Aziz Suryal Atiya (1898-1988) | 1 AZIZ SURYAL ATIYA (1898-1988)

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Aziz Suryal Atiya (1898-1988) | 1 AZIZ SURYAL ATIYA (1898-1988) An Editor-in-chief of theCoptic Encyclopedia (8 vols., New York: Macmillan, 1991). He was born in Egypt in a small village in Gharbiya Province, called al-‘Aysha. He graduated from the Higher Training College in Cairo in 1927.Atiya was sent by the Egyptian Office of Education to the University of Liverpool in England, from which he earned his BA in medievaland modern history in 1931. He completed his PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of London in 1933. The University of Liverpool awarded him a LittD in 1938 because of his workThe Crusade in the Later Middle Ages, published in the same year. Atiyataught at the University of London (1934), the University of Bonn, Germany (1936-1939), and Cairo University (1939-1942). He held a Foundation Chair in Medieval History (1942-1952), and served as chairman of the History Department (1952-1954) at Alexandria University. In 1949-1950, Atiya participated in the joint expedition of the Alexandria University and the American Foundation for the Study of Man to microfilm the invaluable manuscript collection of the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai. Credit must be given to Atiya for establishing the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo in 1954. Atiya also served as a visiting professor of Arabic studies at the University of Michigan (1955-1956), Columbia University, New York (1956), Indiana University (1957), and Princeton University (1957-1958). From 1959 until his death, he lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. He established a complete center for the study of Arabic and Middle East cultures at the University of Utah and founded the library that now bears his name. In 1967, Atiya was designated distinguished professor of history in recognition of his great efforts and scholarly achievements. Atiya is internationally recognized as a leading scholar in the area of the Crusades. Of special interest is his work History of Eastern Christianity. The creation of the International Association for Coptic Studies in Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org Aziz Suryal Atiya (1898-1988) | 2 1976 encouraged Atiya to contact scholars to fulfill his long-cherished vision of a Coptic Encyclopedia, which appeared after his death. His achievements have made him unforgettable to the Copts. GAWDAT GABRA Tags: Eminent Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org.

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The Aziz S. Atiya Papers
THE AZIZ S. ATIYA PAPERS: A REGISTER OF THE COLLECTION By Rebecca Airmet, Hermione Bayas, and Jane Chesley MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION (Accn 480) Manuscripts Division University of Utah Marriott Library Salt Lake City, Utah 1998 THE AZIZ S. ATIYA ARCHIVES Life Span: 1898-1988 Papers: 1927-1991 Accession Number: 480 Collection Processed by: Rebecca Airmet, Hermione Bayas, and Jane Chesley Register Prepared by: Rebecca Airmet, Hermione Bayas, and Jane Chesley Register Completed: April 1998 Linear Feet of Shelf Space: 26.0 Rights: Unless otherwise copyrighted, rights belong to the University of Utah Accompanying Material: Photographs were placed in the Manuscripts Division Multimedia Section (P0485). This collection was donated by the Middle East Library in 1997 (boxes 1-39, an internal library transfer); by Aziz and Lola Atiya in 1976 and 1991 (boxes 40 and 41), and 1997 (boxes 42-53); and by Ragai Makar in 1997 (boxes 54-58) and 1998 (boxes 59-60). Sarah Michalak, Director of Libraries Gregory C. Thompson, Assistant Director Nancy V. Young, Manuscripts Division Head Please cite from this collection in the following manner: The Aziz S. Atiya Archives, Accn 480, Box [___], Manuscripts Division, University of Utah Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. CONTENTS Page Content and Scope 1 Biography of Aziz S. Atiya 3 Inventory 5 Index. 32 Explanatory Notes: ‘Bx’ refers to box. ‘Fd’ refers to folder. ‘Bk’ refers to book. CONTENT AND SCOPE The Aziz S. Atiya Papers (1927-1991) contains documents relating to the life of Dr. Atiya (1898- 1988), a scholar in the areas of Medieval, Coptic, and Islamic studies, and founder and director of the University of Utah’s Middle East Center and Library.
