HISTORY OF THE COPTIC PATRIARCHS

The History of the Coptic Patriarchs (for that is what I prefer to call it)[1] is a monumental, historical work of the C optic Church that covers the lives of its patriarchs from St. Mark the Evangelist, its 1^st patriarch in the first century, to Cyril V, its 112^th patriarch in the late nineteenth century (1896). The first part of this work, up to the Live of Patriarch Shenouda II (1032 – 1046), was written in Greek and Coptic, but later translated into Arabic between 1088 and 1094 Mawhub ibn Muffarij et al; the rest of the work was written in Arabic.

Although this work is often attributed to the tenth century famous Coptic writer, Sawirus ibn al-Mukaffa`(or Severus of Ashmunein), bishop of Al-Ashmunein (Hermopolis), the fact is that he has written no part of it. The History of the Coptic Patriarchs has been written by several writers in stages, and we know of at least ten of them. In this sense, the work is similar to the Old Testament – a compilation of several books by several writers.

The work has been brought to the attention of the West, and the wider world, by several European scholars:

– The first to pay attention to it was Eusèbe Renaudot (1646 – 1720), the French theologian and Orientalist, who translated into Latin, in 1713, the lives of the Coptic patriarchs up to the end of the thirteenth century under the title Historia patriarcharum alexandrinorum jacobitarum (History of the Jacobite Patriarchs of Alexandria).[2]

– Then Christian Friedrich Seybold (1859 – 1921) published in 1904 an edited Arabic text of the work under the title Historia patriarcharum Alexandrinorum by Sāwīrus ibn al-Muqaffaʻ, Bishop of el-Ashmunein, in Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.[3] The reader can access this work (up to the live to the 52^nd patriarch, Joseph I [831 – 849]) below:

http://archive.org/stream/historiapatriarc01swru#page/n6/mode/2up

– Then the English historian Basil Thomas Alfred Evetts, or simply B. T. A. Evetts (b. 1858), published the lives of the Coptic patriarchs up to Joseph I under the title History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria, in four parts, in three volumes of Patrologia Orientalis (PO) (Tomes I, V and X), which appeared in Paris in 1907, 1910 and 1915, respectively. The edition includes the Arabic text and its accompanying English translation on each page:

Part I appeared in PO, Tome I, 1907, pp. 99-214, and covered the Lives of Patriarchs from St. Mark to Theonas (d. 300);

http://archive.org/stream/patrologiaorient01pari#page/n125/mode/2up

Part II appeared also in PO, Tome I, 1907, pp. 383-518, and covered the Lives of Patriarchs from Peter I to Benjamin I (d. 661);

http://archive.org/stream/patrologiaorient01pari#page/n407/mode/2up

Part III appeared in PO, volume V, 1910, pp. 1-215, and covered the Lives of Patriarchs from Agathon to Michael I (d. 766);

http://archive.org/stream/patrologiaorien05pari#page/n11/mode/2up

Part IV appeared in PO, volume X, 1915, pp. 358-551, and covered the Lives of Patriarchs from Mennas I to Joseph I (d. 849).

http://archive.org/stream/patrologiaorien10pari#page/n371/mode/2up

– In the 1940s, the Société d’archéologie copte in Cairo decided to publish an English translation of the full History of Coptic Patriarchs. As the Lives of the Patriarchs from St. Mark to Joseph (b. 849 AD)[4] had already been translated by B. T. A. Evetts, the Société reprinted his work as Volume 1 of a four-volume set under the title History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church : known as the History of the Holy Church / by Sawirus ibn al-Mukaffa`, Bishop of al-Asmunin; and it then went on to publish the rest of the Lives, which were translated by the British Coptologist, O.H.E. Burmester[5] (1897 – 1977) and others, including Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih, Aziz Suryal Atiya and Antoine Khater – work which continued from 1943 to 1974:

The Lives of Khaël II (c. 849) to Shenouti I (d. 880), which were translated by Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih & O.H.E. Burmester, and appeared in 1943 as Volume II, Part I.
The Lives of Khaël III to Senouti II (d. 1066), which were translated by Aziz Suryal Atiya, Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih & O.H.E. Burmester, and appeared in 1948 as Volume II, Part II.
The Lives of Christodoulus to Michael IV (d. 1102), which were translated by Aziz Suryal Atiya, Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih & O.H.E. Burmester, and appeared in 1959 as Volume II, Part III.
The Lives of Macarius II to John V (d. 1167), which were translated by Antoine Khater & O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, and appeared in 1968 as Volume III, Part I.
The Lives of Mark III to John VI (d. 1216), which were translated by Antoine Khater & O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, and appeared in 1970 as Volume III, Part II.
The Lives of Cyril II to Cyril V (d. 1894), which were translated by Antoine Khater & O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, and appeared in 1970 as Volume III, Part III.
Cyril III, Ibn Laklak (1216-1243), which was translated by Antoine Khater & O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, and appeared in 1974 as Volume IV in two parts, Part I and Part II.

Unfortunately, the translation into English is not good in all parts, and one can find several inaccuracies rendered in the English text. The Arabic text is also jumbled. The result is that this very important work, which we must look at it as one unit but with each section retaining its character, is not yet properly edited, whether in Arabic or English.

I reproduce below History of the Coptic Patriarchs as one unit, including all 12 parts (the 4 parts publisged by Evetts and the eight parts published by Burmester), and I hope it will be a base for further studies on this indispensable book for the study of the Coptic Church and nation.

I have taken all prefaces or introductions entered by Evetts and Burmester et al, and retained the historical text, including any prefaces, introductions or editorial notes by the Coptic writers of the monumental work.

[1] I find the title History of the Coptic Patriarchs more accurate and convenient to give to this work than any other title given such as History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria, which was given by B. Evett; History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church, which was given byO.H.E. Burmester et al; or even History of the Holy Church, which is the direct translation from the original name in Arabic تاريخ البيعة المقدسة.

[2] The full title of the book is: historia patriarcharum alexandrinorum jacobitarum a d marco usque ad finem saeculi xiii cum catalogo (History of the Jacobite Patriarchs of Alexandria, from Mark until the end of the thirteenth century, with a catalog).

[3] Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, v. 52, 59; Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Arabici, ser. 3, t. 9; Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Arabici, t. 8-9. I could get hold of the text for the lives up to the 52^nd patriarch, Joseph I (831 – 849 AD).

[4] His date of death remains a mystery.

[5] He later named himself, O.H.E. Khs-Burmester.

Sawirus (Severus) ibn-al Muqaffa References

HISTORY OF THE COPTIC PATRIARCHS