Christian monasticism originated in Egypt and then spread to the rest of the Christian church. Coptic monks made a significant contribution to Christian theology and spirituality through their distinctive approach to the life of faith. This study by a Coptic monk analysis Coptic missionary spirituality as it flowered in the fourth and fifth centuries. Chapter 2 introduces the three main types of Coptic monasticism and the key figures in each of the three types. Chapter 3 describes the centripetal dimension of their mission, indicating how they attracted a wide.variety of people to a committed Christian life through their holiness, simplicity and humility. Chapter 4 discusses their "outreaching" mission of love: their preaching in harmony with the culture of people, their concern for the poor and oppressed, their healing miracles and exorcisms, their defense of the Orthodox faith against heresy. Chapter 5 summaries the findings of the study and identifies priorities for further research. / Department of Christian Spiritual Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

La présente thèse de doctorat est consacrée à l'étude d'un lot de papyrus conservés aux Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles. La plupart de ces textes proviennent du monastère d'apa Apollô de Baouît en Moyenne-Égypte.<p>L'introduction s'attache à retracer la genèse du lot et se conclut par un inventaire des papyrus qui peuvent lui être attribués.<p>Un premier chapitre présente le monastère de Baouît (sources, le fondateur, le site monastique et son histoire, les moines, l'organisation, la place du monastère dans le contexte régional).<p>Le deuxième chapitre est consacré aux textes documentaires du monastère de Baouît. Différents thèmes sont ensuite abordés: les supports de l'écriture, la paléographie, l'usage des langues (grec et copte), les particularités linguistiques et l'apport des textes édités.<p>Les 100 papyrus publiés sont répartis dans les sections suivantes: 1. ordres de l'administration monastique, 2. ordres de paiements; 3. comptes et listes; 4. reçus; 5. contrats de prêt; 6. autres contrats; 7. lettres; 8. protocoles; 9. varia; 10. annexe. Divers tableaux et annexes complètent les éditions.<p>Un dernier chapitre traite des activités économiques du monastère de Baouît (sources, patrimoine, productions, revenus et dépenses).<p> / Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation langue et littérature / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The focus of this study was analytical investigations of Egyptian paintings, mainly Coptic icons and Islamic wooden ceilings, dating from 1300-1900 using multi-instrumental techniques. Twenty three Coptic icons and three wooden ceilings dated from different periods and painted by different painters in case of icons were examined. The materials used including pigments, media, varnishes, ground layers and gold layers. The surface stratigraphy of paint samples, their layered structured and the composition of materials used in each layer were analysed. Variations in painting techniques, pigments palettes, paint media and varnishes applied in Egyptian paintings according to painters, time and type of paintings were revealed. A total of twenty-eight organic and inorganic pigments were identified in this study, of which nine have never been previously included as a part of the Egyptian pigment palettes, namely; smalt, lapis lazuli, indigo, pararealgar, Prussian blue, chrome yellow, barium yellow, barium white and hydromagnesite. The identification of hydromagnesite, which has never been to date considered as a pigment either in Egypt or elsewhere and the identification of smalt from the mid-14th century, whose reported earliest large scale use was in the 16th century. Two types of resins were identified as a constituent of the oil/resin varnish applied on Coptic icons of which Venice turpentine has been identified for the first time as an ingredient of Egyptian varnishes. The identification of mosaic gold in an 18th C. icon, a novel usage of dammar resin and the multilayered structure of the white ground layers were revealed.

My thesis examines the function and development of the cult of saints in Coptic Egypt. For this purpose I focus primarily on the material provided by the texts forming the Coptic hagiographical tradition of the early Christian martyr Philotheus of Antioch, and more specifically - the Martyrdom of St Philotheus of Antioch (Pierpont Morgan M583). This Martyrdom is a reflection of a once flourishing cult which is attested in Egypt by rich textual and material evidence. This text enjoyed great popularity not only in Egypt, but also in other countries of the Christian East, since his dossier includes texts in Coptic, Georgian, Ethiopic, and Arabic. This thesis examines the literary and historical background of the Martyrdom of Philotheus and similar hagiographical texts. It also explores the goals and concerns of the authors and editors of Coptic martyr passions and their intended audience. I am arguing that these texts were produced in order to perform multiple functions: to justify and promote the cult of a particular saint, as an educational tool, and as an important structural element of liturgical celebrations in honour of the saint. Another aim of this work is to stress the entertainment value of such texts. I explore the sources used by Coptic hagiographers for creating such entertaining stories, as well as the methods they used to re-work certain theological concepts and make them more accessible to the audience. The thesis begins with description of the manuscript tradition of Philotheus and a brief outline and comparison of its main versions. The second chapter discusses the place of the Martyrdom of Philotheus in Coptic hagiography and its connection to the so-called cycles. The next two chapters explore the motifs and topoi characteristic of Coptic martyr passions, especially the legend of Diocletian the Persecutor and the image of Antioch as the Holy City in Coptic hagiography, as these two motifs appear in one way or another in the majority of the martyr passions. Chapter 5 is dedicated to one of the focal points in the Martyrdom - the miracle of resurrection and the tour of hell – and its literary and theological background. Chapter 6 discusses representations of magic and paganism in Coptic hagiography and some of the concerns of Coptic hagiographers. In the last chapter I explore the geography of the cult, its iconographic and hymnographic dimensions and the transformation of the perception of the saint; the second part of this chapter discusses the questions of performance, authorship and audience.

