Islamization in medieval Egypt: The Copto-Arabic 'Apocalypse of Samuei,' as a source for the social and religious history of medieval copts

Medieval Encounters

Volumn 4, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 219-227

  Iskander, John ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 62449186895     PISSN: 13807854     EISSN: 15700674     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157006798X00133     Document Type: Review

References (27)

1. The evidence from the papyri, for instance, suggests that much of the population was Coptic through the 12th century. See Gladys Frantz-Murphy, "Conversion in early Islamic Egypt: the economic factor," in Documents de l'Islam Medieval: Nouvelles Perspectives de Recherche, Cairo: Institut Francais d'Archéologie Orientale, 1991, 11-18
2. Although a thorough study has yet to be done on the topic, I suspect that we will not find any waves of conversion to Islam in Egypt until perhaps the Mamluk period. On Coptic conversion to Islam under the Mamluks see Donald Little, "Coptic Conversion to Islam Under the Bahri Mamluks," 692-755/1293-1354," Bulletin of The School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. XXXIX, pt. 3 (1976), pp. 552-569
3. Additional evidence for later conversion is given in Gary Leiser, "The Madrasa and the Islamization of the Middle East: The Case of Egypt," Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 22, (1985), 29-47
4. Francisco Javier Martinez, Eastern Christian Apocalyptic in the Early Muslim Period: Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo-Athanasius (Ph.D. Dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1985) 262
5. The Arabic text is edited and translated into French by J. Ziadeh, "L'Apocalypse de Samuel, supérieur de Deir el Qalamoun," Revue de L'Orient Chrétien, Deuxieme Serie, Tome X (XX) 1915-1917, No. 4, 374-405, hereafter "Samuel."
6. Ira Lapidus, "The conversion of Egypt to Islam," Israel Oriental Studies 2, (1972) 248-262
7. Richard Bulliet, Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History, Cambridge, 1979
8. Décobert, 273-300
9. F. Nau, "Note sur l'Apocalypse de Samuel," Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, Deuxieme Serie, Tome X (XX) 1915-1917, No. 4, 405-407
10. Décobert, 287
11. Martinez, 267, and fn. 53
12. Jos van Lent, in his forthcoming dissertation on Coptic apocalyptic writings in the Islamic era, has established from the ms. which Ziadeh used, as well as others, that the true reading of this mystifying word is "ism nabihi" with several variant but similar readings in different mss. See also the parallel passage, albeit more developed, in Pseudo-Pistentius. Périer, "Lettre de Pisuntios, évèque de Qeft, à ses fidèles," Revue de l'Orient Chrétien 19 (1914) 306-307
13. Samuel, 389-390
14. Paul E. Walker, "The Ismaili Da'wa in the Reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim," Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 30 (1993) pp. 161-182
15. See for example "The Arabic life of Shenoute," in E. Amélineau, Mémoires publiés par les Membres de la Mission Archéologique Francaise au Caire, 1885-86, Tome Quatrieme, Paris, 1888. This is probably the earliest such usage in Egyptian Christian writings, dating from the late 7th century
16. Actually, it is now being noted by Jos van Lent, whose work on the literary topoi in Coptic apocalyptic writing led him to examine the relations between these two works. This work exists in Arabic and Coptic, with the Coptic being a translation from the Arabic. The earliest attempt to identify the figures referred to in this work was that of F. Macler, "Les apocalypses apocryphes de Daniel," in Revue d'Histoire des Religions XXXIII (1895) 163-176
17. Macler concluded that the "XIVth Vision" in its entirety referred to the rule of the Fatimids. In a better-known work, Becker concluded that it was an account of the Umayyads with the last king being Marwan II. Carl H. Becker, "Das Reich der Ismaeliten im koptischen Danielbuch," in Nachrichten der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaft zu Göttingen, Ph. H. Kl. (1916) 7-57
18. Meinardus (see note 15) tries to reconcile the two positions. See also the article by Harold Suermann, "Notes concernant l'Apocalypse Copte de Daniel et la Chute des Omayyades," Parole de l'Orient XI (1983) 329-348
19. Otto Meinardus, "A Commentary on the XIVth Vision of Daniel," Orientalia Christiana Periodica Vol. XXXII, fasc. II, 1966, 394-449
20. In a later article, Meinardus changes his opinion and concludes that the XIVth Vision was written entirely at the end of the Fatimid period. Otto Meinardus, New Evidence on the XIVth Vision of Daniel from the History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church," Orientalia Christiana Periodica XXXIV (1968) pp. 281-309. Thanks to Jos van Lent for bringing this article to my attention. Meinardus' argument is not entirely convincing, as he tries to reconcile the various rulers mentioned in the XIVth Vision with the Fatimid rulers, not with great success. What seems more likely, however, is that much of the XIVth Vision was taken from earlier sources, but perhaps compiled after the Fatimids. This implies that his first argument was more correct than the second
21. Meinardus, "A Commentary," 438
22. Samuel, 377-8
23. Samuel, 381
24. Samuel, 380
25. Samuel, 384
26. Samuel, 379
27. Samuel, 389