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COPTIC LACTATING MADONNA

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Coptic lactating madonna.jpg

If you visit the Red Monastery in Sohag, Upper Egypt, you will see many marvelous pieces of Coptic art but perhaps the one which will catch your eyes most is the Lactating Madonna (Virgin Galaktotrophousa), nursing the Christ Child.[1] It is located at North lobe of the sanctuary, Red Monastery Church, and dated from c. 7th century. The photograph is by Elizabeth Bolman, director of the Red Monastery Project.

 

[1] It is a secco painting. Secco refers to the technique of painting on dry plaster with pigments mixed in water.



THE FIRST FOUR ARCHIMANDRITES OF THE WHITE MONASTERY FEDERATION

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The White Monastery Federation is the name given to include the Red Monastery and White Monastery in Sohag area, in Upper Egypt, and the Convent of Women in Atripe, to the south of Sohag. Although Saint Shenoute is the most famous of the archimandrites who looked after the Federation, he is not the first. It was St. Pcol (Pgol) who first established the White Monastery along Pachomian lines. Later, St. Pshoi established the Red Monastery a few miles to the north of the White Monastery. Both Pcol and Pshoi looked after the women convent in the village of Atripe, to the south pf Sohag. It appears that both Pshoi and Pcol agreed to run their communities as one federation, and Pcol emerged as the leader.

After the death of St. Pcol, a monk by the name of Ebonh; however, he was criticised for his leadership, and he was, therefore, replaced by St. Shenoute in 385 AD. When he died in 466 AD, St. Shenoute was succeeded by Besa (also called Wessa).

It seems that Ebonh leadership has not been recognised as legitimate leader of the Federation, at least in works of art. However, we have the portraits of the other four leaders painted in the north apse of the Red Monastery church. They were painted to show the chronology of the leadership in respect of the Red Monastery, starting with Pshoi, then Pcol, Shenoute, and, last, Besa.

The portraits are thought to date from the 7th-century. They all show the saints wearing the same attire, but each with his own character.

Pshoi.jpgFigure 1: Pshoi

Pcol_.jpgFigure 2: Pcol

Shenoute.jpgFigure 3: Shenoute

Besa.jpgFigure 4: Besa


THE CURIOUS SIGN ON THE SCHEMA OF THE WHITE MONASTERY FEDERATION ARCHIMANDRITES

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In a previous article I put up portraits of the first four archimandrites of the White Monastery Federation, Saints Pishoi, Pcol, Shenoute and Besa – portraits that go back to the 7-th-century.

One thing obvious in all four portraits is the Christian symbol that is inscribed on each side of their schema. I take that of Besa as a representative:

Schema signs.PNG

This sign on each side of the saints’ schema is puzzling: they are not simply the Chi-Rho sign that is a monogram for Christ (superimposing the first two capital letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word “ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ” =Christ). The sign we see in the schemata of the first four leaders seem to contain two superimposed chi and it is not clear if they are actually superimposed on rho: the “letter” – if it was a letter – superimposed on is strange. I don’t know the meaning or significance of that. In an email exchange with Dr Elizabeth Bolman, she does not seem to recognise the meaning of the symbol.

Any contribution by Coptologists on the meaning and significance of the symbol will be greatly appreciated!

 


THE MODERN COPTS AND THE COPTS OF LATE ANTIQUITY – THEIR FACIAL SIMILARITY

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We see Coptic faces in funeral portraits and tapestry in the earlier Christian centuries in Egypt, and quite often we are struck by the similarity between the faces on them and the faces of modern Copts – how often we see a relative or a friend or a known person to us in these faces. As an example, take the following Coptic woman (who appears with her little baptised child)[1]:

Coptic woman3

… and then compare her with the Coptic face below of a woman in a fragment of woolen tapestry from the 3rd-4th century[2]!

I hope the reader will see the physiognomic similarity!

Coptic woman4

[1] The author would like to say he does not personally know the Coptic woman, and he found her picture on the net when he was doing research on Coptic baptism. The reader can find her photo here. The photographer is Photogeniks from the Philippines.

[2] The fragment is kept at the Benaky Museum in Athens, Greece.


A COPTIC MAN WITH A CROSS TATTOO

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A Coptic man with a cross tattoo

I simply share with my reader this impressive photo of a Coptic man with a cross tattoo on his right wrist. I am not sure who is the photographer and the photo’s date but I think c. 1950.


HOW ENGLISH YOUNG PUPILS RENDERED ISAAC FANOUS’ FLIGHT TO EGYPT ICON

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Flight to Egypt Fanous

Isaac Fanous (1919 – 2007) is the founder of the Coptic art of neo-iconography. One of his earliest great icons is Flight to Egypt, which he wrote in 1978.

The young English pupils of Class 6 at St. John’s C.E. Primary School in Crowborough, East Sussex, took Fanous’ iconic icon and based on it their own creation of art, using oil pastels, thus producing some astonishing work with a fresh look but retaining all the elements in Fanous’ icon. I attach two of their work below.

Flight to Egypt Pupils1.JPG

Flight to Egypt Pupils2

 


A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF CULTURE AND CIVILISATION

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Mind

Previously, I wrote What is culture? What is Coptic culture? And what is the threat to Coptic culture? The reader can return to it for a detailed study of the meaning of culture. Today, however, I would like to give a simple definition of culture and civilisation: culture is what makes our minds, and civilisation is what is made through our minds. The two are linked, and the link is our mind.

One has to avoid mixing brain and mind here: mind is taken in this context to mean the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.[1] What gets into the mind of a man, of beliefs, values, knowledge and feelings, makes him: they determine how he thinks, behaves, acts and reacts. They, too, through man’s mind, create his own civilisation: how he lives, what he does, what he creates, what rules he follows and enact. When we talk about folks, one considers the common things that create the collective mind of the group; and a folk’s civilisation is what is created by them through that collective mind. Within that collective culture and civilisation, however, one finds sub-cultures and sub-civilisations by smaller groups and even individuals, but the collective mind of a people or nation that is produced by their culture and through which their civilisation is created is the most powerful.

