St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society

Ninth St. Shenouda Conference of Coptic Studies Registration Form

July 13-14, 2007

Presentations @ UCLA, Royce Hall Room 314, Los Angeles California 90024

• Fees
• Schedule (periodically updated)
• Location
• Directions & Parking
• Preliminary List of Speakers
• Abstracts

Registration Fee (Suggested Contributions):

• Members: $20
• Non-Member : $25
• Students: Free
• UCLA Students/Faculty: Free

Back

Schedule:

Schedule: The following is a tentative schedule for the conference:

Friday, July 13, 2007

Saturday, July 14, 2007

• Note: For e-mail registration, the registration fee will be collected at the first day of attendance and will cover entrance fees, program packet, and lunches.

Back

Location:

The Conference will be located on the Campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Royce Hall, Room 314.

Back

Directions and Parking:

Coming from the south or from the Santa Monica Freeway:
Take the 405 N, Exit Wilshire East (Bear to the right at the exit)
Turn Right on Wilshire Blvd.
Turn Left on Westwood Ave. (the 3rd traffic light after exiting the fwy)
Turn Right on Leconte Ave
then turn Left on Hilgard Ave (the second light after turning into Le Conte
Turn Left on Westholme Drive, then turn right immediately in a driveway to the information booth.
Request parking in Lot #2, parking is $9 per day and mention that you attending the St Shenouda Coptic Conference at Royce Hall.
The attendant at the booth can direct you to Royce Hall.
Enter in the left-most door of Royce Hall and take the elevator up to the third floor (Room #314).

Coming from the north (The San Fernando Valley):
Take the 405 S, Exit Sunset East
Turn Left on Sunset Blvd.
Turn Right on Hilgard Ave.
Turn Right on Westholme Drive, then turn right immediately in a driveway to the information booth.
Request parking in Lot #2, parking is $9 per day.
The attendant at the booth can direct you to Royce Hall.
Enter in the left-most door of Royce Hall and take the elevator up to the third floor (Room #314).

Back

Preliminary List of Speakers:

• Dr. Febe Armanios (Middlebury College, Vermont)
• Prof. Boulos Ayad Ayad (University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado)
• Dr. Jacco Dieleman (UCLA, California)
• Dr. George Ghaly (Dentist, Boston, Massachusetts)
• Prof. James Goehring (Mary Washington University, Virginia)
• Ms. Deanna Heikkinen (California State University, Bakersfield, California)
• Dr. Elhamy Khalil (MD, St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society)
• Dr. Renee' Marquedant (Claremont Graduate University, California)
• Prof. Marvin Meyer (Chapman University, California)
• Dr. Maged S. A. Mikhail (California State University Fullerton, California)
• Prof. James Robinson (Claremont Graduate University, California)
• Dr. S. Michael Saad (Senior Editor, Watani International/St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society)
• Ms. Prinny D. Stephens (Claremont School of Theology, California)
• Prof. Mark Swanson ( Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Illinois)
• Mr. Hany N. Takla (St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society)
• Rev. Dr. Tim Vivian (California State University, Bakersfield, California)
• Mr. Ramses Wassif (St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society)
• Ms. Michelle Youssef -Forgione (Loyola Marymount University, California)
• Dr. Youhanna N. Youssef (Australian Catholic University, Melboune, Australia)
• Back

Abstracts:

Title: Fighting for the Faithful: Preaching to Copts in 18th-Century Ottoman Egypt

Presenter: Dr. Febe Armanious (Vermont)

Abstract:

In eighteenth-century Ottoman Egypt, the burden of ministering to and leading the Coptic community was a duty taken seriously by ambitious clergymen, who recorded their advice in homilies that were both novel and methodical in the context of contemporaneous Christian literature. The sermon-givers were clergymen who sought to preserve their community in the face of two perceived threats, conversion to Catholicism and conformity. Church leaders worried both that Roman Catholic missionaries were converting too many Coptic elite laymen and that laymen and priests were conforming to and accepting the culture of Muslim elites too rapidly. In exploring these two issues, which dominated Coptic religious and social life throughout the eighteenth century, this paper will focus primarily on the sermons of
Patriarch Yuannis XIII (1769-1796) and Bishop Yusab (1735-1826). 

