I am not a fan of English novels, particularly modern ones. There are thousands of them in each bookstore, and I usually pass them without paying much attention. Since I had been young, when I was reading widely indiscriminately various works of literature, from every nation, I fell in love with the Russian literature, and found what I wanted in them. They are not written just for fun or for readers who want to lazily kill time, or are looking for suspense or romance. Russian literature is about the deeper meanings of life, and they make you think and contemplate, and wanting to alter your soul to a better one. Russian literature makes all other literature second-rate.
But that does not mean all non-Russian literature does not match Russian literature at all – some are highly artistic, in the way Leo Tolstoy defines art. Those are beneficial to read. But I am always interested to read other kinds of literature, of whatever nation, even when they are second or even third rate, if they touch on Coptic themes, or include Coptic characters. I always want to see what the novelist perception and presentation of the Copts. And recently, I have obtained a copy of The Deceit, a 2013 novel by Tom Knox, an English journalist of Cornish roots, whose real name is Sean Thomas. He has written several novels, including The Genesis Secret, The Marks of Cain, Bible of the Dead, and The Babylon Rite. Only The Deceit deals with Coptic characters; so I decided to read it decided too that I give a summary of each chapter as I get on, with a focus of course on the writer’s depiction of the Copts. In this way I hope to carry the reader with me as read The Deceit.
Knox chooses Deuteronomy 26:8, “And the LORD brought us FORTH out of EGYPT, with a mighty hand” as epigraph to his book. It’s intriguing to find out why he has chosen this verse, but it made more interesting for me to find out. In his both Author’s Note and Acknowledgements he tells us that he has drawn on many real, historical, archaeological and cultural sources for his book, but he particularly mentions works of black magic. Perhaps connected to his interest in magic, he brought the Copts into it, for there is no doubt that the ancient Egyptians were masters of magic, and the interest continued within some Coptic circles even after the Egyptians adopted Christianity. Akhmim, the largely Coptic town until the nineteenth century draws his attention, and so he writes, “The little town of Akhmim is possibly the oldest inhabited site in Egypt. Regarded as the cradle of alchemy, and as one of the birthplaces of Gnostic and Coptic Christianity, Akhmim also, enjoyed a reputation as being home to the greatest magicians in Egypt. Despite its extraordinary history, Akhmim has never been properly excavated by archaeologists.” Akhmim is the birthplace of my grandparents, and The Deceit became more interesting for me to read.
Knox used Ancient Christian Magic, Coptic Texts of Ritual Power by Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith to know about Coptic magic; but he also visited Egypt several times and met with Copts across Egypt, poor and rich. Of the poor Copts he mentions the Zabaleen (garbage collectors) in Moqqatam at the outskirts of Caro. It appears that his visits were made in 2011 during the turbulent period of popular revolt at Tahrir Square, and across all Egypt, that ended the political regime of President Mubarak, a period which resulted in greater power to the Islamists and increasing animosity towards the Copts.
It’s interesting to read that Knox dedicates his book to “the nuns of the fourth century Coptic monastery of Tawdros, near the Valley of the Queens, Luxor”. This is the monastery of the Saint Martyr, Theodore the General (also, Tadros or Tawdros) which has a few Coptic nuns in it, and is situated in the West Bank of Luxor in Upper Egypt, about a kilometre away from Medinet Habu where the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III is to be found.
In the next part, we will start our reading of the book together.
—————————–