A pioneering study of ancient and medieval Christology. Employing a range of interdisciplinary methods, Stephen J. Davis shows how Christian identity in Egypt was shaped by a set of replicable 'christological practices'. He thus enables readers to trace the Coptic church's theological and cultural transition from late antiquity to Dar al-Islam.
Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom offers a new history of the field of Egyptian monastic archaeology. It is the first study in English to trace how scholars identified a space or site as monastic within the Egyptian landscape and how such identifications impacted perceptions of monasticism. Brooks Hedstrom then provides an ecohistory of Egypt's tripartite landscape to offer a reorientation of the perception of the physical landscape. She analyzes late-antique documentary evidence, early monastic literature, and ecclesiastical history before turning to the extensive archaeological evidence of Christian monastic settlements. In doing so, she illustrates the stark differences between idealized monastic landscape and the actual monastic landscape that was urbanized through monastic constructions. Drawing upon critical theories in landscape studies, materiality and phenomenology, Brooks Hedstrom looks at domestic settlements of non-monastic and monastic settlements to posit what features makes monastic settlements unique, thus offering a new history of monasticism in Egypt.
A comprehensive review of the development, geographic spread, and cultural influence of religion in Late Antiquity A Companion to Religion in Late Antiquity offers an authoritative and comprehensive survey of religion in Late Antiquity. This historical era spanned from the second century to the eighth century of the Common Era. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, the Companion explores the evolution and development of religion and the role various religions played in the cultural, political, and social transformations of the late antique period. The authors examine the theories and methods used in the study of religion during this period, consider the most notable historical developments, and reveal how religions spread geographically. The authors also review the major religious traditions that emerged in Late Antiquity and include reflections on the interaction of these religions within their particular societies and cultures. This important Companion: Brings together in one volume the work of a notable team of international scholars Explores the principal geographical divisions of the late antique world Offers a deep examination of the predominant religions of Late Antiquity Examines established views in the scholarly assessment of the religions of Late Antiquity Includes information on the current trends in late-antique scholarship on religion Written for scholars and students of religion, A Companion to Religion in Late Antiquity offers a comprehensive survey of religion and the influence religion played in the culture, politics, and social change during the late antique period.
The importance of baptism within Christian history, theology, and practice is of the first order. Rooted in Christian Scripture, baptism is initiation into Jesus Christ and the sacramental beginning of engagement with the church, the body of Christ. In recent decades, the relationship between baptismal theology and ecclesiology has changed. Rather than focusing solely on the implications of baptism for individuals, the center of theological conversation has moved increasingly to the nature of baptism as formative of the church. One of the pioneers in exploring this theological issue in the United States has been the Rev. Dr. Louis Weil, who, from the time he helped author the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, has advocated for an approach called "baptismal ecclesiology." In a number of essays since the 1980s, Dr. Weil has encouraged an increasingly ecumenical conversation around this particular approach to ecclesiology. This ecumenical collection of essays by a distinguished and international group of sixteen scholars continues the conversation on liturgy and ecclesiology begun by Fr. Weil.
The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity offers an innovative overview of a period (c. 300-700 CE) that has become increasingly central to scholarly debates over the history of western and Middle Eastern civilizations. This volume covers such pivotal events as the fall of Rome, the rise of Christianity, the origins of Islam, and the early formation of Byzantium and the European Middle Ages. These events are set in the context of widespread literary, artistic, cultural, and religious change during the period. The geographical scope of this Handbook is unparalleled among comparable surveys of Late Antiquity; Arabia, Egypt, Central Asia, and the Balkans all receive dedicated treatments, while the scope extends to the western kingdoms, and North Africa in the West. Furthermore, from economic theory and slavery to Greek and Latin poetry, Syriac and Coptic literature, sites of religious devotion, and many others, this Handbook covers a wide range of topics that will appeal to scholars from a diverse array of disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity engages the perennially valuable questions about the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the medieval, while providing a much-needed touchstone for the study of Late Antiquity itself.