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On the Road to Heaven: Self-Selection, Religion, and Socioeconomic Status
13-04 On the Road to Heaven: Self-Selection, Religion, and Socioeconomic Status Mohamed Saleh ON THE ROAD TO HEAVEN: SELF-SELECTION, RELIGION, AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS* Mohamed Saleh† (August 28, 2013) Abstract The correlation between religion and socioeconomic status is observed throughout the world. In the Middle East, local non-Muslims are, on average, better off than the Muslim majority. I trace the origins of the phenomenon in Egypt to a historical process of self-selection across religions, which was induced by an economic incentive: the imposition of the poll tax on non-Muslims upon the Islamic Conquest of the then-Coptic Christian Egypt in 640. The tax, which remained until 1856, led to the conversion of poor Copts to Islam to avoid paying the tax, and to the shrinking of Copts to a better off minority. Using a sample of men of rural origin from the 1848- 68 census manuscripts, I find that districts with historically stricter poll tax enforcement (measured by Arab immigration to Egypt in 640-900), and/or lower attachment to Coptic Christianity before 640 (measured by the legendary route of the Holy Family), have fewer, yet better off, Copts in 1848-68. Combining historical narratives with a dataset on occupations and religion in 640-1517 from the Arabic Papyrology Database, and a dataset on Coptic churches and monasteries in 1200 and 1500 from medieval sources, I demonstrate that the cross-district findings reflect the persistence of the Copts’ initial occupational shift, towards white-collar jobs, and spatial shift, towards the Nile Valley. Both shifts occurred in 640-900, where most conversions to Islam took place, and where the poll tax burden peaked.
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Dr. Aziz Suryal Atiya and the Establishment of the Middle East Center and the Aziz S
perspektywy kultury / Orient. Wczoraj i dziś perspectives on culture No. 31 (4/2020) Leonard C. Chiarelli http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-7591 University of Utah, Salt Lake City [email protected] Mohammad Mirfakhrai http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0419-6680 University of Utah, Salt Lake City [email protected] DOI: 10.35765/pk.2020.3104.05 Dr. Aziz Suryal Atiya and the Establishment of the Middle East Center and the Aziz S. Atiya Library for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Utah ABSTRACT Aziz Suryal Atiya was an Egyptian Coptic Studies expert, historian and orienta list specializing in the study of the Crusades era. He published several important books, including primarily The Crusades in the Later Middle Ages (1938). He contributed to the creation of the Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo in the 1950s. He was also the originator and founder of the Middle East Center at the University of Utah, which today is one of the most important centers of wide science research on the Middle East. This article discusses the background and circumstances of the establishment of the Middle East Center and the Aziz S. Atiya Library for Middle Eastern Studies, both at the Univer- sity of Utah, which is the fifth largest institution of its kind in North America. KEYWORDS: Aziz Suryal Atiya, Middle East Center, Aziz S. Atiya Library for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Utah, coptology, Crusades history STRESZCZENIE Dr Aziz Suryal i powstanie Centrum Badań Bliskowschodnich oraz Biblioteki na Rzecz Badań Bliskowschodnich im. Aziza S. Atiyi na Uniwersy tecie Stanu Utah Aziz Suryal Atiya był egipskim koptologiem oraz historykiem i orientalistą specjalizującym się w studiach nad epoką wypraw krzyżowych.
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St. Shenouda Center for Coptic Studies
St. Shenouda Coptic Library AuthorName_Year Title Publisher Topic Name: FESTSCHRIFT, MULTI-AUTHOR VOLUMES ANONYMOUS. 2007. AL-MASIHIYA FI `ASR AL-RUSUL. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF PATRISTIC CAIRO: MARKAZ DIRASAT AL-ABAA. STUDIES BANI SUEIF 2006 ATANASSOVA, DILIANA & SYNAXIS KATHOLIKE, Vol. 1. Beitrage zu Gottesdienst und Geschichte der funf altkirchlichen Patriarchate… BERLIN: LIT VERLAG. TINATIN CHRONZ, EDITORS. 2014. ATANASSOVA, DILIANA & SYNAXIS KATHOLIKE, Vol. 2. Beitrage zu Gottesdienst und Geschichte der funf altkirchlichen Patriarchate… BERLIN: LIT VERLAG. TINATIN CHRONZ, EDITORS. 2014. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 1: ABAB-AZAR NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 2: BABI-CROS NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 3: CROS-ETHI NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 4: ETHI-JOHN NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 5: JOHN-MUFA NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 6: MUHA-PULP NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 7: QAL'-ZOST NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. ATIYA, AZIZ S.. 1991. THE COPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA 8: MAPS, APPENDIX, INDEX NEW YORK: MACMILLAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. AUFRERE, S.H. & P.S. ON THE FRINGE OF COMMENTARY. METATEXTUALITY IN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN AND ANCIENT LEUVEN: PEETERS. ALEXANDER, Z. PLESE, MEDITERRANEAN CULTURES EDITORS. 2014. AYAD, MARIAM. 2012. COPTIC CULTURE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OXFORD: OXBOW BOOKS. AYAD, MARIAM. 2016. STUDIES IN COPTIC CULTURE. TRANSMISSION AND INTERACTION CAIRO: AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO PRESS. BAGNALL, R.S.
