Table Of Content

T • I , I I I Editors and Consultants Editor In Chief Aziz S. Atiya University of Utah Editors William Y. Adams University of Kentucky Basilios IV Archbishop of Jerusalem Pierre du Bourguet, S.J. Louvre Museum, Paris Rene-Georges Coquin College de France, Paris • W. H. C. Frend Glasgow University Minit Boutros Ghali Society of Coptic Archaeology, Cairo Bishop Gregorios Higher Jnstitute of Coptic Studies, Cairo Peter Grossmann German lnstitute of Archaeology, Cairo Antoine Guillaumont College de France, Paris Rodolphe Kasser University of Geneva Martin Krause Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat, Munster Subhi Y. Labib Kiel University Tito Orlandi University of Rome Marian Robertson Utah State University Khalil Samir Pontifical Oriental lnstitute, Rome Consultants Labib Habachi Egyptian Department of Antiquities, Cairo J. M. Robinson lnstitute of Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, California Magdi Wahba Cairo University Editorial Managing Committee S. Kent Brown Brigham Young University, Provo Fuad Megally Polytechnic of Central London • Atiya A z i z S. EDITOR IN CHIEF Volume 7 Macmillan Publishing Company NEWlORJ( Collier Macmillan Canada TORONTO Maxwell Macmillan International NEW YORK· OXFORD· SINGAPORE· SYDNEY , , j 1 Copyright © 1991 by Macmillan Publishing Company A Division of Macmillan, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Macmillan Publishing Company 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc. 1200 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 200, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 3N1 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 90-23448 Printed in the United States of America printing number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Coptic encyclopedia / Aziz S. Atiya, editor-in-chief. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-02-897025-X (set) 1. Coptic Church-Dictionaries. 2. Copts-Dictionaries. 1. Atiya, Aziz S., 1898- . BX130.5.C66 1991 90-23448 281'.7'03-dc20 CIP The preparation of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Photographs on pages 567, 736, 754, 755, 790, 791, 876-878, 1284, 1311, and 2168 are reproduced courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photography by the Egyptian Expedition. • QAL'AT AL-BABAYN (castle of the two gates). a medieval fortress on the east bank of the Nile (some 12 miles [19 km] south of IdfU), at which a few sturdy fortification walls with towers and nu· , , mefallS domestic buildings remain. The unusual, --------..,, , L , , , hook·shaped ground plan is determined by the lie _. ____ ... __ J L__ .,. r----.J , -' of the land. The fortress fa(ls into two parts divided by a middle wall, of which the eastern part is reo . garded as younger. Both parts have a gate opening ,c_., ,- on the intermediate slope. The buildings within consist in the western sec· . ... . ... tion predominantly of single-story, two-roomed , , ..- , houses, which are set into the mountainside one , ••• above the other. In the eastern section, building . .-, development is less dense and runs parallel to the , _. , course of the wall. The lower area accommodates several buildings with large rooms, among them a church, although , " o • only parts of the sanctuary remain. It consists of an apse with two rectangular side rooms, the spatial .. . dimensions of which are similar to those of the , .. --, ._- , • • Nubian churches of the tenth century from the Far· , as region. Furthermore, remains of the gallery floor .. .. above the two side rooms have been preserved. . , ,.. ... •..• • co, One can only speculate about the date of the • • I , fortress. From the layout, it can hardly be dated to the late Roman period. The existence of a Christian , , , church in it disproves an origin in the Islamic peri~ , ----- --- - - ----- -- , -------- - - .~--- --- ---~ . 00. There has been no lack of support for the at· . • , - --- -- - --- tempt to set it in the period of the Nubian Christian - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - --- _... - - - occupation of Upper Egypt (Monneret de Villard, Plan of the church located in the lower area of the 1938, p. 124). In that case it would go back to the medieval fortress Qat'at al·Bcibayn. Courtesy Peter first half of the tenth century. Grossmann. 