There are more than 470 catalogued Coptic manuscripts held at the John Rylands Library and Institute (see the collection description here). Among the treasures are the oldest Biblical manuscript in the Bohairic dialect of Coptic, bilingual Coptic-Greek and Coptic-Arabic texts, liturgy, martyrdoms, homilies, a paraphrase of 1 Kings with Elijah portrayed as a Christian saint, and writings by the renowned Archimandrite Shenoute. There are artefacts illustrating social history of Egypt in Late Antiquity, including magical and medical documents, a complaint about lazy builders, and contracts for a sailor’s employment, who pays for a wedding, and women selling clothes. The manuscripts offer snapshots of life of those writing in Coptic from the fourth to the nineteenth centuries.

See below for a small selection of manuscripts held at the John Rylands that we will be discussing over the duration of the project.