All individuals, groups and nations have their unique culture and civilisation – whether it is high or low culture and civilisation is a matter of judgment.

Bear this simple definition in mind, and it will enhance your understanding of humans and their societies.

[1] Oxford English Dictionary.


USEFUL MAPS OF LOWER AND UPPER EGYPT

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David Rumsey Map Collection have interesting maps of Lower and Upper Egypt that were created by the English cartographer, Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823), in 1807. They were drawn from various documents; and although from the 19th century, they are still relevant and provide the reader with much useful tool. The reader can access them below:

Map of Lower Egypt

Map of Upper Egypt



COPTIC SCRIBE VINTAGE ENGRAVING FROM THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY

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Coptic scribe5

A vintage engraving of a Coptic scribe (Koptischer Schreiber) from Ferdinand Hirts Geographische bildtafeln, Vol. 3, which was published in 1884.

The reader will see that the scribe is wearing a dark dress with a dark turban, which were imposed on all Copts by the Muslim authorities to signal them out for ridicule and discriminatory laws. The reader will also note that this distinction in the code dress, called Ghi’yar, came to an end by the British occupation of Egypt in 1884. The engraving most probably was made just before that happened.

 


COPTIC MAIDEN VINTAGE ENGRAVING FROM THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY

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Coptic Maiden3

A vintage engraving of a Coptic maiden (Koptebmädchen) from Ferdinand Hirts Geographische bildtafeln, Vol. 3, which was published in 1884.

It is interesting to observe her dress and what she wears on her head, in addition to her jewellery. The colour, however, does not reflect the colour of the Copts. Copts are usually paler than this.


COPTIC BAPTISM BY IMMERSION IN FASCINATING PICTURES

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Photogeniks is the name used by a Philippine photographer in Flicker. One of his works is a series of fascinating photographs that capture the Coptic Baptism by Immersion of a child of one of his Coptic friends. Baptism in the Coptic Church has always been through using the mode of immersion rather than sprinkling or pouring of the holy water. Photogeniks gives his work the title “A baptismal ceremony for an Egyptian child at a Saint Mark’s Christian Coptic Orthodox Church.” He does not locate the church; and I don’t think there is a Coptic church in Philippines. Here is what he wrote as a matter of a prologue to his work:

While holding under the arms, the High Priest faced the baby towards the West. The child was then immersed into the baptismal font and lifted three times to complete the ritual. In a small but crowded room, I decided to use my 24-50 zoom, rapidly firing as the rites progressed.

There are four major parts: (1) Woman’s absolution (2) Renouncing Satan (3) Liturgy of Baptism and (4) Baptism by Immersion (and discharge of water). These photographs will cover mostly the last part.

As a backgrounder, the woman is required within 40 days after her delivery to come to the church with her baby boy to ask the priest to baptize him (80 days for female child). This period should not be exceeded for any normal reason otherwise the parents would be deemed to have sinned against their children. Before administering the Sacrament, the priest must have fasted for at least nine hours. The Sacrament of Baptism is granted only once in a person’s lifetime. When both male and female children are presented for baptism, the male child is baptized first.

The Baptistery must be furnished and clean. Removable of shoes before entering is required. On the eastern wall of the Baptistery must be placed an icon of the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. Near the Baptismal Font should be placed the oils used in the Baptism as well as the red ribbons and the special crown that will be thereafter conferred on the baptized. Also within reach are the ritual books and the cross specified for Baptism. A table must be placed in the Baptistery with a clean cover for the child to lie down during the anointing of the Holy Myron. The baptized person is signed with 36 crosses of Myron. The first procedure performed by the priest is the prayer of absolution of the woman which signifies permission of entry to the church.

Coptic Baptism – 1st Immersion

 Ph1

Coptic Baptism – 1st Immersion: This photograph showed the priest gradually dipping the child into the water – the first of three immersions until the child became completely submerged – while saying: “I baptize you … (if the baby’s does not have a Christian name, the priest must give a name from the Holy Bible, or a saint’s name) … in the name of the Father…”

It was a defining moment as the anxious mother of the child could only clasp her hands tightly in muted prayers that all would turn out well for her child. Except for the cadenced sound of the priest as he uttered his supplications, the silence was “deafening.”

Coptic Baptism – 1st Lifting

Ph2

Coptic Baptism – 1st Lifting: He lifts the child from the water and breathes unto him….

Coptic Baptism – 2nd Immersion

Ph3

Coptic Baptism – 2nd Immersion: … he then immerses the child again, saying: “And the Son…” — this is the second immersion…

Coptic Baptism – 2nd Lifting

Ph4

Coptic Baptism – 2nd Lifting: Then he lifts the child from the water and breathes unto him again…

Coptic Baptism – 3rd Immersion

Ph5

Coptic Baptism – 3rd Immersion: … he then immerses the child for the third time in the water while saying: “And the Holy Spirit” – this is the final immersion…

Coptic Baptism – Final Lifting

Ph6

Coptic Baptism – Final Lifting: I readied my shot for the lifting of the child after his third and final immersion, and this photo was the result. It now hangs in the living room of my Egyptian friend’s house in Cairo.

 


THE ELABORATE ECCLESIASTICAL VESTMENT OF COPTIC BISHOPS

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Coptic Clergyman

This photograph, believed to be by Hassan Ammar/AP, shows the elaborate ecclesiastical vestment of a Coptic Orthodox bishop at officiation.

If you want to know more about Coptic clergy ecclesiastical vestments, go here to Alfred Joshua Butler, Ancient Coptic churches of Egypt (Oxford, 1884), Volume 2, pp. 97-238. It is still the best on this matter.


THE COPTS IN AN 1819 CHROMOLITHOGRAPH

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Anglemann

The above lithograph is titled Bernardino Drovetti measuring a colossal head in the Egyptian desert, and is dated to 1819.[1] It was made by Godefroy Engelmann (1788 – 1839), a famous Franco-German lithographer and chromolithographer[2]. In it is shown Bernardino Drovetti (1776 – 1852), the famous Italo-French antiquities collector,[3] using a plumb line to measure the head, and is surrounded by some Egyptians. The chromolithograph was one of the 80 plates in Voyage dans le Levant by the Comte de Forbin,[4] who visited Egypt in 1818-1819, and published the book in 1819. The chromolithograph is based on his original painting.

