Department of Ancient History

The history of Coptic Art and Archaeology is one of misunderstandings and neglect!

Many of the fascinating remains of post-pharaonic Egypt were destroyed, not so much by the vicissitudes of medieval history, but by a combination of modernisation, population increase and scholarly neglect in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The mudbrick architecture of which most of the material remains of Christian Egypt consisted, was destroyed by peasants digging for fertiliser or by early industrialisation. Egyptologists, on the other hand, neglected what was left in favour of the more outwardly impressive monuments of the Pharaohs. This lead to the clearing away of Coptic remains without or with insufficient documentation as debris, especially if they were found inside a Pharaonic tomb or temple as was often the case, since many of the earlier monuments had been reused as living quarters in the Christian era.

The inattention towards the Christian remains by 19th and early 20th century archaeologists and various other factors also led to a number of misunderstandings about Coptic art which can still today be read in older or popular literature.

It is only in recent times that these misunderstandings have been cleared up and that this neglect has been remedied. Archaeologists and art historians devoting themselves to the art and archaeology of First Millennium Egypt have been rewarded by new discoveries and by new insights into artefacts long known. Discoveries both old and new and artefacts both known and unknown will be shown and studied in the course of this semester.

Welcome then to the fascinating world of Coptic Art and archaeology!

Coptic Art and Archaeology will give students a comprehensive overview of the history of Coptic art and architecture and the most important archaeological sites from the Christian period of Egypt. At the same time, it will present some of the important sources we have for this topic and look at the immense bibliography available. It will teach students to see these sources within their historical and archaeological context, to understand the characteristics of their particular type or genre and to evaluate the historical information gathered from them.

It will trace the development of church architecture in Egypt and show how this form of building adapted itself to the changing religious-political situation, the natural and financial resources, and the changes in forms of worship. It will also look at - the very poorly explored field of - domestic architecture and the architecture of the large pilgrimage center in Abu Mena.

First Millennium Egypt has also left us a large number of funerary monuments, such as funerary chapels, catacombs, and gravestones, that show the interaction of pagan and Christian burial customs and document the transition to a Christian society.

The various monastic forms of life are also mirrored in the diverse forms of monastic settlement all around Egypt, the cells and dormitories, oratories and churches, in their architecture and their material remains.

Particularly fascinating for both a specialist and a general public are the large number of colourful textiles with depiction of pagan and Christian motifs, of animal, plants, and geometrical designs.

The minor arts, objects of daily use made of, e.g., glass, ivory, or wood are very well represented in Late Antique Egypt.

From this short description, one can already see the breadth of subject to be covered by an in-depth look into the art and archaeology of post-pharaonic Egypt.

There are no pre-requisites for this unit.