by Ed Rizkalla
Most of us are cognizant with the Coptic religious literature, written by early Christian philosophers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen; and Church Fathers such as Pope Athanasius I, and Pope Cyril I. However, there seems to be some misconceptions, misunderstanding, and perhaps inadequate appreciation for Coptic secular literature of the late antique period circa 300-700 A.D. Among the Coptic writers of this period are John Philoponos, a 6th century philosopher, John Bishop of Nikiou, a 7th century historian, and Dioscorus of Aphrodito a 6th century jurist, writer and a poet. In this brief article, I hope to shed some light on the secular Coptic literature of the late antique period, and Dioscorus as an example.
Our knowledge of Dioscorus can be attributed to a stroke of sheer luck. As some villagers from Kom Ishgaw, a village located some 45 miles north of Sohag, Egypt, were digging a well in 1901, they found a buried cache of papyrus. The initial and subsequent papyrus finds in 1905, 1906,1907, 1936 and 1937 are now distributed among several libraries, museums and institutions in the UK, Germany, Italy, Russia, the USA, and Egypt. The initial papyrus find was identified as Greek and Coptic records that were kept by the scribes of a 7th century town of Aphrodito. The Greek-written papyri were first reviewed by Jean Maspero. His review led him to publish “ Papyrus grecs d’e’pouque Byzantine” in 1911. Maspero was not well versed in Coptic; and accordingly Coptic papyri had to wait for future scholars with knowledge of the Coptic language. The reviews of Jean Maspero and subsequently Sir Harold Idris Bell were far from flattering, as they compared his poetry with the Greek classics. Later scholars, however such as Leslie MacCoull, a contemporary American scholar, assessed the Dioscorus papyri on their own terms. MacCoull’s extensive study of the Dioscorus papyri, led her to conclude that they represented the embodiment of the late antique society’s characteristic suppositions about the world. They showed a total ease in which Christian thought and older classical learning were interwoven in different literary forms. They also combined visual opulence and a uniqueness of what was local and familiar in Egypt.
Dioscorus was born in well to do Coptic family. He was born about 520. His father Apollos was a former village headman, who later on became a monk and founded a monastery. Dioscorus received the best available education in the classics and the law, most probably at Alexandria. Some scholars believe that he was a student of John Philoponos, the Alexandrian philosopher. Dioscorus was trilingual, well versed in the Coptic, Greek, and Latin languages. This should not come as a surprise, as most of the educated Copts at that time were familiar with both Coptic and Greek, and Latin was commonly used in legal proceedings. He was at home in a landscape of deeply rooted classical and Christian culture. As a Copt, true to his Coptic culture, he married and fathered children. He also embarked on a legal and administrative career, starting at Aphrodito around 543, moving Antinoe from 566 to 573, and ultimately retiring back to his hometown.
The archives show him in 543 involved in a trial concerning damage to a field, at the court of Antinoe. In 547/548 Dioscorus petitioned Empress Theodora on the behalf of the people of Aphrodito regarding the preservation of their right of independent tax collection. Subsequently he traveled to Constantinople in 551, and was successful in presenting their petition. He wrote his first poem, perhaps as an act of thanks giving for the outcome of his journey to Constantinople around July-August 551. The archives include a record of an arbitration case in Coptic circa 564. In his first year at Antinoe, he composed two of his grandest pieces of prose. Shortly thereafter he petitioned the Duke of Thebaid, Athanasius, in 566/7 both on his behalf and landowners of Aphrodito. The monastery of the Apostles at Pharoou retained his services to file another petition to the same duke. A Coptic papyrus, dated October 28, 569 shows Dioscorus addressing the “pious superior of the monastery of Pharoou and its whole village” from Dioscorus, “the most humble son of Apa Apollo of Pharoou”. Dioscorus continued to write also poetry, but his most ambitious poetry is written only after he retired back to Aphrodito in 573-576. The last document in his archive is dated 585.
Dioscorus style in Greek prose seems to be modeled after Pope Cyril I, and his vocabulary seems to share elements with John Philoponus philosophical usage. His style in Coptic prose combines businesslike straightforwardness, vividness in narration and imaginative embellishment. His Greek poetry is a rich blend of pagan and Christian imagery. Among his writing are poems of praise for Emperor Justin II and some local Byzantine dignitaries, poems to celebrate weddings, birthdays, and holding new offices, drinking songs, and the description of the Egyptian scenery and landscape. An excerpt from one of his birthday poems reads as follows:
“The rosy hours crowned your birthday,
and the clouds watered the whole earth with timely showers;
they practice ever to arouse delight along the Nile.
Flourish and again flourish in your well-built halls,
with your dear children and your admirable wife.”
In that era Coptic poets were often fondly called the Cicadas of the Nile, as their poems became popular ballads and songs. Dioscorus of Aphrodito reflected his age’s acute sensibility and love of splendor and display. From his works we gain a better appreciation for his time and a clearer picture of Egypt in the late antique time.
Acknowledgement: The writer would like to thank the staff of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, for the assistance they rendered with the research for background material for this article.
Ed Rizkalla is a management consultant. He is the founder of Pharos on the Potomac Group (POPG), a non-profit organization at Alexandria, VA. POPG was established to provide cultural services to the local communities of the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
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