The piece of art is interesting in many ways, but I am drawn to the kind of Egyptians surrounding Drovetti: there are Turks and Arabs wearing coloured costumes (red, white, yellow) and weapons; there is a Bisharin man from the larger Beja tribe; there is a Fellah woman; and then there are two inconspicuous figures of two young men wearing blue turbans and dark robes, and they don’t seem to carry weapons, whether daggers, or swords or staff. I suspect these were Copts, possibly scribes. Even in the reign of Muhammad Ali (1811 – 1848), and despite his relative tolerance, Copts were required to wear distinctive costume to differentiate them from Muslims. This did not change in Egypt until the British arrived in Egypt in 1882.

 

 

[1] It is kept at Stapleton Historical Collection, London.

[2] A chromolithograph is a coloured lithograph.

[3] Bernardino Drovetti was an Italian who gained the French citizenship, and was famous as ancient Egyptian antiquities collector, particularly from Luxor area. He joined the French campaign in Egypt (1798 – 1801) and later became the French Consul-General of Egypt between 1820 and 1829.

[4] Louis Auguste, comte de Forbin (1779 – 1841) was French painter and later curator of the Musée du Louvre. He visited Egypt in 1818-1819, and published The Voyage dans le Levant in 1819, with 80 plates.

 


THE HEALING OF ANIANUS BY GIOVANNI BATTISTA CIMA

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Anianus

The above painting is titled guarigione di anania – that is The Healing of Anianus. It is dated to the second half of the 15th century, and was made by the Venice-based Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Battista Cima (c. 1459 – c. 1517), who is also called Cima da Conegliano. It is kept at Kept at the Berlin art museum, Gemäldegalerie.[1]

The ‘healing of Anianus’ refers to the miraculous healing of the Egyptian cobbler Anianus by Saint Mark the Evangelist in Alexandria around 62 AD. Saint Mark is regarded as the first patriarch of the Church of Alexandria, and Anianus, who was ordained bishop by St. Mark, became the second patriarch (62 – 83 AD) on the Alexandrian ecclesiastical throne.

The History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria tells us about the healing of Anianus. After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, the apostles allotted the countries of the known world among themselves for evangelisation. And the province of Egypt, with its Alexandria, the capital, fell to the lot of Mark. Returning from Rome, St. Mark went first to Pentapolis in eastern Libya, and from there, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to go to Alexandria. The story of his meeting Anianus, his healing and his conversion runs thus:

So Mark journeyed to the city of Alexandria; and when he entered in at the gate, the strap of his shoe broke. And when he saw this, he thought: “Now I know that the Lord has made my way easy.” Then he turned, and saw a cobbler there, and went to him and gave him the shoe that he might mend it. And when the cobbler received it, and took the awl to work upon it, the awl pierced his hand. So he said: “Heis ho Theos”; the interpretation of which is, “God is One”. And. when the holy Mark heard him mention the name of God, he rejoiced greatly, and turned his face to the East and said: “O my Lord Jesus, it is thou that makest my road easy in every place”. Then he spat on the ground and took from it clay, and put it on the place where the awl had pierced the cobbler’s hand, saying: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, the One living and eternal God, may the hand of this man be healed at this moment, that thy holy name may be glorified”. Then his hand at once became whole. The holy Mark said to him: “If thou knowest that God is one, why dost thou serve these many gods?” The cobbler answered him: “We mention God with our mouths, but that is all; for we know not who he is”. And the cobbler remained astonished at the power of God which descended upon the holy Mark, and said to him: “I pray thee, O man of God, to come to the dwelling of thy servant, to rest and eat bread, for I find that to-day thou hast conferred a benefit upon me”. Then the holy Mark replied with joy: “May the Lord give thee the bread of life in heaven!” And he went with him to his house. And when he entered his dwelling, he said: “May the blessing of God be in this house!” and he uttered a prayer. After they had eaten, the cobbler said to him: “O my father, I beg thee to make known to me who thou art that hast worked this great miracle”. Then the saint answered him: “I serve Jesus Christ, the Son of the ever living God”. The cobbler exclaimed: “I would that I could see him”. The holy Mark said to him: “I will cause thee to behold him”. Then he began to teach him the gospel of good tidings, and the doctrine of the glory and power and dominion which belong to God from the beginning, and exhorted him with many exhortations and instructions, of which his history bears witness, and ended by saying to him: “The Lord Christ in the last times became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and came into the world, and saved us from our sins”. And he explained to him what the prophets prophesied of him, passage by passage. Then the cobbler said to him: “I have never heard at all of these books which thou speakest of; but the books of the Greek philosophers are what men teach their children here, and so do the Egyptians”. So the holy Mark said to him: “The wisdom of the philosophers of this world is vanity before God”. Then when the cobbler had heard wisdom and the words of the Scriptures from the holy Mark, together with the great miracle which he had seen him work upon his hand, his heart inclined towards him, and he believed in the Lord, and was baptized, he and all the people of his house, and all his neighbours. And his name was Annianus.[2]

Giovanni Battista Cima in his guarigione di anania depicts the miraculous story of the healing of Anianus by Mark. The painting is interesting. However, Cima da Conegliano fails on two counts: first, the architecture of the buildings does not reflect first-century Greco-Roman architecture of Alexandria- it looks rather Italian and Venetian; second, the artist puts on the subjects of the painting Arab and Mamluk costumes and not the attire one would expect from people who lived in Alexandria before the Arab invasion of Egypt in the 7th-century.

 

 

 

 

[1] It is made of medium tempera on poplar wood, and of the dimensions: 172 cm (67.7 in) in height and 135 cm (53.1 in) in width.

