3 Coptic Stelae

Three Coptic Stelae
by
Claudius Labib
Anthony Alcock
Claudius Labib (1868-1918) was born in Meir, Middle Egypt, which is still a strongly Christian
area. He studied Coptic in Cairo and went on to study Ancient Egyptian. He espoused the cause
of reviving Coptic as a spoken language in the home, but his advocacy was not very successful.
In 1909 he published a short memoir of his visit to the monasteries of the Wadi Natrun. After
a brief description of what he saw on his visit, he supplies the text and translations (Arabic
and French) of three stelae.
The dating system used is A(nno) M(artyrorum), the accession year of Diocletian, which
corresponds to 284 AD.
Text One
The first text was built into the wall of the monastery of John Kame. It is described as having
been carved on white marble, 60 cm long, with 23 lines of text. From Labib's nonphotographic reproduction it is possible to identify a slab of stone with rounded top and what
look like 'architectural' features: the lunette rests on two columns, at the top of which is a
rectangular area containing a creature that I cannot identify in the midst of plants, the whole
intended perhaps as a stylized capital; the area below contains parallel diagonal stripes,
perhaps intended as the decoration of a column; immediately below is a bulbous undecorated
area, perhaps the stylobate, resting on a geometrical design intended perhaps as steps. These,
however, are merely the causal remarks of someone with little knowledge of iconography.
There is a text that runs around the outside the whole stele, to be read from bottom to top on
the left, horizontally from left to right on the top and then top to bottom on the right:
ten+xo aripmeui (left)

mpenmakarios niwt ntepOS IHS PYS (top)
+mton ntefmakaria n2uyh amhn (right)
We pray, remember our blessed faither that the Lord Jesus Christ may give rest to his blessed
soul. Amen
Note
In the third line there is gender agreement between 'blessed' and 'soul'. Coptic often ignores Greek gender,
as for example in line 2 of the stele text.
10
15
20
4en pran n+trias

ecouab nomoousios piwt
e nem phri nem piPNA ecouab
afwpi njipijinouwten eb
ol nte penmakarios niwt apa
wannhs kame sou KD nkiaxk
ntiajp A nte piejwrx e4rhi 4en
sou KE naxraf en abba kosma pi
aryiepiskopos Nte rako+ efoi
nxigoumenos njepeniwt napa ab
raam e+ekklhsia mpeniwt ecouab
abba iwannhs : mensa I enabot
nte pjinbwten ebol ntepeniw
t ecouab kataou+mat nteV**+
afemton mmwf njepaiwt pa
pa stevanon NsouC Mpiabot :
acwr : pai etafwpi naf nou
hri NPNAtikon : 4entairompi nouw
t auemton mmwu epB 4enouhrhni
NteV+ amhn . 4en+max VOE nro
mpi nte+aclisis NniAgios Mmar+
uros efoi enouro e4rhi ejwn njepenQs IHS
pYS Amhn
In l. 12 the word menensa is to be read
In the name of the holy consubstantial Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit, the passing of our blessed father, Apa John Kame, happened on the 24th of
Khoiak at the first hour of the night, on the 25th, in the presence of Abba Cosmas
the archbishop of Rakoti, when our father Apa Abraam was hegoumenos of the
Church of our holy father Abba John. Ten months after the passing of our holy
father, it was the will of God that Apa Stephanos should go to his rest on the 9th of
Hathor, the one who had been a spiritual son for him. In this same year the two
went to their rest in the peace of God. Amen. In year 575 of the struggle of the Holy
Martyrs, Our Lord Jesus Christ being king over us.
Notes
According to the Julian calendar Hathor begins on October 8 and Khoiak on November 27. I take it that the
'first hour of the night' means 'midnight', the bridge from Khoiak 24 to 25. In standard Sahidic this is
expressed by tpae nteuh. It is customary to reckon the 24 hour period as starting at 6 am (the first
hour) and so on. I am not familiar with any earlier reference to the , and I am not certain which would make
midnight 'hour 18'. The writer seems to have no difficulty moving between 'Apa' and 'Abba'. 575 AM
corresponds to 859 AD.
Text Two
This Sahidic text on white marble from the Church of John on the island of Roda south of
Minya, almost opposite Antinoopolis, is built into an altar.
pbios thrf Eprwme efRxwf nce Noukapnos auw Nroou throu nte
pibios eto Nce nouxaibes easrike nexbhue throu Ntpnoute
xNatqinratou ne auw xNxap eme netoop epefemto ebol
xmptrepeouoei oun wpe etrakaswma Exrai asei Exrai ejwi eqitf xote
eaiktoi Epkax kata ce Nnaiote
aripameeue oun anok titalaiporos vefrwnia ntepnoute erouna nmmai
NtaMton emai . . . kixaxk KA etou Z apodio
There are two designs at the bottom right of the text:
one is a large y with a k to the left, h at the top and s3z at the bottom;
the other is the Christogram yr with a and w at the bottom.
The whole of life is like smoke and all the cares of this life are like a declining
shadow. All the works of God are inscrutable and true judgements are those that
are before Him.* Since therefore the time has come for me to leave the body, the
shadow ** has descended upon me to take it, I having returned to the earth like my
fathers.
Remember me Febronia that God may be merciful to me and I may rest in peace . . .
Khoiak 21 Year 7 of Diocletian.***
Notes
* This line is an allusion to Romans 11, 33
** The subject of the verb is a fem. pronoun and I take it to refer to the 'declining shadow'
*** The diagram to the left has numbers that may be intended to emend those in the text: Khoiak 28 and
267 AM (=551 AD). Year 7 would make the stele 291 AD, which is not likely.
Text Three
There is a photograph of this black granite stele, 55 x 40 cm. At the time of writing it was in
the possession of M. Philippe of Cairo. It has 27 lines of Sahidic text. It is said to be from
Akhmim, the city opposite the White Monastery of Shenoute. It is dated 502 AM (=786 AD).
The photograph has not really helped me to read the text, so I have largely used Labib's text.
Labib writes that, because of the linguistic errors or peculiarities, it is thought by some ('on
prtend') to be a forgery, which Labib obviously and rightly dismisses. There are passages
that I do not understand, but it reads as if the text has been written by a young person about a
young person.
10
15
w jeoua mn
hnepe pipwrj w qinbwk
ePeMmo esouhu para Nsop th
rou w qinplea esnat enei epekro
callassa ouss auw pesxoeim o Nagri
os . oukui de paskavos Ete TmNtbRreie
Mpaswma mNtamNtaraxe . eje oun pro
vhths efouaab efsooun esxai NxNtoeit maref
Axeratf nMmmai xnpeimeros eje oua ef
sooun Nrime mnnetrime peiket marefwp eron e
je oun oua efaicane epwte tFape Mmin Mmof ma
rexwn exoun eron nim petnati noumou ejNtaApe ou
mo ouphgi nNrmeih . EjNnabal . tarime EjN tnoq eNM
kaxNxht etaftaxon etbhhtK . w petxolq auw etno
tM . xnnefae . kosma pwxugos . petkh xnpeitavos
20
25
Nswvron auw etpereiou xmpefgenos . etO Nsoeit

