Coptic manuscripts decoration

Main ideas 

The art of binding

Byzantine or Islamic period
The Greeks and Romans writing 
Islamic,picture of Jesus Christ,
The Katamarus,
Manuscript of a Psalm ,
Coptic language,Sahidic ,Bohairic

The art of binding

These manuscripts were covered with leather bindings for their protection so that the art of binding also flourished in the monasteries and attained a splendid standard.

Among the monk of each monastery, there was a group trained in this profession, and they ornamented the outside coverings with fine designs or with the figures of apostles or saints by embossing them with special carved seals. Many of these seals and various tools for binding have been found in the monasteries.

A seal in high relief

Made of pottery

Coptic Museum

Byzantine or Islamic period ( from the 7th century)

A circular clay seal with a foliage motif. The motif consists of five petals joined together at the stem. 

The work is executed in both high and low relief and the artist has meticulously designed the details of the petals enclosed in a border. 

The seal may have been used to embellish objects with this beautiful floral designs.

Circular seal engraved with Coptic text

Made of stucco 

Preserved now in the Greco Roman museum

Discovered in the site of Pompey’s pillar

From the 5th century A.D.

The circular seal was used to stamp a container to protect its contents. The seal is decorated with a low-relief in the Coptic language. 

In the center, Coptic letters are surrounded by an incised circle. This circle is surrounded by another engraving in the Coptic language and a final etched circle. 

Circular seal with a picture of Jesus Christ

Made of limestone

Preserved now in the Coptic Museum

From the 7th-  8th  century A.D.

A round stone seal bearing a picture of Christ, with a halo of light around his head formed of double rings. The face is shown in detail with the eyes, nose, hair and beard. The clothing is clearly shown. 

There are two vine leaves around. . " (John: 15:5)
the figure of Christ, to symbolize the grapevine. For Christ had given himself the title: "I am the vine, you are the branches:

The seal was used in the church to stamp objects to bless them.

Development of the Codex

( a manuscript volume)

The Greeks and Romans, as well as others who wrote on papyrus or ordinary leather, considered the scroll the most suitable format for writing on. This may seem surprising today as the scroll is less convenient for writing, reading, or stacking on shelves than a codex, a set of individual sheets bound together in the manner of a modern book. 

The codex format might have appeared under the Hittites as early as the second millennium BC, but this theory has been disputed. The more accepted theory is that the codex format came from the practice of writing on a number of flexible wooden or metallic sheets that could be bound together. A codex was made by binding together a number of square pieces of parchment all folded along the middle. It was then protected by a cover of a durable material such as parchment, thick leather, wood, or metal.

Another advantage of the codex was that it was easier to decorate the text with drawings, which is called illumination. It was possible to draw on papyrus scrolls using water-based colors, but the artist could not use other techniques and materials such as gold leaf. Artists found it easier to illuminate a square page with a theme linked to the text on the page itself or on the page opposite.  

The monks used, as it happens now in convents, to stick the pamphlets of the manuscripts with a mixture of powdered fenugreek and salt after they were boiled together, in order to avoid all the harmful insects and worms that usually seduce the manuscripts and expose them to rapid destruction.

The spread of books and manuscripts dealing with many branches of knowledge and in this way, culture flourished through all the world by Coptic monks and their scribes being the former pioneers in this favorable and distinguished role.

The Katamarus

Made of parchment

From Abbasid time ( 8th-  9th century)

Preserved in the Coptic Museum

The Katamarus

Katamarus, a Greek word that means "according to the day" or in Arabic Dallal, "that which defines the day." It is a lectionary of the days. 

In the Coptic Church, there are various kinds of Katamarus. There is the yearly Katamarus, the book that contains the readings for the whole year; the Passion Week Katamarus, which contains the readings for the last week of Lent; and the Lenten Katamarus, the book containing the readings for the whole of Lent. 

The readings in each Katamarus are divided into days according to the Coptic months. The readings for each day include part of a psalm, part of the Gospel, part of the Pauline Epistles, part of the Catholic Epistles, and part of the Acts of the Apostles. 

Manuscript of a Psalm in the Coptic Sahidic Dialect

A flax manuscript

From the Ottoman period 

This manuscript bears traces of a psalm written in the Coptic Sahidic dialect. The Psalms of the Old Testament are attributed to David the Prophet and King of Israel. 

The Book of Psalms consists of 151 psalms, the majority of which were believed to be written by David the Prophet. There is an alleged similarity between the Song of Akhenaten and Psalm 104. 

The Coptic language has several dialects including Faiyumic, Menfi, Sahidic, Akhmimic, and

Bohairic, the dialect of the Delta. 

This piece is written in the Sahidic dialect, that of the South or Upper Egypt. The psalms are often sung in church to various tunes or settings.

Sahidic : Coptic dialect that was spoken in Upper Egypt from the fourth century BC and was looked upon as Classic Coptic.

Bohairic: Coptic dialect that was spoken in the Nile delta and is considered the dialect of the Coptic Church

Parchment with Orange-Colored Cross 

From Abbasid time ( 8th century)

Discovered in Akhmim

Preserved in the Coptic Museum

This parchment has a decoration in the form of an orange-colored cross. Inside the cross, there are plaited decorations. Within each of the four segments of the cross, there are simple tree branches. Each of the hanging branches ends in a peacock drawn freely
The peacock symbolizes eternity and immortality and the cross is a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ. The piece symbolically represents Christ the Eternal.

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