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English edition
Sep
2002
272 pp.
13 maps, 117 b/w, 106 color illus.
Hardbound
23X28 cm
$39.95
LE 200.00
ISBN
978 977 424 675 3
For sale only in the Middle East
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Christian Egypt
Coptic Art and Monuments through Two Millennia
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Massimo Capuani
Introduced by
Gawdat Gabra
With contributions by
Otto F.A. Meinardus
Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya
A comprehensive look at Coptic art and life
The Coptic Church owes its existence to the evangelization of Egypt by St. Mark and thus claims to be one of the churches most faithful to the biblical message of the beginnings of Christianity. The Copts regard themselves as the true descendants of the ancient people of pharaonic Egypt.
The history of their name is a reminder that this part of the world was at the center of an unusually extensive intermixing of populations and religions. The term ‘’Copt’’ is an alteration of the Greek Aigyptios (Egyptian), which became qibt in Arabic, and gradually came to designate exclusively the community that remained faithful to Christianity in spite of the expansion of Islam.
From the early centuries of our era, monks and anchorites established monasteries and hermitages in regions that were often arid and difficult to reach, well suited to their ascetical ideal. At times they reused monuments going back to the time of the pharaohs, turning them into churches or anchorites’ cells, and built true fortress-monasteries in the desert. They decorated these buildings with wall paintings, many of which have been only recently rediscovered. Their libraries contained literary and artistic treasures still in existence. Their fabrics, which are of an admirable beauty, are the pride of great museums and collectors.
Coptic Egypt has existed for over one millennium in an Islamic land, an experience which has had a profound influence not only on the forms of religious life but also on iconography and artistic sensibility. Being the heir of ancient Egypt and having assimilated Roman and Byzantine influences, Coptic art has also been enriched by contact with Islamic art. As a consequence, its artisans and architects succeeded in developing an original art and architecture.
This book is the result of Massimo Capuani’s comprehensive examination of the archaeological studies and historical literature of Coptic Christian monasteries and churches, supported by photographs, planimeters, and architectural drawings, as well as many color plates. Gawdat Gabra’s thorough knowledge of current archaeological activity and the most recent consensus regarding the dates and other questions concerning churches and monasteries enhances the store of information. The important contributions of Otto Meinardus and MarieHélène Rutschowscaya provide comprehensive surveys of the two-thousand year history of the Coptic Church and of the artistic expression of the Coptic world. Together they bring to life the history of this culture, which today enjoys a remarkable renewal, through the most beautiful artistic examples it has left us: haunting landscapes of the Nile Valley, of oases and deserts, the purity of the buildings in the sunlight, the sumptuousness of the paintings, the illuminations, the fabrics. An essential contribution on a subject rarely treated by art historians, this book is an invitation to travel.
Otto. F. A. Meinardus, Fellow of the Institute of Copic Studies in Cairo and a member of the German Archaeological Society, is a doctor of philosophy and theology who has been a professor at the American University in Cairo and Athens College in Greece. He lectures widely and has published major works on Coptic Christianity, the most recent being Coptic Saints and Pilgrimages, published by the AUC Press in 2002.
Marie-Hélène Rutschowscaya is head curator of the department of Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre and director of the Coptic section; she is also a professor at the École du Louvre. Her main publications deal with Coptic art in its manifold expressions.
Massimo Capuani, an engineer and a researcher, is an expert in the history of the Eastern Christian Churches and has a thorough knowledge of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean worlds; he has also collected rich documentation about their cultural and artistic development. One of his most recent publications is Mount Athos, published in four languages by Jaca Books in 1997.
Gawdat Gabra, former director of the Coptic Museum in Cairo and member of the board of the Society of Coptic Archaeology, has a doctorate in Coptology from the University of Münster. He serves as a consultant in a number of projects of the American Research Center in Egypt and is chief editor of the Saint Mark Foundation for Coptic History Studies. He is the author, coauthor, and editor of numerous books and articles on Coptic Studies.
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