3 Coptic Stelae

7/26/2019 3 Coptic Stelae

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Three Coptic Stelae

by

Claudius Labib

Anthony Alcock

Claudius Labib (1868-1918) was born in eir! iddle "#ypt! which is still a stron#ly Christian

area$ %e studied Coptic in Cairo and went on to study Ancient "#yptian$ %e espoused the cause

o& re'i'in# Coptic as a spoken lan#ua#e in the hoe! but his ad'ocacy was not 'ery success&ul$

n 19*9 he published a short eoir o& his 'isit to the onasteries o& the +adi ,atrun$ A&ter

a brie& description o& what he saw on his 'isit! he supplies the tet and translations (Arabic

and .rench) o& three stelae$

The datin# syste used is A(nno) (artyroru)! the accession year o& /iocletian! which

corresponds to 08 A/$

Text One

The &irst tet was built into the wall o& the onastery o& 2ohn 3ae$ t is described as ha'in#

been car'ed on white arble! 6* c lon#! with 04 lines o& tet$ .ro Labib5s non-

photo#raphic reproduction it is possible to identi&y a slab o& stone with rounded top and what

look like 5architectural5 &eatures the lunette rests on two coluns! at the top o& which is a

rectan#ular area containin# a creature that cannot identi&y in the idst o& plants! the whole

intended perhaps as a styli7ed capital the area below contains parallel dia#onal stripes!

perhaps intended as the decoration o& a colun iediately below is a bulbous undecorated

area! perhaps the stylobate! restin# on a #eoetrical desi#n intended perhaps as steps$ These!howe'er! are erely the causal rearks o& soeone with little knowled#e o& icono#raphy$

There is a tet that runs around the outside the whole stele! to be read &ro botto to top on

the le&t! hori7ontally &ro le&t to ri#ht on the top and then top to botto on the ri#ht

ten+xo aripmeui (le&t)

mpenmakarios niwt ntepOS IHS PYS (top)

+mton ntefmakaria n2uyh amhn (ri#ht)

We pray, remember our blessed faither that the Lord Jesus Christ may give rest to his blessed



soul. Amen

,ote

n the third line there is #ender a#reeent between 5blessed5 and 5soul5$ Coptic o&ten i#nores reek #ender!

as &or eaple in line 0 o& the stele tet$

4en pran n+trias

ecouab nomoousios piwt

e nem p¥hri nem piPN ecouab

af¥wpi n!ipi!inouwten eb

: o" nte penmakarios niwt apa

wannhs kame sou #$ nkiaxk

ntia!p nte pie!wrx e4rhi 4en

sou #% naxraf en abba kosma pi

aryiepiskopos Nte rako+ efoi

1* nxi&oumenos n!epeniwt napa ab

raam e+ekk"hsia mpeniwt ecouab

abba iwannhs mensa I enabot:

nte p!inbwten ebo" ntepeniw

t ecouab kataou+mat nte'+

1: afemton mmwf n!epaiwt pa

pa ste)anon Nsou* piabot :

acwr pai etaf: ¥wpi naf nou

¥hri NPNtikon : 4entairompi nouw

t auemton mmwu ep, 4enouhrhni

0* Nte'+ amhn - 4en+max 'O% nro

mpi nte+ac"isis Nni&ios mar+

uros efoi enouro e4rhi e!wn n!epen.s IHS

pYS mhn

n l$ 10 the word menensa is to be read

In the name of the holy consubstantial Trinity, the Father, the on and the !oly

pirit, the passing of our blessed father, Apa John "ame, happened on the #$th of

"hoia% at the first hour of the night, on the #&th, in the presence of Abba Cosmas

the archbishop of 'a%oti, (hen our father Apa Abraam (as hegoumenos of the



Church of our holy father Abba John. Ten months after the passing of our holy

father, it (as the (ill of )od that Apa tephanos should go to his rest on the *th of

!athor, the one (ho had been a spiritual son for him. In this same year the t(o

(ent to their rest in the peace of )od. Amen. In year &+& of the struggle of the !oly

artyrs, -ur Lord Jesus Christ being %ing over us.

,otes

Accordin# to the 2ulian calendar %athor be#ins on ;ctober 8 and 3hoiak on ,o'eber 0<$ take it that the

5&irst hour o& the ni#ht5 eans 5idni#ht5! the brid#e &ro 3hoiak 0 to 0:$ n standard Sahidic this is

epressed by tpa¥e nteu¥h$ t is custoary to reckon the 0 hour period as startin# at 6 a (the &irst

hour) and so on$ a not &ailiar with any earlier re&erence to the ! and a not certain which would ake

idni#ht 5hour 185$ The writer sees to ha'e no di&&iculty o'in# between 5Apa5 and 5Abba5$ :<: A

corresponds to 8:9 A/$

Text Two

This Sahidic tet on white arble &ro the Church o& 2ohn on the island o& =oda south o&

inya! alost opposite Antinoopolis! is built into an altar$

pbios thrf %prwme ef/xwf nce Noukapnos auw Nroou¥ throu nte

pibios eto Nce nouxaibes e¥asrike nexbhue throu Ntpnoute

xNat0inratou ne auw xNxap eme net¥oop epefemto ebo"

xmptrepeouoei¥ oun ¥wpe etrakaswma %xrai asei %xrai e!wi e0itf xote

eaiktoi %pkax kata ce Nnaiote

aripameeue oun anok tita"aiporos )efrwnia ntepnoute erouna nmmai

Ntaton emai $ $ $ kixaxk # etou 1 apoio

There are two desi#ns at the botto ri#ht o& the tet

one is a lar#e y with a k to the le&t! h at the top and s3 at the botto

the other is the Christo#rayr with a and w at the botto$

The (hole of life is li%e smo%e and all the cares of this life are li%e a declining

shado(. All the (or%s of )od are inscrutable and true udgements are those that

are before !im./ ince therefore the time has come for me to leave the body, the



shado( // has descended upon me to ta%e it, I having returned to the earth li%e my

fathers.