[2] Severus of Al’Ashmunein (Hermopolis), History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria (1907) Part 1: St. Mark – Theonas (300 AD). Arabic text edited, translated, and annotated by B. Evetts. Patrologia Orientalis I pp. 142-144.

 


THE PORTRAIT OF SAINT SHENOUTE THE ARCHIMANDRITE FROM THE 7TH CENTURY IN THE LIGHT OF THE LIFE OF SHENOUTE BY BESA

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Portrait of Shenoute

 

This is the famous portrait of Saint Shenoute of Atripe, Archimandrite of the White Monastery Confederation, which has recently been revealed. It is a secco[1] painting from which was discovered at the north lobe of the sanctuary, Red Monastery Church, near Sohag, Upper Egypt.[2]

The artist of the portrait which is titled “Abba Senouthiou the Archimandrite”[3] is unknown. It has been dated to circa the seventh-century, while Shenoute died in 466 AD. To what extent does this portrait bear the likeness to Shenoute’s looks and his monastic habit? This is what I will try to explore by returning to what came to be known as The Life of Shenoute by Besa. This is available in the Bohairic Coptic dialect and also in Arabic. The Bohairic version was translated into English by David N. Bell in 1983 under the title The Life of Shenoute by Besa.[4] Besa was the disciple of St. Shenoute and his successor as archimandrite of the confederation; modern research, however, suggest that The Life, although containing a nucleus of Besa’s contribution, was written later by another unidentified person.[5] It is not really a biography but an exposition of miracles and marvels which “God effected through our holy father the prophet Apa Shenoute;”[6] [7] but it contains a wealth of material to garner information about the appearance of St. Shenoute.

In The Life, Shenoute is often called ‘the old man’:[8] he was 118 years old when he died;[9] and he had been abbot for over eighty years.[10] He was skinny because of his ascetic life: “When the holy apa Shenoute received the angelic garment which came to him from heaven, he gave himself up to the anchoretic life with many great labours, many nocturnal vigils, and fasts without numbers. Nor would he eat each day until the sun had set at evening, and then he would not eat his fill; instead, his food was bread and salt. Because of these things, his body was dried up, and his skin was very fine and stuck to his bones.”[11] Again: “There were many times when he did not eat from Saturday to Saturday, and again, for forty days of holy easter, he would not eat bread; his food instead was edible vegetables and moistened grain, and as a result of this, there was hardly any flesh upon him.”[12] His eyes were remarkable in that they were sunken and black, possibly making his gaze penetrating: “Tears to him were sweet as honey, so that his eyes were deeply sunken, like holes in walls, and because of the great flow of tears continually streaming from his eyes like water, they had become very black.”[13] Shenoute portrait reveals a thin but strong old man with black penetrating eyes. There was no question about Shenoute’s extraordinary charisma and power of personality. He was a serious man, as the lines on his brow reveal. He was in the business of saving his soul and the salvation of the souls of his followers, and he “brought both fear and comfort to the souls of men.”[14] Shenoute was called prophet, and most probably the appearance of his deep, black, penetrating eyes enhanced that belief.

The Life tells us that Shenoute’s habit was made of goat skin,[15] which we can see in his portrait. Its colour seems to be yellow-cream. We also learn that he had a pouch in his goat skin, again evident from the portrait: in this case it looks whitish rather than yellow-cream. We are told that when Shenoute was once in Constantinople, he “was walking into the king’s palace when he found a grain of wheat which had been thrown away. He picked it up and put it in the pouch in his goat-skin habit until he returned to his monastery.”[16] Back in the monastery in Atripe, when “it was a summertime there, and as the brothers were grinding grain for bread, he took the grain of wheat he had brought with him on his return from the king’s palace, and threw it under the mill-stone; and the Lord sent so great an abundance from the mill-stone that they were quite unable to gather it all up.”[17] On another occasion, we read of an apparition in which Saint Paul appears to Shenoute, and told him: “Because you love charity and give alms to anyone that asks you and keep all the commandments in all ways because of the love of God, behold! The Lord has sent me to you to comfort you because of what you do for the poor and the destitute.”[18] Paul then presented Shenoute with a loaf of bread and gave it to him; and Shenoute took it and tied it in his scrip. Paul told him to put the loaf in the bread-store from which the brothers distribute the bread. When Shenoute arose from the vision, he found the loaf tied in his scrip; and he took it and secretly put the loaf in the store-room and closed the door. The blessed loaf was reason for miraculous heap of bread pouring forth; and “the multitudes and the brothers were supplied for six months by the abundance of bread which came forth from the door of the bread-store, and to this very day that bread-store is called ‘the Store-Room of the Blessing.”[19]

In the portrait, Shenoute wears a girdle round his waist. The Life talks of Shenoute’s leather girdles and their miraculous quality. Once the duke of Egypt passed by the monastery to receive Shenoute’s blessing before going to war with most probably the Blemmyes, and asked him: “My father, do you want me to go south and wage war on the barbarians?” Shenoute replied: “Indeed I do!” upon which, the duke said: “Let your mercy come upon me, my holy father, and give me one of your leather girdles to be a blessing for me.” Shenoute gave it to him. At war, the duke was nearly defeated, but remembering Shenoute’s girdle, he tied it round him, and won the war. We are told that the duke then “looked up into the sky and saw our father apa Shenoute in the middle of a shining cloud with a flaming sword in his hands, killing the barbarians. And the duke, too, went up into the cloud by the side of our father apa Shenoute and in this way he smote the barbarians with great ruin.”[20] On another occasion, we are told that the governor, apparently different from the above duke, went south to fight the barbarians, and on his march he visited Shenoute to take his blessing, and he asked him to give him his girdle as a blessing. He tied it round him when he was fighting the barbarian; and, “[in] this way he … smote them by means of the prayers of our holy father apa Shenoute, the man of God.”[21]