The White Monastery in Upper Egypt and its two federated communities are among the largest, most prosperous and longest-lived loci of Coptic Christianity. Founded in the fourth century and best known for its zealous and prolific third abbot, Shenoute of Atripe, these monasteries have survived from their foundation in the golden age of Egyptian Christianity until today. At its peak in the fifth to the eighth centuries, the White Monastery federation was a hive of industry, densely populated and prosperous. It was a vibrant community that engaged with extra-mural communities by means of intellectual, spiritual and economic exchange. It was an important landowner and a powerhouse of the regional economy. It was a spiritual beacon imbued with the presence of some of Christendom's most famous saints, and it was home to a number of ordinary and extraordinary men and women, who lived, worked, prayed and died within its walls. This new study is an attempt to write the biography of the White Monastery federation, to reconstruct its longue duree - through archaeological and textual sources - and to assess its place within the world of Late Antiquity.
A bishop and theologian, an ascetic and a pastoral father, Athanasius of Alexandria (c.295-373) is one of the greatest and most controversial figures of early Christian history. This book draws together these diverse yet inseparable roles that defined Athanasius' life and the influence that he exerted on subsequent Christian tradition.
John of Barullos (540-615) / Bishop Kyrillos -- The Relationship between the Monks of Northern Egypt and the patriarchs of the Egyptian church / David Brakke -- Saint Mina monastery in Arabic sources / Sherin Sadek El Gendi -- The Bashmurite revolts in the Delta and the 'Bashmuric dialect,' Frank Feder -- Toward the localization of the Hennaton monastic complex, Mary Ghattas -- The Pachomian federation and lower Egypt : the ties that bind / James E. Goehring -- The relations between the coptic church and the Armenian church from the time of Muhammad Ali to the present (1805-2015) / Mary Kupelian -- Saint Barsoum the naked and his veneration at al-Ma'sara (Deir Shahran) / Bishop Martyros -- The traditions of the holy family and the development of Christianity in the Nile Delta / Ashraf Alexandre Sadek -- Anba Ruways and the cathedral of Saint Mark / Adel F. Sadek -- The perception of St. Athanasius of Alexandria in later coptic literature / Ibrahim Saweros -- The discovery of papyri from Turah at Dayr al-Qusayr (Dayr Arsaniyus) and its legacy / Caroline T. Schroeder -- Nitria / Mark Sheridan -- Yuhanna al-Samannudi, the founder of national coptic philology in the Middle Ages / Adel Sidarus -- The Arabic version of the Miracles of Apa Mena Based on two unpublished manuscripts in the collection of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite coptic society in Los Angeles / Hany N. Takla -- Life of Pope Cyril VI (Kyrillos VI) / Teddawos Ava Mina and Youhanna Nessim Youssef -- The veneration of Anba Hadid and the Nile Delta in the thirteenth century / Asuka Tsuji -- Kellia and monastic epigraphy / Jacques van der Vliet -- Butrus al-Sadamanti al-Armani (Peter of Sadamant "the Armenian") / Fr. Awad Wadi -- Julius of Aqfahs : the martyrdom of John and Simon / Youhanna Nessim Youssef -- The Bohairic Acts of the Martyrs acts as a genre of religious discourse / Ewa D. Zakrzewska -- Remnants of a Byzantine church at Athribis / Tomasz Górecki -- Architecture in Kellia / Gisèle Hadji-Minaglou -- Kellia : its decoration in painting and stucco / Karel C. Innemée -- Highlights from the polish excavations at Marea/Philoxenite 2000-14 / Krzysztof Babraj and Daria Tarara -- Conservation of mural paintings in the coptic museum / Michael Jones.
The Bible was the lifeblood of virtually every aspect of the life of the early churches. This Handbook explores a wide array of themes related to the reception, canonization, interpretation, uses, and legacies of the Bible in early Christianity.
