Abstract
The Coptic hagiographic series, which became widespread after the Arab conquest of Egypt, are texts united by a common hero-martyr of the Ancient Church. The plot takes place against the background of persecutions against Christians under the pagan emperor Diocletian. Martyrdoms, encomiastic lives, and collections of miracles are either pseudo-attributed, or have no attribution; therefore, their authors or the school they must have belonged to remain unknown. The Coptic hagiographers used different literary methods to confirm the truth of the events described. One of such methods was the inclusion of the (auto)biographical elements in the narrative. Two biographies of the characters important for the Coptic series are scattered in different texts. The first legend concerns the Emperor Diocletian, the chief instigator of the persecutions by the Coptic tradition. The second biography concerns judicial secretary Julius of Aqfahs who due to his miraculous healing had chosen to help martyrs and write down their martyrdoms. These characters, undoubtedly familiar to the Copts, play opposite roles in relation to the martyrs, and the facts of their biographies must have interested the reader increasing the significance and the authenticity of each text. Autobiographical elements are mainly associated with pseudo-authors who claim to have been witnesses or participants in the events. Thus, the Coptic hagiographers tried to increase the plausibility of their narratives and make them an integral part of the corpus of hagiographic texts.
References
1 Artiukhova T.A., Lukhovitskii L.V. Zosima i Afanasii Kommentarisii [Zosima and Athanasius Commentaresius]. Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia [Orthodox Encyclopedia]. Moscow, TsNTs “Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia” Publ., 2009. Vol. 20. P. 365. (In Russ.)
2 Golovnina N.G., Frangulian L.R. Real’nost’ i khudozhestvennyi vymysel u koptskikh agiografov (obraz Diokletiana v literature tsiklov, ser. VII — ser. VIII vv.) [Reality and fiction by Coptic hagiographers (Diocletian’s image in the literature of cycles, mid 7 th — mid 8 th )]. Vestnik PSTGU, Series III: Philology. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo PSTGU Publ., 2017, issue 52, pp. 48–61. (In Russ.)
3 Granstrem E.E. Palimpsesty Gosudarstvennoi Publichnoi biblioteki im. M.E. Salty- kova-Shchedrina [Palimpsests of M.E. Saltykova-Shchedrin’ State Public Library]. Vizantiiskii Vremennik, Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1960, vol. 17, pp. 78–84. (In Russ.)
4 Evsevii Pamfil. Tserkovnaia istoriia [History of Church]. Moscow, Izd-vo Spaso- Preobrazhenskogo Valaamskogo monastyria Publ., 1993. 448 p. (In Russ.)
5 Frangulian L.R. Intertekstual’nost’ kak metod raboty koptskikh agiografov VII–VIII vv. [Intertextuality as a method of Coptic hagiographers, 7 th — 8 th centuries]. Vostochnye chteniia. Religii. Kul’tury. Literatury. IV Mezhdunarodnaia nauchnaia konferentsiia 17–18 noiabria 2017 g.: Sbornik materialov [Oriental readings. Religions. Cultures. Literatures. 4 th International conference, November 17–18: Proceedings]. Moscow, IMLI RAN Publ., 2017, pp. 282–289. (In Russ.)
6 Frangulian L.R. Mesto agiograficheskikh tsiklov (VII–VIII vv.) v koptskoi literature [The place of hagiographic cycles (7 th —8 th centuries) in Coptic literature]. Vestnik PSTGU. Series III: Philology. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo PSTGU Publ., 2013, issue 5 (35), pp. 86–96. (In Russ.)