The portrait shows Shenoute holding with his left hand a thin, long and slightly bent stick. This may be the famous palm branch which Shenoute seems to have always carried with him.[22] Palm branch is a symbol of victory in the spiritual war against the flesh in Christianity. A long rachis of a palm branch from which the leaflets are removed will appear as a stick. Shenoute’s palm branch appears in the story of the grain of wheat which he picked from the royal palace in Constantinople, and was responsible for bringing about great abundance from the mill-stone when he had thrown it under the mill-stone. The monks were not able to deal gather the produce, and exhausted, they complained to Shenoute, whereupon Shenoute “went up to the mill-stone, laid his palm-branch upon it, and said: ‘Mill-stone, I say to you, cease!’ and it ceased immediately.”[23] On another occasion, when a well being dug collapsed on the labourers, Shenoute arose and took his palm branch, and went down to the well: “[H]e reached out with his palm-branch and drove it into the wall of the well. It immediately took root and sent up palm-branches and palm-leaves, and the men who were working ate its fruit. From that day to this, the well has never moved again.”[24] In other places, the palm branch was used by Shenoute as a medium to bring a blessing or a curse: once he blesses the gourd of a poor man by touching it with his palm branch so that it produces more fruit;[25] and another time he curses an island in the Nile called Paneheou that was planted with vineyards owned by pagans “who each year forced on the farmers the rotten wine of the island, extorting from them by violence what was not theirs.” On hearing the complaints by the farmers of the this oppression, Shenoute went over to the island during the night, and “struck the soil of the island a blow with the little palm branch he had in his hand and said: ‘O island of Paneheou, I say to you, go into the middle of the river and sink down for ever, so that the poor will cease to suffer because of you.’ Straightaway the island with vineyards and farms crossed over and went into the middle of the river, and before dawn had broken, the waters covered them and ships were sailing over them.”[26]

The portrait shows the schema draping round the shoulders and hangs down in front where it is somehow tied to adjust its length. It seems to have been made of the same goat-skin of which the garment is made, and has the same colour. It clearly does not have a hood and Shenoute’s head is not covered by any sort of headgear – his scalp was free and hair shown. On each side of the schema in the front, there is a sign that most probably symbolised something very significant but it is so far a mystery to me.[27] There is no mention of the schema in The Life.

On the left shoulder of Shenoute hangs a long, plain ‘stole’ that hangs down in the front and presumably down the back too: it is whitish in colour like the pouch. It is very unlikely to be the known ecclesiastical stole that usually hangs down both shoulders. I am not sure as to the nature of it, and suspect it is meant to represent or be a towel that is used in the ceremony of the washing of the feet.[28] Nothing about it is found in The Life to help in understanding its significance.

In The Life there is mention of two clothing items that are understandably not reflected in the portrait. The first is the mantle that Pjol (or Pcol), uncle of Shenoute, put on the boy Shenoute when he first joined monasticism, for, as the angle had said to Pjol, “it is the mantle of Elijah the Tishbite which the Lord Jesus has sent to you to put upon him. Truly, he will be a righteous and illustrious man, and after him, no-one like him will arise in any country.”[29] The second is the stole of Saint Cyril[30] which was around his neck that he took off and placed round the neck of Shenoude, after kissing his head, when, at the Ephesus Council in 431 AD, Nestorius[31] protested at the presence of Shenoute in the council, saying: “What business do you have in this synod? You yourself are certainly not a bishop, nor are you an archimandrite or a superior, but only a monk!”[32] Additionally, The Life tells us that Cyril put in Shenoute’s hand his own staff, and made him an archimandrite.[33]

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This article attempted to show that the portrait of St. Shenoute that has recently been discovered at north lobe of the sanctuary in Red Monastery Church was largely authentic in its representation of the saint as far as could be judged by The Life of Shenoute. The extraordinary Copt had a formidable holy physiognomy; and his monkish garment was simple made of goat-skin, and included a schema, a pouch, a girdle and a towel. He held a stick that could be the famous palm-branch The Life describes. The garment was mainly yellow-cream in colour; his head was not covered. In this sense, St. Shenoute’s garment was completely different from that of the Coptic monks of our age, who are clad in black garment made of wool and their heads covered with a black cap. A quick look at the rest of portraits found at the at the sanctuary in Red Monastery Church, that include the three other famous archimandrites of the White Monastery Federation, Pshoi, Pjol and Besa,[34] confirm that that attire was not unique to Shenoute.

It is an interesting question asking how and when Coptic monastic garment changed to be predominantly black. This must wait for another time.

_____________________

[1] Painting on dry plaster with pigments mixed in water.

[2] Photograph by Elizabeth Bolman, Director of the Red Monastery Project that is funded by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)/USAID.

[3] Senouthiou or Sinouthios are Greek forms of the Egyptian form, Shenoute; and Shenoute himself used to use these forms.

[4] The Life of Shenoute by Besa. Introduction, translation, and notes by David N. Bell (Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1983).

[5] See: Nina Lubomierski, The Coptic Life of Shenoute, in Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt, Volume I, Akhmim and Sohag, ed. Gawdat Gabra and Hany N. Takla (Cairo and New York, The American University in Cairo Press, 2008), pp. 91-98.

[6] The Life, p. 41.

[7] See: Stephen Emmel, Shenoute’s Place in the History of Monasticism, in Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt, Volume I, Akhmim and Sohag, ed. Gawdat Gabra and Hany N. Takla (Cairo and New York, The American University in Cairo Press, 2008), pp. 31-46.

[8] See, for instance, The Life, p. 62.

[9] Ibid, p. 89.

[10] Stephen Emmel, Shenoute’s Place in the History of Monasticism.

[11] The Life, p. 45.

[12] Ibid, pp. 45-6.

[13] Ibid, p. 46.

[14] Ibid, p. 45

[15] Ibid, p. 47.

[16] Ibid, p. 47.

[17] Ibid, p. 48.

[18] Ibid, p. 81.

[19] Ibid, p. 82.

[20] Ibid, pp. 73-4.

[21] Ibid, p. 80.

[22] Ibid, pp. 48, 49, 67, 88.

[23] Ibid, p. 48.

[24] Ibid, pp. 48-9.

[25] Ibid, p. 88.

[26] Ibid, pp. 66-7.

[27] For more on this, go here.

[28] John 13: 1-20.

