Calendar – Coptic Wiki

Liturgy in the White Monastery

Liturgy in the White Monastery Liturgy is an essential part of the life of a monastery, and we can hardly feel an interest for the White Monastery without being interested in its liturgical life as well.[1] Unfortunately we still know little about this subject, as recently stated by Heinzgerd Brakmann, a most distinguished scholar in […]

Two Witnesses of Christian Life in the area of Balyana: The Church of the Virgin and the Monastery of Anba Moses

Two Witnesses of Christian Life in the area of Balyana: The Church of the Virgin and the Monastery of Anba Moses[1] The town of Balyana stands on the west bank of the Nile in the Sohag governorate. I have had many opportunities to be in touch with Christian life in this area of Upper Egypt […]

The History of Christianity in Egypt

The History of Christianity in Egypt THE TERM COPT COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE ARABIC QBT, which appears to derive from the Greek aigyptos (Egypt) / aigyptioi (Egyptians), a phonetic corruption of the ancient Egyptian word Hikaptah, one of the names of Memphis. Initially the word described a non-Arabic-speaking non-Muslim. By implication, a Copt was also […]

The Church of St. Mercurius (OLD CAIRO)

The Church of St. Mercurius (OLD CAIRO) THE CHURCH OF ST. MERCURIUS is part of a complex of three churches and a convent, also dedicated to St. Mercurius (Abu Sayfayn). St. Mercurius, “the Father of the Two Swords,” was a commander in the army of the Emperor Decius (249-251). On the eve of an important […]

The Church of St. Barbara (OLD CAIRO)

The Church of St. Barbara (OLD CAIRO) Athanasius of Edessa, scribe (katib) of amir zAbd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (685-705) founded a second church in Old Cairo, known as the Church of St. Barbara. Because of their similar architecture, Sts. Sergius and Bacchus and St. Barbara are often considered ‘twin churches’ or ‘sister churches.’ Originally, the […]

Saturday

SATURDAY The seventh day of the week, the day on which Christ’s body rested in the tomb. The early Christians of Jewish origin continued to observe Saturday as the Sabbath, a day of rest and prayer. But the fact that the Resurrection and descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles had taken place on […]

Chronicon Orientale

CHRONICON ORIENTALE A chronicle of world history composed by an unknown thirteenth-century author who put events he thought important into a table of secular and ecclesiastical rulers. Its chronological bases are the Old Testament for the pre-Christian era, the Roman emperors for the period from the time of Christ to Muhammad, and thereafter the Arab […]

Christian Subjects In Coptic Art

CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS IN COPTIC ART Whatever its materials and techniques—stone or wood relief sculpture, painted walls or manuscripts, textiles, metalwork, ceramics, or glass—Coptic Christian iconography retained a few rare elements of pharaonic origin and many Greco-Roman elements from Alexandrian tradition. From the fifth century on, these pagan subjects mingled with Christian motifs. The Christian subjects […]

Calendar And Agriculture

CALENDAR AND AGRICULTURE The Coptic calendar has survived not only in the liturgy of the Coptic church but also in the agricultural life of the Nile Valley, for it sets the schedule by which the farmers (fellahin) regulate their work in the fields. Many delightful maxims and aphorisms summarizing the essentials of what must be […]

Months Of Coptic Calendar

MONTHS OF COPTIC CALENDAR Of all survivals from pharaonic Egypt, the calendar is the most striking. Each of the twelve months of the Coptic calendar still carries the name of one of the deities or feasts of ancient Egypt. Without doubt, this reflects the conservatism that characterizes the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, who are […]