La thèse aborde les processus de politisation de la minorité copte orthodoxe en Égypte. Ce cas illustre la question du communautarisme comme mode d'énonciation du politique, autrement dit, comme un bouclier de défense auquel les coptes ont eu recours pour lutter et survivre dans le cadre de l'autoritarisme républicain en Égypte. Dans cette perspective, nous proposons d'observer les différentes formes que prend le communautarisme copte, étroitement liées aux bouleversements qui marquent le champ politique égyptien. Elles sont conçues comme une réaction de la communauté à l'autoritarisme égyptien. Elles sont conçues comme une construction provenant des dynamiques des rapports entre le clergé et le pouvoir et une résultante des dynamiques intra-communautaires et inter- communautaires. Il s'agit de noter le souci d'une hiérarchie cléricale visant à répondre aux aspirations des fidèles marginalisés au niveau national, et dominés par son clergé au niveau communautaire. Cette thèse étudie la fragmentation communautaire, résultante des failles des équilibres entre l'Église et les autorités publiques, ce qui a permis l'émergence d'autres voies de mobilisation des acteurs coptes politisés. L'attention est portée sur les coptes profanes, longtemps ignorés et qui font leur entrée sur scène avec le Printemps Arabe. Ils proviennent des univers sociaux strictement contrôlés par l'Église et le régime en place et c'est l'imbrication de leurs divers processus de socialisation qui nous permet d'appréhender leur engagement différencié, ainsi que les bouleversements intra-communautaires provoqués par ces nouveaux entrants dans l'espace communautaire et l'espace public égyptien. / The thesis addresses the process of politicization of the Coptic Orthodox minority in Egypt. This case illustrates the issue of communitarianism as a mode of enunciation of politics, in other words, as a shield of defense to which the Copts resorted to struggle and survive within the framework of republican authoritarianism in Egypt. ln this perspective, we propose to observe the different forms taken by the Coptic community, closely related to the upheavals that mark the Egyptian political field. They are conceived as a reaction of the community to Egyptian authoritarianism. They are conceived as a construction resulting from the dynamics of the relations between the clergy and the political regime and a resultant of intra-community and inter-community dynamics. It is important to note the concern of a clerical hierarchy to respond to the aspirations of the marginalized Copts at the national level, and dominated by its clergy at the community level. This thesis studies community fragmentation, resulting from the flaws in the equilibrium between the Church and the public authorities, which allowed the emergence of other Coptic politicized paths and actors. Attention is paid to the secular Copts, who seem to launch their engagement with the Arab Spring. They come from social worlds strictly controlled by the Church and the State and it is the interweaving of their various processes of socialization that allows us to understand their engagement and activism as well as the intra-community upheavals caused by these new entrants in the community space as well as the Egyptian public space.

Les peintures murales de Baouît ont suscité dès leur découverte l’intérêt des historiens de l’art et en particulier des spécialistes de l’Orient chrétien. Devenues un corpus emblématique de l’art copte, à la charnière de l’Antiquité tardive et du haut Moyen Âge, elles représentent une manne iconographique d’autant plus exceptionnelle que les décors de cette période sont rares autour du bassin méditerranéen. Tout en se faisant l’écho des édifices protobyzantins en grande partie disparus, elles rendent compte d’une communauté monastique florissante au début de l’époque arabe. Elles constituent également une source précieuse, complémentaire des textes, sur la vie spirituelle des moines d’Égypte. La présente étude est le fruit d’une synthèse opérée entre la relecture de la documentation ancienne et les données apportées par les investigations récentes. La reprise des travaux archéologiques sur le site invitait à reconsidérer l’ensemble du matériel pictural mis au jour au début du XXe siècle, en vue notamment de préciser, à la lumière des programmes iconographiques et des nouvelles découvertes, la fonction et la datation desdites chapelles. Enfin, elle apporte un éclairage unique sur les peintres qui ont œuvré à Baouît et qui ont transmis, par l’intermédiaire de leur travail pictural, une image de leur communauté et une part de la spiritualité égyptienne. / Since their discovery, the wall paintings from Bawit aroused art historians’ interest, especially among scholars of the Christian East. They are an emblematic corpus of Coptic art, in the transition period between the Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Their significance is even more exceptional, considering the fact that they are very few around the Mediterranean basin. While echoing the largely extinct early byzantine buildings, they reflect a flourishing monastic community at the beginning of the Arab era. They are also a valuable source of information, complementary to the texts, about the spiritual life of the Egyptian monks. This study is the result of a synthesis between the proofreading of the archives and the data provided by the recent investigations. The new start of excavations on the site invited us to reconsider all the pictorial material discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, in order to clarify the function and the date of the said “chapels”, in the light of the iconographic programs and new discoveries. Finally, it gives a unique insight of the painters who have worked at Bawit and who have transmitted, through their pictorial work, an image of their community and a part of the Egyptian spirituality.

