Heritage et transmission dans le monachisme egyptien

By (author) Esther Garel

Book cover: Heritage et transmission dans le monachisme egyptien

Extent: 376 pages

Publisher: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale

Subjects: Ancient Egypt, Language & Linguistics, Religious Studies

Series: Bibliothèque d'études coptes

Series volume number: 27

Language: French

Hardback (Published)

(June 2020)

ISBN: 9782724707601

Price: $79.00

Out of stock

The present book contains the edition and commentary of four wills written on papyrus which date back to the 7th century CE, drawn up by the superiors of the monastery of Saint Phoibammon in Upper Egypt, located on the left bank in Thebes. By way of a private will, the superiors bequeath to their successor the spiritual leadership of the monastery as well as the property of its goods and its management. This dossier has implications of various sorts: legal – to what extent are these documents in accordance with the model of Byzantine law? -, historical – the wills bring new elements on the history of the Saint Phoibammon monastery which was an important centre of ascetic life in the 7th century and where its founder, the bishop Abraham of Hermonthis, lived -, linguistic – it is a bilingual dossier, as the first will is written in Greek and the following three in Coptic, thus allowing to study the translation process and to ponder on the legal status of the Coptic language. This is a unique collection of documents because it enables the study of the same kind of document, coming from the same place, written in two different languages, and dating from a relatively short period of time (less than a century).

  • By (author) Esther Garel