[29] The Life, p. 44.

[30] Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria (412 – 444 AD).

[31] Archbishop of Constantinople (428 – 431 AD).

[32] The Life, p. 78.

[33] Ibid, pp. 78-9.

[34] Read the relevant article, here.



A BRILLIANT COPTIC POTTERY VESSEL FROM C. 4TH-6TH CENTURY AD

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Pot1

Pot2

Pot3

The above Coptic pottery vessel is from c. 4th-6th Century AD. The vessel has depressed globular body, short neck and flattened rim. It is painted in brown and red and depicting a facing figure. It has fish and bird painted on the other sides of the vase separated by vertical design. In height, it is 5″ (12.7 cm).

It has recently been sold by Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., in Chicago, for $1850. The buyer is unknown.


THE THREE LEVELS OF COPTIC LITERARY FICTION

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Coptic Portrait

Coptic woman from the third-century (Coptic Fayum Portraits)

In a previous article, On Coptic Literature: What Is [Should Be] Coptic Literature (6 July 2016), we discussed the definition of literature, and said it was written works having excellence in form, expression, ideas and widespread and lasting interest. We also defined Coptic literature as “the collective body of literary works written by members of the Coptic people, anywhere in the world, in whatever language, whether it has a Coptic theme or not.” This is the general definition of Coptic literature: its common denominator, besides its high and lasting artistic value, is its creator – it must be a Copt. However, it should not be missed that there are different levels of Coptic literature within that broad definition, depending on the language used and theme employed: Coptic literature written in Coptic and having Coptic themes are the highest level in this definition.

Of all literature genres, literary fiction is perhaps the highest form. Literary fiction is generally defined as invented and imagined stories about people and events that are not real that hold literary merit: its form is prose, and it includes novels, short stories, novellas, romances, fables.[1] Coptic literary fiction will then mean this, but insists that the work is written by a Copt, in any language, and even if the theme is non-Coptic. But, there must be a distinction within this definition. I recognise three levels of Coptic literary fiction:

Level 1: Literary fiction written by a Copt, in Coptic language, and employing a Coptic theme. This is the highest form of Coptic literary fiction. Although the Copts cannot claim literary fiction, in the form of novels, novellas, or short stories written at this level, they can claim a lot of Level 1 literary fiction in the form of prose romances: romance is defined as “a fictional story in verse or prose that relates improbable adventures of idealized characters in some remote or enchanted setting; or, more generally, a tendency in fiction opposite to that of realism.”[2] The Copts have written in both Sahidic and Bohairic fantastic stories of their heroes and idealised characters, whether as their sacred figures or saints and martyrs, and some of these stories can easily be regarded as romances, such as ‘How Pisentius Conversed with the Mummies’, ‘The Mysteries of St. John the Divine’, ‘Abbaton, The Angel of Death, King of all Mankind’, ‘The Story of Lady Euphemia and the Devil’, and ‘Adam Describes the Rebellion of Satan Against God’ – all translated from Coptic to English by E. A. Wallis Budge.[3] One can add to these works the martyrdoms of SS. Paese and Thecla, S. Shenoufe and his brethren, SS. Apaioule and Pteleme, which were published and translated into English by E. A. E. Reymond and J. W. B. Barns.[4] In the past these stories were neglected and rejected because they were seen as Copts writing hagiography without paying much respect to scientific accuracy. If this idea is disallowed, and these literary works are seen as emanating from the imaginative mind of devout Copts to edify and educate, and intentionally meant to include elements of fanciful exaggeration, one can see in them some undeniable outstanding beauty.

Level 2: Literary fiction written by a Copt in a language other than Coptic but employing a Coptic theme. One would expect this level of Coptic literary fiction to occupy the arena after the Copts abandoned their Coptic language in the Middle-Ages, but, alas, not much exists of it. In fact, sadly, there seem to be none of it existent: no Copt seems to have written a work of value in any language any literary fiction, whether a novel or short story or novella or romance or fable, which discusses Coptic matters. This is a great shame. The Copts, until they revive their language, must create literary fiction at this second level – work that is written by Copts and directed at the Copts, and not at Arabs or any other people: the danger is always that, once the fictionist puts non-Copts as his target audience, he would always be tempted to write about non-Coptic themes. For Coptic literary fiction that is focused on Coptic characters, events and life, the fictionist has to possess a certain nationalist sentiment and resist the financial temptation that larger markets provide.

Level 3: Literary fiction written by a Copt using non-Coptic language and theme. This is the lowest form of Coptic literary fiction even though it may have its own merit and beauty. Examples of this group is Beer in the Snooker Club,[5] written in English by Waguih Ghali (1930 – 1969); and Rama and the Dragon, City of Saffron, Girls of Alexandria, and Stones of Bobello – all written in Arabic (but translated into English) by Edward al-Kharat (1926 – 2015). These are interesting novels, but I do not think they can help Coptic literature or the Copts a lot. In fact, the first could be seen as English literature written by a Copt, and the others as Arabic literature written again by a Copt. One cannot find in them any Coptic themes: their characters can hardly be described as Coptic and they do not reflect the human condition through the Coptic mind, feelings and experience.

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I have no much respect for what I have called Level 3 Coptic literary fiction, though I don’t deny its significance. The fictionists at this level have detached themselves from their Coptic cultural nation and are more interested in foreign audience – their fiction does not reflect Coptic life.

The highest Coptic literary fiction, as I said, is that produced at Level 1: this is Coptic literary fiction proper. But it is old, and all we have of it is romance: we do not have novels, novellas, short stories or even fables in Coptic, by Copts, treating Coptic themes. But for this to appear, we must first revive our Coptic language; and for this to happen, we must wait for yet some more time. What we can at the present, is producing Coptic literary fiction at Level 2; but, sadly, we don’t see any of value being produced, or at least to my knowledge. The production of this level of Coptic literary fiction must be encouraged by all means, and the focus must be novels, novellas and short stories. It is mandatory that we produce literary fiction of our own, by us and springing from our culture and national life. And if we cannot produce that in our beautiful Coptic language, let us use any language we master for that sake – and let us hope that one day we will escalate our production to Level 1 of Coptic literary fiction, the highest form we can produce.