Xnnetouonx auw etroout nce Mpoueiote efter
pei xmpefhi eurae . ejNnefSmot enanouou
xnouSne auvnidion taxof xitentkoleusis epnou
te afjwk Ebol xitNtmNtnexthf Epnoute ajN
laau NtortR . AtefmNtaraxe xwob xnoutim
wne aferouempeyortos eafooue nteitefXrh
re efxwo afkw Nounoq nenMkaxNxht Nnefsnhu af
bwk Eratf epnoute xNtesvragis NtmNtyristianos ou ano
on de nh etnaxxeratou xnswf sopsti xarof epeefratf mpnoute
pYS . NtafMton de Mmof mpoou mhno vanaxthr C etous
apodiois vb
What is this separation ? Going into unimaginably distant exile ! The harsh voyage
to come to the shore ! (5) The sea is wide and its waves fierce, but my skiff is small,
that is, the youth of my body and my brief life. If there is a holy prophet who knows
how to write lamentations, let him stand with me in this portion. If there is one
who (10) knows how to weep with those weeping, let this one run to me. If there is
one who perceives the defect* of his own head, let him approach us. Who will pour
water on my head, water a source of tears on my eyes that I may weep for the
great sadness that has seized me for your sake, the one who is sweet (15) and
pleasant in his words, Cosmas Phygos, ** who is lying in his grave, wise and of
brilliant family, well known among those who are as prominent and established as
their fathers, who was a joy in his household, which rejoiced over his good
manners. Of a sudden he was taken by the order of God and completed his life
through the mercy of God without (20) any distress. His brief life was spent***
without illness. He ate*** plant matter after the bad flower had withered. He has
left his brothers in great pain and gone to God in the seal of Christianity. We are
the ones who follow him, praying for him at the feet of Christ (25) God. He has gone
to his rest on Hathor 9, year 502 AM.
Notes
* I am by no means certain of how to understand this word
** Cosmas is not an uncommon name in Christian Egypt. Is 'Phygos' perhaps Arabic, the first part
something like ' splendid' ?
*** The verbs in these two sentences are not clear to me: 'was spent' and 'ate' are both guesses. One has the
impression that the young man or boy had lived a healthy life before dying very suddenly of an unspecified
illness.

3 Coptic Stelae

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

3 Coptic Stelae

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

3 Coptic Stelae

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Three Coptic Stelae

ten+xo aripmeui (left)

4en pran n+trias

In l. 12 the word menensa is to be read

Nswvron auw etpereiou xmpefgenos . etO Nsoeit

You might also like