SHUKRALLAH JIRJIS (Mu‘allim) A Coptic contemporary of the French Expedition to Egypt and a close friend and colleague of General YA‘QUB. Though the particulars of his early life are unknown, we must assume that he was born in the first half of the eighteenth century. During French rule in Egypt, he is known to have …
GABRIEL SIDARUS (1768-1851) Also called Sidarious, Sidarous, Sidarousse, or Sidarosse, military man born in Cairo. He was better known by his given name, spelled Gabrielle. He himself signed Gabriel S. He was a nephew of General YA‘QUB on both sides of his family. Sidarus started his adult life as intendant on the estates of the …
SEVEN ASCETICS OF TUNAH This is a classic story concerning martyr hermits. No details are given about their ascetic life except that they lived near Tunah. It seems, moreover, that only five of them were ascetics, and that Anba Psate (or Basidi) and Anba Kutilus, who was a priest, joined the ascetics in their confession …
SETH A eighth-century archimandrite of Apa Shenute. Both the HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS and the SYNAXARION of the Copts tell us very little about Seth. We know only that he was archimandrite of the White Monastery (DAYR ANBA SHINUDAH) at the beginning of the eighth century. The Synaxarion calls him “the greatest of the abbots …
CORNELIUS One of the prominent “ancient brothers” of the Pachomian koinonia (community). He belonged to the second group of disciples who came to PACHOMIUS around 324 (Lefort, Sahidic-Bohairic 24; Halkin, 1982, Greek, recension 1, 26), and he was appointed by him as father of the Monastery of Tmoushons shortly after it was received into the …
HAGIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Abd -al-Masih, Yassa. “Doxologies in the Coptic Church. Edited Bohairic Doxologies.” Bulletin de la Societe d’Archeologie Copte 6 (1940): 19-76. ———. “Doxologies in the Coptic Church: The Use of Doxologies.” Bulletin de la Societe d’Archeologie Copte 4 (1938): 97-113. ———. “Doxologies in the Coptic Church. Unedited Sa’idic Doxologies Volumes XIII and XIV of …
MELITIAN SCHISM Melitius was the Bishop of Lycopolis (Assiut) during the patriarchate of Peter, the Seal of Martyrs (300-311). He opposed the patriarch of Alexandria on two issues. The first was the admission of the Lapsi (those who under torture deny Christ), and the second issue was the authority of the bishops to consecrate other …
ARIUS Arius was born in Libya. He studied theology in Antioch at the School of Lucian. He returned to Alexandria where he was ordained a deacon and then a priest. In 318, he started to preach his theological doctrine, which provoked many discussions. His main doctrine was that because the Son was the first creature …
CERINTHUS So little is known of Cerinthus that there is nothing to place him in Egypt other than a reference to him in the Epistula apostolorum (Letter of the Apostles, which some believe originated in Egypt) and a statement by Hippolytus that Cerinthus was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians. The Epistula apostolorum speaks …
CHRISTODOROS OF COPTOS A Christian poet in the time of Anastasius I (491-518) who was influenced by NONNOS OF PANOPOLIS (Cameron, p. 475). Between 491 and 518 he wrote a poem “On the Pupils of the Great Proclus,” an epic on the Isaurian expedition (497-498) of Emperor Anastasius, poems on the history and antiquities of …