DOI article:
Crum, Walter E.: Progress of Egyptology: christian Egypt
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12054#0067
Christian Egypt.
53
Chemi-Keme, "Egypt," with the rare word for "hearth, fire-place/' and
thence with al-Mmiya, " alchiruy." For Fostat he proposes pi-aranov.
He also discusses several hieroglyphic etymologies. The constant confusion
by Coptic writers between Fostat, Babylon, 'Ain-Shems, and Cairo is
emphasized.
Father Jullien has given an account of further search among the
remains of ancient monasteries for those associated with famous saints.
At Der Rifa, above Siut, he wishes to identify the rock-cut church with
the cave of John of Lycopolis, whom, on the authority of the
Bollandists (?), he holds to be the same as John Colobus. He also gives
a French version of the narrative he had published in Arabic (v. Arch.
Report, p. 76).~4
In a note incidental to his explanation of the name " phoenix," ~5 Prof.
Spiegelberg holds that the form Tabenne is, after all, not erroneous, but
means " The (place) of the phoenix," and that Tabennese would hence be
an island (z"~?<ro?, as Brugsch long ago suggested) near it. The two became
eventually confused by Greek and Coptic monastic writers. This seems a
very likely explanation.
The new (5th) edition of Steindorff's " Baedeker " has many interesting
additions. Among them should here be noted the very full catalogue of
the Christian remains (ruined churches and monasteries) in Nubia, which
have hitherto been difficult to find conveniently put together. Their
frequency will probably surprise many who are yet aware of the Christiau
antecedents of that district.
5. Philological. The " Old Coptic" texts continue to occupy Mr.
Griffith's attention.20 He has obtained the opinions of Messrs. Kenyon,
Wilcken, and Grenfell and Hunt on the dates of the three MSS. They
all agree in the main that the "London Horoscope" is of ca. 100, the
"London-Leydon Demotic" of ca. 200-300, and the "Paris Magical" of
ca. 275-400. Mr. Griffith regards the dialect of the first of these as
approximately Achmimic, that of the other two as a sort of Middle
Egyptian. The idioms familiar to us in the later Coptic texts would
be, he thinks, developed by continuous, careful translation from Greek,
rather than by the influence of individual writers. It may be observed
that if Krall's Bohairic-Greek texts are indeed of the tenth century, they
can hardly be claimed as "the earliest" in the Bohairic dialect; the
Curzon Catena is dated 889. Prof. AYilcken has proposed certain different
readings in the Greek of the Horoscope text.;(i!1
In the second volume of Lord Amherst's Greek Papyri a photograph of
a letter is given,2? which shows an interesting postscript in the form of a
53
Chemi-Keme, "Egypt," with the rare word for "hearth, fire-place/' and
thence with al-Mmiya, " alchiruy." For Fostat he proposes pi-aranov.
He also discusses several hieroglyphic etymologies. The constant confusion
by Coptic writers between Fostat, Babylon, 'Ain-Shems, and Cairo is
emphasized.
Father Jullien has given an account of further search among the
remains of ancient monasteries for those associated with famous saints.
At Der Rifa, above Siut, he wishes to identify the rock-cut church with
the cave of John of Lycopolis, whom, on the authority of the
Bollandists (?), he holds to be the same as John Colobus. He also gives
a French version of the narrative he had published in Arabic (v. Arch.
Report, p. 76).~4
In a note incidental to his explanation of the name " phoenix," ~5 Prof.
Spiegelberg holds that the form Tabenne is, after all, not erroneous, but
means " The (place) of the phoenix," and that Tabennese would hence be
an island (z"~?<ro?, as Brugsch long ago suggested) near it. The two became
eventually confused by Greek and Coptic monastic writers. This seems a
very likely explanation.
The new (5th) edition of Steindorff's " Baedeker " has many interesting
additions. Among them should here be noted the very full catalogue of
the Christian remains (ruined churches and monasteries) in Nubia, which
have hitherto been difficult to find conveniently put together. Their
frequency will probably surprise many who are yet aware of the Christiau
antecedents of that district.
5. Philological. The " Old Coptic" texts continue to occupy Mr.
Griffith's attention.20 He has obtained the opinions of Messrs. Kenyon,
Wilcken, and Grenfell and Hunt on the dates of the three MSS. They
all agree in the main that the "London Horoscope" is of ca. 100, the
"London-Leydon Demotic" of ca. 200-300, and the "Paris Magical" of
ca. 275-400. Mr. Griffith regards the dialect of the first of these as
approximately Achmimic, that of the other two as a sort of Middle
Egyptian. The idioms familiar to us in the later Coptic texts would
be, he thinks, developed by continuous, careful translation from Greek,
rather than by the influence of individual writers. It may be observed
that if Krall's Bohairic-Greek texts are indeed of the tenth century, they
can hardly be claimed as "the earliest" in the Bohairic dialect; the
Curzon Catena is dated 889. Prof. AYilcken has proposed certain different
readings in the Greek of the Horoscope text.;(i!1
In the second volume of Lord Amherst's Greek Papyri a photograph of
a letter is given,2? which shows an interesting postscript in the form of a