Christian Egypt has preserved numerous book remains, often fragmentary, which testify to an intense production and circulation of manuscripts within monastic communities, despite the ambivalent monastic attitude toward books. Alongside literary sources, papyri and ostraca provide information on the material aspects of codices, while surviving manuscripts allow a direct analysis of book production. From the fourth century onward, a significant production of Greek–Coptic bilingual codices developed, initially miscellaneous and later mainly shaped by liturgical needs, continuing until the eleventh century. Biblical texts prevail, especially the Psalms and the Gospels, often in the form of lectionaries. From a palaeographical perspective, these codices are not digraphic: Greek and Coptic share the same graphic types, allowing the development of Greek script to be traced within the specific context of Christian Egypt.
University of Naples L’Orientale, Italy - ORCID: 0009-0004-8735-3550
Book Title
Libri greci e greco-copti nel monachesimo egiziano
Authors
Luca De Curtis
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
362
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0960-1
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0959-5
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0960-1
Series Title
Edizioni dell’Istituto Papirologico «G. Vitelli»
Series ISSN
2533-2414
Series E-ISSN
2612-7997