Beginning August 22, 2003, the Society held its fifth general conference of Coptic Studies. This two-day event was held on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), through the courtesy of the University authorities and the hard work of the Coptic Collegiate Club there. There were about 17 presentations delivered by scholars, students, clergy, and laymen from the US, Canada, and Egypt. About 60-70 people attended some or all the presentations. This was the seventh Society-sponsored scholarly event in the field of Coptic Studies in Los Angeles. It helped to further the Society's efforts to promote scholarly research among the Coptic Community in this field.
The Society's monumental work in publishing the treasures that the Coptic Heritage possesses is continuing at a slower pace. A preliminary literal English translation of that text has also begun. So far the first draft of the translation was completed for Genesis, 50% of Psalms, the three Synoptic Gospels, and 75% of Gospel of St. John. Volume 2 of the Coptic CD will include texts from CB1 through CB60 as well as the literal English translation of the Bohairic texts included. Projected date will be announced in the upcoming issues of the St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter.
During the past year the Society acquired ten Coptic textile pieces from galleries and individual sellers from the US, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands. Sizes and conditions of these pieces differ and their ages range from the 4 th to the 8 th centuries. The material is predominantly linen, while the colors are either stitched or painted. The largest piece is over a meter wide and in spite of the imperfect state of its preservation, it does show it is a cowl or hood piece of ancient tunic with traces of painted circles. There is another piece with very fine black embroidery, depicting a frontal view of a Centaur. Two others round pieces have colorful stitched figures. One has an animal figure and the second has two rows of Dancing figures. A more detailed description of each piece will be available on our website soon.
a. COEPA: The Society is continuing its cooperation with COEPA to promote and distribute their excellent products in the US, which is related to our work. Of their three audio titles, only St. Basil Liturgy and Midnight Psalmody are still available. There are more CD-ROM titles planned for the upcoming year that will be announced in the upcoming issues of the Newsletter. COEPA is still holds the distribution rights for our Coptic CD in Australia.
b. Digitizing of Coptic Microfilms: The entire digitized collection of manuscripts has been installed and is accessible to visitors of the Coptic Center through its new-networked system.
c Image Digitizing: The Society also is working on digitizing the existing offprint collection, catalogs of Coptic and Christian Arabic manuscripts, and rare volumes dealing with Coptic Studies. Several thousand images have been scanned so far. Seven of these titles have been announced so far. This work will be made available to scholars and students involved in Coptic Studies and related fields. It will be furnished in PDF format on CD-ROMs, and will be announced when ready.
d. Computers at the Coptic Center: This year, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Sameh, we redesigned our network by adding three servers and six workstations. We also added two new 21-inch monitors. We currently have the entire set of Digitized microfilms that were done last year installed on the server and is accessible through all the workstations there. We also added a DSL high-speed internet connection to allow the users to gain access to all the resources on the internet including the new CMCL Internet Journal. Work is now on-going to host www.stshenouda.org address directly from the Center.
e. Global Access (Internet): This year we continued our solid presence on the Internet. HTTP://WWW.STSHENOUDA.COM is still our current website address . The traffic grew to an average of about 50,000 hits a month with visitors over the last year from nearly every state in the US as well as over 120 different countries from six continents.
During the past year the library grew to over 2,000 volumes of material in the different branches of Coptic Studies. We expanded the library in every section of its more than 14 different sections. We are continuing the expansion and the development of the library to contain all the necessary references required by those who want to learn and/or to research the Coptic Heritage. The notable additions were as follows:
a. Coptic Art/Architecture/Inscriptions: M.L.Bierbrier, Portraits and Masks-Burial Customs in Roman Egypt (1997); G.Bröker, Koptische Stöffe (1967); O.Burmester, A Guide to the Ancient Coptic Churches of Cairo , (1955); ___, The Ancient Coptic Churches of Cairo (1955); A.J.Butler, Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt, 2 vol, (Reprint: 2002); M.Capuani, Christian Egypt – Coptic Art and Monuments Through Two Millennia (Eng:2002); U.M.DeVillard, Les Couvents Pres de Sohag, 2 vols (1925-26); J.M.Eisenberg, A Catalog of Late Egyptian and Coptic Sculptures , (1960); G.Gabra, Coptic Monasteries: Egypt's Monastic Art and Architecture (2002); G-T.Podmore, Ancient Coptic Textiles (1979); Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara (1907-1908); C.Rizzardi, Tessuti Copti del Museo Nazionale di Ravenna (1993); W.Volbach, Early Decorative Textiles (1969).
