DIOS - Coptic Wiki

Coptic Toponymy

COPTIC TOPONYMY The study of ancient place-names is one of the most interesting domains of historical research, since the names of hamlets, villages, and towns of the past often give brief but valuable indications, usually absent from historical records, about the creation of those urban centers and the reasons for their founding, whether economic, political, …

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Coptic Hagiography

Books, History / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC HAGIOGRAPHY Egypt was influenced by the Greek culture, hence many of the hagiographical texts were written first in this language and translated later into Coptic. It is important to use the classical hagiographical tools such as Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis and the Bibliotheca Sanctorum (16 vols., Rome 1965-1976), in addition to the bibliography in each …

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Biljay

Places / By Arsanious Adel

BILJAY A town located in the Egyptian Delta about 5 miles (8 km) south of al-Mansurah in the Daqahliyyah province. Biljay takes its place in Christian history as the birthplace of the martyr DIOS who was killed during the reign of the emperor Maximian (Rossi, 1893). BIBLIOGRAPHY Amélineau, E. La Géographie de l’Egypte a l’époque …

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Hagiography, Coptic

Theology / By Armia FAYEZ

HAGIOGRAPHY, COPTIC The writing about the saints of the Coptic church. Many religions venerate saints and so have produced a vast literature around them. Best known in the West is the monumental Acta Sanctorum (Lives of the Saints), compiled by the Society of Bollandists, a group of Jesuit scholars, beginning in the seventeenth century and …

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Forty-Nine Martyrs Of Scetis

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

FORTY-NINE MARTYRS OF SCETIS The martyrdom of the forty-nine elders of the desert of SCETIS, which took place in the year 444, is commemorated in the SYNAXARION under 26 Tubah. Reference is also made to them in the liturgy with the rest of the host of saints, martyrs, and holy fathers: “Graciously, O Lord, remember …

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Martyrs, Coptic

Culture / By Armia FAYEZ

MARTYRS, COPTIC The souls recognized in Egypt who suffered persecution and died for their faith. The majority of martyrs belong to the period of Roman persecutions from the time of Nero in the mid-first century to the time of Diocletian in the early fourth century. It is, of course, impossible to assemble the names of …

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Dios, Saint, Or Abadyus

Eminent / By Youssef Matta

DIOS, SAINT, or Abadyus A soldier who was martyred commemorated by the Copts (feast day: 25 Tubah). He is but unknown in other traditions. The text of his Passion has survived in only a single Sahidic manuscript (Rossi, 1893, pp. 86-90). In this, the martyrdom is dated to the time of Emperor Maximinus (235-238) in …

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