Format:
1 Online-Ressource (224 p)
,
37 b/w illus. 3 tables. 1 map
Edition:
[Online-Ausgabe]
ISBN:
9780691201733
Series Statement:
The Rostovtzeff Lectures 5
Content:
Coptic emerged as the written form of the Egyptian language in the third century, when Greek was still the official language in Egypt. By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641, Coptic had almost achieved official status, but only after an unusually prolonged period of stagnation. Jean-Luc Fournet traces this complex history, showing how the rise of Coptic took place amid profound cultural, religious, and political changes in late antiquity.For some three hundred years after its introduction into the written culture of Egypt, Coptic was limited to biblical translation and private and monastic correspondence, while Greek retained its monopoly on administrative, legal, and literary writing. This changed during the sixth century, when Coptic began to penetrate domains that were once closed to it, such as literature, liturgy, regulated transactions between individuals, and communications between the state and its subjects. Fournet examines the reasons for Coptic's late development as a competing language-which was unlike what happened with other vernacular languages in Near Eastern Greek-speaking societies-and explains why Coptic eventually succeeded in being recognized with Greek as an official language.Incisively written and rich with insights, The Rise of Coptic draws on a wealth of archival evidence to shed new light on the role of monasticism in the growing use of Coptic before the Arab conquest
Content:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Images -- Preface -- Chapter 1. An Egyptian Exception? -- Chapter 2. Why Was Greek Preferred to Coptic? -- Chapter 3. The Rise of Legal Coptic and the Byzantine State -- Chapter 4. The Role of the Church and Monasticism in the Growth of Legal Coptic -- Appendix 1. Coptic Endorsements in Greek Legal Texts -- Appendix 2. Five Samples of Fourth-Century Coptic Letters -- Appendix 3. The First Legal Documents in Coptic before the Arab Conquest -- Bibliography -- General Index -- Index of Ancient Sources
Note:
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
,
In English
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe Fournet, Jean-Luc, 1965 - The rise of Coptic Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2020 ISBN 9780691198347
Language:
English
Subjects:
Comparative Studies. Non-European Languages/Literatures
Keywords:
Koptisch
;
Geschichte
;
Ägypten
;
Griechisch
;
Hellenismus
;
Spätantike
;
Christentum
DOI:
10.1515/9780691201733
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691201733
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