-------------------------

Title: Comparative Study between the Religious Buildings of the Ancient Middle East from Outside and Inside the Coptic Church

Presenter:  Prof. Boulos Ayad Ayad, (Boulder, Colorado)

Abstract:

The temples of Ancient Egypt were divided into two types, religious and funeral. The religious temples were dedicated to worshipping their deities and divided into different sections.

The religious temples of the ancient Israelites included the Tabernacle, the Solomon Temple, Zerurbbabel Temple, and then the Herod Temple. These religious temples were divided internally into three sections. Outside there was a large court that included a bronze "sea" and the altar of sacrifices.

The ancient Israelites also established the monastery of Qumran, synagogues, and other temples outside Jerusalem.

Beginning in the first century AD, the Coptic Christians in Egypt started to build churches. However because of the Roman persecution of the Copts, many of the temples and some of their tombs were changed into churches.

The main parts of the Coptic Church could be described as follow: the narthex, the nave, the chancel, and then the sanctuary. In the narthex of some of the ancient churches there is a tank (basin) sunk in the floor, that was used for the blessing of the water. The nave is divided into three parts; one for the women, the second for the men and the women, and the third for the "Mandatum" basin. Within the nave there is the Ambon or pulpit. At the east end of the nave there is the chancel or choir then the sanctuary or haikel, which is separated from the rest of the church by a wooden screen with a door at its center. The sanctuary is usually divided into three chapels. At the upper end of the northern aisle usually there is the baptistery.

I will make a comparative study of the similarities and differences between all of these religious building.

-------------------------

Title: The Coptic Orthodox Church in Nubia and Sudan (Alternate Paper)

Presenter:  Prof. Boulos Ayad Ayad, (Boulder, Colorado)

Abstract:

Nubia and Sudan had a strong relationship with Egypt throughout all periods, beginning with the Archaic Age and the Old Kingdom until Modern time. With the expansion of Christianity in Egypt, it started to spread in Nubia beginning in the second and third century AD. Most of the Nubian population gradually adopted Christianity. By the sixth century, Christianity spread in Upper Nubia. More than 400 churches and monasteries were built by Christians over there. Most of these churches existed until the 16th century.

During the Christian period, the kings of Nubia at times supported the Popes of Alexandria and tried to stop the persecution by the Muslim Arabs and interference in the affairs of the heads of the Coptic Church of Egypt.

With the Arab Conquest of Egypt, Islam spread in Nubia, particularly from the beginning of the 14th century; the majority of the people in Nubia became Muslim.

The main reason for this development is the Muslim governors of Egypt often restricted the Coptic bishops and priests from traveling to Nubia and Sudan to continue their service among the people of the South.

-------------------------

Title: The Emergence of the Coptic Script in the Ancient Egyptian Temple

Presenter: Dr. Jacco Dieleman (Los Angeles, California)

Abstract:

This paper will evaluate the source materials currently at our disposal to study the emergence of the Coptic script in the early Roman period. These sources are innovative attempts to reproduce Classical Egyptian and Demotic Egyptian in an alphabetic script of Greek letters and a variety of additional Demotic signs. Even though the number of sources is limited, it is clear that there was neither a standardized font of Greco-Egyptian letters nor a uniform method to transcribe Egyptian sounds with this new Greco-Egyptian font before the fourth century CE. The nature of the sources points towards the indigenous temple scriptoria as the place of the script's origin and refinement. It may very well be that the Greco-Egyptian script was developed out of a desire to create a reading aid for priests less proficient in the hieroglyphic, hieratic, and Demotic writing systems of old. An important shift occurs in the fourth century CE with the renunciation of pharaonic religion and the translation of the Bible and other Christian texts into Egyptian. As a result of this translation project the script became more or less standardized and it is from this moment on that we can truly speak of the Coptic script.

