Διάλογος μὲ μιὰ μούμια (στὰ 620 μ.Χ.)

Ὁ Πισέντιος, μονοφυσίτης ἐπίσκοπος τῆς πόλης Κόπτος, ὅταν ἔμαθε ὅτι οἱ Σασσανίδες Πέρσες, ποὺ κατακτοῦσαν τὴ βυζαντινὴ Αἴγυπτο, πλησίαζαν τὴν Θηβαΐδα (κατὰ τὸ 620 μ.Χ.), ἔτρεξε νὰ σωθεῖ ἀπὸ αὐτούς. Πῆγε καὶ κρύφτηκε σὲ ἕναν ἀπὸ τοὺς πάμπολλους τάφους ποὺ ἦταν σκαμμένοι στὰ βουνὰ τῆς ἐρήμου, στὴ νεκρόπολη τῶν Θηβῶν. Ἐκεῖ, τοῦ ἔφερνε τακτικὰ τροφὴ ὁ ὑποτακτικός του Ἰωάννης, ὁ μόνος ποὺ γνώριζε τὴν κρυψώνα του. Ὁ τάφος αὐτὸς ἦταν μιὰ μεγάλη αἴθουσα ὑποστηριζόμενη μὲ κολῶνες, καὶ περιεῖχε πολλὲς μούμιες, ποὺ μάλλον δὲν εἶχαν βαλσαμοποιηθεῖ καλά, καὶ μύριζαν. Ὁ Πισέντιος κι ὁ Ἰωάννης στοίβαξαν τὶς μούμιες, τὴ μιὰ πάνω στὴν ἄλλη, ὥστε νὰ ἀδειάσει ὁ χῶρος.

Τὸ ἑπόμενο Σάββατο, ὁ Ἰωάννης γύρισε στὸν τάφο γιὰ νὰ φέρει τροφή. Ἐκεῖ, ἔχοντας μόλις μπεῖ στὸν τάφο, κρυφάκουσε τὸν διάλογο τοῦ Πισέντιου μὲ μιὰ μούμια, ποὺ ἀνῆκε σὲ Παγανιστή. Ἡ μούμια ἔκλαιγε καὶ παρακαλοῦσε τὸν Πισέντιο γιὰ νὰ τῆς δείξει ἔλεος ὁ Θεὸς καὶ νὰ γλιτώσει ἀπὸ τὰ βασανιστήρια. Παράλληλα, τοῦ μίλαγε γιὰ τὴ μεταθανάτια ζωὴ καὶ μάλιστα τὴ μεταθανάτια ζωὴ τῶν Ἐθνικῶν ποὺ ζοῦσαν στὴν Αἴγυπτο. Ἀφηγεῖται ὁ Ἰωάννης, ποὺ ἄκουσε τὸ διάλογο:

And when I had come in to the abode I heard some one weeping and beseeching my father in great tribulation, saying, “I beseech thee, O my lord and father, to pray unto the Lord for me so that I may be delivered from these punishments, and that they may never take hold of me again, for I have suffered exceedingly”. And I thought that it was a man who was speaking with my father, for the place was in darkness. And I sat down, and I perceived the voice of my father, with whom a mummy was speaking. And my father said unto the mummy, “What nome dost thou belong to?” And the mummy said, “I am from the city of Ermant”. My father said unto him, “Who is thy father?” He said, “My father was Agrikolaos and my mother was Eustathia”. My father said unto him, “Whom did they worship?”. And he said, “They worshipped him who is in the waters, that is to say Poseidôn” My father said unto him, “Didst thou not hear before thou didst die that Christ had come into the world?”. He said, “No, my father. My parents were Hellenes, and I followed their life. Woe, woe is me that I was born into the world! Why did not the womb of my mother become my grave? And it came to pass that when I came into the straits of death, the first who came round about me were the beings “Kosmokrator”, and they declared all the evil things which I had done, and they said unto me, “Let them come now and deliver thee from the punishments wherein they will cast thee.” There were iron knives in their hands, and iron daggers with pointed ends as sharp as spear points, and they drove these into my sides, and they gnashed their teeth furiously against me. After a little time my eyes were opened, and I saw death suspended in the air in many forms. And straightway the Angels of cruelty snatched my wretched soul from my body, and they bound it under the form of a black horse, and dragged me to Ement (Amenti). O woe be unto every sinner like myself who is born into the world! O my lord and father, they delivered me over into the hands of a large number of tormentors who were merciless, each one of whom had a different form. O how many were the wild beasts which I saw on the road! O how many were the Powers which tortured me! When they had cast me into the outer darkness I saw a great gulf, which was more than a hundred cubits deep, and it was filled with reptiles, and each one of these had seven heads, and all their bodies were covered as it were with scorpions. And there was another mighty serpent in that place, and it was exceedingly large, and it was a terrible sight to behold; and it had in its mouth teeth which were like unto pegs of iron. And one laid hold of me and cast me into the mouth of that Worm, which never stopped devouring; all the wild beasts were gathered together about him at all times, and when he filled his mouth all the wild beasts which were round about him filled their mouths with him”. My father said unto him, “From the time when thou didst die until this day, hath no rest been given unto thee, or hast thou not been permitted to enjoy any respite from thy suffering?” . And the mummy said, “Yes, my father, mercy is shown unto those who are suffering torments each Sabbath and each Lord’s Day. When the Lord’s Day cometh to an end, they cast us again into our tortures in order to make us to forget the years which we lived in the world. Afterwards, when we have forgotten the misery of this kind of torture, they cast us into another which is far more severe. When thou didst pray for me, straightway the Lord commanded those who were flogging me, and they removed from my mouth the iron gag which they had placed there, and they released me, and I came to thee. Behold, I have told you the conditions under which I subsist. O my lord and father, pray for me, so that they may give me a little rest, and that they may not take me back into that place again”. And my father said unto him, “The Lord is compassionate, and He will show mercy unto thee. Go back and lie down until the Day of the General Resurrection, wherein every man shall rise up, and thou thyself shalt rise with them”.

