Saint Thomas was born in Upper Egypt, in a small village known as "Shenshif".
He is revered by the Coptic Orthodox Church, since he is one of the early Anchorites, or Desert Fathers.
Abba Thomas was born in a village called Shenshif (north Ekhmim – Upper Egypt) of two pious parents who raised him in the fear of God.
He led a quiet, peaceable life renouncing the vanities of the world and its lusts.
[1] He left his home and headed towards the wilderness, where he lived in a cave in the mount of Shenshif.