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Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Armanī, The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighbour- ing Countries. Edited and translated by B.T.A. Evetts, with added notes by Alfred J. Butler (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895, repr. Gorgias Press, 2001). Almbladh, Karin, ‘The “Basmala” in Medieval Letters in Arabic Written by Jews and Christians,’ Orientalia Suecana 59 (2010), pp. 45–60. Aphrem I. Barṣaum, Ignatios, Geschichte der syrischen Wissenschaften und Literatur, trans. from Arabic G. Toro and A. Gorgis (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012). Assemani, Giuseppe Simone, Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana 4 vols. (Rome: Typis Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1719–1728). Atiya, Aziz Suryal, The Arabic Manuscripts of Mount Sinai: A Hand-list of the Ara- bic Manuscripts and Scrolls Microfilmed at the Library of the Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1955). Baars, Willem, New Syro-Hexaplaric Texts. Edited, commented upon and compared with the Septuagint (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1968). Barr, James, The Typology of Literalism in ancient biblical translations (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979). Baumstark, Anton, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur. Mit ausschluß der christlichen- palästinensischen Texte (Bonn: Marcus–Wevers, 1922, repr. De Gruyter, 1968). Bengtsson, Per Å., Two Arabic Versions of the Book of Ruth. Text edition and lan- guage (Lund: Lund University Press, 1995). Blau, Joshua, A grammar of Christian Arabic based mainly on South-Palestinian texts from the First Millennium (Leuven: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1966–67). ― ‘The Beginnings of the Arabic Diglossia: A Study of the Origin of Neo-Arabic,’ Afroasiatic Linguistics 4 (1977), pp. 1–28. ― ‘Das frühe Neuarabisch in mittelarabischen Texten,’ in Grundriß der arabischen Philologie.
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Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt October 15, 2012–July 28, 2013
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH 1 A pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) among the papyrus marshes. Wall painting from the northern palace of Akhenaten, Amarna (Davies 1936, vol. 2, pl. 76) BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH BIRDS IN ANCIENT EGYPT edited by ROZENN BAILLEUL-LeSUER with new photography by ANNA R. RESSMAN ORIENTAL INSTITUTE MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS 35 THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Library of Congress Control Number: 2012946464 ISBN-10: 1-885923-92-9 ISBN-13: 978-1-885923-92-9 © 2012 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Published 2012. Printed in the United States of America. The Oriental Institute, Chicago This volume has been published in conjunction with the exhibition Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt October 15, 2012–July 28, 2013. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 35 Series Editors Leslie Schramer and Thomas G. Urban with the assistance of Rebecca Cain Lauren Lutz and Tate Paulette assisted with the production of this volume. Published by The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago 1155 East 58th Street Chicago, Illinois, 60637 USA oi.uchicago.edu Illustration Credits Front cover: “Birds in an Acacia Tree.” Tempera on paper by Nina de Garis Davies, 1932. Catalog No. 11. Back cover: Head of an owl. Limestone and pigment. Late Period to early Ptolemaic period, 664–150 bc Catalog No. 22 Catalog Nos. 1–2, 5–15, 17–18, 20–27, 29–40: Photos by Anna R. Ressman; Catalog Nos. 3, 16, 19: Copyright the Art Institute of Chicago; Catalog No. 4: A114917d_12A, photo by John Weinstein. Reproduced with the permission of The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, all rights reserved; Catalog No.
