Coptic Liturgical Manuscripts (A) (DL8510A)

Content

Coptic liturgical books comprise the texts used for the performance of the Church's mysteries and services; and include several genres currently in use. The liturgical texts contained in these books are often heavily influenced by Scripture and the writings of the Fathers, and as such embody the beliefs of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This unit will introduce students to the evolution of Coptic liturgical books through surveying the manuscript tradition as well as the modern published editions. Topics discussed will include an introduction to the study of liturgical manuscripts, with special focus on the following books: the Lectionary, the Horologion, the Euchologion, the Psalmodia, and Diaconal. The aim of the unit is to acquaint students with the purpose and description of these books and provide guidance on how these texts should be used in the age of technology.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

Flipped classroom (online). Guided reading and analysis. A combination of pre-recorded lectures and live weekly zoom classes.

Indicative Bibliography

Bausi, Alessandro et al, eds. Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction. Hamburg: University of Hamburg, 2015.

Awad, Wadi. “Al-Shams ibn Kabar” in David Thomas and Alex Mallett, eds. Christian-Moslem Relations. A Bibliographical History, vol. 4. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2012, pp. 762-766.

Burmerster, O. H. E. “The Canonical Hours of the Coptic Church” in Orientalia Christiana Periodica 2 (1936), pp. 78-100.

Swanson, Mark. “Ibn Sabba`” in David Thomas and Alex Mallett, eds. Christian-Moslem Relations. A Bibliographical History, vol. 4. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2012, pp. 918-923.

Takla, Hany. N. "Coptic Manuscripts in the Collection of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society" in St Shenouda Coptic Quarterly, vol. 3.1-2 (2007), pp. 17-53.

Takla, Hany. N. "Copto (Bohairic)-Arabic manuscripts: Their role in the tradition of the Coptic Church" in M. Immerzeel and J. Van der Vliet, eds. Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies. Leiden 2000, vol. 2. Louvain: Peeters, 2004, pp. 639-646.

Takla, Hany. N. "Introduction to the Coptic Old Testament" in Coptica, vol. 6 (2007).

Takla, Hany. N. "Liturgical Use of the Book of Revelation in the Coptic Church as Observed in the Newly Acquired Manuscript by the Society" in St Shenouda Coptic Quarterly, vol. 1.4 (2004), pp. 19-25.

Takla, Hany. N. “Manuscripts from St. Antony and St. Paul Monastery Outside of Egypt” in Gawdat Gabra and Hany N. Takla, eds. Christianity and Monasticism in Alexandria and the Egyptian Deserts. Cairo: AUC Press, 2020, pp. 163-176.

Takla, Hany. N. "The Coptic Midnight Office of the Psalmodia for the Month of Kiahk in light of a Newly Discovered Manuscript in a Private Collection" in St Shenouda Coptic Newsletter 5.2 (1999), pp. 2-13.

Takla, Hany. N. "The Coptic Midnight Office of the Psalmodia for the Month of Kiahk in light of a Newly Discovered Manuscript in a Private Collection" in St Shenouda Coptic Newsletter 5.3 (1999), pp. 2-7.

Assessment