SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

for a variety of reasons. The advent of the Age of Printing in the Coptic Church, introduced by Pope Cyril VI (1854-61 AD), fueled this movement and allowed it to spread. Much has been done and a lot need to be accomplished to bring the language into a modern context. In this paper, I will attempt to quickly trace the evolution of Coptic from its original Egyptian root to modern times and in the process make proposals for how to modernize the language while still keeping it as reflection of its people. The following points will be discused: a. Choice of dialect b. Pronunciation c. Word Division d. Orthography e. Vocabulary sources f. Teaching methodologies g. The responsibility of the Modernization process In conclusion, I will try to discuss the methods of achieving this process in the present as well as how to continue its progress in the future. ----------------------- Title: Ama Sibylla of Saqqara: Prioress or Prophet? Monastic, or Mythological Being? Presenter: Rev. Dr. Tim Vivian , Bakersfield, CA Abstract: One of the most intriguing figures to rise from the ruins of ancient Coptic monasticism is Ama Sibylla, whom we know through both word and portrait. Who was Sibylla? Does she tell us anything about monastic women in late antique Egypt? At the Monastery of Saint Jeremias at Saqqara are several surviving representations of a woman;

Saqqara invoke the name of Ama Sibylla, usually with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Virgin, Apa Jeremias, and Apa Enoch preceding her and other saints following after. With Enoch and Jeremias, she makes up "the triad of Saqqara." Why was Sibylla so important at Bawit and Saqqara? This paper will explore her connections with Enoch in the Book of Enoch and her connections with the Sibylline Oracles ; in the conclusion I will discuss whether she was a historical person or a "mythological" being from extracanonical literature. ----------------------- Title: A Journey to the Interior:The Monasteries of Saint Antony and Saint Paul by the Red Sea Presenter: Rev. Dr. Tim Vivian , Bakersfield, CA Abstract: Journeying to the interior is both physical fact and spiritual reality in early Christian monasticism, especially in Egypt, where the physical interior is clearly marked and life-threatening. Although the Nile is in the center of Egypt, to move away from it is to journey not to the exterior, as we would think, but to the interior, to the desert. The early monks saw this interior wilderness as both geographical and spiritual reality where they confronted the aridity of the earth and of the heart. But in this desert the monk, as new Adam and Eve, also found paradise regained. In this interior Saint Antony the Great (251-356) found a water source and a cave and prepared a garden ( Life of Antony 49-50). From March 29-April 5, 1998, I went to the monasteries of Saint Antony and Saint Paul by the Red Sea as part of a team working on a book on the recently restored wall paintings in Old Church at Saint Antony's. In this paper I will share some highlights from that journey and show slides of the monastery of Saint Antony and Saint Antony's Cave and of some of the wonderful wall paintings.

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter unfortunately, these figures can no longer be identified, but it seems reasonable to suggest that they represent Sibylla. At Bawit two rooms (apparently) contained paintings of Ama Sibylla with the Virtues. More than eighty inscriptions at

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