The Christian Epigraphy of Egypt and Nubia

Description

Collected Studies CS1070 The present book collects 31 articles that Jacques van der Vliet, a leading scholar in the field of Coptic Studies (Leiden University / Radboud University, Nijmegen), has published since 1999 on Christian inscriptions from Egypt and Nubia. These inscriptions are dated between the third/fourth and the fourteenth centuries, and are often written in Coptic and/or Greek, once in Latin, and sometimes (partly) in Arabic, Syriac or Old Nubian. They include inscriptions on tomb stones, walls of religious buildings, tools, vessels, furniture, amulets and even texts on luxury garments. Whereas earlier scholars in the field of Coptic Studies often focused on either Coptic or Greek, Van der Vliet argues that inscriptions in different languages that appear in the same space or on the same kind of objects should be examined together. In addition, he aims to combine the information from documentary texts, archaeological remains and inscriptions, in order to reconstruct the economic, social and religious life of monastic or civil communities. He practiced this methodology in his studies on the Fayum, Wadi al-Natrun, Sohag, Western Thebes and the region of Aswan and Northern Nubia, which are all included in this book. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of contributors Preface List of abbreviations Part 1: A general introduction 1 The Christian epigraphy of Egypt and Nubia: State of research and perspectives Part 2: Egypt 2 “In a robe of gold”: Status, magic and politics on inscribed Christian textiles from Egypt 3 Christus imperat: An ignored Coptic dating formula 4 Perennial Hellenism! László Török and the al-Mu‘allaqa lintel (Coptic Museum inv. no. 753) 5 History through inscriptions: Coptic epigraphy in the Wadi al-Natrun 6 Reconstructing the landscape: Epigraphic sources for the Christian Fayoum 7 Monumenta fayumica 8 Monuments of Christian Sinnuris (Fayoum, Egypt) 9 Four Christian funerary inscriptions from the Fayoum (I. Dayr al-‘Azab 1–4) 10 A lintel from the Fayoum in the British Museum 11 A Naqlun monk brought home: On the provenance of Louvre inv. E 26798–9 12 I. Varsovie: Graeco-Coptica 13 A Coptic funerary stela in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 14 Snippets from the past: Two ancient sites in the Asyut region: Dayr al-Gabrawi and Dayr al-‘Izam 15 Monks and scholars in the Panopolite nome: The epigraphic evidence 16 Parerga: Notes on Christian inscriptions from Egypt and Nubia 17 Epigraphy and history in the Theban region 18 From Naqada to Esna: A late Coptic inscription at Dayr Mari Girgis (Naqada) 19 “In year one of King Zachari”: Evidence of a new Nubian king from the Monastery of St. Simeon at Aswan 20 Contested frontiers: Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia, a.d. 300–1500. The evidence of the inscriptions Part 3: Nubia 21 Coptic as a Nubian literary language: Four theses for discussion 22 Gleanings from Christian Northern Nubia 23 Four north-Nubian funerary stelae from the Bankes collection 24 Churches in Lower Nubia, old and “new” 25 Two Coptic epitaphs from Qasr Ibrim 26 The Church of the Twelve Apostles: The earliest Cathedral of Faras 27 Exit Tamer, bishop of Faras (SB V 8728) 28 Rich ladies of Meinarti and their churches. With an appended list of sources from Christian Nubia containing the expression “having the Church of so-and-so” 29 From Aswan to Dongola: The epitaph of Bishop Joseph (died a.d. 668) 30 Rome – Meroe – Berlin: The southernmost Latin inscription rediscovered (CIL III 83) 31 “What is man?” The Nubian tradition of Coptic funerary inscriptions Index