- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Maps
- Foreword
- Introduction
-
1 The Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga: Points of Departure for a Relative Chronology -
2 Intellectual Life in Middle Egypt: The Case of the Monastery of Bawit (Sixth–Eighth Centuries) -
3 Christianity and Monasticism in al-Bahnasa according to Arabic Sources -
4 Mesokemic or ‘Middle Egyptian’—the Coptic Dialect of Oxyrhynchos (?) -
5 The Monastery of Apollo at Bala’iza and Its Literary Texts -
6 “Twenty Thousand Nuns”: The Domestic Virgins of Oxyrhynchos -
7 Anba Isaac, Bishop of the Fayoum, al-Bahnasa, and Giza, 1834–81 -
8 The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: History and Heritage (Reflections of Its Monks) -
9 John of Shmoun and Coptic Identity -
10 Christianity in Asyut in Modern History -
11 The Place of Qusqam in the Textual Data on the Flight into Egypt -
12 John of Lykopolis -
13 Discerning the True Religion in Late Fourteenth-Century Egypt -
14 Egyptian Gnosticism from Its Cradle in the Alexandrian Quarters of the Second Century to Its Jar Tomb in the Upper Egyptian Town of Nag‘ Hammadi -
15 Notes on the Arabic Life of Ibrahim al-Fani: A Coptic Saint of the Fourteenth Century -
16 Snippets from the Past -
17 Liturgy of the Monastery of al-Muharraq -
18 L⋆ as a Secret Language -
19 Bawit in the Twenty-first Century: Bibliography 1997–2014 -
20 Children’s Burials from Antinoopolis -
21 Recent Excavations at Bawit -
22 Funerary Aspects in the Paintings from the Apollo Monastery at Bawit -
23 The Cave of John of Lykopolis -
24 Al-Shaykh Sa‘id Revisited -
25 Toward the Documentation of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin at al-Muharraq, Asyut -
26 The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: Reflections of Its Monks Today -
27 An Overview of Rock-cut Coptic Sites in Asyut -
28 Architectural Typology of Historic Coptic Churches from Oxyrhynchos to Dayr al-Ganadla - Abbreviations
- Bibliography
John of Shmoun and Coptic Identity
John of Shmoun and Coptic Identity
- Chapter:
- (p.89) 9 John of Shmoun and Coptic Identity
- Source:
- Christianity and Monasticism in Middle Egypt
- Author(s):
Samuel Moawad
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
This chapter explores the writings of John of Shmoun on St. Antony and St. Mark. In choosing these two famous saints John demonstrates his tendency to emphasize the superiority of the Coptic Church. He shows how Egypt before Mark lived in the darkness of paganism. He speaks clearly about “our worshipers of the vain idols in that time.” He identifies the beginning of the real history of Egypt with the coming of Mark when he says, “Before Mark came, there was in Egypt no morning at all, but a continuous night. But when Mark, the light, came, the morning began.” After that, John mentions the famous Egyptian monks, such as Pachomius, Pijoul, Shenoute of Atripe, and others. These short citations from the Panegyric on Mark draw attention to two important points: the Coptic view of the pre-Christian history of Egypt and the role of St. Mark in the formation of the Coptic identity.
Keywords: John of Shmoun, Coptic literature, St. Antony, St. Mark, Coptic Church, Coptic identity, Egypt
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Maps
- Foreword
- Introduction
-
1 The Monastery of Apa Thomas at Wadi Sarga: Points of Departure for a Relative Chronology -
2 Intellectual Life in Middle Egypt: The Case of the Monastery of Bawit (Sixth–Eighth Centuries) -
3 Christianity and Monasticism in al-Bahnasa according to Arabic Sources -
4 Mesokemic or ‘Middle Egyptian’—the Coptic Dialect of Oxyrhynchos (?) -
5 The Monastery of Apollo at Bala’iza and Its Literary Texts -
6 “Twenty Thousand Nuns”: The Domestic Virgins of Oxyrhynchos -
7 Anba Isaac, Bishop of the Fayoum, al-Bahnasa, and Giza, 1834–81 -
8 The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: History and Heritage (Reflections of Its Monks) -
9 John of Shmoun and Coptic Identity -
10 Christianity in Asyut in Modern History -
11 The Place of Qusqam in the Textual Data on the Flight into Egypt -
12 John of Lykopolis -
13 Discerning the True Religion in Late Fourteenth-Century Egypt -
14 Egyptian Gnosticism from Its Cradle in the Alexandrian Quarters of the Second Century to Its Jar Tomb in the Upper Egyptian Town of Nag‘ Hammadi -
15 Notes on the Arabic Life of Ibrahim al-Fani: A Coptic Saint of the Fourteenth Century -
16 Snippets from the Past -
17 Liturgy of the Monastery of al-Muharraq -
18 L⋆ as a Secret Language -
19 Bawit in the Twenty-first Century: Bibliography 1997–2014 -
20 Children’s Burials from Antinoopolis -
21 Recent Excavations at Bawit -
22 Funerary Aspects in the Paintings from the Apollo Monastery at Bawit -
23 The Cave of John of Lykopolis -
24 Al-Shaykh Sa‘id Revisited -
25 Toward the Documentation of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin at al-Muharraq, Asyut -
26 The Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary at al-Muharraq, Mount Qusqam: Reflections of Its Monks Today -
27 An Overview of Rock-cut Coptic Sites in Asyut -
28 Architectural Typology of Historic Coptic Churches from Oxyrhynchos to Dayr al-Ganadla - Abbreviations
- Bibliography
