah is the Amoun mentioned in Chapter 9 of the HlSTORIA MONACHORUM IN AEGYPTO (Festugière, 1971, pp. 71-75).
René-Georges Coquin
Note: The DACB uses the transliteration system of the Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.), dropping the diacritical marks on the kha, dtaa, saad, and daad.
Bibliography:
Clédat, J. Le Monastère et la nécropole de Bawit.
Mémoires publiés par les membres de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale 12. Cairo, 1904-1916.
Crum, W. E. The Rock Tombs of Deir el-Gebrawi, Vol. 2, ed. N. de G. Davies. London, 1902.
___ . Theological Texts from Coptic Papyri. Oxford, 1913.
Evelyn-White, H. G. The Monasteries of the Wadi'n Natrūn, Pt. 2, The History of the Monasteries of Nitria and Scetis. New York, 1932.
Festugière, A. J., ed. Historia monachorum in Aegypto. Subsidia Hagiographica 53. Brussels, 1971. Two parts in 1 vol., Greek text and Latin trans.
Guillaumont, A. "Le Nom des 'Agapètes'" Vigiliae Christianae 63 (1969):30-37.
Kubinska, J. Inscriptions grecques chrétiennes (Faras IV). Warsaw, 1974.
Torp, A. "La date de la fondation du monasterè d' Apa Apollo de Baouit et son abandon." Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire 77 (1965):153-177.
