Coptic manuscript containing The Life of Aaron of Philae

The story of how the people of Philae were converted to Christianity, as told in this codex,
 is dramatic. In the temple, there was a caged falcon that people believed embodied the god Horus. Macedonius, Philae’s newly appointed bishop, went to the temple asking ‘to make a sacrifice to God’. As the altar was prepared for the sacrifice, he went up to the cage, cut off the falcon’s head and threw it on the burning altar. According to the story he later baptised the city’s entire population.