'emember me Febronia that )od may be merciful to me and I may rest in peace . . .

"hoia% #0 1ear + of 2iocletian.///

,otes

> This line is an allusion to =oans 11! 44

>> The sub?ect o& the 'erb is a &e$ pronoun and take it to re&er to the 5declinin# shadow5

>>> The dia#ra to the le&t has nubers that ay be intended to eend those in the tet 3hoiak 08 and

06< A (@::1 A/)$ ear < would ake the stele 091 A/! which is not likely$

Text Three

There is a photo#raph o& this black #ranite stele! :: * c$ At the tie o& writin# it was in

the possession o& $ Bhilippe o& Cairo$ t has 0< lines o& Sahidic tet$ t is said to be &ro

Akhi! the city opposite the +hite onastery o& Shenoute$ t is dated :*0 A (@<86 A/)$

The photo#raph has not really helped e to read the tet! so ha'e lar#ely used Labib5s tet$

Labib writes that! because o& the lin#uistic errors or peculiarities! it is thou#ht by soe (5on

prtend5) to be a &or#ery! which Labib ob'iously and ri#htly disisses$ There are passa#es

that do not understand! but it reads as i& the tet has been written by a youn# person about a

youn# person$

:

1*

1:

w !eoua¥ mn

hnepe pipwr! w 0inbwk

ePe¥mo esouhu para Nsop th

rou w 0inp"ea esna¥t enei epekro

ca""assa ous¥s auw pesxoeim o Na&ri

os - oukui e paska)os %te 5mNtb/reie

paswma mNtamNt¥araxe - e¥!e oun pro

)hths efouaab efsooun esxai NxNtoeit maref

xeratf nmmai xnpeimeros e¥!e oua ef

sooun Nrime mnnetrime peiket marefwp eron e¥

!e oun oua efaicane ep¥wte t6ape min mof ma

rexwn exoun eron nim petnati noumou e!Ntape ou

mo ouph&i nNrmeih - %!Nnaba" - tarime %!N tno0 eN

kaxNxht etaftaxon etbhht# - w petxo"0 auw etno

t - xnnef¥ae - kosma pwxu&os - petkh xnpeita)os



0*

0:

Nsw)ron auw etpereiou xmpef&enos - etO Nsoeit

7nnetouonx auw etroout nce poueiote efter

pei xmpefhi eura¥e - e!NnefSmot enanouou

xnou¥Sne au)niion taxof xitentko"eusis epnou

te af!wk %bo" xitNtmNt¥nexthf %pnoute a!N

"aau N¥tort/ - tefmNt¥araxe xwob xnou¥tim

¥wne aferouempeyortos e¥af¥ooue nteitef7rh

re efxwo afkw Nouno0 nenkaxNxht Nnefsnhu af

bwk %ratf epnoute xNtes)ra&is NtmNtyristianos ou ano

on e nh etnaxxeratou xnswf sopsti xarof epeefratf mpnoute

pYS - Ntafton e mof mpoou mhno )anaxthr * etous

apoiois )b

What is this separation 3 )oing into unimaginably distant e4ile 5 The harsh voyage

to come to the shore 5 6&7 The sea is (ide and its (aves fierce, but my s%iff is small,

that is, the youth of my body and my brief life. If there is a holy prophet (ho %no(s

ho( to (rite lamentations, let him stand (ith me in this portion. If there is one

(ho 6087 %no(s ho( to (eep (ith those (eeping, let this one run to me. If there is

one (ho perceives the defect/ of his o(n head, let him approach us. Who (ill pour

(ater on my head, (ater a source of tears on my eyes that I may (eep for the

great sadness that has sei9ed me for your sa%e, the one (ho is s(eet 60&7 and

pleasant in his (ords, Cosmas :;hygos, // (ho is lying in his grave, (ise and of

brilliant family, (ell %no(n among those (ho are as prominent and established as

their fathers, (ho (as a oy in his household, (hich reoiced over his good

manners. -f a sudden he (as ta%en by the order of )od and completed his life

through the mercy of )od (ithout 6#87 any distress. !is brief life (as spent///

(ithout illness. !e ate/// plant matter after the bad flo(er had (ithered. !e has

left his brothers in great pain and gone to )od in the seal of Christianity. We are

the ones (ho follo( him, praying for him at the feet of Christ 6#&7 )od. !e has gone

to his rest on !athor *, year &8# A.



,otes

> a by no eans certain o& how to understand this word

>> Cosas is not an uncoon nae in Christian "#ypt$ s 5BDhy#os5 perhaps Arabic! the &irst part

soethin# like ب

5splendid5 E

>>> The 'erbs in these two sentences are not clear to e 5was spent5 and 5ate5 are both #uesses$ ;ne has the

ipression that the youn# an or boy had li'ed a healthy li&e be&ore dyin# 'ery suddenly o& an unspeci&ied

illness$

Documents

3 Coptic Stelae