Posted on 02/25/2005 7:30:48 PM PST by xzins
Coptic manuscripts unearthed in Pharaonic tomb in Egypt Published February 21, 2005
CAIRO -- Polish experts excavating in the southern city of Luxor have discovered three ancient Coptic manuscripts in a Pharaonic tomb, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Saturday.
The find was the single most important Coptic discovery since 1945 when a pair of bedouins stumbled onto the Coptic codices in Nag Hammadi in Egypt's western desert, it said.
The manuscripts date to the sixth century and were concealed in a Middle Kingdom (2000 to 1800 BC) tomb in Luxor, about 710 kilometers (440 miles) south of Cairo, the council said.
The texts may have been hidden there by Christians who were being persecuted at the time by the Romans, it said.
One of the manuscripts was 22.5 centimeters by 17 centimeters (nine by seven inches) and three centimeters thick, explained the Council's head, Zahi Hawas.
The second had 50 pages and a cover made of skin adorned with ornaments, while the third also had 50 pages and a cover, but was in a poorer state, he added.
Hawas said that experts would restore the manuscripts and try to read them in the hope that it would shed more light on early Christianity.
ping
Ok 2 things, I know this is important, Can someone explain to me what this would mean as far as discovery? I'm a newbie at religion and so I'm really curious from a Christian POV (pnt of view).
On a second note :
"The second had 50 pages and a cover made of skin adorned with ornaments" ---> PETA is gonna be pissed at us for using skin! :)
Depending on what the books contain and their age it could mean nothing or alot. If they are manuscripts of Christian scripture they would provide more confirmation of already existing scripture and if they are older than any of the known manuscripts they may provide corrections of errors. Even if they aren't scripture but records of some kind it would add to the knowledge of the time they're dated to.
It says the manuscripts date to the 6th century AD. Romans persecuting coptics in the 5th century would be Romans from the Christian era....so perhaps the coptic manuscripts will give some insight into the problems of that era. An idea of what those problems were would probably give some idea why Christian N. Africa fell so easily to Islam a century or so later. This is all speculation, so don't hold me to it too closely.
This is so cool ! I hope we find some good stuff in those books.
Me too, Glock. I'd think it would help in confirming the history of the era if nothing else.
Just a caution, though. My last tour in Germany I was able to see a display of the Dead Sea Scrolls that was in Cologne in the museum next to the Cathedral. One thing I remembered was that those manuscripts, discovered in the late 1940's, were still being painstakingly separated page by page. Very much of it -- maybe most of it -- still awaited preparation, preservation, and translation.
It can be a slow, slow process.
I understand!
Your right, alot of people don't realize the precision and ingenuity that is put into the preparation of these special old documents.
BTW, glad to hear that you're a new Christian. I see you are in California. I'm in Ohio. How did you get started on your Christian pilgrimage?
Hi and Thank you !
Well Its a long story but in a nutshell, I don't have to tell you why we choose christianity as you already know it. I have a great friend of mine, we talk about christianity, talking to him about it helped me make up my mind where i wanted to be. Deep in my heart i felt i already knew i wanted to be christian since i was younger (prob age 12 or so) even though i grew up along different religions (stepfamily being jewish) btw i'm 31 now. But in a nutshell that's where it's at and i'm very happy :)
How is life in Ohio, is it a slow farm life? I used to watch MASH reruns and still do when i can catch one, I always remember Klingor from Ohio trying to get out of the MASH.
Thanks, xzins. Added it to the GGG catalog. Here's an earlier, similar topic as well:
Coptic Trove
Ahram | 2-18-2005 | Nevine El-Aref
Posted on 02/18/2005 6:35:39 PM PST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1346435/posts
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
I do live in a rural region of Ohio. We're agricultural, appalachian, and Amish where I'm at in s. Ohio, so it does tend to go at a pretty slow pace. Klinger, on the other hand, was from Toledo, Ohio which is just about as far away to me to the north as one can get. It's a different culture up there.
If you ever get to the eastern US, check out some of the slower moving parts of PA, OH, and IN. You'll find them very peaceful.
Cool! If I ever get up that way, it would be interesting to see. It's nice to live the slow life sometimes. I try to live slow paced life when i can, it's refreshing to the mind.
I'd be more interested if it were a few centuries earlier. We pretty much already know what the Gnostics were up to.
Egypt was under the Byzantines in the 6th century. I believe both Gibbon and Will Durant in his "The Story of Civilization" ascribe the fall to Islam mostly to high Byzantine taxes.
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