THE CULTURAL ASPECT OF OUR HERITAGE
Lecture in the New Extension Coptic Church Khartoum Sudan
At the outset, allow me to extend my sincere thanks to the Reverend Father Philotheos who availed me of the opportunity to participate in this blessed spiritual revival.
I accepted the invitation without delay nor hesitation, despite my awareness that my contribution towards speaking about heritage will be modest and despite the pressures of both health and work, nevertheless, I accepted the invitation without delay nor hesitation, because I do not know of a topic closer to my heart and soul than speaking about our cultural heritage which is a wealth of pride and glory.
It is not a talk for the sake of talking, otherwise it becomes idle talk. Rather, it is meant to arouse enthusiasm, awake souls, and obtain nurture from the past towards nurturing the future, which we hope will be an extension of that glorious past.
Dear Listeners,
I was asked to speak about "The Cultural Aspect of Our Heritage" i.e. Language, Art, and the Role of the Coptic Church in its preservation and development. I find myself in a dilemma: I do not know from where to begin. The scope of discussion within this ambit is quite broad, and time does not allow for its coverage. Thus, the talk in this symposium will be confined solely to the "Language" and let me begin from the beginning.
First: I intend to clear the minds of some of the ambiguities which resulted from the abuse of misnomers. When we talk about Coptic Heritage, Coptic Language, Coptic Art, Copts or (Gypts) are we not to question as to where or when did all of these terminologies come to be?
Historians tell us that the word "Gypt" took place with the Arab invasion. It was given to the inhabitants of the valley (which extends from Alexandria in the North to the First Cataract south of the Valley) who were Christians and remained so after the conquest.
The word is derived from the Greek word EGYPT [sic] i.e. Misr which was the name the Greeks gave to it, followed later on by the Assyrians and others, inter alia, the Semites. We are justified in questioning: was this the correct name which our forefathers called it?? NO. Since it’s most ancient times and up to the third century A.D., i.e. over 500 years, that slice of land was known as "Kemi" or "Kemet" which is a derivative of ***"Kem" meaning blackness, in reference to Egypt's black soil which distinguishes it from the Sahara extending parallel to the Nile eastward and westward, and which was what the ancients called "Dashr" meaning "red" in reference to its golden sand. Therefore, the correct name of the land called by its neighbours "Misr" or "Egypt" was "Kemi" and its inhabitants: the "Natives of Kemi". They called their language "the Kemi Tongue".
This name remained known and commonly used in vocabulary, written on papyrus, and carved on stones up to the third century A.D.
In Matthew Chapter two, Verse 14 was the following, which I shall read to you in the Coptic Language:
(My son Joseph) arose, took the child and his mother at night and left for "Kemi" (meaning Egypt)
From this we conclude that what the Hebrews called "Misr" and the Greeks EGYPT [sic] and the Arabs "Gypt" was actually "Kemi", and belonging to it, was being a "Kemi inhabitant". You may quote to me Shakespeare's verse: "There is not much in a name" [sic]. My response is: NO. Egypt was known by the name of "Kemi" during its victorious era and during the zenith of its glory and prosperity. During a time when it was the lighthouse whose light shone radiating the wisdom and the religion to the world. The word "Kemi" instils a feeling of dignity and challenge within an individual. From this small spot we ruminate over the memories of opulent parades, with bright images still in memory: Khufu builder of the pyramid, Amenhotep founder of medicine, Thutmose who overwhelmed nations, and a long historic list of great Kemi men e.g. Akhenaton the monotheist, Antonious (Anthony) the hermit worshipper, and Shenouda the battler and staunch patriot.
All these names give rise to the pride in dwelling in their glories. Nothing is worth more than remembering this and being fully aware of it, so that it becomes the point of our launch into wider horizons and ambitious aspirations.
Second: We hear, we read, and we talk a Demotic, and the Coptic Languages. What are these terms? Are these terms applicable to one or three languages??
I also want to remove the confusion regarding this issue: In referring to the researches of specialized linguists in ancient languages, I mention that Kemi or Misr was known through its long history (which dates back to five centuries or more B.C.) knew one language. This one language went through several phases, and through various modes of calligraphy. Through the ages, it was subject to a great deal of change: some words disappeared, and some words were added. However, in the core of its vocabulary and construction, it remained one language. For example:
1 - In the ancient era circa 3160-2240 B.C. part of which was in the Pyramids' Texts
2 - Mid-era circa 2240-1990 B.C. among which were all the scripts discovered during that era up to the Hellenic-Roman era
3 - The Latter era in 1573-715 B.C. Within this period were the letters, documents and stories
4 - Demotic era 470-715 A.D.
5 - The Coptic era, which began from the third century to the Arab invasion, extending to the 16th century.
During this era the Gospels and the Torah were translated. Also, Christian explanations, rituals and sermons were written.
As to the writings used for this language, they were:
i - the Hieroglyphic Writing which was carved on statues and temples. It remained in use up to the first century A.D. The writing was a magnificent calligraphic art, which still ornate monuments, and is in prints of beautiful bright colours
ii - the Hieratic Writing which was used by priests in writing on papyrus in which they abridged hieroglyphic writing for efficiency.
iii - the Demotic Writing. It means the writing of the people. It was used for reading around 900 B.C. and continued to be in practice up to the first century A.D. or shortly beyond.
iv - the Coptic Writing. It was modernized shortly before the first century A.D. The Greek alphabets were used in addition to seven alphabets the demotic alphabets. This writing was used in the writing of the Gospels, the Torah and Christian literature.
