| Part of a series on the |
| Copts |
|---|
| Culture |
| Regions |
| Denominations |
 Christianityportal |
Coptology is the scientific study of the Coptic people.
| Part of a series on the |
| Copts |
|---|
| Culture |
| Regions |
| Denominations |
| Christianityportal |
Coptology is the scientific study of the Coptic people.
The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. [1] The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in Cairo under the title "Colloquium on the Future of Coptic Studies" (11-17 December). This was followed by the establishment of the "International Association for Coptic Studies". [2] One of the founders of the Colloquium and the Association was Pahor Labib, director of the Coptic Museum in Cairo during 1951-65. The words 'Coptology' and 'Coptologist' were introduced into the English language by Aziz Suryal Atiya. [3]
There are now institutions that give more or less regular courses of Coptology in 47 countries around the world, including Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Israel, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. A rotating chair of Coptic studies was opened at the American University in Cairo in 2002. [4]
Copts are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts in Egypt account for roughly 5–15 percent of the Egyptian population; Copts in Sudan account for 1 percent of the Sudanese population, while Copts in Libya similarly account for 1 percent of the Libyan population.
Mark II was the 49th Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria from 26 January 799 until his death.
Saint Agathon of Alexandria, was the 39th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. St. Agathon was a disciple of Pope Benjamin I, the 38th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church so when Pope Benjamin had to flee to avoid persecution by the Chalcedonians, Agathon remained and led the church.
Michael I was the 46th Coptic Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria from 743 to 767.
The Institute of Coptic Studies was founded in 1954 by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is based in Cairo.
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Coptic Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika in 1908 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Egypt from its beginnings to the present day. It was erected on 8,000 square meter land offered by the Coptic Orthodox Church, under the guardianship of Pope Cyril V.
Coptic literature is the body of writings in the Coptic language of Egypt, the last stage of the indigenous Egyptian language. It is written in the Coptic alphabet. The study of the Coptic language and literature is called Coptology.
Coptic history is the part of the history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items related to Coptic Christianity are on display in many museums around the world and a large number is in the Coptic Museum in Coptic Cairo.
Aziz Suryal Atiya was an Egyptian Coptologist who was a Coptic historian and scholar and an expert in Islamic and Crusades studies.
The Coptic Encyclopedia is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in the field of Coptology, history, art and theology and was edited by Aziz Suryal Atiya. It was funded by Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and others.
Pahor Labib was Director of the Coptic Museum, Cairo, Egypt, from 1951 to 1965 and one of the world leaders in Egyptology and Coptology.
Abu l-Makārim Saʿdullāh ibn Jirjis ibn Masʿūd (d.1208) was a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in the thirteenth century. Abu al-Makarim is best known as the author of a famous work entitled History of Churches and Monasteries. This was written around 1200.
Claudius Iohannes Labib was a Coptic (Egyptian) Egyptologist. His family was known for copying church books. He used to accompany his father to the el-Muharraq monastery to learn Coptic with the monks. He was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest being Pahor and the middle being Tadros. Labib learned Egyptian hieroglyphs from the French Egyptologists and was the second modern Egyptian to learn this ancient language. Claudius Labib is credited for making the first Coptic-Arabic Dictionary. He died before finishing it. Claudius Labib was the chief editor of "On" magazine which had articles written in Coptic. He also pioneered educational books for children named ⲁϧⲱⲙⲫⲁⲧ (Akhomphat).
Stephen Emmel is a Coptologist and musician.
Longinus was the hegumenos of the Enaton, a monastic community outside Alexandria in Roman Egypt. He is the subject of a Sahidic Coptic hagiography, the Life of Saints Longinus and Lucius the Ascetics, and a Sahidic homily, In Honour of Longinus, by Bishop Basil of Oxyrhynchus.
Abū Shākir ibn al-Rāhib was a Coptic polymath and encyclopaedist from the golden age of Christian literature in Arabic. He is a "towering figure" in Coptic linguistics and made important contributions to Coptic historiography.
Alfred Joshua Butler F.S.A. was a British ancient historian who specialised in the history of the Copts.
Copto-Arabic literature is the literature of the Copts written in Arabic. It is distinct from Coptic literature, which is literature written in the Coptic language.
Old Coptic is the earliest stage of Coptic writing, a form of late Egyptian written in Coptic script, a variant of the Greek alphabet. It "is an analytical category … utilised by scholars to refer to a particular group of sources" and not a language, dialect or singular writing system. Scholars differ on the exact boundaries of the Old Coptic corpus and thus on the definition of "Old Coptic". Generally, it can be said that Old Coptic texts use more letters of Demotic derivation than later literary Coptic. They lack the consistent script style and borrowed Greek vocabulary of later Coptic literature. Some even use exclusively Greek letters. Moreover, they are generally or exclusively of Egyptian pagan origin, as opposed to later literary Coptic texts, which are strongly associated with Coptic Christianity and to a lesser extent Gnosticism and Manichaeism.
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
