SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

& ST. SHENOUDA COPTIC NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBER'S EDITION Quarterly Newsletter Published by the St. Shenouda Center for Coptic Studies

1494 S. Robertson Blvd., Ste. 204, LA, CA 90035

Tel: (310) 271-8329 Fax: (310) 558-1863

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January, 2000

Volume 6(N.S. 3), No. 2

In This Issue: Sources for Compiling History of the Copts - Non-Literary Texts by Hany N. Takla ... 1 The Second St. Shenouda Coptic Symposium by Hany N. Takla................................... 10 Coptic Art Books from Egypt by Hany N. Takla ............................................................ 11 News by Hany N. Takla .................................................................................................. 12

Sources for Compiling the History of the Copts - Non-Literary Texts (1) (by Hany N. Takla)

Introduction: Writing the history of the Copts is like piecing together thousands of scattered mosaic pieces. Much is found and much is to be found. In order to find the missing pieces, the ones available need to be put in their proper location. Only then would we be able to know what is missing and look for it. It is very possible that such missing pieces are already found and we just do not know how they relate to the whole picture. Sources of History: History of any civilization or people is usually found in the following categories: 1. Literary evidence 2. Archeological evidence 3. Documentary or non-literary evidence. Literary evidence include the traditional sources of history such as chronicles and travelers' accounts. To a lesser extent, Hagiographic and literary writings contribute to such knowledge. This type of evidence has wider scope which has a rich and more direct yield. It requires less interpretation but at times lacks objectivity. This forces the historian to judge the credibility of the authors of such work as prerequisite for validating the event being recounted. In any case, this type of evidence is most commonly used one in historical studies.

Archeological evidence is more visible and tangible, yet it is limited in scope. Much inter retation and delicate handling is required to distill the historical facts from such indirect evidence. Interpretation that requires a great deal of training and effort to obtain all the possible information that such evidence can furnish. Though there is more effort for less yield, it fills many gaps that literary evidence has left in our overall knowledge of the history. The macro scale of this work makes it more attractive to researchers. Excavations and artifacts are the usual sources for such evidence. Documentary or non-literary evidence is direct evidence with smaller scope for regional and more intimate history of the populace. It does however require consideration of each document within the group (place and time) that it belongs to. The larger, the identified group of documents, the more accurate information that can be gathered. A great deal of skill is required to deal with such texts. The micro scale of the research makes it less attractive to pursue. The rest of this article will offer more insight into this largely untapped gold mine of evidence.

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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