The Ancient City of Clysma (al-Qulzum)
The ancient city of Clysma (al-Qulzum) is the hometown of Saint Okeen. Its site lies at today’s city of Suez, the largest Egyptian city on the Red Sea. It sits at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez, and gave its name to the Suez Canal, which joins the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
Suez lies east of the Nile Delta and west of the Gulf of Suez, at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal. It is bordered by Ismailia to the north, the Red Sea to the south, South Sinai to the east, and Cairo and Giza to the west.
Clysma in History
The Greeks and Romans knew the city as Klysma, a fortress and port at the head of the Gulf of Suez through which trade passed between Egypt and the lands of the Red Sea. Its Arabic name, al-Qulzum, endured so that medieval Arab geographers called the Red Sea itself the “Sea of Qulzum.” Its remains are still known as Kom al-Qulzum, at the modern city of Suez.
In this city Saint Okeen was born. In its waters he worked as a pearl diver for twenty-five years, and here he saw the divine vision and built his first monastery. Read the Life of Saint Okeen.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Suez