SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

Library (CML) were converted into TIFF graphic files, referenced by the CML number that they had previously. The display of these images is done through a database graphical viewer software, called Alchemy. This program allows for navigation in a tree-like structure between the frames of a single manuscript. The capabilities include optical magnification of the image, image rotation, printing, exporting to single tiff file format, and cut and paste into any other Microsoft Windows application. Such features were included in the demo display. The second one, delivered by Dr. Fawzy Estafanous, President of St. Mark Foundation, in the Saturday Morning session, was a report on the past Wadi al-Natrun Symposium. It was held in Wadi al-Natrun in the first part of February of 2002. In this report, he recounted the travails, joys, and successes of this historical gathering. Participants and attendees from 10 different countries were there, enjoying listening to the papers presented by the many specialists in the field. They also enjoyed the monastic atmosphere of the place, the scholar-guided tours of the sites, and the hospitality of the monks. He also recounted the press coverage of the Symposium by the Egyptian Newspapers which is unprecedented for such a gathering. At the end he spoke about the plans for the second Symposium about Christianity in the Fayoum area, planned for February 2004. The third one was delivered also during the Saturday morning session by Dr. Helene Moussa of Toronto Canada. The report dealt with the Coptic Museum in Toronto, Canada, which was founded and is being hosted by St. Mark's Coptic Church there, the oldest Coptic church in North America. The report was delivered by Dr. Moussa in her capacity as the director of the Museum. The text is published below in this Newsletter. Coptic Art & Architecture: The first presentation was by Hany N. Takla on the Friday Morning session on the Art and Architecture of the surviving monastic church in St. Shenouda

Monastery in Sohag. This electronic slide presentation was based on the presenter recent trip to the site on the 7 th February, 2002. It dealt with the architectural layout of this huge cathedral, its original shape, current church within the wall of the original church, architectural elements, wall and Apse paintings, and surviving Hieroglyphic inscriptions. The presentation also dealt briefly with the some of the open excavation seen outside the monastery along with the recent buildings being built there to accommodate the needs of the constant stream of visitors. The second presentation was by Prof. Boulos Ayad Ayad, Boulder Colorado, titled, The Church of the Temple of Dandarah . This slide presentation was given in Friday's early afternoon session. It dealt with the architectural description of the Church built within the ancient Temple Of Dandarah in Upper Egypt. It was a common practice for Copts before and during the Coptic Period to build churches in these deserted ancient places of worship. The church is now in ruins probably since the Middle Ages, most likely because of the spread of Islam into Upper Egypt at the time. Some work has been done on the church but more work is needed to preserve this ancient monument. It is worthy of mention that such Christian structures within an Egyptian Temple usually deserve little attention in comparison to that given to the ancient Pagan structure, most likely because of the relative antiquity as well as the negative bias that some of the Egyptologists show in their treatment of Coptic monuments. The third presentation was by Fr. Antonious L. Henein, Los Angeles. It was titled The Role of Iconography in the Coptic Ecclesiastical Life. It was given in the first Friday afternoon session. It dealt with the different aspects that the Coptic Icons, as they are written by Modern Coptic Icongraphers, present to the faithful; and also how they would interact with it in the Church or even in their homes. Such aspects included biblical, liturgical, patristic, theological, and

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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