_____________

[1] See, for instance, Chris Baldick, The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008).

[2] Ibid.

[3] E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Tales and Romances: Pagan, Christian and Muslim (London, T. Butterworth Ltd., 1931).

[4] E. A. E. Reymond and J. W. B. Barns, Four Martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic Codices (Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1973).

[5] Waguih Ghali, Beer in the Snooker Club (London, Deutsch, 1964).


FREYA STARK’S EAST IS WEST, AND THE COPTS (II): RECRUITING COPTS TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF FREEDOM

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Freya Stark 1936

Freya Stark, in Arab dress, in 1936

On 5 March 2013, I wrote about Freya Stark’s East is West, and the Copts (i): the Innuendo about the Jews. Today, I would like to write about her recruitment of Copts to what was called The Brotherhood of Freedom (إخوان الحرية), which she set up in Egypt to combat the Nazi propaganda during WWII, particularly as the German army was posing a real threat of occupying the Middle-East, at the time occupied by Britain and France, as it marched across North Africa on its way to Egypt before El Alamein in 1942 put an end to its threat.

As a reminder, Freya Stark (1893 – 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer, and an Arabist, who was fluent in Arabic. During World War II (1939 – 1945) she worked for the British Ministry of Information; and was a member of the British Intelligence Service. Her work, as a war propagandist, was focused on contact with the peoples of the Middle-East and winning them over to the British side – in Yemen, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq. In Egypt, she founded the Brotherhood of Freedom in Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and many other cities – “a network of Allied sympathisers aimed at convincing the Egyptian people that they were better off with the British devil they knew than with the Axis monster they did not;”[1] and the membership of the movement reached some 75,000 strong.[2]

The Brotherhood of Freedom was supposed to recruit people who were for democracy represented by the Allies and against tyranny represented by the Axis. In Egypt, Stark’s target population was the Muslims and Arabs of Egypt: she met with the emerging middle-class of the effendis, but she made contact with everyone she thought would be influential and could be won over, even the students and graduates of Al-Azhar, the bastion of traditional Islam. To cajole them into joining her committees, Stark told them that Britain was the best friend of the Arabs; that her rule was not based on imperialism but common interests and ‘safe transit’; that she would support the movement for Arab unity; and that she would resist the Zionists’ claim to Palestine.[3]

Her view of the Arab World – North Africa (including Egypt) and what the Arabs call ‘the island of the Arabs’, the land bordered by Persia, Turkey, and the sea – is interesting: “In speaking of it, it is important to remember that its unity is one of language, largely of religion, and of the civilization they have produced; it is not a unity of race.”[4] Her definition is basically that of the Arab nationalists; and even when she says Arab unity is one “largely of religion” she adds a footnote to modify any misunderstanding she may have created: “Not entirely, since the Christians and most of the other minorities would consider themselves ‘Arab’ in the area referred to.”[5] Downgrading the separate identities of the Christians of the Middle-East was part of the game – and the game was to be as Arab as could be. The Copts in her estimation, formed one-fifteenth or so of the country’s population.[6] Their race was evident: “The Copts are most like the original people of Egypt; even now you can recognise their slender profiles and long-lashed black eyes, opaque and lustrous, in any pharaoh’s tomb.”[7] However, she adds: “They have kept the Christian religion taken from earlier conquerors, but they have long since adopted the Arabic language for ordinary conversation.”[8] One feels that, this, for her, seals the identity of the Copts – Arabs, whether they agree or not, like it or not.

Stark spent Christmas 1940 in Luxor with Sir Miles Lampson, who was High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan (1934 – 1936) and later Ambassador to Egypt and High Commissioner for the Sudan (1936 – 1946).[9] After he, and his Lady, left Luxor with pomp, she stayed behind until January 1941. And she went to recruit the Copts of the city to her Brotherhood of Freedom:

When all this was over, I looked round; the car had vanished; the red carpet was being rolled up along the platform; I found a one-horse garry with a hood, picked up two Brothers who were hanging modesty on the outskirts of the grandeur, and went to encourage a Coptic committee that was venturing in a timorous way to declare itself democratic, like a cautious swimmer with one eye on the Fascist wave ahead. Sayyid Mahdi el Idrisi of the Senussi and a young Muslim school teacher had started our society in Luxor, and it was a diplomatic success to bring the Coptic community in as well.[10]

Stark describe the fears of the Copts of Luxor in joining the Brotherhood which they knew was not just about which side to stand with in WWII but also about embracing the movement towards unity in the Arab world as she espoused it as part of her propaganda work:

It was chiefly due to a jaunty neat little old gentleman in a grey suit and stiff high collar who had (he informed me candidly) been consul for the Germans: he would have been consul with equal nonchalance for anyone who was socially desirable: what he collected was not principles, but people and curios, a panoply of photographs and promiscuous blue idols plastering his room until there was scarcely standing space: but he found means to settle a committee of Brothers in among the knick-knacks and Mr. Tadros Shenooda and Iskandar Mahrous,[11] both young and

“Like one that on a lonely road

Doth walk in fear and dread,

And having once turned round, walks on

Nor turns again his head,”[12]

shepherded the little flock along.

One cannot blame a minority in the East for being cautious about its steps; the fact that they are too often intractable when co-operation would pay is far more remarkable (and regrettable sometimes); and one of the reasons for welcoming the movement towards unity in the Arab world to-day is that it tends to minimize the very narrow nationalistic and also the bigoted religious boundaries.[13]

To her credit, Stark is not blaming the Coptic minority here for their fears; but, clearly, she pretends to know better: joining the Arab movement for unity would be better for the Copts. Many Copts disagreed with her then as they do now. In 1952, seven years after she published her book East is West, young Muslim and Arab officers in the Egyptian army seized power; and, in the name of Arab nationalism, they started a campaign to unify the Arab World, with what can only be described as disastrous effects to all, including the Copts, who were exposed to a strong wave of Arabisation that sought to erase their unique Coptic identity.

