SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

10:05-10:50 a.m. Hany N. Takla – Coptic Gospel Catena - BL.Or.8812 10:50-11:00 am Break 11:10-12:00 a.m. Dr. Monica Bontty - Overview of Coptic Legal texts 12:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exhibit tour and Lunch. 1:30-2:30 p.m. Deacon Severus (Maged) S. A. Mikhail, Using of Dating Calendars in Coptic Egypt 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Informal discussions. Presentations: A brief description of each of the three presentations is as follows: a. Coptic Gospel Catena - BL.Or.8812 by Hany N. Takla: This paper introduced the audience to the unique Bohairic Coptic manuscript of the Gospel Catena, currently found in the London's British Library, under Shelf Number Oriental 8812. This 9 th century manuscript has an interesting history in how it made its way from the library of St. Macarius Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun to its current location in London. It apparently was part of an extensive group of manuscripts that were removed from the monastery for the purpose appropriating them for the Vatican Library in the 18 th Century. It ended up left behind for unknown reasons in the staging area, El-Surian Monastery in the same area. There it remained for over a century, when it was bought by Robert Curzon in 1838 along with many other Coptic, Arabic, and Syriac manuscripts. It was finally bequeathed to the British Museum in 1912. This manuscript codex included 265 folios out of possible 306 or more folios, dated AM 605, or AD 888-9, and written by Theodoros the monk in St. Macarius Monastery. It contains hundreds of short commentaries of the Fathers on selected verses or incidents in the four Gospels. It was published by P De Lagarde in Leipzig in 1886. A. Hebbelynck edited in 1928 another folio from the same manuscript, also found in the British Library. G. Horner listed all the exact passages of the Bohairic New Testament in the manuscript as part of the extensive introduction to his

monumental edition of the Bohairic New Testament. The quotes are dominated by three fathers of the Church: St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and Severus of Antioch. It is not readily known if this is a copy of another manuscript or it is a newly composed work. If the latter is the case, then we are faced with the question: was it a translation from other languages or a compilation from existing translated works in Coptic. If translat d, then we have the question: was it from Greek or Syriac? Lagarde's edition would need to be collated first against the manuscript, a microfilm copy of which is available at the Center. It is certainly a treasure for both scholars and laymen. b. Overview of Coptic Legal Texts by Dr. Monica Bontty. The following is a synopsis kindly submitted to us by Dr. Bontty: Within Coptology, much has been written on law and its related phenomenon. While much progress has been made toward describing law, very little work has been done on how law functions within the context of society. Law is a social science, not just a legal science. It encompasses all institutions and organizations within the construct of society. Unfortunately, this aspect of law has been much neglected within the field of Coptology. Many scholars have attempted to define law. However most of their works have approached this topic from a legalistic tradition. They have attempted to describe law in an effort to understand it. In addition, they have applied modern concepts and terminology to an ancient civilization that did not have a separate judiciary. Overall, current scholarship provides a general model of law and dispute management, but unfortunately, conflict resolution is presented as static and homogenous with its focus limited to “arbitration.” The restriction of the study of Coptic law to the interpretation of legal texts means that dispute management has not been viewed as a social event. There is no illustrating the causes, processes and effects involved. In

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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