ORIGIN OF THE WORD COPT.
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Also spelled KUFT, Greek
COPTOS or KOPTOS an agricultural town part of Qina
Governorate in Upper Egypt,
on the large bend of the Nile below
Luxor (al-Uqsur) and on the
east bank of the river. Known to the ancient
Egyptians as Qebtu, the town
was of early dynastic foundation. It was
Important for nearby gold
and quartzite mines in the Eastern Desert, worked
During the 1st and 2nd
dynasties, and as a starting point for expeditions to
Punt (in modern Somalia).
Qeptu was associated with the god Min (temple ruins
Remain) and the goddess Isis
who according to legend, found part of Osiris
Body there. Destroyed in AD
292 by Diocletian, Qift later became a Christian
Community, lending its name
to the Coptic Christians of Egypt and also to
Egypt via Greek Aegyptos.
Important as a medieval caravan trade center, the
Town is now known chiefly
for its ruins. The famous road to the Red Sea via
Wadi Hamm mat that made the
town important starts just to the east at the
Desert edge.
COPTIC CHANT
Liturgical music of the
descendants of ancient Egyptians who converted to
Christianity prior to the
Islamic conquest of Egypt in the 7th century. The
Term Coptic derives from
Arabic qubt, a corruption of Greek
Aigyptios (Egyptian); when
Muslim Egyptians no longer called themselves by
That name it was applied to
the minority. Coptic a Hamito-Semitic
Language, was officially
banned by the Arabs in 997 and survives today only
In the Coptic liturgy. It
assumed that the Coptic religious services have
Their roots in the earliest
layers of the Christian ritual of Jerusalem, with
Some strong admixtures of
Syrian influence. It appears also that there was a
Certain amount of Arabic
influence, and some scholars believe that the Coptic
Ritual may have exercised
some influence on Muslim religious practices.
It is assumed but not
verified that the Copts inherited a rich musical
Tradition. Only in most
recent times have musical manuscripts or liturgical
Books with developed musical
notation been used for this music. It has been
Transmitted only orally.
On the basis of present-day
performances, much of the Coptic chant consists
Of melody types or melodic
formulas that serve as starting points for
Improvisation by singers.
Because it would be difficult for a singer to
Memorize all the religious
cervices, prompters whisper cues to the
Singers who then begin the
appropriate melodies for a given service.
The Coptic ritual uses a few
percussion instruments, which resemble ancient
Egyptian instruments known
from frescoes and reliefs. On this basis some
Scholars believe that the
Coptic liturgy preserves some ancient traits
Uncorrupted.
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COPTIC CHURCH
Principal Christian church
in predominantly Muslim Egypt. The people of Egypt
Before the Arab conquest in
the 7th century identified themselves and their
Language in Greek as
Aigyptios (Arabic qibt, Westernized as Copt); when
Egyptian Muslims later
ceased to call themselves Aigyptios, the term became
The distinctive name of the
Christian minority. From the 5th century
Onward, these Christians
belonged to a Monophysite church (acknowledging only
One nature in Christ),
calling themselves simply the Egyptian Church. In the
19th and 20th centuries they
began to call themselves Coptic Orthodox to be
Distinguished from Copts who
had converted to Roman Catholicism and from
Eastern Orthodox, who are
mostly Greek.
In the 4th and 5th centuries
a theological conflict arose between the Copts
And the Greek-speaking
Romans or Malachite’s (Emperor's Men), in Egypt over the
Council of Chalcedony (451),
which rejected Monophysite doctrine.
After the Arab conquest of
Egypt in the 7th century, the Copts ceased
Speaking Greek and the
language barrier added to the controversy. Various
Attempts at compromise by
the Byzantine emperors came to naught. Later, the
Arab caliphs, although they
tended to favor those who adopted Islam, did not
Interfere much in the
internal affairs of the Christian Church.
Apart from the Monophysite
question, the Coptic and the Eastern Orthodox
Churches agree in doctrinal
matters. Arabic is now used in the services of
The Coptic Church for the
lessons from the Bible and for many of the
Variable hymns; only certain
short refrains that churchgoing people all
Understand are not in
Arabic. The service books, using the liturgies attributed
To St.Mark, St.Cyril of
Alexandria, and St.Gregory of Nazianzus, are written in
Coptic, with Arabic text in
parallel columns.
