THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN & COPTIC LANGUAGES
-The Coptic Language-
Script, Dialects, and Literature
The Coptic Literature:
The Copts used their language with its dialects in their
literature, religious texts, the Bible, letters, stories,
receipts, the Books of the Coptic Church, legal documents,
histories of their church, and general among the Coptic
population. In addition to their writing in Coptic, they
translated different books from Greek into Coptic and
from Coptic into Arabic or from Coptic into Greek, Syriac,
and Latin. The most important translation was that of
the Bible from Greek into Coptic. This was an easy task
for the Egyptian as many of the time as well as some
scholars of ours were familiar with the two languages:
Greek and Coptic. Even though the work was time consuming,
the religious zeal of the translators prodded them to
an accurate translation. It appears that the entire Bible
was translated into the two dialects of Boheiric and
Sahidic.33
Coptic literature was divided into two categories: Greek influenced and non-Greek
influenced. The first category was influenced by the Greek culture and was widespread
in Alexandria; a city established by Alexander the Great. Most of its inhabitants
were Greek with the Hellenistic culture widely known, which compelled many fathers
of the church to write in Greek. For a time, their writings were translated into
Coptic for the benefit of Copts in different parts of Egypt. The second category
was pure Coptic literature such as that which appeared in the writings of St.
Anthony, St. Pachomius, and others who knew no language other than Coptic. Moreover,
Saint Shenoute knew the Greek language but did not use it in his writings or
preaching, preferring Coptic in its Sahidic dialect, which was employed by the
Coptic Church during its periods of greatest activity.34
Also relevant to the second category are the many elements of ancient Egyptian
civilization inherited by the Copts, especially in the fields of science such
as medicine, anatomy, chemistry, pharmacy, architecture, and engineering as well
as mathematics and astronomy. Various Coptic documents available to us have revealed
such branches of study from the Greco-Roman times until the Arab conquest.35
Along with scientific topics, the Copts also wrote the history of the church
and the history of the Patriarchs of Alexandria. The most famous writers included:
John of Nikiu (second half of the seventh century A.D.); Sawirus Ibn al-Muqaffa
(second half of the tenth and early eleventh century); Bishop Mikhail of Tanis,
who was contemporaneous with Sawirus the Patriarch and who wrote the history
of the Patriarchs (especially from Khael the Third, 880-907 A.D., until Senouthios,
1032-1046 A.D.); and Bishop Yusab of Fowa (from the thirteenth century A.D.)36
(2) The Synexarium is the book that includes the biographies of the fathers and
the saints of the church and their deeds. In addition to the Synexarium, some
other volumes on Coptic saints exist, including those of Palladius, Athanasius,
Jerome, and John Cassian. The Synexarium is still used in the Coptic Church on
specific occasions, especially during the Mass, and usually is read by one of
the priests of the church.
(3) In “The History of the Councils,” the Copts wrote about local and international
assemblies.37