Coptica v. 16 2017

56 Ramez Mikhail

its constituent elements: a white tunic [2], a white hood [3], and the omophorion or ballīn [4]. The tunic, of course, is self-explanatory, and is synonymous with sticharion . The word translated here as hood is ⲕⲟⲩⲗⲗⲁ , koulla [3] in Coptic and qulunsūah [3] in Arabic. At least in modern usage, qulunsūah refers to the tight-fitting monastic cowl of Syrian and Coptic monks. However, in this context it likely refers to a hood instead. The burnus of Coptic bishops is typically distinguishable from those of Coptic priests by an attached hood that can be drawn over the head or left hanging on the back. Innemée argues that since the text makes no mention of the burnus , this must mean that koulla here implies a hood attached to its burnus as a pars pro toto . 5 That a part can stand for the whole is not unlikely. Later sources will refer to the hood by another Arabic word, qaṣlah , which is cognate with the Latin casula , itself meaning chasuble in Latin. 6 Finally, Burmester translates ⲡⲁⲗⲗⲓⲛ (Arabic: بلين ballīn ) [4] as omophorion . Strictly speaking, the two are not identical, at least in Coptic usage. While it is true that ballīn has its origin in the Greek παλλίον, and Latin pallium , a large garment worn on the shoulders, in modern usage the word ballīn refers to a long and wide band of white cloth worn by bishops and patriarchs in the Coptic Church over the head, crossed over the chest and the back, and brought over both shoulders to fall once more in the front. 7 The two words therefore are not identical since an omophorion is worn over the shoulders, while the ballīn – at least today – is a scarf for the head. Therefore, here as well as in subsequent instances, I distinguish between the two terms based on their respective manner of wearing. Nonetheless, since the bishop was already given a hood, it is unlikely that he wore the voluminous ballīn on the head as well, but rather on the shoulders. 8 At this point in the manuscript Coptic Museum 253 Lit. (AD 1364), one arrives at a description of patriarchal vestments that is perhaps the most complex, and one that has proved mystifying to many scholars. Attempting to make sense of all the vestments mentioned for the patriarch and their 5 Ibid . 6 Joseph Braun, Die liturgische Gewandung im Occident und Orient nach Ursprung und Entwicklung, Verwendung und Symbolik (Freiburg, 1907), 154. Cf. Julius Assfalg, “Arabisch qaṣla=Kapuze, verzierter Rand am Messgewand des Bischofs,” Oriens Christianus 2 (1954), 133-139. 7 Innemée, Ecclesiastical Dress , 54, fig. 5. In the recent era, Patriarch Kyrillos VI (1959- 1971) was known to frequently wear the ballīn in this fashion. Today, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch and bishops usually wear a variety of head coverings, including a Byzantine-style mitre, a white stiff hat identical in shape to the black one worn outside services, or simply celebrate in their white monastic cowls. Cf. Mikhail, “‘And they Shall Stand Bareheaded’,” forthcoming , Pl. 2. 8 Georg Graf translates the term ballīn simply as “the highest vestment of the bishop”. See Georg Graf, Verzeichnis arabischer kirchlicher Termini , CSCO 147, Subsidia 8 (Louvain 1954), 26. Patriarchs