NATURE 



609 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1891. 



COPTIC PALEOGRAPHY. 

 Album de Paleographie Copte pour servir U V Introduction 

 Paldographique des " Actes des Martyrs de I ^gypte." 

 Par Henri Hyvernat. (Paris: Leroux, 1888.) 



IN all the wide range of subjects connected with 

 archaeology, it would perhaps be difficult to find one 

 so little studied as that the name of which stands at the 

 head of this article. It is not that it is unimportant ; on 

 the contrary, it is most important ; it cannot be said to 

 be uninteresting, for the most elementary study of the 

 subject shows it to possess considerable attractions for 

 the philologist, historian, and antiquary. The little in- 

 terest which, until the last few years, has been shown in 

 matters relating to the Coptic language and literature is 

 probably to be attributed to the fact that printed Coptic 

 texts are scarce, and that the comparatively few manu- 

 scripts which exist are scattered throughout the libraries 

 of Europe. 



It will be remembered that in the year 1885 M. Hyver- 

 nat began to publish the martyrdoms of famous Coptic 

 saints, with a translation in French entitled " Les Actes 

 des Martyrs de I'^gypte " ; the Coptic texts were edited 

 chiefly from manuscripts in the Vatican and Borgian 

 Libraries. Considerable interest was aroused by his work, 

 and it was hoped that scholars would soon possess accu- 

 rate copies of the texts of the martyrdoms which form so 

 large a section of the rich collections of Coptic manu- 

 scripts at Rome. It may be argued that the narratives of 

 the sufferings and deaths of Coptic martyrs have much in 

 common, and that a few examples of this class of litera- 

 ture would have been sufficient ; but it must be remem- 

 bered that the historical allusions and incidental remarks 

 made in them give them a value far beyond their import- 

 ance as religious documents ; while the uncommon words, 

 and unusual forms of the Greek words which their writers 

 borrowed, enrich the Coptic lexicon, and afford material 

 for the student of hieroglyphics who makes a comparative 

 study of the dialects spoken by the Copts and by their 

 ancestors the subjects of the Pharaohs. The first volume 

 of the work, in four fasciculi, has appeared, and it is 

 hoped that the second volume, which is promised to con- 

 tain a critical introduction, &c., will not be long delayed. 

 Meanwhile, however, M. Hyvernat has given us his 

 " Palaeographic Album," and it is to this important pub- 

 lication that we must now give our attention ; the 

 scientific plan which he has followed in setting before 

 scholars facts and nothing but facts, and his systematic 

 arrangement of them, make his work most welcome. The 

 first Coptic scholar who gave his attention to the subject of 

 Coptic palaeography was Zoega, the Dane, and in his 

 famous " Catalogus Codicum Copticorum," published 

 (after his death) at Rome in 18 10, are given seven plates 

 containing specimens of the writing found in Coptic 

 manuscripts of various periods ; since that i\vs\^ facsimile 

 specimens of important manuscripts have been published, 

 as, for example, a page of the famous Gnostic work, 

 " Pistis Sophia," in the " Facsimiles of Ancient Manu- 

 scripts, &c.," issued by the Palaeographical Society 

 (Oriental Series, plate 42, 1878). 

 NO. I 148, VOL. 44] 



The work before us contains fifty-seven large folio 

 plates, upon which are reproduced by photography about 

 one hundred examples of Coptic writing ; the execution 

 of these plates is perfect, and M. Hyvernat has shown 

 great knowledge and judgment in making the selefction. 

 The original manuscripts are preserved in Rome, Milan, 

 Turin, Naples, Paris, London, and Oxford ; and the time 

 and labour spent by him in reading and examining them 

 must have been very considerable. The manuscripts — 

 that is, books made of parchment and paper, for M. 

 Hyvernat excludes inscriptions upon stones, and papyri, 

 whether contracts or otherwise— belong to all periods; 

 the earliest cannot be later than the sixth century A.D., 

 and the latest dates from the last century. We have thus 

 for palaeographical investigation a field of not less than 

 twelve hundred years. 



The specimens of the writings anterior to the nioth 

 century have been taken from manuscripts which are, by 

 the common consent of the best authorities, admitted to 

 belong to this period ; all those after the ninth century 

 are taken from dated manuscripts, and thus there is no 

 doubt possible as to their age. The wisdom of this plan 

 is evident, for, in the case of uncial writing, the character 

 of which practically remained unchanged among the 

 Copts for centuries, it is almost impossible to assign an 

 exact date to a manuscript unless a dated standard is 

 forthcoming. Coptic manuscripts which are to be attri- 

 buted to the sixth or seventh century are rare, and 

 as examples of them M. Hyvernat has selected the 

 Gnostic treatise called " Pistis Sophia"^ (Brit. Mus., No. 

 5114) and the life of St. Pachomius ; "' the pages are small 

 quarto in size, with two columns of writing to the page, 

 and ornamentation is rare. In the seventh and eighth 

 centuries the writing becomes firmer and bolder, the 

 pages are larger, and the sides of the columns are orna- 

 mented with graceful designs and birds (doves?). The 

 picture of Job and his three daughters (PI. 5), wearing 

 Byzantine costumes and ornaments, is very instructive. 

 PI. 6 gives a leaf from a palimpsest manuscript, inscribed 

 in Coptic with verses from the Old Testament, and in 

 Syriac with the martyrdom of St. Peter of Alexandria. 



Of the tenth and eleventh centuries we have fine speci- 

 mens of manuscripts containing homilies, canons, ser- 

 mons, martyrdoms, &c. ; the pages are large, the writing, 

 in two columns, is bold and handsome, the initial letters 

 of paragraphs are large, and stand away from the 

 columns, which are often profusely decorated with birds, 

 flowers, ornaments in the shape of vases, &c. The 

 last pages of works of this period often contain portraits 

 of those who are referred to in them, and the larger 

 manuscripts have full-page illustrations of the subject- 

 matter ; as, for example, Theodore the General over- 

 throwing the dragon and rescuing the widow's children 

 (PI. 16), St. Mercurius destroying Julian the Apostate 

 (PI. 17), and "Moses the Prophet" standing with bare 

 feet by the side of the burning bush (PI. 19). On Pis. 14, 

 21, and 32 are some interesting examples of Coptic 

 cryptography and cursive writing. At the end of the 

 tenth century the first page of each work in a manuscript 

 is ornamented with deep borders of tracery and interlacing 



' The text, with Latin translation, was published by Schwartze at Berlio 



^ Tae text, with French translation, was published by Amdlineau, " His- 

 " ic" (Paris, 1889). 



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