Coptic Culture and Community

Daily Lives, Changing Times

Mariam F. Ayad

• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9781649031822
• eBook ISBN:
  9781649033284
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Egyptian Ancient History
• Index: History

A wide-ranging exploration of the daily lives of ordinary Coptic Christians, from late Antiquity until today

This volume brings together leading experts from a range of disciplines to examine aspects of the daily lived experiences of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority from late Antiquity to the present. In doing so, it serves as a supplement and a corrective to institutional or theological narratives, which are generally rooted in studying the wielders of historical power and control.

Coptic Culture and Community reveals the humanity of the Coptic tradition, giving granular depth to how Copts have lived their lives through and because of their faith for two thousand years. The first three sections consider in turn the breadth of the daily life approach, perspectives on poverty and power in a variety of different contexts, and matters of identity and persecution. The final section reflects on the global Coptic diaspora, bringing themes studied for the early Coptic Church into dialog with Coptic experiences today. These broad categories help to link fundamental questions of socio-religious history with unique aspects of Coptic culture and its vibrant communities of individuals.

Contributors:
- Nicola Aravecchia, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Mariam F. Ayad, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
- Renate Dekker, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Lois M. Farag, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Ihab Khalil, Coptic Museum of Canada, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
- A.D. MacDonald, Sydney, Australia
- Ash Melika, California Baptist University, Riverside, California, USA
- Samuel Moawad, Institute of Egyptology and Coptology, Münster, Germany
- Helene Moussa, Coptic Museum of Canada, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
- Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
- Carolyn Ramzy, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Christina Thérèse Rooijakkers, Leiden University, Oegstgeest, the Netherlands
- Youhanna Nessim Youssef, Sankt Ignatios College, University College Stockholm, Sweden

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Illustrations
• Contributors
• Introduction
• 1. Clement of Alexandria’s “New” Social Order: Sex, Food, and Dress
• 2. An Egyptian Family and a Woman’s Freedom: A Case Study from Late Antiquity
• 3. The Poor, Poverty, and Materialism in the Instruction of Amenemope, the Book of Proverbs, and Coptic Monastic Texts: A Sociohistorical Reading
• 4. Social Life in Egypt in a Sermon of Shenoute of Atripe: A Critical Edition of Acephalous Work A4
• 5. A Widow’s Plea: Rhetorical Strategies in Coptic Personal Letter SB Kopt I.295
• 6. Protecting the Socially Vulnerable: The Case Studies of Two Bishops and a Hermit in the Theban Region in the Early Seventh Century Renate Dekker
• 7. Documents Illustrating the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians
• 8. Christian Identity in the Archaeological Record: Evidence from Egypt’s Western Desert
• 9. Laws of Sartorial Differentiation (Ghiyar) in Pre-Mamluk Egypt
• 10. Life of Severus of Antioch as an Advocate of Orthodoxy
• 11. Icons as Social Statements: The Victor Asaad Fakhoury Icon Series, 2011–17
• 12. Marguerite Nakhla (1908–77): Painter of the Mosaic of Daily Life Helene Moussa
• 13. Coptic Orthodox Feminism: Popular Song and Attempted Gender Reformation in the Diaspora
• 14. An Exploration of Power Distance in the Early Church and the Modern Coptic Diaspora
• Back Cover