Guides to the Eucharist in Medieval Egypt - (Christian Arabic Texts in Translation) (Paperback)

About the Book

An English translation of three key texts on the Coptic liturgy by Abū al-Barakāt ibn Kabar, Yūḥannā ibn Sabbā', and Pope Gabriel V. With a scholarly introduction to the works, their authors, and the Coptic liturgy, as well as a detailed explanatory apparatus, this volume provides a useful and needed introduction to the worship tradition of Egypt's Coptic Christians.

Book Synopsis

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed a rising interest in Arabic texts describing and explaining the rituals of the Coptic Church of Egypt. This book provides readers with an English translation of excerpts from three key texts on the Coptic liturgy by Abū al-Barakāt ibn Kabar, Yūh.annā ibn Sabbā', and Pope Gabriel V. With a scholarly introduction to the works, their authors, and the Coptic liturgy, as well as a detailed explanatory apparatus, this volume provides a useful and needed introduction to the worship tradition of Egypt's Coptic Christians. Presented for the first time in English, these texts provide valuable points of comparison to other liturgical commentaries produced elsewhere in the medieval Christian world.

Review Quotes

For anyone interested in liturgical history in general or with specific interest in Coptic Liturgy, this book is a must read. I highly recommend it.---Maxwell E. Johnson, Worship Journal

About the Author

Yūḥannā ibn Sabbā' (Author)
Yūḥannā ibn Sabbā' (13-14th centuries) was the compiler of the Coptic theological encyclopedia The Precious Jewel on the Ecclesiastical Sciences
(al-Jawharah al-nafīsah fī 'ulūm al-kanīsah).

Abū al-Barakāt ibn Kabar (Author)
Abū al-Barakāt ibn Kabar (d. 1324) was a Coptic priest and theologian and the author of The Lamp of Darkness and the Elucidation of the Service (Mișbâḥ al-ẓulmah wa-îḍāḥ al-khidmah).

Gabriel V of Alexandria (Author)
Pope Gabriel V of Alexandria (r. 1409-1427) was the 88th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

Arsenius Mikhail (Edited & Translated By)
Arsenius Mikhail is Professor of Liturgical Studies at St. Athanasius and St. Cyril Theological School in Los Angeles. He is the author of The Presentation of the Lamb: The Prothesis and Preparatory Rites of the Coptic Liturgy.