Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

The Rise of Coptic: Egyptian Versus Greek in Late Antiquity

by Jean-Luc Fournet
Sold out
Current price ₹2,205.00
Original price ₹3,150.00
Original price ₹3,150.00
Original price ₹3,150.00
(-30%)
₹2,205.00
Current price ₹2,205.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Paperback
  • ISBN13: 9780691230238
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Princeton University Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 224
  • Original Price: INR 3150.0
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 341 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Ancient / Egypt, Ancient / Greece, and Linguistics / Historical & Comparative

Coptic emerged as the written form of the Egyptian language in the third century, when Greek was still the official language in Egypt. By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641, Coptic had almost achieved official status, but only after an unusually prolonged period of stagnation. Jean-Luc Fournet traces this complex history, showing how the rise of Coptic took place amid profound cultural, religious, and political changes in late antiquity.

For some three hundred years after its introduction into the written culture of Egypt, Coptic was limited to biblical translation and private and monastic correspondence, while Greek retained its monopoly on administrative, legal, and literary writing. This changed during the sixth century, when Coptic began to penetrate domains that were once closed to it, such as literature, liturgy, regulated transactions between individuals, and communications between the state and its subjects. Fournet examines the reasons for Coptic's late development as a competing language--which was unlike what happened with other vernacular languages in Near Eastern Greek-speaking societies--and explains why Coptic eventually succeeded in being recognized with Greek as an official language.

Incisively written and rich with insights, The Rise of Coptic draws on a wealth of archival evidence to shed new light on the role of monasticism in the growing use of Coptic before the Arab conquest.

Jean-Luc Fournet is the Chair of Written Culture in Late Antiquity and Byzantine Papyrology at the Collège de France in Paris.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us