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COPTIC LACTATING MADONNA
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...
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THE FIRST FOUR ARCHIMANDRITES OF THE WHITE MONASTERY FEDERATION
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...
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THE CURIOUS SIGN ON THE SCHEMA OF THE WHITE MONASTERY FEDERATION ARCHIMANDRITES
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...
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THE MODERN COPTS AND THE COPTS OF LATE ANTIQUITY – THEIR FACIAL SIMILARITY
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...
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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.
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HOW ENGLISH YOUNG PUPILS RENDERED ISAAC FANOUS’ FLIGHT TO EGYPT ICON
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....
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A SIMPLE DEFINITION OF CULTURE AND CIVILISATION
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...
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USEFUL MAPS OF LOWER AND UPPER EGYPT
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;...
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COPTIC SCRIBE VINTAGE ENGRAVING FROM THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY
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...
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COPTIC MAIDEN VINTAGE ENGRAVING FROM THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY
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...
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COPTIC BAPTISM BY IMMERSION IN FASCINATING PICTURES
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...
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THE ELABORATE ECCLESIASTICAL VESTMENT OF COPTIC BISHOPS
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...
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THE COPTS IN AN 1819 CHROMOLITHOGRAPH
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...
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THE HEALING OF ANIANUS BY GIOVANNI BATTISTA CIMA
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...
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THE PORTRAIT OF SAINT SHENOUTE THE ARCHIMANDRITE FROM THE 7TH CENTURY IN THE...
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...
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A BRILLIANT COPTIC POTTERY VESSEL FROM C. 4TH-6TH CENTURY AD
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...
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THE THREE LEVELS OF COPTIC LITERARY FICTION
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...
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FREYA STARK’S EAST IS WEST, AND THE COPTS (II): RECRUITING COPTS TO THE...
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...
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SMILEY 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.
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A NATION WITHOUT A VIBRANT MODERN LITERATURE IS THREATENED
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...
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