SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

highly commended . They have created an exhibit that would make every Copt proud of heritage and everyone else wanting to know more about it. So do not miss visiting it while you are in Paris! Coptic Collection in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF): Since the mid 1980s, the Society has dealt with BNF in procuring microfilm copies of Coptic and Christian Arabic manuscripts in their possession. Its collection of these manuscripts is one of the finest and largest in the world. The manuscripts are located in the original of the current three sites of BNF, the Richelieu site. Thanks to the kind letter of introduction from Prof. Dr. Stephen Emmel of Münster, and the most helpful assistance from Mr. Michel Garel and his wife Dr. Anne Boud'Hors, my short one-day visit to the library was most pleasant as well as productive. The Coptic collection is preserved under call numbers ranging from Copte 1 to Copte 179. The core of the Sahidic part of the collection is preserved in multiple volumes under each of the call numbers 129 through 133. Other call numbers may include more than one manuscript, hence a letter suffix is attached, e.g. 42a. The cataloging for these material was mainly published by Delaporte (1909-13). It does however stops at Copte 151. Up to Copte 154 is available in a handlist published by Chabot (1906). The rest, up to Copte 179, is in a handwritten catalog with minimum information listed. A full and comprehensive catalog for the collection is sorely needed. Such project is sufficient for a Master/PhD program, similar to the one done by Prof. Depuydt for the New York Pierpont Morgan Collection. In the meantime, a short, complete summary list will be most welcome. The Bohairic part of the collection is mainly made up of biblical, lexical, and liturgical manuscripts. A large portion of it was acquired by the famous 17th century traveler Vansleb. He acquired all that he was allowed to buy and commissioned scribes in Egypt to make copies of the ones that he could not get. Among his acquisitions were 16 manuscripts bought in Cyprus. Attention to these

written material like the ostraca are kept flat in steel drawers. Other parts of the collection are stored on racks or in other cabinets. The displayed part of the collection is found in the Coptic Room of the museum. This opened in late 1997 as part of a 10-year major renovation of the museum. The displays there in part were formerly integrated in the Ancient Egyptian displays without much consideration for its place within the overall history of Egypt. The room is made up of two halls, connected by a set of stairs. The entrance to the room is at the upper hall which is longer and narrower. There, one finds several display cases containing all aspects of Coptic Art from its early Greek times to the late Islamic periods. They include stone work, wood work, metal work, embrodried textiles, and manuscripts with the instruments used in writing them. The two sets of stairs leading to the lower hall is interrupted by a long landing with a large wall-recessed display case of more artifacts. The Lower hall is spacious with all the displays set against the walls. the most impressive is a wall-to-ceiling wide display of full embroidered tunics with beautiful designs. Other displays showed engraved tombstones with splendid designs and Coptic inscriptions. In the middle of the hall is an architectural model of one of the churches of the 6-8th century excavated Coptic monastery of Bawit. Then the other half of the hall is a magnificent full-scale replica of that church. There, much of the Bawit collection of the museum is placed where it would have been in ancient times. That included doors, lintels, wall friezes, niches, and column bases and capitals. The Bawit collection is half of all that was excavated at the site. In summary, I found the Louvre Coptic collection to have more emphasis on Coptic Art and Architecture. Manuscripts and other written material played a smaller role in comparison but still contained valuable material for Coptic Studies. As for the Coptic Room of the museum, I can only describe it with words like great, splendid, magnificent, and the like. All that have contributed to its design and execution should be

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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