SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

stored on the computer by Mr. Ashraf Hanna. Mr. Hany N. Takla is working on the collation of the Coptic text, to be included in the same volume, against the original Vatican codex. 14. Third Woodbrooke-Mingana Symposium: We have received a letter from Dr. David Thomas of the Center for the Study of Islam & Christian- Muslim Relations announcing the time for the 3rd Mingana Symposium on September 7-11 1998. The subject matter will be " Arab Christianity in Bilad al-Sham in the Pre-Ottoman Period. " The place will be the Woodbrooke College, Selly Oak, Birmingham UK. The Society was represented in the previous symposium in September 1994 which dealt with the theme of " Coptic Arabic Christianity before the Ottomans: Text and Context. " This afforded us a great chance to introduce activities of the Society to many scholars in the field of Christian Arabic Literature. This was done primarily with the great encouragement of Prof. Fr. Samir Khalil. 15. The Electronic Edition of the Coptic Encyclopedia : The project of producing an electronic version (CD) of the Coptic Encyclopedia is awaiting the final signing of the copyright agreement between the St. Mark Foundation and Macmillan Publishing Company. The agreement will include the royalities set by Macmillan along with the turning over of an electronic text (ASCII- Format) of the eight volumes. According to Dr. Fawzy Estafanous, the organization's founder , this edition will be an electronic version of the original printed edition, with the possible exception of including short annotations on articles that are being disputed by Coptic Church authorities and corrections of obvious errors. In other words, the original text will not be altered. Hany N. Takla, the Society's president, will be in charge of the technical work for this project, including the electronic method of publishing and other issues.

16. The Scriptorium: The Scriptorium, under the new directorship of Dr. Bastiaan van Eldern, has continued to expand its withholding along with its educational and research activities. According to Dr. Van Eldern, they are cleared for a third excavation season at the ancient site of monastery of St. John the Little (Kolobos) in the Wadi 'n Natrun area. As stated earlier in this Newsletter, he will be participating at our Conference on July 31, 1998 with a presentation about the results of the two complete seasons that they finished at that very important Christian archaelogical site. He is also scheduled to give presentations on the same topic at two of our Coptic Churches in Southern California. The first is scheduled for Saturday, August 1, 1998 at 8:00 p.m. at St. John Coptic Orthodox Church in Covina, California. The second will be on Sunday, August 2, 1998 at 1:00 p.m. at St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellflower, California. 17. The International Association of Coptic Studies (IACS): Prof. Dr. Emmel informed us that the offices of IACS have moved from Rome to Münster, Germany. This organization links the researchers working in the field of Coptic Studies. Its primary function has been to organize the Coptic Congresses held every four years. Scholars, and those keenly interested in scholarly work related to Coptic Studies, can join by sending a letter stating their interest as well as their activities in the field. Also, two reference letters from existing members of IACS should accompany such a letter. All this can be sent to the following address: Prof. Dr. Stephen Emmel

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter Institut für Ägyptologie und Koptologie Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Schlaunstrasse 2 D-48143 Münster, Germany email: emmstel@uni-muenster.de

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