An Egyptian Coptic hymnal

[Coptic Christian hymns]. Epsalia [Coptic Hymnal].

€ 6.500,00

A beautiful Egyptian Coptic liturgical manuscript, likely written by a female scribe. The manuscript, which contains a large collection of hymns, states in its Arabic colophon that "the priest Marqus ibn Fam ibn Abd al-Sayyid al-Deiri appointed to this book Mari Jirjis of Jazirat Shandaweil". Jazirat Shandaweil is located in the Sohag Governorate in southern Egypt, where the manuscript was copied in a fine script and decorated with illustrated red-and-black capitals in the form of stylized birds.

The term Epsalia simply means "hymn". This Coptic hymnal is divided, as is traditional, into two main groups. The first is "Adam", named for the first hymn in the group, which begins "Adam the first who is created, you brought him back, O Mother of Jesus, from the land of labour and toil, O Virgin Mary". The second group is called "Watis" (the bush), named for the line, "The burning bush, seen by Moses in the desert, and the fire burning inside it, but never hurting or harming it". These texts were prayed and sung annually during feasts and celebrations, such as those of angels, apostles, and saints, as well as on more simple occasions.