COPTIC
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COPTIC
these discoveries was undoubtedly that of the Ubrary of
the Monastery of St. Michael in the Fayum (Spring,
1910). Most of the fifty-eight volumes of which it
consisted found their way to Paris, where they were
purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (Dec, 1911), in
whose library (at New York) they are now preser\ed.
5000 volumes remained in Egypt, and, with a few
fragments of the same origin, are kept in the Egj'ptian
Museum at Cairo. With the exception of one Fayil-
mic and one Bohairic manuscript the whole collection
is in the Sahidic dialect. This had its home in Upper
Egypt, but evidently it had spread in the Faytlm as a
literary language as early as the eighth century, for
some of oiu- manuscripts are dated in the first quarter
of the following centiu-y. The numerous colophons,
however, all in the local Fay<imic idiom, show that
the latter still obtained as a spoken language. One of
the most important features of the Morgan collection
is that it consists of complete volumes, while other
collections, yet reputed so valuable, those of Rome,
Paris, and London (see below under British Museum
Collection), to name the princiijal ones, consist mostly
of fragments. It is an inveterate habit with the
Arabs of Egypt to tear the manuscripts they discover
or steal, so as to give each member of the tribe his
share of the spoils, and also in the hope of securing
higher prices by selhng the manuscripts piecemeal, a
process fatal to hterature, for while some leaves so
treated will be scattered throughout the pubhc or pri-
vate collections of Europe and America, a good many
more will either meet destruction or remain hidden in-
definitely by the individual owners. Most of the
manuscripts of the JMonastery of St. Michael had al-
ready been divided into small lots of leaves and dis-
tributed among a number of Arabs when they were
rescued at the cost of untold toil and expense.
Mr. Morgan's collection is no less remarkable as a group of dated manuscripts of absolutely certain provenance. We had a number of much older volumes or fragments, the ages of which, however, could not be determined with sufficient approximation, for lack of points of comparison, chronologically not too dis- tant. The only points of comparison, so far, were two manuscripts dated a.d. 1006 (British Museum Or. 1320) and 1003 (Naples, Zoega, XI). There are in- deed a few colophons in Paris with dates almost 100 years earher but those colophons are generally sepa- rated from the manuscripts to which they belonged and consequently are of little or no use, the script of colophons being as a rule different from that in the body of the manuscript. Now the Morgan collection contains eighteen dates ranging from A. d. 832 to 914, so that our point of comparison is thrown practically 200 years nearer the older manuscripts in question. Many of the manuscripts are still in their original bindings, which are possibly the oldest, and certainly the best-authenticated, specimens of the art of book- binding in that remote period. They consist of thick boards made of layers of papynis sheets taken from older manuscripts. The covering is brown or deep- ened leather stamped with geometrical patterns, or cut through so as to show pieces of the same material, but of different colours (generally red or gold), slipped between the board and cover. In one case the decoration, exceedingly elaborate, was obtained by means of narrow strips of red parchment delicately stitched on the gilded cover of the boards and on the inner face of one of I ho bonrds, the name of the mon- astery is reproduced in the same manner on the turned-in edge of the leather covering. A dozen of the volumes are adorned with full-page miniatures representing the Virgin with her Divine Son at her l)rcast or silting in her lap, angels, martyrs, ancho- rites, and other saints. A we;dlh of decorations from the vegetable and animal realms runs along the mar- gins and around the titles of the inilividual treatises, in almost all the volumes. It is the earliest and most
complete attempt at illustrating and decorating yet
discovered in Sahidic manuscripts.
The Ubrary of the Monastery of St. Michael was clearly a hturgical hbrary, that is all its books were used in church. The following classified list of contents will give a fair idea of what a Coptic monastic Hbrary of that time was while it will also show the lacunae with which it has come down to us.
Bible. (1) Old Testament. — Six complete books of the Sahidic version, namely, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, I and II Kings (Samuel), and Isaias, excepting i, 1-19, and vii, 7-viii. (2) New Testa- ment. — The Four Gospels (excepting Luke, iv, 33-ix, 30; ix, 62-xiii, 17), the fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, and the seven Catholic Epistles (I and II Peter, I-III John, James, and Jude). There is also a manuscript of the Bohairic Version of the Four Gospels, frag- mentary, unfortunately, and without indication of provenance or date, and it remains to decide whether it belonged to the Monastery of St. Michael. Still it ia probably older than any of the manuscripts so far known of that version and on that account it may prove of considerable value for textual criticism.
Liturgy. (1) A complete Lectionary containing much valuable information as to the Hturgical, sanc- toral, and the general run of the ecclesiastical year, and explaining several popular names for the various Sun- days which, so far, were either unknown or obscure, and Uable to misinterpretation. (2) A Breviarj' and (3) an Antiphonary, two books of which we had noth- ing but a few fragments that challenged all attempts at reconstruction. The sanctoral of the antiphonarj- is the oldest document of that kind in the Coptic Hterature.
Synaxary. — Over 100 homilies, discourses, eulogies. Acts of martjTs, hves of saints, and miscellaneous treatises, to be read in church on the various Sundays and feasts of the Hturgical year. These have been recently classified by categories of feast, retaining, however, in each category, the order of the calendar.'
(1) Feasts of Our Lord: Nativity (Choiac 29 = 25 Dec), discourse by Demetrius, ^Archbishop of An- tioch; Epiphany (Tybi 11=6 Jan.), two discourses by St. Epiphanius of Constance (Cyprus), and St. Peter of Alexandria; Passion, discourse by St. Athanasius of Alexandria; Resurrection (Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Wednesday, and \\'hitsunday), one discourse by Evodius, Archbishop of Rome (probably error for Antioch), one by St. John Chrysostom, and five discourses by St. CjtU of Jerusalem; Pentecost, discourse by St. Athanasius of Alexandria; Feast of the Holy Cross (Thoth 17 = 14 Sept.), discourse by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, also a discourse by Theophilus of Alexandria on the Cross and the Good Thief, not assigned to any date. (2) Feasts of the Blessed Vir- gin Mary: Nativity and Death (Tybi 21 = 16 Jan.), discourse by St. Cyril of Jerusalem; Assumption (Mesori 16 = 15 Aug.), discourse by Theophilus of Alexandria. (3) Feasts of Angels: St. Gabriel (Choiac 22 = 18 Dec, Feast of the Annunciation?), discourse by .Archelaus, Bishop of NeapoUs; St. Gabriel's Investiture in Heaven, by St. Stephen; St. Michael, patron saint of the monastery (AthjT 12 = 8 Nov.), two discourses by Macarius, Bishop of Tk6ou and Severus of .\ntioch; St. Michael's Investiture in Heaven, by St. John the Evangelist; three discourses by St. .\thana.sius of Alexandria, Sevcrianus, Bishop of Gabala, and Timothy of Alexandria. There are also discourses without mention of date in the titles, but very likely pronounced also on Athyr 12: two by St. Basil, five by St. Athanasius, Eustathius of ThrakC, Severianiis, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Gregory the theologian, also one bv St. .Vthanasius on St. Michael and St. Gabriel. (4) Feasts of .\poc- alypiic Spirits: The Four Incorporeal .\ninials (Athyr 8=4 Nov.), discourse by St. John Chrysos- tom; The Twenty-four Elders (Athyr 24=20 Nov.),