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1 Laurence Moftah@Copyright 2011 Coptic Studies In
1 Coptic Studies in Egypt: Where Do We Go From Here? Dedicated to the Memory of the Founders of the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies (HICS) Aziz Atiya (1898-1988), Ragheb Moftah (1898-2001), Sami Gabra (1892-1979), Murad Kamil (1907–1975) Founded in 1954 I was immediately very concerned when I learned that the renowned Coptic scholar Stephen Emmel was leaving the AUC and would not be chairing the Coptic Studies Department. I believe that his leaving was an indication of how dubious the future of Coptic Studies in Egypt is. His leadership would have been a unique opportunity to introduce the science of Coptology to a new generation of students by one of the most prominent scholars in the field. For centuries the Coptic period of Egyptian history was largely ignored and Coptic studies was marginalized. No doubt ignorance or/and religious motives were a main obstruction to building a Coptic Studies department in Egypt. Nevertheless, in the 20th century there were several attempts to revive interest in Coptic Studies, including the establishment of the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies (HICS) in 1954. Among its founders were the prominent historian Aziz Suryal Atiya (1898-1988), the 20th century pioneer for the preservation of Coptic music Ragheb Moftah (1898-2001), the prominent Egyptologist Sami Gabra (1892-1979), and the prominent scholar in Semitic, Ethiopian and African Studies Murad Kamil (1907–1975). Those who taught at this Institution were elite Egyptian and foreign scholars in Coptic Studies and other related fields. Some of the foreign intellects who came to Egypt and taught at the HICS included specialist in Arabic Coptology O.H.E.
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Coptic-Syriac Relations Beyond Dogmatic Rhetoric
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, Vol. 11.1, 3–28 © 2011 by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute and Gorgias Press PAPERS COPTIC-SYRIAC RELATIONS BEYOND DOGMATIC RHETORIC LOIS FARAG LUTHER SEMINARY, ST. PAUL, MN ABSTRACT This article highlights Coptic-Syriac relations in ways beyond the theological position of both churches. It focuses on the relationship between Copts and Syrians depicted in the Coptic Synaxarium. It includes a discussion of Syrian saints, Syrians who became patriarchs of the Coptic Church, and their role in the liturgical and devotional changes that occurred. After the Arab conquest, both churches came to share a common language—Arabic. This led to an exchange of theological terms. This shared theological language and the Syrian presence in the Coptic Synaxarium strengthened the relations between the two churches in ways beyond ecclesial politics. The Coptic and Syriac Orthodox churches have a long common history. They are two of the oldest churches of Christianity, with large literatures in Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and later in Arabic. They shared the Roman hegemony—not only the entanglements of Roman law, but also imperial persecutions. They benefited from the Greek paideia. They were intellectually enriched by having their patriarchal residences and presence in cities that were hubs of the 3 4 Lois Farag cultural and commercial centers of the Roman Empire, i.e. the cities of Alexandria and Antioch. Although modern scholars have portrayed the theological history of both churches as a struggle of Antiochene theology against Alexandrian and vice versa, the reality is that each theological group read and thoroughly understood each other’s literature.
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Modern Spoken Coptic and Community Negotiation of Linguistic Authenticity Jeremy Toomey
University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Linguistics ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-1-2015 Modern Spoken Coptic and Community Negotiation of Linguistic Authenticity Jeremy Toomey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds Part of the Linguistics Commons Recommended Citation Toomey, Jeremy. "Modern Spoken Coptic and Community Negotiation of Linguistic Authenticity." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/36 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Linguistics ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Jeremy Toomey Candidate Linguistics Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: Chris Koops , Chairperson Holly E. Jacobson Naomi Shin i MODERN SPOKEN COPTIC AND COMMUNITY NEGOTIATION OF LINGUISTIC AUTHENTICITY by JEREMY TOOMEY BACHELOR OF ARTS LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF OREGON 2009 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Linguistics The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May 2015 ii MODERN SPOKEN COPTIC AND COMMUNITY NEGOTATION OF LINGUISTIC AUTHENTICITY by Jeremy Toomey B.A., Linguistics, University of Oregon, 2009 M.A., Linguistics, University of New Mexico, 2015 ABSTRACT The pronunciation of the Coptic language in the liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria according to the Greco-Bohairic and Old Bohairic pronunciation standards is investigated, together with the sociolinguistic narratives constructed by two Coptic communities surrounding the use of either standard.
