SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

Peter Hill (a Presbyterian priest -specializing in Syriac), The contribution of the Syrian Monastery in Scetis in the History of Monasticism M. Martin, Alexandria in the beginning of the Christian Era A. Vincent, Greek Loan words in Coptic manichaeian text P. Crocker, the collection of Flinders Petrie in Australia through the correspondence of his widow . 11. Ordination of a Coptic Priest: On Sunday September 27, 1998, Mr. Gabriel M. Gabriel, the Society's long-time treasurer, was ordained as a priest in the Coptic Diocese of Los Angeles. He was ordained under the name of Fr. Michael, and will be serving the diocese churches at Bakersfield and at Visalia. The Society at this time would like to thank Bishop Serapion for the confidence he had in Mr. Gabriel, and wish the new father a fruitful service in the Church. 12. Coptic Book Library: The Library is still growing with the addition of several more volumes. The most notable of the new acquisitions are: Badawy, History Of Egyptian Architecture V.1 from the Earliest Time to the End of the Old Kingdom ; J.L.Foster, Hymns, Prayers and Songs - An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Lyric Poetry (1995); P.A.L'Huillier, The Church of the Ancient Councils - The Disciplinary Work of the First Ecumenical Councils ; P.van.Moorsel, Le Monastere de Saint Antoine 2 vol (a gift from Leiden University along with other offprints); S.Olofsson, The LXX Version - A Guide to the Translation Techniques of the Septuagint ; B.A.Pearson, The Emergence of the Christian Religion. Essays on Early Christianity (1997); Rahlfs, Septuaginta V.X Psalmi cum Odi s; M.Simonetti, Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church - A Historical Introduction to Patristic Exegesis ; E.Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt (1990); Wevers, Septuaginta V.I Genesis ; Wevers, Septuaginta V.II,1 Exodus ; Wevers Septuaginta V.III,2 Deuteronomium ; Ziegler, V.XIII Duodecim Prophetae 13. Coptic Classes: The last session of the introductory Bohairic Grammar has been concluded. There is no plans for another session before January 1999. The advanced translation seminar, being conducted at the Center, has moved to Wednesday evenings from 7:00-8:00 p.m. It deals with a Bohairic text, attributed to St. Cyril of Alexandria, concerning the Three Saintly Youth as well as a study of the Bohairic

version of the Book of Genesis. The plans to conduct a series of 2-hour seminars to train students on how to conduct research using primary sources like manuscripts is underway. Mr. Hany N. Takla, the Society's president, is the instructor for the above courses and seminars. Mr. Maged S. Mikhail will be assisting in the preparation and instruction of these manuscripts seminars. 14. Research Projects: Mr. Ashraf Hanna, a member of our center's staff, is continuing his work on the collation of the different manuscripts of the Coptic (Arabic) Synaxarium. Similarly, Mr. Sh rief Sorial is working on the Coptic Psalmodia. All of these projects are designed to trace the developmental history of these important books in the Coptic Church. Mr. Mark R. Moussa is now working with Dr. Tim Vivian on an enlarged volume of the life of St. John the Short. He will be translating the Arabic text from a manuscript preserved in the Göttingen University Library. The text has been transcribed from the manuscript and electronically 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. Work is also continuing on the preparation of the Coptic Old Testament, in all extant dialects. This effort was the project that started the work of the Society in 1979. 15. The Seventh Congress for Coptic Studies: We have received word that the upcoming Coptic Studies congress will be held at Leiden University, the Netherlands. It is scheduled to start on August 27 and continue until September 2 in the year 2000. From our prior experience with the Dutch scholars in Coptic Studies, we are greatly heartened by the congress being held there. This being the premier event in Coptic Studies, we encourage all of our members to attend and participate if possible. Less than two years is left, so we all need to prepare to be able to contribute positively to the proceedings of this prestigious event. Those interested in presenting papers there, are encouraged to contact the Society for coordination of topics and resources. 16. The Electronic Edition of the Coptic Encyclopedia : The final steps for finalizing the copyright agreement between the St. Mark Foundation and Macmillan Publishing Company to produce an electronic version (CD-ROM) of the Coptic

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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