b. Coptic Bible, Old & New: Anonymous, La Collection des Papyrus Bodmer: Manuscrits des Textes Grecs Classiques, Grecs et Coptes Biblique et de Litterature Chretienne, 10 vols (2000); Ciasca/Balestri, Sacrorum Bibliorum Fragmenta Copto-Sahidica Musei Borgiani Iussu et Sumptibus 3 vol in 2, (Reprint: 1970); P.W.Comfort/D.P.Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (2001); Feder, Biblia Sahidica – Ieremias, Lamentationes (Threni), Epistula Ieremiae et Baruch (2002); B.Friberg, & T.Friberg, Analytical Greek New Testament (1981); F.G.Kenyon, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri , Fasc. II (1933), III (1934), III Supp. (1936), IV-1 (1934), IV-2 (1936), IV-3 (1936) V (1935), VI-1 (1937); VI-2 (1938), VII-1 (1937), VII-2 (1938); G.Maspero, Fragments de la Version Thebaine (1892); W.J.Perschbacher, The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (1999); A.Pietersma, A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms (2000); A.Rahlfs, Septuaginta , 2 vols (1949); H-M.Schenke, Coptic Papyri: 1. Das Mätthaus-Evangelium im Mittelagyptischen Dialekt des Koptischen (Codex Schoeyen) , (2001) K.Schüssler, Biblica Coptica-Die Koptischen Bibletexte Band 3-1 (2001); C.Wessely, Duodecim Prophetarum Minorum Versionis Achmimicae (Reprint:1969); B.F.Westcott/F.J.A.Hort, The New Testament in the Original Greek (1951).
c. Coptic Festschrifts and Conference Proceedings: Anonymous, St. Mark and the Coptic Church (1968); Hanna, Studies Presented to Prof. Aziz Surial Atiya (1972) ; O.von Lemm, Kleine Koptische Studien I-LVIII (Reprint:1972); ___, Koptische Miscellen I - CXLVIII (Reprint:1972).
d. Canon Law and Legal Texts: ___, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, v.5, v.6, v.7, v.8, v.10, v.11, v.36; R.Bagnall, The Demography of Roman Egypt (1995); S.J.Clackson, Coptic and Greek Texts Relating to the Hermopolite Monastery of Apa Apollo (200); W.E.Crum/Steindorff, Koptische Rechsurkunden des Achten Jahrhundert aus Djeme (Reprint:1971); W.Diem, Arabische Briefe des 7 bis 13 Jahrhunerts aus den Staatlichen Museen Berlin; 2 vol (1997); J.Gascou, Un Codex Hermopolite (P.Sorb II 69) (1994); Grenfell/Hunt, Greek Papyri- Catalogue General des Antiquities Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire. Nos 10001-10869 (Reprint 1972); N.Lewis, On Government and law in Roman Egypt. Collected Papers of Naphtali Lewis (1995); E.B.Pusey, The Councils of the Church from the Council of Jerusalem to Council of Constantinople (1857); E.Revillout, Le Concile de Nicee d'Apres les Textes Coptes … (1881); T.Wilfong, Women of Jeme. Lives in a Coptic Town in Late Antique Egypt (2003).
e. Cataloges of Manuscripts/Bibliographies: C.A.R.Andrews, Catalogue of Demotic Papyri in the B.M. v.4 Ptolemaic Legal Texts from the Theban Area (1990); A.Boud'hors, Catalogue des Fragments Coptes. v.1 Fragments Biblique Nouvellement Identifies (1987); The British Museum, A Guide of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Egyptian Rooms and the Coptic Room (1922); A.I.Elanskaya, Coptic Manuscripts of the M.E. Saltykou-Schedrin State Public Library (1969); Prince Ibrahim Hilmy, Bibliography of Egypt and the Soudan from the Earliest Times to 1885 v.1 (1886); A.vanLantschoot/A.Hebbelynck, Codices Coptici Vaticani Barberiniani Boirgiani-Codices Coptici Vaticani (1937); Pleyte & Boeser, Catalogue du Musée d'Antiquités à Leide (1900).
f. Coptic Gnosticism & Apocrypha: Budge, Egyptian Tales and Legends: Pagan, Christian, and Muslim (2002); J-Y.Leloup, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (Eng:2002).
g. Coptic Hagiography: P.P.Cheneau, Les Saints d'Egypte, 2 vol (1923); F.Jaritz, Die Arabischen Quellen zum Heiligen Menas (1993); O.Meinardus, Coptic Saints and Sinners, (2002).
h. Coptic History and Geography: A.S.Atiya, History of Eastern Christianity (1968); R.S.Bagnall, P.Derow, Greek Historical Documents: The Hellenistic Period , (1981); W.Budge, Saint Michael the Archangel: Three Encomium … (1894); L.Canfora, The Vanished Library – A Wonder of the Ancient World (1990); B.T.A.Evetts, The Churches and the Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighbouring Countries (Reprint:2001); EA.Fortescue, The Eastern Churches Trilogy, I. The Eastern Orthodox Churches, II. The Lesser Eastern Churches, III. The Uniate Eastern Churches (Reprint:2001); J-E.Steppa, John Rufus and the World Vision of Anti-Chalcedonia Culture (2002); al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari , 6 vols (2001); T.Torrey, The History of the Conquests of Egypt, North Africa, and Spain known as Futuh Misr of Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam (Reprint:2002); E. Wipszycka, Etudes sur le Christiansme dans L'Egypte de l'Antiquite Tardive (1996); E.Wipszycka, Les Ressources et les Activities Economiques des Eglises en Egypte du IVe au VIIIe Siecle (1972); M.Whitby, The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus (2000).
