Abstract
The 16 contributions in this collection, plus the general introduction, were written by eleven different authors. The essays cover several thousand years of Egyptian history, though the collection’s main focus is on the growth of Christian civilization in Egypt from the first century CE to the present. From the very beginning we know that the approach is one where “the contributors combine academic expertise with intimate and practical knowledge of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Coptic heritage” (i). A particular aim of this volume is to hasten “the dismantling of Orientalism and Eurocentric views” (3) that have dominated the study of Christianity. The contributors, who have varying levels of academic training and activity (as indicated by the brief biographical descriptions), identify themselves as members of the Coptic Orthodox community, which exists both in Egypt and in a worldwide diaspora. This collection, therefore, makes an important contribution to the growing research field of world Christianity, though its effect is limited at times by the effort to cover so many topics over several thousand years of change.
The volume is divided into four sections: history, religious culture, literary culture, and material culture, each prefaced by “Coptic.” Some essays struggle with the effort to cover a great deal of material; for example, in “The Pre-Christian Period: Changing Times and Cultural Endurance” (9–22), Mariam Ayad attempts to review 3,000 years of Egyptian history and culture, ending with the Ptolemies, and concluding with a series of topics/single paragraphs and bibliography for further reading. When the period covered is more manageable, and the contributor is very familiar with the material, however, the brief essays are more successful, as in Maged S. A. Mikhail, “The Early Islamic Period (641–1517): From the Arab Conquest through Mamluk Rule” (39–53) and Febe Armanios, “The Ottoman Period (1517–1798): Beyond Persecution or Tolerance” (54–70). Both authors have published books on these topics and are able to present the most important points to general readers and nonspecialists alike.
In Part II, “Coptic Religious Culture,” F. contributes three separate essays: on Coptic theology, monasticism, and spirituality (105–42). In each of these, one or two aspects are emphasized as distinctly Coptic. Individual points may need more nuance (e.g., that the Pachomian rule lacked monastic vows, 125) since there is clear evidence that the closely related White Monastery Federation required new monks to “promise” to obey the rules of the community. How exactly was this promise, which was made after a few weeks’ residence at the gatehouse, different from Western-style monastic profession? John Paul Abdelsayed, “Liturgy: Heaven on Earth” (143–59), describes the main features of Coptic Orthodox liturgy clearly, but his proposal warrants correction when he contrasts Coptic Orthodox anointing of the sick and confession with Catholic practice (151, 154). On the other hand, Carolyn Ramzy, “Music: Performing Coptic Expressive Culture” (160–76), and Gawdat Gabra in Part IV, “Coptic Art: A Multifaceted Artistic Heritage” (239–70), present the distinctive features of Coptic religious culture without need for comparisons, and with very helpful illustrations.
Part III, “Coptic Literary Culture,” addresses an aspect of the Coptic heritage that has recently received much scholarly attention: the interaction of and transition between Greek, Coptic, and Arabic in Egypt from Late Antiquity to the present. F. covers “The Greek Literature of the Copts” (195–208), which is defined as literature written by Greek-speaking Egyptians that has the “distinctive Coptic/Alexandrian” character. Thus, Clement of Alexandria is discussed, but not Evagrius. Hany Takla offers good introductions to both Coptic language as a development from Egyptian (179–94) and Coptic literature (209–23) as an area that has drawn attention due to manuscript discoveries (Nag Hammadi, Kellis) but still needs research on fundamental questions (see his list of questions, 221). Samuel Moawad, “Coptic Arabic Literature: When Arabic Became the Language of the Saints” (224–36), is careful to outline both what is known and what is still unclear about the stages of transition from the use and knowledge of Coptic to Arabic in both the Coptic Orthodox Church and in the general usage of Christians in Egypt.
This collection of essays will be a useful source of information for general readers, both inside and outside the Coptic Orthodox community, for those in ministry who are interested in the growing topic of world Christianity, and for scholars focusing on the Near East who specialize in allied fields (political history, etc.). Aiming for a general audience, each essay has minimal footnotes, but all have very good, basic bibliographies to encourage further reading.