7 Apa Chamoul. Coptic Texts on Saint Theodore the General, ed., transl. by E.O. Winstedt. London, Pub. for the Text and translation society by Williams and Norgate, 1910, pp. 175–188, f. 51–111. (In Coptic, English)
8 Baumeister Th. Martyr Invictus: der Martyrer als Sinnbild der Erlöoung in der Legende und im Kult der früuen koptischen Kirche. Münster, Verlag Regensberg, 1972. 220 S. (In German)
9 Coquin R.-G. Nob, apa. The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. by Aziz S. Atiya. New York, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991, vol. 5, pp. 1796–1797. (In English)
10 Diodori Bibliotheca Historica, ed. by F. Vogel. Lipsiae, In aedibus B.G. Teubneri, 1888, vol. 1. XCVI, 533 p. (In Greek)
11 Encomium of Celestinus, Archbishop of Rome, on Victor the General. Coptic martyrdoms etc. in the dialect of Upper Egypt, ed., transl. by E.A.W. Budge. London, British Museum, 1914, vol. 1, pp. 46–101; f. 26–59. (In Coptic, English)
12 Encomium on St. Coluthus (M 591, ff. 94v–121v), attributed to Isaac of Antinoe, ed. by A.B. Scott, transl. by P. Chapman. Encomiastica from the Pierpont Morgan Library. Lovanii, In aedibus E. Peeters, 1993, pp. 47–84; f. 94–121. (In Coptic, English)
13 Encomium on St. Thedore Stratelates the General (M 591, ff. 122r–137r), attributed to Anastasius of Euchaita, ed., transl. by P. Chapman. Encomiastica from the Pierpont Morgan Library. Lovanii, In aedibus E. Peeters, 1993, pp. 1–20; f. 122–137. (In Coptic, English)
14 Encomium to St Mercurius by Acacius of Neocaesarea. Passione e miracoli di S. Mercurio, ed., transl. by T. Orlandi. Milan, Cisalpino-Goliardica, 1976, pp. 43–78. (In Coptic, Italian)
15 Ishaq E.M. Coptic Language, Spoken. The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya. New York, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991, vol. 2, pp. 604–607. (In English) 16 Le Martyre d’Apa Epima, éd., transl., introd., comm. T. Mina. Le Caire, Impr. Nationale, Boulâq, 1937, pp. 1–38; f. 20–58. (In Coptic, France)
17 Martyrdom of s. Shenoufe and his brethren. Four Martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic Codices, ed., transl., introd., comm. by J.W.B. Barns, E.A.E. Reymonds. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973, pp. 81–127; f. 103–138. (In Coptic, English)
18 Martyre du saint Apa Ari. Les actes des martyrs de l’Égypte, éd., transl. H. Hyvernat. Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1886, pp. 202–224; f. 69–86. (In Coptic, France)
19 Martyrium S. Apa Anub. Acta martyrum, éd., transl. I. Balestri, H. Hyvernat. Parisiis, e Typographeo reipublicae, Carolus Poussielgue bibliopola, 1907, textus, vol. 1, pp. 200–241; f. 233–268. (In Coptic, France)
20 Orlandi T. Cycle. The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. by Aziz S. Atiya. New York, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991, vol. 3, pp. 666–668. (In English)
21 Orlandi T. Hagiography, Coptic. The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. by Aziz S. Atiya. New York, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991, vol. 4, pp. 1191–1197. (In English)
22 Panégyrique de saint Claude d’Antioche par Sévère d’Antioche. Textes coptes relatifs à saint Claude d’Antioche, éd. G. Godron. Louvain, Brepols, 1970, pp. 486–507; f. 63–84. (In Coptic, France)
23 Papaconstantinou A. Historiography, hagiography, and the making of the Coptic “Church of the Martyrs” in early Islamic Egypt. Dumbarton Oaks Papers. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks, 2006, no 60, pp. 65–86. (In English)
24 Rogozhina A.A. Antioch as “The Holy City” in Coptic Hagiography. Vestnik Drevnei istorii, Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2017, vol. 2, no 77, pp. 356–376. (In English, Russ.)
25 Schenke G. Creating Local History: Coptic Encomia Celebrating Past Events. Writing “True Stories”: Historians and Hagiographers in the Late Antique and Medieval Near East, eds. A. Papaconstantinou, M. Debié, H. Kennedy. Louvain, Brepols, 2010, pp. 21–30. (In English)
26 Serfass A. Views of Rome: A Greek Reader. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 2018. 336 p. (In English)
27 The Encomium of Theodore, Archbishop of Antioch, on Theodore the Anatolian. Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt, ed., transl. by E.A.W. Budge. London, Sold at the British Museum and by Longmans and Co., 1915, pp. 1–48 (text); f. 1–43. (In Coptic, English)
28 The Encomium upon Saint George by Thedotus, Bishop of Ancyra. The martyrdom and miracles of Saint George of Cappadocia, ed., transl. by E.A.W. Budge. London, [Leipzig printed] D. Nutt, 1888, pp. 83–173; f. 106–172. (In Coptic, English)
29 Togo M. Jules d’Aqsahs et ses oeuvres. A propos d’une icóne conservée dans l’Église d’Abou’s-Seifein. Bulletin de la Société d’archéologie copte. Le Caire, Société d’archéologie copte, 1937, vol. 3, pp. 41–47. (In Coptic, France)
30 Vandersleyen C. Chronologie des préfets d’Egypte de 284 à 395. Brussels, Latomus, 1962. 202 p. (In English)
31 Vie de Paul de Tamoueh. Mémoires publiés par les membres de la Mission Archéologique Française au Caire, sous la dir. de M.U. Bouriant. Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1895, t. 4, fasc. 2: Monuments pour servir à l’histoire de l’Egypte chrétienne aux IVe, Ve, VIe et VIIe siècle, éd., trad. E. Amélineau, pp. 759–769. (In Coptic, France)
32 Youssef Y.N. Coptic Bohairic liturgical texts relating to Abbā Samuel of Kalamūn and Julius of Akfahs. Collectanea Christiana Orientalia. Córdoba, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba, 2010, no 7, pp. 151–196. (In English)
