This comparative religion book contains a startling perspective of the extraordinary history of the Egyptian religion and its profound influence upon the later Christian faith. The text demonstrates that the popular god Horus and Jesus possessed many characteristics and attributes in common.

This book is my life story, as a Coptic Christian, raised in Egypt. Where no one from my family has ever moved away for thousands of years through the rise and falls of ancient pharaohs and deep roots of ancient Christianity. It is also the story of my parents raising 10 children since 1953 in an environment of extreme poverty where resources and opportunities were limited with unrelenting prejudice towards Christian minorities. So, I came to the United States, the land of opportunity, and became a prominent American neurosurgeon among the only 4000 active nationwide and the only one nationally and internationally to achieve five board certifications in five acknowledged medical disciplines. I continue to practice and serve the mission set before me. My home land was once prosperous and rich in history. Over the centuries, it joined the downfall of the majority of the developing countries of the world through its economic crises and injustices to many. It was the land for the fathers of early Christians and the foundation for worldwide Christians. Now the Coptic Christians are considered a minority constituting a mere 10% of the population and are joining the exodus of ancient Christians from their native African continent. This book chronicles my journey from the land of history, the land of my birth, to the land of opportunity, America. It outlines the socioeconomic and political changes that Egypt has seen over the last century. It is my hope that others may find inspiration and understanding of my culture through reading this book. I owe it all to Christ, the Lord, my cherished parents, my family and friends, my teachers, my mentors, and especially my beloved patients.

This book contains 15 papers which were presented by specialists from Europe and Egypt at two conferences held at Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 2014 and 2015. Eight of the articles deal with the history of Late Antique Egypt in its manifold aspects, from monasticism and Coptic manuscripts, to the organization of the Arab conquest. The other seven contributions provide new writings from that historical period published here for the first time, or give new readings of texts earlier known as inscriptions, papyri and ostraca, and offer a close-up look at the historical setting outlined in the first part of this book.

This book is my life story, as a Coptic Christian, raised in Egypt. Where no one from my family has ever moved away for thousands of years through the rise and falls of ancient pharaohs and deep roots of ancient Christianity. It is also the story of my parents raising 10 children since 1953 in an environment of extreme poverty where resources and opportunities were limited with unrelenting prejudice towards Christian minorities. So, I came to the United States, the land of opportunity, and became a prominent American neurosurgeon among the only 4000 active nationwide and the only one nationally and internationally to achieve five board certifications in five acknowledged medical disciplines. I continue to practice and serve the mission set before me. My home land was once prosperous and rich in history. Over the centuries, it joined the downfall of the majority of the developing countries of the world through its economic crises and injustices to many. It was the land for the fathers of early Christians and the foundation for worldwide Christians. Now the Coptic Christians are considered a minority constituting a mere 10% of the population and are joining the exodus of ancient Christians from their native African continent. This book chronicles my journey from the land of history, the land of my birth, to the land of opportunity, America. It outlines the socioeconomic and political changes that Egypt has seen over the last century. It is my hope that others may find inspiration and understanding of my culture through reading this book. I owe it all to Christ, the Lord, my cherished parents, my family and friends, my teachers, my mentors, and especially my beloved patients.

Collected Studies CS1070 The present book collects 31 articles that Jacques van der Vliet, a leading scholar in the field of Coptic Studies (Leiden University / Radboud University, Nijmegen), has published since 1999 on Christian inscriptions from Egypt and Nubia. These inscriptions are dated between the third/fourth and the fourteenth centuries, and are often written in Coptic and/or Greek, once in Latin, and sometimes (partly) in Arabic, Syriac or Old Nubian. They include inscriptions on tomb stones, walls of religious buildings, tools, vessels, furniture, amulets and even texts on luxury garments. Whereas earlier scholars in the field of Coptic Studies often focused on either Coptic or Greek, Van der Vliet argues that inscriptions in different languages that appear in the same space or on the same kind of objects should be examined together. In addition, he aims to combine the information from documentary texts, archaeological remains and inscriptions, in order to reconstruct the economic, social and religious life of monastic or civil communities. He practiced this methodology in his studies on the Fayum, Wadi al-Natrun, Sohag, Western Thebes and the region of Aswan and Northern Nubia, which are all included in this book.

Explores the significance of dreams in early Christian Egypt, using sources from Philo and Origen to Athanasius and early monks.

This book is an exploration of the ideals and values of the ascetic and monastic life, as expressed through clothes. Clothes are often seen as an extension of us as humans, a determinant of who we are and how we experience and interact with the world. In this way, they can play a significant role in the embodied and material aspects of religious practice. The focus of this book is on clothing and garments among ancient monastics and ascetics in Egypt, but with a broader outlook to the general meaning and function of clothes in religion. The garments of the Egyptian ascetics and monastics are important because they belong to a period of transition in the history of Christianity and very much represent this way of living. This study combines a cognitive perspective on clothes with an attempt to grasp the embodied experiences of being clothed, as well as viewing clothes as potential actors. Using sources such as travelogues, biographies, letters, contracts, images, and garments from monastic burials, the role of clothes is brought into conversation with material religion more generally. This unique study builds links between ancient and contemporary uses of religious clothing. It will, therefore, be of interest to any scholar of religious studies, religious history, religion in antiquity, and material religion.