The Life of Saint Anthony is filled with accounts of how he wrestled with devils. The descendents of his followers, the nuns of the Holy Order of Anchorites, are convinced that this is the literal truth. They also claim that he'll come back one day to lead them again.

Saint Anthony was born in a place called Heracleopolis Magna, a city that is now extinct. As a youngster he was a devout Christian and when his parents died he decided to take the Gospels literally, giving away all the possessions that he'd inherited and went off to contemplate in the desert. He refused to have anything to do with anybody. This is where most of his wrestling with devils took place, he claimed that they came to visit him and often left him half-dead.

Later on he moved to  Pispir and settled in an abandoned fort, where he lived on  food that people threw over the walls to him. Eventually other people of like mind came and settled in the area and they eventually persuaded him to come out and lead them.

He lived an abnormally long time, well over 100 years. Was this due to clean living? Or the power of God? Or did he cut a deal with one of his devils?

After a few years he left Pispir, finding even the community of like-minded souls too much in the way of company, and went off into the desert to a place now called Der Mar Antonius. He still visited people at Pispir, and received visitors at his mountain but wouldn't let them stay the night. After he died, a monastery was founded on the site and it is still there.

I have visited Pispir, which is now called Der el Memum, and here conducted an excavation at which I found a papyrus - if it's true it's very exciting. It claimed to have been written by a disciple by the name of Filo. He states that he was one of the two monks who buried Saint Anthony, and gives the location of the grave which they hid. He also says that he himself saw the devil that Anthony wrestled with, and that the last time he came, one of his horns was broken off. Anthony kept the horn, saying that its loss reduced the devil's power. Filo says he doesn't know what happened to the horn when Anthony died and speculated that maybe the devil was able to recover it once the saint was no more.