Church of the Virgin Mary:
During the Christian era, a church was built in this place where the Holy Family settled, a church known by the name of the Virgin Mary. Abu al-Makarim mentioned in the 12th century AD that it was demolished, but it was rebuilt and consecrated by Bishop Gabriel, Bishop of Ashmoun, on the 8th of Baounah, in the year 901 of Martyrs (1185 AD).
The Holy Family Well:
Also, Abu al-Makarim mentioned that next to the church, there was a well roofed by a dome, from which the Holy Family drank. People used to come and bath in the well, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus’ bathing in it. They used to take from its water and carry it to their homes.
The 8th of Baounah Celebration:
The Synaxarium and Dafnar readings mention that the feast of consecration of the church on the 8th of Baounah has become an annual celebration bringing Christians from everywhere to the Mahma to bath and take the blessing of the place where the Holy Family settled.
At the Egyptian level in Christian history, this celebration in the east of the delta on the 8th of Baounah is similar only to the celebration in Upper Egypt, for the consecration of the Church of Muharraq on the 6th of Hatour.
Unfortunately, there is no mention of this church of the Mahama in the churches directory recorded by Al-Maqrizi in the fifteenth century, which confirms that it was destroyed during the fourteenth century or at the beginning of the fifteenth century at the latest. Thus, Christianity disappeared from the Mahama, and then the church was destroyed as well.
Over the centuries, the name of the place changed from Al-Mahama to Al-Mahmiah to Al-Mahsama and then Old Al-Mahsama. It is now located on the route of the Ismailia Canal in the Ismailia Governorate, between Al-Qasasin and Abu Suwayr, and there are no Christians or traces of a church in it.