-------------------------

Title: A Contextual, Historical and Grammatical Analysis of Tenen, A Unique Coptic Hymn

Presenter: Dr. George Ghaly (Boston, MA)

Abstract:

 The Coptic Church possesses a rich history of hymnology. Historically, Tenen is cherished by Copts and misunderstood for many reasons. This article attempts to clarify the contextual, grammatical and historical confusion surrounding the hymn. This study utilized available editions as well as non-published manuscripts from the collection of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society.

-------------------------

Title: Abraham of Farshut's Dying Words: Reflections on a Literary Genre in Ascetic Literature

Presenter: Prof. James Goehring (Fredricksburg, VA)

Abstract:

 This paper explores the genre of dying words in early Egyptian ascetic literature in an effort to understand the place of the Abraham of Farshut's dying words within that tradition. Abraham's words emphasize keeping of the laws and commandments of the fathers, which situates him well within the coenobitic tradition of Upper Egypt. This paper argues that the heightened emphasis on keeping the rules found in the First Panegyric on Abraham of Farshut reflects problems inherent in the
structure of authority in the Pachomian system that ultimately resulted in the loss of the federation to pro-Chalcedonian elements during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.

-------------------------

Title: A Historical Analysis of Egyptian Christian Art from A.D. 200 to A.D. 600

Presenter: Ms. Deanna Heikkinen (Bakersfield, CA)

Abstract:

The early Christian (Coptic) period in Egypt has received little attention compared to the Pharaonic, early Greco-Roman, and Islamic periods. This is partly due to the oversight of Coptic materials by early antiquarians, historians, and archaeologists who focused on the Pharaonic period. This research uses a multidisciplinary approach in order to assess how historical change is reflected in the art of early Christian (Coptic) Egypt. There are many documents that mention the early Coptic period in history. However, like most texts from earlier periods, they do not always inform researchers about every aspect of the culture. Therefore, it is up to the scholar to fill in the blanks. This concept serves as the basis of this paper, where visual culture and historical methods and research have been used in order to gain a better understanding of the early Christian art in Egypt. An examination into early Coptic sculpture, icons, and wall paintings reveals various influences and innovations that were incorporated into the art from approximately A.D. 200 to A.D. 600.

-------------------------

Title: Fr. Antonious L. Henein

Presenter:  Dr. Elhamy Khalil (Claremont, California)

Abstract:

Areas to  be covered in my presentation:

• The making of a Coptic priest.
• His role with St.Shenouda Society.
• His promotion of Coptic studies at  his church.
• His role in the introduction of Coptic Iconology in  America.
• Coptic language Font development.
• His interest in  communicating the writings of the early Church Fathers.

-------------------------

Title: A Hero’s Journey:  The Role of John in BL Or 7597

Presenter:  Dr. Renee' Marquedant (Sierra Madre, California)

Abstract:

Scholars have long recognized the importance of the motif of the hero to world literature.  This figure, who is found throughout religious and secular literature, has been the subject of a variety of analyses.  Joseph Campbell presented one of the more prominent of these studies in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. According to Campbell, the hero's life follows a paradigm, which he refers to as the monomyth.  The monomyth has a circular pattern in which the hero ventures forth from his homeland on a quest, enters another world, and returns home revitalized to share what he learned on his journey with society.  This quest, which is often symbolic of a spiritual journey, may involve traveling to a foreign country or it may take the form of intense inner contemplation.

Following the pattern of the monomyth, the figure of John in BL Or 7597, fulfills the role of the hero. John, acting in the capacity of a hero, embarks upon a spiritual quest that is characterized by a series of trials.  John’s faith in the face of adversity enables him to triumph over his enemies, resulting in the building of a new church over which John will preside as Bishop.  Thus, John, acting in the manner of a true hero, returns from his spiritual journey to share his newly acquired knowledge with society.

