Museum of Fine of Arts - Page 32 of 33

Nikiou

NIKIOU A Greek name of a city in the Egyptian Delta in the area of Minuf. Traditionally, the city was named after the governor who founded it. Nikiou was known in Coptic as psati (Pshati) and in Arabic literature, it was called Niqyus or Ibshadi. The location of Nikiou is a matter of some debate. …

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Octagon-Domed Church

Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

OCTAGON-DOMED CHURCH A type of church building that first makes its appearance in the first half of the eleventh century. Outside of Egypt it is to be found in Greece, and from the twelfth century, in Islamic architecture. In this type of building the whole naos area is roofed over by a single dome, carried …

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Nun

Groups / By Armia FAYEZ

NUN A member of a female religious order living under vows of chastity and asceticism. With the dissemination of Christian ideals in the apostolic age, many widows and virgins separated themselves from society to worship God, initially in seclusion and later in communal groups (cf. 1 Tm. 5:9-10). Cenobitic conventual monasticism can therefore be said …

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Omar Toussoun (1872-1944)

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

OMAR TOUSSOUN (1872-1944) A prince of the Egyptian royal family, scholar, and philanthropist. There were few aspects of Egyptian progress that did not benefit from his support and his practical encouragement. He was particularly devoted to the interests of agriculture and agricultural workers. He was deeply interested in the history and the geography of Egypt …

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Olympiodorus Of Thebes

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

OLYMPIODORUS OF THEBES A fifth-century historian who wrote a work comprising twenty-two books that was dedicated to Emperor Theodosius II. It deals with the years 407-435 and is based on his own experiences (e.g., whith the Blemmyes in Nubia). BIBLIOGRAPHY Baldwin, B. “Olympiodoros of Thebes.” L’antiquité classique 49 (1980):212-31. Moravcsik, G. Byzantino-Turcica, 2nd ed., Vol. …

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Offertory

Liturgy / By Armia FAYEZ

OFFERTORY In the early church, donations of bread and wine were made by the laity to be consecrated in the eucharistic service, and the term “offertory” came also to mean the prayers said by the priest during this part of the Divine Liturgy. In his epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Clement of Rome (fl. c. …

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Coptic Translations Of Old Testament

Bible / By Armia FAYEZ

COPTIC TRANSLATIONS OF OLD TESTAMENT The earliest of the Coptic translations of the Old Testament, like those of the New Testament, remain obscure. Christianity first took root in Alexandria, a city predominantly inhabited by Greeks, who had no need of a translation of the Greek Bible (the Old Testament in the form of the Septuagint). …

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Saint Olympius

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

SAINT OLYMPIUS A physician of Nicomedia (modern Izmir, Turkey), who was martyred in Egypt under DIOCLETIAN. His name is not found in the Copto-Arabic SYNAXARION, and since the Coptic texts that mention him are also fragmentary, the day he was commemorated is not known. Two Coptic texts concern him: his Passion, now in six fragments …

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Saints Paese And Tecla

Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

SAINTS PAESE AND TECLA A brother and sister who were martyrs under Diocletian (feast day: 8 Kiyahk). The text of their Passion has survived in one complete manuscript in Sahidic and in other fragments (Reymond-Barnes, 1973; cf. Browne, 1974). Paese was a rich property owner from Pousire, near Shmun; Tecla was his widowed sister. When …

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Oxyrhynchus Papyri

Books, Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

OXYRHYNCHUS PAPYRI Oxyrhynchus is the name of the chief town of an ancient district in Middle Egypt, on the west bank of the Bahr Yusuf west of the Nile, at modern Bahnasa. So called by the Greeks after a fish worshiped there, it became famous particularly through the excavations for papyri carried out by B. …

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