ABU HENNIS (better known as Deyr Abū Hemīs). — A Coptic village located southwest of Sheikh 'Abad (Antinoupolis), which preserves the remains of an important 5th-century basilica that was perhaps transformed (in the 13th century) into a domed church. It was probably the principal church of that Christian city whose ruins, situated nearby, today bear the name al-Mādina (cf. Somers Clarke, *Christian Antiquities in the Nile Valley*, Oxford 1902, pp. 181–87). In a valley near the village there are some ancient stone quarries that were adapted as Christian chapels from early times. The walls are decorated with relatively well-preserved 16th-century paintings depicting episodes from the Gospels arranged in chronological order of events and in continuous narrative. These are described by J. Clédat in *Notes archéologiques et philologiques*, in *Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'archéologie orientale*, 2 (Cairo 1902).
Enciclopedia Cattolica