Anyway, Stark’s efforts to recruit the Copts in Luxor extended to court the highest Coptic ecclesiastical authority in Luxor – the Coptic bishop of Luxor. She does not name him, but he was Bishop Basilios (1936 – 1947):

The Copts of Luxor did not hesitate long, and their Bishop never hesitated at all. I was taken to see him at the moment when, with jewelled hand and long robes, he came across the stone flags of his palace to take a service in the church below: he spoke kindly and asked me to go with him. Through the dim aisle, quietly filling, we walked, in procession, and a chair was placed for me in the chancel, in surprising proximity to the episcopal throne. It was an afternoon service, and it ended with a sermon; and when the preacher came down from the pulpit, the Bishop asked if I would like to ascend to speak to his congregation about democracy from that elevated and conspicuous place. I have regretted my cowardice ever since, for I do not imagine that the chance to address a congregation in church will ever come my way again; but it had to be done in Arabic, and I felt myself unworthy. I went instead and met the ladies of Luxor at tea.[14]

________________

[1] Malise Ruthven, Obituary: Dame Freya Stark, in The Independent (Monday 10 May 1993).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Freya Stark, East is west (London, John Murray, 1945). Introduction, pp. ix-xviii. See also pp. 56-62.

[4] Ibid, xi.

[5] Ibid, ix, n.1.

[6] Ibid, p. 51. This was, in many experts’ views, was considerable underestimation.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Sir Lampson, later Lord Killearn, was in Luxor with Lady Lampson.

[10] East is West, p. 89.

[11] Stark does not identify this “jaunty neat little old gentleman in a grey suit and stiff high collar.” I could not find more about Mr. Tadros Shenooda and Iskandar Mahrous. I hope somebody from Luxor will help us with finding more about them.

[12] Stark is quoting here the English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834) in his The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 450.

[13] East is West, pp. 89-90.

[14] Ibid, p. 90.


SMILEY COPTIC MONK KNITTING

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Coptic monk knitting

The above photograph, with unknown photographer, is possibly from the early 1900s. It shows a smiling Coptic monk in simple habit outside his cell knitting something.


A NATION WITHOUT A VIBRANT MODERN LITERATURE IS THREATENED

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 Yeats.jpg

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) was an Irish poet, who was central to the Irish literary revival, which acquired the name ‘Celtic Twilight’ after he wrote his The Celtic Twilight in 1893. Yeats is known to have said: “There is no great literature without nationality, and no great nationality without literature.”[1] This is absolutely right, and Coptic nationalists have to take notice.

There is no great nation without literature, by which he must have meant not an old literature, that is limited in scope, and almost fossilised in the past, for the Irish, like the Copts, had a wealth of old literature. What Yeats undoubtedly meant is a new type of literature that is produced by living members of the nation, and expressed in various forms. It is this that drove him, with others, to lead the Irish, great literary renaissance of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. To those who doubted the attempts to revive the Irish language – he referred to them as ‘Dr. Hyde’ – he had these words:

Can we not build up a national tradition, a national literature, which shall be none the less Irish in spirit for being English in Language? Can we not keep the continuity of the nation’s life not be doing what Dr. Hyde has practically pronounced impossible [i.e., reviving the Irish language] but by translating or re-telling in English, which shall have an indefinable Irish quality of rhythm and style, all that is best of the ancient literature.[2]

Irish literature would be better written in Irish language, but development of an Irish literature cannot wait until the Irish language is revived – the life and health of the nation depended on the existence of lively Irish literature. Let it be in English, but let it be Irish in spirit, and let it have indefinable Irish quality of rhythm and style. To this, he adds: “Whenever an Irish writer has strayed away from Irish themes and Irish feelings, in almost all cases he has done no more than make alms for oblivion.”[3]

The Copts of today are in the same situation the Irish were in in the nineteenth century. The Irish were a proud nation with great old literature, but since the English language was introduced to Ireland in the thirteenth century it gradually replaced the Irish language, and literature in Irish nearly died. This moved the Irish nationalists in the nineteenth and early twentieth century to work to develop a modern literature based on Irish and English, but all the times expressing Irish themes. This is the Celtic Twilight. English literature was great at that time but the need to revive Irish literary literature was not based on the poverty of English language but on the need to have a literature that carried the soul of the people and expressed the inner feelings and aspirations of the unique Irish nation. If English literature was great, Arabic literature isn’t that great:[4] the Copts are faced with a situation in which they are almost besieged by a foreign culture, and have no way other than to feed on its literature that neither expresses their values nor reflects their lives, feelings and thoughts.

The bitter truth is that the Copts do not possess a vibrant modern literature; and in the absence of that, Arab literature dominates: national minorities cannot live in a cultural vacuum – if they don’t thrive on their own literature, the literature of the majority – some of its strongest cultural arsenal – squeezes itself down their throat in one way or the other. That is how national minorities lose their identities and become assimilated to those who dominate them. The connection between nationality and literature, as Yeats has described, is instantly apparent. The lack of literature can destroy a nation, while a great literature protects it.

The Copts must have their own literature not just to ward off Arab and Islamic culture that poses an existential threat to them, but also to discover their inner soul and reflect it in a literary form – in poetry, novels and plays. There must be a flowering of Coptic literary talent for a Coptic literary renaissance. For that to happen, the national consciousness must be strengthened; and here comes the role of the Coptic nationalists.

 ______________________

[1] Remarks from ‘Browning’ [a review], in Boston Pilot, 22 Feb. 1890; rep. in Letters to the New Island, NY 1934, pp.103-04.

[2] Letter to United Ireland, 17 Dec. 1892; rep. in John P. Frayne, Uncollected Prose, Vol. I, 1970, p.57; in answer to Douglas Hyde’s call for the ‘de-anglicisation of Ireland’ – i.e., the full revival of the Irish language.

[3] Remarks from ‘Browning’.

[4] The writer does not deny that Arab literature possess some beautiful literature but would not put it on the same level as that of the English, French, German or Russian, for instance.


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