Greek papyri - Page 4 of 4

Mummification

MUMMIFICATION There is evidence for mummification in Egypt from the beginning of historical times. Herodotus and Diodorus report on the different ways of mummifying. The practice arose from the idea that preservation of bodily integrity is the presupposition for life after death. This idea is evidently also the reason for statements in martyr legends of …

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Nilometer

Culture / By Armia FAYEZ

NILOMETER A number gauge for measuring the rise in the waters of the Nile at its annual flood. In Coptic times it had the shape of a graduated column divided into cubits. It is built of stone in the middle of a well alongside the river. On Coptic textiles the Nilometer is represented surmounted by …

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Diaconia

Culture / By Youssef Matta

DIACONIA A term of Greek origin with multiple meanings. The original sense of diaconia in classical and Hellenistic Greek was “service.” In later Greek, diaconia practically always denoted religious service of one kind or another, or bodies that had to do with such services. In later Greek texts from Egypt and in Coptic texts, we …

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Abusir Al-Malaq

Places / By Youssef Matta

ABUSIR AL-MALAQ A town located between the Nile and the Fayyum in the province of Bani Suef. It was known in Greek as Busiris and in earlier Arabic literature as Busir Quridis (M. Ramzi, 1960). As evidenced by archaeological finds from the earliest period of Egyptian history, Abusir al-Malaq has a very long history. It …

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