Μετὰ τὸ διάλογο, ὁ Ἰωάννης μᾶς λέει ὅτι ἡ μούμια γύρισε στὸ φέρετρό της:

God is my witness, O my brethren, I saw the mummy with my own eyes lie down again in its place, as it was before. And having seen these things I marvelled greatly, and I gave glory unto God. And I cried out in front of me, according to rule, “Bless me”, and then I went in and kissed his hands and his feet. He said unto me, “John, hadst thou been here a long time? Didst thou not see somebody or hear somebody talking to me?”. And I said, “No, my father”. He said unto me, “Thou speakest falsehood, just as did Gehazi when he uttered falsehood to the prophet, saying, “Thy servant went no whither.” But since thou hast seen or heard, if thou tellest any man during my lifetime thou shalt be cast forth (i.e. excommunicated)”. And I have observed the order, and I have never dared to repeat it to this very day.

Μιὰ ὡραία παρουσίαση τῆς κατάστασης μετὰ τὸν ἐκχριστιανισμὸ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, ὅταν Ἐθνικοὶ βρίσκονταν μόνο σὲ φέρετρα. Τὶς τελευταῖες στιγμὲς τοῦ (αἱρετικοῦ πλέον) μοναχισμοῦ στὴν Ἄνω Αἴγυπτο. Μὲ τὸν ἐκχριστιανισμὸ βέβαια ἁπλὰ ἀναμείχθηκαν προχριστιανικὲς αἰγυπτιακὲς ἀντιλήψεις καὶ χριστιανικές. Οἱ μούμιες αὐτὲς τὶς ὁποῖες ἀντικρίζουν στὴ σπηλιὰ-τάφο οἱ δυὸ Κόπτες ἀσκητὲς ἦταν τῶν ρωμαϊκῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν πρώιμων βυζαντινῶν, γιατὶ οἱ φαραωνικοὶ τάφοι στὰ βράχια τῆς ἐρήμου εἶχαν ἀρχίσει νὰ χρησιμοποιοῦνται γιὰ ταφὲς ἰδιωτῶν πολὺ καιρὸ πρὶν ἀπὸ τὸν Πισέντιο. Ὁ Πισέντιος φαίνεται νὰ γνωρίζει τὴ δημοτικὴ γραφή (ἐξέλιξη τῶν πανάρχαιων ἱερογλυφικῶν), πράγμα ποὺ εἶναι κάπως περίεργο, ἀφοῦ ἡ τελευταία ἐπιγραφὴ σε τέτοια γραφὴ σκαλίστηκε στὶς Φίλες τουλάχιστον 180 χρόνια νωρίτερα, καὶ κανεὶς πλέον δὲν τὴ γνώριζε, καθὼς εἶχαν ἐκλείψει οἱ ἀρχαῖοι ἱερεῖς καὶ ἡ "δημοτικὴ" εἶχε ἀντικατασταθεῖ ἀπὸ τὸ κοπτικὸ ἀλφάβητο (ποὺ εἶναι σχεδόν ὁλόιδιο μὲ τὸ ἑλληνικό). Δὲν θὰ μποροῦσε νὰ διαβάσει τὰ κείμενα τοῦ φερέτρου τῆς μούμιας, ἐκτὸς κι ἂν ἤξερε ἑλληνικὰ καὶ ταυτόχρονα αὐτὰ ἦταν γραμμένα στὴν ἑλληνική.