SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

was conquered by force or by treaty. In the case of Egypt, it was mainly by treaty, however some parts were by force. Having both cases present gave the rulers the flexibility to treat all of Egypt in either way, depending on how much taxes they wanted to collect. Those conquered by force paid a lot more than those by treaty. On the issue of currency, he presented evidence showing that the Arabs continued to use Roman coins at the start. These coins were iconographic in design. Then they started to make their own coins, with Arabic characters replacing the Latin ones but still including iconographic images, an atypical Islamic trait. Later on, the minted coins developed into familiar motif of no human figures and mainly decorative Arabic characters. Topics on Islamic Egypt are always attention- grabber, especially with Coptic audiences. This time was no exception judging by the discussion made during and after the paper. Exhibit: The exhibit organized for this gathering dealt with the subject of the Coptic Architecture. A subject that have not been fully studied judging by the scant amount of literature available. Further the English literature in the field is even smaller. The books exhibited primarily featured the publications of Dr. Peter Grossmann, the current authority on this subject. They dealt with the excavations in St. Mena in Maryut, the

architectural types found in Upper Egyptian Coptic Churches, and his latest work on the History of Coptic Architecture. Unfortunately for many lay Copts, all these material are in German. The material in the Coptic Encyclopedia, however, does offer a good introduction for those of us that are language- challenged. Copts have also contributed to this field, primarily though the work of Bishop Samuel of Shibin al-Qanatar, which were done in both Arabic as well as English. Monastic Architecture was represented in the exhibit by works of C.C. Walters, Evelyn-White, and Ackermann. The last one dealt with St. Shenouda Monastery in Sohag. Another interesting work is the out-of-print English publication by A. Badawy, titled, Art and Architecture of Coptic Egypt . The newest book exhibited in this field was the 2002 publication by Dr. Gawdat Gabra, Coptic Monasteries - Egypt Monastic Art and Architecture . Organizers: This event was organized by the staff and students of the St. Shenouda Center for Coptic Studies. Publications of the Proceedings: There is no formal plan to publish the proceedings in a separate publication. However, selected papers will be included in this or future issues of the Newsletter.

Book Reviews

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter Reviewed by: Reneé Marquedant Pharm.D. Bargeman, Lisa Ann The Egyptian Origin of Christianity Victoria: Trafford Publishing, 2002. Pp. 1-100. ISBN 1-55369-505-4

Christian beliefs and practices. By focusing upon the Roman Catholic Church, the author tries to show parallels between rituals used in the Catholic Church and those used in ancient Egypt. Although this is a worthy endeavor, the book suffers from many flaws. The biggest of which is the author’s lack of understanding of ancient Egyptian beliefs and culture. A glance at the bibliography shows that the author has neglected to consult some of the most

This book is an excellent example of a catchy title that does not live up to expectations. The author attempts to bring to light the ways in which Egyptian religion influenced later

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