The Göttingen Virtual Manuscript Room (VMR); The Göttingen Virtual Manuscript Room (VMR) offers both an online based digital repository for Coptic Biblical manuscripts (ideally, high resolution images of every manuscript page, all metadata etc.) and a digital edition of their texts, finally even a critical edition of every biblical book of the Coptic Old Testament based on all available manuscripts. All text data will also be transferred into XML and linguistically annotated. In this way the VMR offers a full physical description of each manuscript and, at the same time, a full edition of its text and language data. Of course, the VMR can be used for manuscripts and texts other than Coptic too.

The focus of this study was analytical investigations of Egyptian paintings, mainly Coptic icons and Islamic wooden ceilings, dating from 1300-1900 using multiinstrumental techniques. Twenty three Coptic icons and three wooden ceilings dated from different periods and painted by different painters in case of icons were examined. The materials used including pigments, media, varnishes, ground layers and gold layers. The surface stratigraphy of paint samples, their layered structured and the composition of materials used in each layer were analysed. Variations in painting techniques, pigments palettes, paint media and varnishes applied in Egyptian paintings according to painters, time and type of paintings were revealed. A total of twenty-eight organic and inorganic pigments were identified in this study, of which nine have never been previously included as a part of the Egyptian pigment palettes, namely; smalt, lapis lazuli, indigo, pararealgar, Prussian blue, chrome yellow, barium yellow, barium white and hydromagnesite. The identification of hydromagnesite, which has never been to date considered as a pigment either in Egypt or elsewhere and the identification of smalt from the mid-14th century, whose reported earliest large scale use was in the 16th century. Two types of resins were identified as a constituent of the oil/resin varnish applied on Coptic icons of which Venice turpentine has been identified for the first time as an ingredient of Egyptian varnishes. The identification of mosaic gold in an 18th C. icon, a novel usage of dammar resin and the multilayered structure of the white ground layers were revealed. / Egyptian Ministry of Higher Educations

No / A comprehensive study has been undertaken into a 13th century Coptic-Byzantine icon from the St. Mercurius Church, St. Mercurius monastery, Old Cairo, Egypt. The layered structure, pigment composition and varnish identification were revealed by means of optical and Raman microscopy and gas chromatography¿mass spectrometry (GC¿MS). The structure of the icon comprised six layers; wooden panel, canvas, white ground, two bole layers and a single paint layer. Azurite (2CuCO3·Cu(OH)2), cinnabar (mercuric (II) sulfide ¿-HgS), yellow ochre (Fe2O3·H2O), hydromagnesite Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2·4H2O and lamp black (carbon, C) are the pigments identified in the icon. The green paint area is of interest as it is applied neither with a green pigment nor with a mixture of a blue and yellow pigment. Instead, a yellow layer of dammar resin was applied on top of blue azurite to obtain the green colour. Pinaceae sp. resin mixed with drying oil was used as a protective varnish.

The purpose of this current study was to determine the role of acculturation, ethnic identity, and religious fatalism regarding attitudes towards seeking psychological help among Coptic (Egyptian Christian) Americans. In addition, differences between groups of gender and generational status, first-generation adult immigrants versus U.S.-born second-generation Copts, were analyzed. The study had a total sample of 91 individuals that self-identified as Coptic by race and/or Coptic Orthodox by religion, who voluntarily completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Results indicate that ethnic identity and acculturation are strong predictors of religious fatalistic beliefs, and those who identified as having more Arab ethnic identity and less assimilation to dominate culture have stronger religious fatalistic beliefs than those who identified with more western culture and an American ethnic identity. However, religious fatalism and ethnic identity were not significant predictors of attitudes towards seeking psychological help, and other variables such as stigma, language barriers, and skepticism of western psychology may be better predictors of attitudes towards seeking psychological help. Between groups comparisons identified subtle differences between males and females, and between first and second-generation Coptic Americans on acculturation, ethnic identity, and religious fatalism, but the groups were not statistically significant from one another. Clinical implications and directions for future research will also be discussed.