Department of Ancient History

Welcome to AHPG 829 Coptic I - Bohairic, the first of the two introductory units in the Bohairic dialect of Coptic and the first of four courses in Coptic Language offered by the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. The unit is an introduction to the Coptic script and language. Coptic is the last stage of the Ancient Egyptian language, which replaces hieroglyphic writing (or the cursive forms of the hieroglyphs) with an alphabet script. Bohairic is the dialect of Lower Egypt and the Delta, which succeeds Sahidic as the most important regional form (or dialect) of Coptic in the second millennium CE. There are no pre-requisites for this unit, which will be offered in the first semester of every second year. Every other (odd-numbered) year, an introduction to the Sahidic dialect will be offered.

NB: Students cannot enrol in AHPG 829 Coptic I - Bohairic if they have already completed AHPG 896 Coptic I - Sahidic. If you have done Sahidic I and wish to learn Bohairic, you may enrol in AHPG 898 Coptic Dialects.

This unit, together with AHPG 839 (Coptic II-Bohairic, to be offered annually in the second semester of even-numbered years [2008, 2010, 2012, etc]), will enable students to read and understand texts in Bohairc Coptic. Bohairic Coptic was the dominant form of the Egyptian-Coptic language from the 9th century, and is the form of Coptic used in the liturgy of the Coptic Church today. Despite the fact that most of our Bohairic manuscripts date from after the wealth of Coptic literature was translated into Bohairic in the 9th and following centuries, it is as old as any of the Coptic dialects, as a number of fourth century manuscripts attest. While most of the great works of original Coptic literature (such as the works of the great monastic fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries, Pachomius, Shenoute, and Besa) were written in Sahidic, many important texts survive only (or only in their complete form) in Bohairic, such as the Lives of Shenoute and Pachomius. There are also numerous lives of martyr and ascetic saints, either translated from earlier Sahidic texts, or written in later centuries.

The foundations laid in this course will enormously facilitate learning the other dialects of the Coptic language, such as Sahidic, the 'classical' dialect of Coptic (a full introduction to which is offered in alternate years), Akhmimic, Lycopolitan, Mesokemic, or Fayumic, in all of which we have Bible manuscripts and other important texts). After having learnt Bohairic Coptic, all other dialects will be easily mastered in a few weeks. Bohairic Coptic is therefore a pre-requisite to advanced courses in Coptic.