SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

3:23 ouoh a p [c v] ouorpf e bol qen piparadicoc n te p ounof eyreferhwb e pikahi etau[itf e bol n q/tf 3:24 ouoh afhi a dam e bol afswpi m pe m yo m piparadicoc n te p ounof af,w m pi,eroubin nem ]c/fi n, rwm y/ e sacvonhc ea reh e pimwit n te pi s s/n n te p wnq

3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

3:23 And the Lord God send him from the paradise of the Joy to cause him to work the ground that he was taken from it. 3:24 And He threw out Adam and he became in front of the paradise of Joy and He placed the Cherubim with a flaming sword, this which turned itself to guard the way of the tree of Life.

Liturgical Cycle of St. Michael Monastery at Hamouli (Al-Fayoum) (1). (by Hany N. Takla)

Paper stage was the most abundant due to the durability of the material. This makes the discovery of this complete manuscript in parchment, that much more valuable to the research in this field. Codex History: This codex was discovered among the buried contents of a library from a monastery, named after the Archangel Michael near the village of Hamouli in the Fayoum district, south of Cairo. The reason for its burial, was probably due to an expected attack that the monastery faced which eventually caused its abandonment. The date for such events is not recorded, but not before the 12th century, judging by the date of the Bohairic Gospels found there. A 13th century date is plausible considering the relatively good condition that the manuscripts were in. Petersen in 1948 gave it the probable date of not later than the first half of the 9th century on the basis of script and codex binding 3 . Its presence in the monastery would probably be ascribed to a later date, in light of its colophon that clearly stated that it was the property of a neighboring village church. The circumstances for its coming to the monastery are not clear, nor is the way in which it was utilized there afterwards. The later will be discussed in this paper. Codex Description: The codex is designated as M573. It is written on Parchment leaves, measuring, 338x267 mm, text dimensions 253x194

Introduction: Biblical readings have been incorporated in Christian worship at a very early age. Within the Coptic Church, it developed over the centuries into a comprehensive system that covered the entire year. The development of such a system from its primitive roots is a fascinating subject, though difficult to trace. The primary sources for such investigation are the Church lectionaries 1 . These lectionaries, not only tell us what is read but also when it was read. In other words, it tells us what commemorations were celebrated and when 2 . There are three important parameters associated with such a system: Material, Date, and Location. They were written first on Papyrus, then on Parchment, and finally on Paper (the most durable of the three). The date of use of such material would probably correspond with the typical stages of development: Papyrus, Pre-9th century, Early Stage; Parchment, 9th-13th century, Intermediate tage; Paper, 13th-19th century, Advanced Stage. Such correlation is probably an oversimplification of a complex issue, but it is a safe starting point at this time. The last parameter, location, is one that tended to fade out with time, leading to the current location-neutral Lectionary system. The Papyrus stage yielded very little in this field. The Parchment stage was more abundant but the yield was rather fragmentary, as a result of the heavy use that these books were subjected to. The

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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