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"This volume brings together leading experts from a range of disciplines to examine aspects of the daily lived experiences of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority from late Antiquity to the present. In doing so, it serves as a supplement and a corrective to institutional or theological narratives, which are generally rooted in studying the wielders of historical power and control. Studies in Coptic Culture and Community reveals the humanity of the Coptic tradition, giving granular depth to how Copts have lived their lives through and because of their faith for two thousand years. The first three sections consider in turn the breadth of the daily life approach, perspectives on poverty and power in a variety of different contexts, and matters of identity and persecution. The final section reflects on the global Coptic diaspora, bringing themes studied for the early Coptic Church into dialog with Coptic experiences today. These broad categories help to link fundamental questions of socio-religious history with unique aspects of Coptic culture and its vibrant communities of individuals."--
List of contents
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Contributors
Introduction
Mariam F. AyadLiving Out the Faith: Daily Concerns and Challenges1. Clement of Alexandria’s “New” Social Order: Sex, Food, and Dress
Lois Farag2. An Egyptian Family and a Woman’s Freedom: A Case Study from Late Antiquity
Alanna Nobbs and A.D. MacdonaldPerspectives on Poverty and Power3. The Poor, Poverty, and Materialism in the Instruction of Amenemope, the Book of Proverbs, and Coptic Monastic Texts: A Sociohistorical Reading
A.S. Melika4. Social Life in Egypt in a Sermon of Shenoute of Atripe: A Critical Edition of Acephalous Work A4
Samuel Moawad5. A Widow’s Plea: Rhetorical Strategies in Coptic Personal Letter SB Kopt I.295
Mariam F. Ayad6. Protecting the Socially Vulnerable: The Case Studies of Two Bishops and a Hermit in the Theban Region in the Early Seventh Century
Renate DekkerOn Identity, Persecution, and Resilience7. Documents Illustrating the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians
Alanna Nobbs8. Christian Identity in the Archaeological Record: Evidence from Egypt’s Western Desert
Nicola Aravecchia9. Laws of Sartorial Di!erentiation (Ghiyar) in Pre-Mamluk Egypt
Christina Thérèse (Tineke) Rooijakkers10. Life of Severus of Antioch as an Advocate of Orthodoxy
Youhanna Nessim Youssef11. Icons as Social Statements: The Victor Asaad Fakhoury Icon Series, 2011–17
Helene MoussaA Living Heritage: At Home and Abroad12. Marguerite Nakhla (1908–77): Painter of the Mosaic of Daily Life
Helene Moussa13. Coptic Orthodox Feminism: Popular Song and Attempted Gender Reformation in the Diaspora
Carolyn Ramzy14. An Exploration of Power Distance in the Early Church and the Modern Coptic Diaspora
Ihab Khalil
About the author
Mariam F. Ayad is an associate professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. In 2020-2021 she was a visiting associate professor of Women's Studies and Near Eastern Religions and a research associate of Harvard Divinity School's Women's Studies in Religion Program. She is the author of
God's Wife, God's Servant:
The God's Wife of Amun (c. 740-525 BC), and the editor of
Studies in Coptic Culture: Transmission and Interaction (AUC Press, 2016) and
Women in Ancient Egypt: Revisiting Power, Agency, and Autonomy (AUC Press, 2022).