-------------------------

Title: Studying Coptic in Southern California: Where Do We Go from Here?

Presenter: Prof. Marvin Meyer (Orange, CA)

Abstract:

In this presentation Marvin Meyer reflects upon the tradition of Coptic studies in Southern California at UCLA, Claremont, and Chapman University, as well as in the context of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society and the Coptic Church, and he explores possibilities of expanding the study of the Coptic language and Coptic culture in the future. 

-------------------------

Title: The Historical and Hagiographical Traditions Pertaining to Saint Demetrius of Alexandria (189-232): Part II

Presenter: Dr. Maged Mikhail (Fullerton, California)

Abstract:

  The first half of this study, presented at the previous conference, analyzed the Greek, Latin, and Coptic evidence for the life and legacy of Saint Demetrius of Alexandria. In that context, it was demonstrated that the moorings of the patriarch’s sacred biography were set by the Coptic encomium attributed to (pseudo-)Flavian of Antioch and that despite the introduction of new hagiographic themes, the Coptic tradition retained the nucleus of the “historical” Demetrius evidenced in the dispersed Greek and Latin sources. This paper will present the conclusions of that study by focusing on the depictions of the patriarch in tenth and thirteenth century texts. Three issues will be addressed. Initially, the task will be to demonstrate the editorial impulse by which the Copto-Arabic tradition selectively sampled Coptic sources. A second aim will be to illustrate the historical context of the primary Arabic recension of the patriarch’s hagiography (preserved in the History of the Patriarchs). Finally, the study will contextualize the traditions alleging that the patriarch was a reformer of liturgical practices, particularly the observance of Lent.

-------------------------

Title: Father Antonious Henein and Claremont Coptic Studies.

Presenter: Prof. James M. Robinson (Claremont, California)

Abstract:

-------------------------

Title: The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: A New   Translation

Presenter: Prof. James M. Robinson (Claremont, California)

Abstract:

We published The Nag Hammadi Library in English immediately  after breaking the European monopolies on the Nag Hammadi texts, so as to make  them available as soon as possible. This of course meant that we published  before the scholarly community at large had had an opportunity to study them  and publish detailed commentaries in German, French, and English. And so we  decided to pool the resources of scholarship and produce a new translation  that would profit by the intervening generation of scholarship in all three  language areas. HarperSanFrancisco, the publisher of our original translation,  is also the publisher of the new translation, and Marvin Meyer, who was the  copy editor of the original translation, is now the editor of the new  translation. The book is entitled The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, and it has just  appeared in print, in May, 2007.In both instances I function as no more than  the grey eminence. It includes, in addition to the Nag Hammadi  texts,  also two other similar Coptic Gnostic discoveries: A Berlin codex has  duplicates of two Nag Hammadi texts, but also two previously unknown Coptic  texts, the best known of which is The Gospel of Mary. And now the Codex  Tchacos surfaced just last year. It also has duplicates of two Nag Hammadi  texts, but also two previously unknown Coptic texts, The Gospel of Judas and a  brief text known as The Stranger. So persons interested in the growing  collection of Coptic Gnostic texts should get a copy of The Nag Hammadi  Scriptures, where they are all available in improved readable English  translations.