The reason for adopting this writing was consequent to the prevalence of the Greek language within the region following the conquests of Alexander, the assumption of the ruling of Egypt by the Roman Empire, and the flourishing of the Hellenic Greek culture in Alexandria after the establishment of its Library also in addition to the building of the Museum within which Greek Philosophy (especially the innovative Platonic Philosophy) was taught. This was on one side, on the other side, either it was easy to write in the Greek alphabets or because demotic writing was hard for them. The Coptic writing was prevalent in the country up to the Arabic conquest. Then the tide gradually began to recede. During the period of the Caliph Marwan Ibn Abdul-Malik, the government departments were Arabized. The Christian clerks (I mean the Copts) were compelled to learn the Arabic language in order to retain their positions within the State.
Then the Fatimite era took place. They totally banned speaking in the Coptic language. However, irrespective of this, the language remained being spoken within Coptic homes up to the 16th century then eventually its usage disappeared from homes due to the predominance of the Arabic language and its increased infiltration into people's lives. Finally, the language sought refuge into its sole and last asylum: the Church. The Church remained nurturing and preserving it through the religious rituals which continued to be practised within it until the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century came the educational revival in the country. State Schools were established and pupils enrolled in attempts to gain employment. The elementary denominational schools which taught Coptic language and arithmetic were abandoned. A new generation emerged not knowing its country's language, demanding that the church services be in a language understood by them.
Since the Church mission was spiritual in the first place and nationalistic second, it responded to the demand and introduced to churches the Arabic language which continued its creeping, until it was about to expel the original language from the worship except for a limited extent. The ancient language became confined to museums, monasteries, and Europe's libraries, and barely known by its own citizens.
From this we may now conclude by saying that what we call the "Coptic Language" is what the country had known since its most ancient times. In this regard the ideology scholar (Sir Wallace Berg, Burg) states the following:
"The Coptic Language, with a slight change in calligraphy and diacritics is the same language which was written in hieroglyphic and hieratic calligraphy on temples and papyrus. Thus, it was the language of the native Egyptians (the Copts)"
Now, let us move on to the role played by the Church in preserving the language by stating the following facts:
1 - St. Mark came to Alexandria in 70 A.D. He evangelized the Gospel, founded the Church of St. Mark and ordained its Patriarch.
2 - The Christian religion spread from Alexandria to the rest of cities along the Nile shores. With the advent of the second century the Patriarch ordained bishops for these cities and many Christians joined monasticism.
3 - Consequent to the rapid spread of Christianity in Upper Egypt, the need arose for the translation of the holy books to the Coptic language.
4 - Translation from Greek began about 200 A.D. commencing with the Gospels and the Psalms.
5 - In 320A.D. St. Pakhomious founded his monastery, in which the daily recital of the Psalm took place in the old language. The monks studied and memorized the Torah.
From these details it may be said that the Holy Bible with both its Old and New Testaments was translated to the Egyptian language and read in it during the early fourth century A.D.
Therefore, it may be deduced that the Egyptian Church scholars and bishops copied the Holy Bible in the Egyptian language and made it accessible to the Church congregation during the third century A.D. and in this way the Church preserved the country's language thus saving it from being lost. Due to this action, scholars in Europe's universities were able to study the language and teach it to students. This language started to have a faculty in most European universities: England, France, Germany and others.
Not only that, preserving the Coptic Language enabled Europe's scholars, led by Jacques Francois Champollion, to unfold the mysteries of the hieroglyphic language before other British scholars. This was due to two reasons the first being that he was justifiably convinced that the Coptic Language was the ancient Egyptian language. The second reason was that he studied the Coptic Language and became fully proficient in it, which aided him in identifying the Egyptian alphabets and deciphering its hieroglyphic symbols and talismans which were difficult to understand and interpret.
Therefore, we can assuredly and confidently say that the whole world is indebted to the Egyptian Church who preserved the Egyptian language, thereby assisted the scholars to reveal the mysteries of the hieroglyphic writing and opened new horizons for researchers to excavate and search for our ancient monuments and ancient history thereby adding to our history honourable pages of glory and pride.
The English name Egypt is derived from the Ancient Greek Aígyptos ... The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic.
"In the early Old Kingdom, Egypt was simply known as 'Kemet' which means 'Black Land' so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River where the first settlements began."
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Africans North and South
Today I saw a Nigerian student on the tram dressed in the national dress of his country and I liked him in his flattering dress of bright colours. I also liked the pride he had in the national dress of his country as if he is challenging those Europeans in their long and tight pants. The dress of this Nigerian chap if it does anything it shows self-respect and indicates esteem. We Inhabitants of North Africa forget that we are Africans. We are truly Africans. The Nile that comes from the heart of Africa and crosses our land from Juba and flows to the shores of Alexandria originates from the high lakes of Ethiopia and the equatorial lakes of Uganda and South Sudan.
It may be said that we are part of the Arab nation because of our language, but we are first and last Africans by our existence along the Nile from past eons and we established the world first civilizations along its shore.
It is the duty of the educated to enlighten the brains and guide the thoughts toward the truth of our African heritage and that we established several civilizations along the Nile in Africa from thousands of years.
Kenyans Egyptians and Sudanese are Africans first and Kenyans, Egyptians and Sudanese second. Iraqis, Lebanese and Syrians are Asians first and Iraqis, Lebanese and Egyptians second. What united them and united us to them are relations of thought..
But our relation with our brothers in Africa is stronger and closer because it is a relationship of the one land and culture. one past and one future and one
It is our duty to be proud of our land and our culture and to all others to understand that here in Africa is the cradle of humanity and civilization.