Research Catalog
The rise of Coptic : Egyptian versus Greek in late antiquity
- Title
- The rise of Coptic : Egyptian versus Greek in late antiquity / Jean-Luc Fournet.
- Author
- Fournet, Jean-Luc
- Publication
- Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2020]
- ©2020
Items in the Library & Off-site
Filter by
1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFE 20-4391 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- x, 206 pages : illustrations, maps; 25 cm.
- Summary
- 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.
- Series Statement
- The Rostovtzeff lectures
- Uniform Title
- Rostovtzeff lectures.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [173]-193) and indexes.
- Contents
- An Egyptian exception? -- Why Greek was preferred to Coptic? -- The rise of legal Coptic and the Byzantine state -- 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.
- Call Number
- JFE 20-4391
- ISBN
- 9780691198347
- 0691198349
- LCCN
- 2019018022
- 16193036
- OCLC
- 1099546788
- Author
- Fournet, Jean-Luc, author.
- Title
- The rise of Coptic : Egyptian versus Greek in late antiquity / Jean-Luc Fournet.
- Publisher
- Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2020]
- Copyright Date
- ©2020
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Series
- The Rostovtzeff lecturesRostovtzeff lectures.
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [173]-193) and indexes.
- Other Standard Identifier
- 16193036
- Research Call Number
- JFE 20-4391