-------------------------

Title: Eva Habib Elmasri: A Trailblazer in the Egyptian Women’s Movement and the Establishment of the Coptic Church in America

Presenter: Dr. Saad Michael Saad (California)

Abstract:

In 1930 Eva Habib Elmasri (1912-83) became the first woman to enroll in the American University in Cairo (AUC). Before her graduation in 1933, she served as the editor-in-chief of the AUC Review. In 1934 she received an MA from Smith College, Massachusetts, where she wrote her thesis on Egypt’s population problem. Later in Egypt she embarked on several major social and cultural programs and joined the leadership of the Egyptian women’s movement along with Huda Sharawi and Esther Wissa. From 1937-42 Elmasri was editor-in-chief of the movement’s magazine, al-Missriya (The Egyptian Woman). Between 1937 and 1959, she spoke on behalf of the movement at many international conferences, and from 1950-60 she was the president of the Egyptian Society of University Women. Having immigrated to the United States in 1961, she became a major contributor to the establishment of the Coptic Church in North America.

-------------------------

Title: Hajir Idfu and Coptic Hagiographa

Presenter: Ms. Prinny D. Stephens (California)

Abstract:

This paper’s objective is to outline the inception, evolution and function of Coptic hagiographa. In the discussion of specific texts, attention will focus upon the Coptic hagiographa found at Hajir Idfu. While many of these hagiographa were translated into English by E.A. Wallis Budge in the early 20th Century, no one has yet compared the Coptic Old Testament citations within the hagiographic literature against the Greek Septuagint. This paper will briefly identify these Coptic citations and how they differ from (or agree with) the Greek Septuagint.

-------------------------

Title: Life between Two Worlds: Observations on the History and Historiography of the of Coptic Patriarchs, A.D. 1046-1216

Presenter: Prof. Mark Swanson (Chicago, Illinois)

Abstract:

 A final section of the History of the Patriarchs "proper" consists in a set of biographies originally composed in Arabic, from Christodoulos (#66) to John VI (#74). This paper will make some remarks on this section of the HP as well as other sources for the lives of these patriarchs, in the hope of casting some light on a period of Coptic history marked by the increasing roles of laity and of the Arabic language in ecclesiastical matters, and both blows to and an insistent reconstitution and reassertion of Coptic "sacred geography." This paper is taken from a draft chapter of the author's forthcoming book, and he looks forward to feedback and questions!

-------------------------

Title: From Anonymous Foreigners to Royal Wonderworking Saints:History and Legend in the Coptic Life of Maximus and Domitius

Presenter: Rev. Dr. Tim Vivian (Bakersfield, California)

Abstract:

The story of Maximus and Domitius takes us back to the beginnings of Christian monasticism--to fourth- and fifth-century Syria and Egypt. A short version of the story occurs in Greek while much longer, full-fledged, Lives exist in Sahidic and Bohairic Coptic, Syriac, and Arabic. The tale is--at first glance--a simple one: Maximus and Domitius, sons of the emperor Valentinian, forsake life at court to become ascetics in Syria. Famous wonderworkers, they work a number of miracles there. When the archbishop of Constantinople dies, Maximus is chosen as his successor, so the two flee to Egypt, to the famous monastic settlement of Scetis (Wadi al-Natrun), where they are welcomed, somewhat reluctantly, by Saint Macarius the Great. After a few short years of exemplary monastic practice, the two saints go to their rest. Their dwelling becomes a martyrium, a place of witness to which Macarius accompanies reverential visitors. A year after their deaths, a church is built in their honor. Eventually, the church grows into a monastery bearing their names, or at least their origins: Deir al-Baramus. The Life of Maximus and Domitius as we have it, however, is not one story, but several, combined to make a hagiographical whole. These stories reveal a great deal about how history and legend (myth) work symbiotically in early Egyptian monastic literature.

-------------------------

Title: Mark bishop of Zifta and his Urguza

Presenter:  Dr. Youhanna N. Youssef, (Melbourne, Australia)

Abstract:

The text discussed here is from a private collection and it is written in Arabic. It was composed by a bishop of the Lower Egyptian city of Zifta in the 16th century. The text is an Urguza or a poetic composition on Baptism. In this paper, this work of bishop Mark and his time will be discussed for the first time.

-------------------------

Back

Prepared by Hany N. Takla, July 9, 2007

For more information contact: htakla@stshenouda.com