The Coptic Church developed
a democratic system of government after the
1890s.The patriarch and the
12 diocesan bishops, with the assistance of
Community councils in which
the laity is well represented, regulate the
Finances of the churches and
schools and the administration of the rules
Relating to marriage,
inheritance and other matters of personal status. When
The patriarch dies, an
electoral college, predominantly of laymen, select three
Duly qualified monks at
least 50 years of age as candidates for the office
Of patriarch. Among these
three the final choice is made by lot after prayer.
The "patriarch of
Alexandria and all Egypt resides in Cairo. The church has
Its own primary and
secondary schools in many places in Egypt, as well as a
Stung Sunday school movement
for the religious education of children unable
To go to Coptic schools.
There is an Institute Of Coptic Studies in Cairo, a
Theological college
connected with the institute, and a Coptic museum; the
Teaching of the Coptic
Church has even become the basis of the syllabus used
In the religious instruction
of Christian children in government schools.
There is a Coptic Church in
Jerusalem, and there are a few other churches in
The Holy Land, built in the
19th and 20th centuries, as well as a Coptic
Bishopric in Khartoum,
Sudan. The Ethiopian, Armenian and Syrian Jacobite
Churches are in communion
with the Coptic Church.
COPTIC LANGUAGE
Hamito-Semitic language that
was spoken in Egypt from about the 2nd century
AD and that represents the final
stage of the ancient Egyptian language. In
Contrast to earlier stages
of Egyptian, which were written in monumental
Hieroglyphs, hieratic
script, or demotic script, Coptic was written in the
Greek alphabet, supplemented
by seven letters borrowed from demotic
Writing. Coptic also
replaced the religious terms and expressions of earlier
Egyptian with words borrowed
from Greek.
Coptic is usually divided by
scholars into six dialects, four of which were
In Upper Egypt and two of
which were in Lower Egypt; these differ from one
Another chiefly in their
sound systems. The Fayyum dialect of Upper
Egypt, spoken along the Nile
Valley chiefly on the west bank, survived until
The 8th century. Asiatic, or
Sub-Akhmimic, spoken around Astute,
flourished in
The 4th century. In it are
preserved a text of the Gospel According to John
And have the Acts of the
Apostles, as well as a number of Gnostic
Documents. Akhmimic was
spoken in and around the Upper Egyptian city of
Akhmimic. Sahidic (from
Arabic as Said [Upper Egypt]) was originally the
Dialect spoken around
Thebes; after the 5th century it was the standard
Coptic of all of Upper
Egypt. It is one of the best documented and
Well-known dialect
The dialects of Lower Egypt
were Bash uric, about witch little is known (only
A few glosses in the dialect
are extant), and Bohairic (from Arabic
Al-Buhayrah), originally
spoken in the western part of the Lower Egypt
Including the cities of
Alexandria and Memphis. Bohairic has been used for
Religious purposes since the
11th century by all Coptic Christians. The
Latest Coptic texts date
from the 14th century.
COPTIC LITERATURE
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Body of writings almost
entirely religious that dates from the 2nd
Century when the Coptic
language of Egypt the last stage of ancient
Egyptian began to be used as
a literary language, until its decline in the 7th
And 8th century. It
contains, in addition to translations from the
Greek, original writings by
the Greek Fathers and founders of Eastern
Monasticism and texts
throwing light on early Gnosticism and Manichaeism
Within the Christian Church.
The earliest original
writings in Coptic were the letters by St. Anthony of
Egypt first of the
"Desert Fathers." During the 3rd and 4th centuries many
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The picture is Mary with the baby Jesus holding a
bible; the text contains the Theotokia for the seven days |
Ecclesiastics and monks
wrote in Coptic among them St. Bachomius, whose
Monastic rule (the first
coenobitic rule; for solitary monks gathered in
Communities) survives only
in Coptic; St. Athanasius, the first patriarch of
Alexandria to use Coptic, as
well as Greek, for didactic homilies; Macarius
Have Egypt, a famous ascetic
desert solitary; and St. Serapion
Bishop of Thmuis, whose
liturgical texts are valuable sources for early
Church worship. The first to
realize fully the language's literary
Potentialities was Shenute
(Shenoud; c.360-450), about of the White Monastery
(Deir el-Abyad), near
Atripe, Upper Egypt .In sermons, treatises, and homilies
He showed mastery of style
and the forceful character that made him (though
Unknown in the West until
the 20th century) the most influential personality
Of his period in Egypt,
where he is still regarded as a saint. His works
Remain the outstanding
original writings in Coptic, equaled in intensity
Only by 7th and 8th century
hymns sung antiphonally to traditional tunes and
Written to encourage the
Coptic Christians during the persecutions that
Followed the 7th century
Muslim invasions.