Coptic Literature

Leave a Comment / Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC LITERATURE National literatures are defined not only by the language in which they are written but also by ethnic and cultural affinities that bind their authors. That is why we may distinguish an American literature in English from British literature or a Latin-American literature in Spanish from Spanish literature. The literature in the Coptic …

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Al-Burullus

Leave a Comment / Places / By Arsanious Adel

AL-BURULLUS A town in Egypt located somewhere between present-day Baltim and al-Burj on the eastern shore of Lake Burullus in the northern Delta. Al-Burullus had a bishop as early as the first third of the fourth century. Bishop Nonnas was in office in 339; he was succeeded by Bishop Nemesion (Munier, 1943, p. 9). Bishop …

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Copto-Arabic Synaxarion

Leave a Comment / Books / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTO-ARABIC SYNAXARION A list of saints used in the Coptic church Editions of the Synaxarion This book, which has become a liturgical book, is very important for the history of the Coptic church. It appears in two forms: the recension from Lower Egypt, which is the quasi-official book of the Coptic church from Alexandria to …

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Dayr Al-Maymah (Gharbiyyah)

Leave a Comment / Places / By Arsanious Adel

DAYR AL-MAYMAH (Gharbiyyah) This monastery is part of a group of four that, according to the indications of al-MAQRIZI, may be situated “in the region of the salt-marshes near Lake al-Burullus” (1845, pp. 45 [text], 109 [trans.]; 1853, Vol. 2, p. 508, correcting al- Maymanah to al-Maymah) in the neighborhood of Bilqas, in northeast Gharbiyyah. …

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Coptic Saints

Leave a Comment / Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC SAINTS Holy men and women recognized in Egypt who died peacefully, as distinguished from MARTYRS, also saints, who met a violent end. The saints continued to reflect their faith throughout their lives, leaving behind them information that could help posterity record their labors for Christianity. Any listing of saints is an infinitesimal fraction of …

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Michael The Archangel, Saint

Leave a Comment / Culture / By Armia FAYEZ

MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, SAINT In Coptic Christian tradition, Saint Michael the Archangel holds an important place, comparable to that of the Virgin Mary. Of the Eastern churches, only the Copts and the Ethiopians have developed devotion to the archangel to the same degree. Among the archangels, Michael is explicitly named in the Old Testament (Dn. …

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Mikha’il (Bishop Of Atrib)

Leave a Comment / Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

MIKHA’IL The thirteenth-century bishop of Atrib and Malij. The exact dates of his birth and consecration as bishop or of his death are not known. We are certain only about the dates of twelve small theological treatises written between 1243 and 1247 before he became bishop. O. H. E. Burmester believed that he lived in …

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Dayr Sitt Dimyanah

Leave a Comment / Places / By Youssef Matta

DAYR SITT DIMYANAH A monastery near Bilqas. History It is very probable that the Dayr Jimyanah (or Dimyanah) described by al-MAQRIZI (d. 1441) and the present Dayr Sitt Dimyanah (to the north of Bilqas) are one and the same place, as suggested by ‘ABD AL-MASIH SALIB AL-MAS‘UDI (1924, p.149). The orthography given by al-Maqrizi, Jimyanah, …

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bishop of Parallos