i. Coptic and Other Languages: J.T.Fitzgerald &J.J.Collins, A Concise Coptic-English Lexicon (1999); H.Förster, Wörterbuch der Griechischen Worter in den Koptischen Dokumentarischen Texten (2002); S.Hanna et al, Dictionary of Modern Linguistics (Ar) (1997); F.Junge, Late Egyptian Grammar – An Introduction (2001); Scholtz, Grammatica Aegyptica , (1778); R.S.Simpson, Demotic Grammar in the Ptolemaic Sacerdotal Decrees (1996); L.Stern, Koptische Grammatik (1880); H. Tattam, Coptic Grammar (Reprint 1995).
j. Coptic Literature/Patristics: G.M.De Durand, Deux Dialogues Christologie [Cyril of Alexandria], Sources Chretienne #97 (1964); ___, Dialogues sur la Trinite T.1 , Sources Chretienne #231 (1976); ___, T.2 #237 (1977); B.J.Daley, On the Dormition of Mary - Early Patristic Homilies (1998); L.Doutreleau, Didymos der Blinde. Psalmenkommentar (Tura Papyrus) , 5 vols, (1968); L.Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church, The Blessed Virgin in Patristic Thought (1999); M.Geerard, Clavis Patrum Gracorum , vol.1 Patres antenicaeni (1983); ___, vol.4 Concilia Catenae (1980); A.Henrichs (ed), Didymos der Blinde: Kommentar Zu Hiob (Tura Papyrus) (1968); D.G.Martinez, Baptized for our sakes: A Leather Trisagion from Egypt (P.Mich.799) (1999); J.P.Migne, Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Graeca Alter, St. [Cyril of Alexandria] v.68 (1864), v.71 (1864), v.72 (1864); ___, Series Graeca : [Cyril of Alexandria] v.77 (1859); J.M.Plumley, The Scrolls of Bishop Timothes (1975); P.E.Pusey, Sancti Patris Nostri. Cyrilli Archiepiscopi Alexan.. (Reprint:1965); ___, St. Cyril of Alexandria- Commentary on St John (Chap 1-8) (1874); C.Wessely, Griechische und Koptische Texte Theologischen Inhalts I-V (Reprint:1966-7).
k. Coptic Liturgy: F.E.Brighman, Eastern Liturgies (Reprint:2002).
l. Coptic Monasticism: R.Krawiec, Shenoute and the Women of the White Monastery: Egyptian Monasticism in Late Antiquity (2002); T.Vivian & A.Apostolos, The Life of Antony: The Greek and Coptic Lives (2003).
m. Coptic Magic: G.Viaud, Magie et Coutumes Populaires Chez les Coptes d'Egypte (1978).
n. Periodicals: Journal of Coptic Studies vol. 4 (2002); Coptic Church Review vol 22-4 (2002), vol.23-(1-3) (2003).
The Society began a program of limited one-day miniConferences at the Coptic Center on a quarterly basis. So far two of them have been held this year in December 2002 and April 2003. Each included 2-3 short presentations on a variety of subjects, and one single major presentation on Coptic History. There was an accompanying Library Book exhibit for each meeting. The first featured publications on different aspects of Coptic Art as well as the unveiling of our Coptic Textile collection. The second featured books on Coptic Architecture. Between 15-17 persons attended these meetings.
The Advanced Coptic Seminar, continued its work primarily on selections from the Bohairic text of the Book of Genesis. Several sessions of Coptic I and Coptic II classes were held at our Coptic Center. The enrolled students ranged in age from the teens to 50s. The Coptic Manuscript workshop or Coptic III has continued for three young Coptic students. The instruction was based on a Coptic text from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, found in an electronic copy of an Oxford manuscript in our collection. The instruction utilizes a six-step method that start with the transcription of the text to a literal English translation of it. Instructions are primarily done using Power Point electronic presentations. The ones used in Coptic I were developed by Mr. Joseph Fahim who also taught one of these sessions at the Center this year. Those used in Coptic II and III were developed by Mr. Hany N. Takla, the other instructor at the Center. Also a group from UCLA, studying Sahidic Coptic, has been conducting a Translation Seminar at the Los Angeles Coptic Center since March 2001. The group includes six adult students and the instructor is Dr. Monica Bontty, currently of California State University at Fullerton. During that past year they have been working on a three literary Sahidic texts that will be published in the near future.
a. Newsletter - Subscriber's Edition: Four issues of volume six of the Subscriber's Edition were published and mailed to our members and other selected individuals throughout the world.
b. Coptica: The work on the second and third issues are on going. They will include papers presented in the Wadi al-Natrun Symposium (February 2002).
In February 2003, H.H. Pope Shenouda III made a historical appearance at the new Library of Alexandria. At the conclusion of his address to an audience of several thousands, he graciously presented, alongside Dr. Fawzy Estafanous of St. Mark Foundation a gift to the library in the form of 16 CDs filled with scanned electronic images of Coptic and Christian Arabic Manuscripts. This represented a joint gift from St. Mark Foundation and our Society, taken from the Society's New Digitized collection of Coptic manuscripts, originally stored in microfilm format.
Prepared by Hany N. Takla 1/1/2004
for more information contact htakla@stshenouda.com