SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

ecclesiastical relations between the Pope of Alexandria, residing in Alexandria, and the bishops of al-Fayoum in the 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th Century. Through patristic writings of such popes as Dionysius, Athanasius I, and Cyril I, the Alexandrian See exerted its influence over al- Fayoum in matters related to the faith. More specifically when al-Fayoum bishops adopted non- orthodox views with respect to biblical interpretation. The interaction in these cases were firm, instructive, and directive in nature. Among the illustrated examples were Pope Dionysius versus Nepos on maters related to the Book of Revelation and the millenarianist views held by this rogue bishop from Upper Egypt, who gained popularity with the bishop of al-Fayoum at the time. The other main example was the arguments that Pope Cyril I had with the Christians of al- Fayoum on the subject of Melitians and the interpretation of man being created in the image of God. St. Cyril's direction on the first issue was to not mix with them and on the second, he upheld the allegorical interpretation in disagreement with the later opinions of his uncle Pope Theophilus. The third and final paper of this session was by Mrs. Schaten, titled, Christian Funerary Stelae from al-Fayoum . It was read by the moderator Dr. van der Vliet, due to the author's inability to attend. Her paper surveyed the characteristics of the funerary stelae or tombstones, coming from al- Fayoum. Among the distinguishing characteristics found in the area are early use of crosses, x- shaped stelae, architraves, inclusion of exact dates, crosses with four equal sides, and the integration of several elements in a single unit. The inscriptions found on some were mostly written in Fayumic Coptic and some were in Greek. Another interesting aspect of these inscriptions is the use of the phrase 'Go to Rest' as opposed to the traditional 'to die'. Among the 20 examples used, only two are still located at al- Fayoum, though #13 from Naqlun is missing. The rest are scattered between the Cairo Coptic Museum, London, Berlin, Paris, St. Petersburg,

Moscow, and Amsterdam. A typical situation for Coptic artifacts! Session Eight, February 9, 2004; Chairman: Prof. Roger Bagnall. This session included four papers on various al-Fayoum related subjects, dealing primarily with Medieval al-Fayoum. The first paper was by Dr. Youhanna N. Youssef, titled: Social and Economic Activities of the Monastery of Kalamoun in the XV Century . In it the author addressed the subject of the famous monastery of St. Samuel in Kalamoun in the greater al-Fayoum area. He began with a brief history of the monastery and some of its literary production. The rest of the paper dealt with four major recorded events from the 15 th Century that involved the monastery. These events gave us a glimpse of the economic activities there at the time. These events included translation of relics to the monastery and the ordination of a Patriarch from the monastery. Such activities helped the monks to bring much needed funds to an otherwise improvished institution at the time. A great parallel can be made in explaining the good f rtunes of the monastery in the late 20 th Century due to the ordination of Pope Cyril, who spent time in the monastery, and the discovery of the uncorrupted body of a saint buried there. The second paper was by Dr. Guirguis, titled: Notes on the Coptic Church in the Fayoum Region in Mamluke and Ottoman Times . It was read by Dr. Boutros, because the author has just finished defending his doctoratal dissertation earlier that afternoon in Cairo and did not have enough time to travel to al-Fayoum. It dealt with how al-Fayoum area was mentioned in legal documents from the Mamluk and especially from the Ottoman times. He presented how Coptic regional history during these times can be gleaned from the non-literary sources such as land surveys. Using an AD 1528 Survey of Egypt, done at the early years of Ottoman Rule in Egypt, he extracted much information about the inhabitants of al-Fayoum. This included names of villages, monasteries, crops, and size of agricultural land versus barren land. The document utilized here is

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