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Betwixt and Between
NELLY VAN DOORN-HARDER BETWIXT AND BETWEEN The Copts of Egypt1 Introduction On Sunday, April 7, 2013, an angry mob of Muslims threw firebombs and rocks at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo. This was the first time in modern history that the spiritual, cultural, and social center of the Coptic Orthodox Church had been openly attacked (see, among others, Maqbool 2013). Over eighty people were wounded and two died. The violence erupted after a funeral service held for four Christians killed on Friday, April 5, during sectarian clashes in the town of Khosous north of Cairo. (A fifth person, a Muslim, was also killed.) The fighting started as the mourners left the cathedral. According to one of several explanations, an angry mob pelted the mourners with stones that were hurled back at the attackers. The police arrived too late and did little to prevent the violence. In fact, instead of controlling the situation, policemen sided with those attacking the cathedral. Ten individuals were arrested, four of whom were Copts.2 The Coptic pope, Tawadros II, severely criticized President Morsi for the way the latter had han- dled the occurrences of sectarian violence that had increased since Morsi’s nine months in office.3 1 Editor’s note: This article was written in the last period of Mohammed Morsi’s presidency. As is well known, he was deposed by the military on July 3, 2013 and, with a view to new elections, replaced the president of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Adly Mansour. In fact, this article clearly shows that the democratically elected Mohammed Morsi and his government have not found an appropriate response to the problems of religious diversity, rights and minorities, and the relations between the religions and the state—not to mention the government’s dismal record regarding the economy and personal safety.
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On the Road to Heaven: Self-Selection, Religion, and Socioeconomic Status*
ON THE ROAD TO HEAVEN: SELF-SELECTION, RELIGION, AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS* Mohamed Saleh† December 2, 2015 Abstract Inter-religion socioeconomic differences are often attributed to a causal impact of religion. Instead, I trace the phenomenon in Egypt to selection-on-socioeconomic- status during Egypt’s conversion from Coptic Christianity to Islam since the Arab Conquest in 641. Self-selection was driven by a regressive poll tax removed upon conversion to Islam that was imposed in 641-1856. Using novel primary data sources, I document that (a) long-term trends of poll tax and conversions are consistent with the selection hypothesis and (b) districts with a higher tax in 641- 1100 had relatively fewer, but differentially better-off, Copts in 1848-1868. I specify persistence mechanisms of tax effects. Keywords: discriminatory taxation; intergenerational persistence; conversion; self- selection; endogenous group formation JEL Classification: N35; O15 * Special thanks go to Dora Costa, Leah Boustan, Jeffrey Nugent, and Jean Tirole, for their advice and support. I benefited from conversations with Ragui Assaad, Eric Chaney, Thomas Chaney, Gregory Clark, Jacques Crémer, Joseph Ferrie, Avner Greif, Christian Hellwig, Timur Kuran, Naomi Lamoreaux, Thierry Magnac, Joel Mokyr, Dimitris Pipinis, Paul Seabright, Stéphane Straub, Martin Weidner, and numerous colleagues at TSE and IAST. The attendees of my presentations at UCLA, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Oxford, TSE, IAST, PSE, LSE, SITE-SSE, AEA, ASREC, AALIMS, NES, All-UC Group in Economic History, and Asian Historical Economics Conference, all provided me with very useful comments. Funds for digitization of the nineteenth- century Egyptian census samples came from IPUMS, EHA, and USC, whereas the digitization of the various medieval data sources was funded by USC and IAST.
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The Coptic Village of Jeme
History in the Making Volume 11 Article 16 January 2018 From Female Moneylenders to Church Shares: The Coptic Village of Jeme Marmar Zakher CSUSB Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making Part of the Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, and the Islamic World and Near East History Commons Recommended Citation Zakher, Marmar (2018) "From Female Moneylenders to Church Shares: The Coptic Village of Jeme," History in the Making: Vol. 11 , Article 16. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making/vol11/iss1/16 This Sources of History is brought to you for free and open access by the History at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in History in the Making by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. History in the Making From Female Moneylenders to Church Shares: The Coptic Village of Jeme By Marmar Zakher 260 Sources in History From the beginning of the Graeco-Roman period1 to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Egypt has always been ruled by foreign empires. Due to these many centuries of foreign governance, the overwhelming majority of official documents in Egypt were written in foreign languages, such as Greek, Latin, or Arabic, and very few documents were written in native Egyptian Demotic or Coptic scripts. In fact, from the fifth-century to the seventh-century CE, virtually no economic documents written in native Demotic or Coptic script survive.2 Contrary to popular belief, formal hieroglyphic Middle Egyptian had already fallen out of favor before the dawn of the Graeco-Roman period in Egypt to be supplanted first by Demotic, and then by Coptic scripts.3 Demotic, which was a late cursive form of hieroglyphs, completely disappeared by the end of the fifth-century CE.
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