2035 2036 QALLIN BIBLIOGRAPHY eighth century The graves themselves were ob A.D. long earth pits, without any additional casing. The Grossmann, P., and H. Jaritz. "Ein Besuch in clef dead were as usual wrapped in shrouds, but had Festung von Qal'at al·Baben in Oberagypten." over the head a peculiar triangular headpiece made Mitteilungen des deutschen archiiologischen Insti of wood or palm branch ribs, which served to pro tuts-Abteilung Kairo 30 (1974):199-214. Monneret de Villard, U. Storia della Nubia Cristi tect the head and was incorporated into the wrap ano. Rome, 1938. pings. The grave offerings were poor, for the most part fabrics as well as wood and bone carvings. In PETER GROSSMANN the ground of the cemetery there are also the re· mains of a fairly large building, which has been QALLIN, city located in the Egyptian Delta approx described by the excavators as a monastery (Bilab- imately 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Kafr al el, 1924, p. 4). , Shaykh in the Gharbiyyah Province. The city is mentioned in the for 7 Ba'unah as the SYNAXARION BIBLIOGRAPHY birthplace of Saint Abishkhjrun, a late third- or ear Bilabel, F. Griechische Papyri. Heidelberg, 1924. ly fourth-century martyr. Ranke, H. Koptische Friedhofe bei Karara. Berlin and Leipzig, 1926. BIBLIOGRAPHY PETER GROSSMANN a Amelineau, E. La Geographie de l'Egypte l'epoque copte, p. 390. Paris, 1893. Ibn Mammali. Kitab Qawiinin al-Dawawrn, ed. A. S. QA~R. See Castrum. Atiya, p. 169. Cairo, 1943. RANDALL STEWART QA~R IBRIM, a fortified hilltop settlement in QALVUB, a city in the Egyptian Delta, the capital Lower Nubia, about 25 miles (40 km) to the north of the Qalyubiyyah Province, located approximately of the famous temples of Abu Simbel. A temple 8 miles (13 km) north of Cairo. A Vatican Coptic seems to have been built there in the Egyptian New Arabic manuscript from the seventeenth century Kingdom, and the place was intermittently occu that apparently preserves a list of thirteenth-century pied from that time until its final abandonment in Egyptian bishoprics mentions Qalyiib, suggesting 1811. The name appears in Meroitic texts as Pe that the city was a bishopric by the late Middle Ages deme; in classical texts variously as Pri lis, Prem (Munier, 1943, p. 64). nis, and Prima; and in some Coptic text,,'> Phrim. Most Arabic sources give the name as Ibrim or BIBLIOGRAPHY Qal"at IbIim. The forename Q~r is seldom encoun tered before the nineteenth century, although it has Amelineau, E. La Geographie de {'Egypte il l'epoque been regularly coupled to the name of the town in copte, pp. 390-91. Paris, 1893. the recent past. Munier, H. Recueil des lisles episcopales de l'eglise Q~r Ibrim in the beginning seems to have been caple. Cairo, 1943. primarily a religious center. In addition to the New RANDALL STEWART Kingdom temple (which may never have been tin ished), the "Ethiopian" pharaoh Taharqa built a QAMULAH. brick temple in the seventh century A more See Pilgrimages. B.C. overt military and administrative role began when the Ptolemies occupied the place and built a mas sive girdle wall around it, probably around 100 B.C. QARARAH, early Christian settlement on the east They and their Roman successors apparently occu bank of the Nile, east of the modem railway station pied the place for about two centuries, although a of Magharah (about 112 miles or 180 km south of Meroitic invading force took temporary possession Cairo). Apart from the remains of a few miserable in 23 as recounted by Strabo and Pliny. Around B.C" houses (Ranke, 1926, p. 7, pI. 7), only the cemeter 100, Qa~r Ibrim was returned to the control of A.D. ies have survived, and these afford information the Meroites, who restored the Taharqa temple and about an occupation extending from the fifth to the built another, larger one alongside it. ! QA$R IBRlM 2037 Q~r [brim retained its strategic as well as its tions at O"'ir Ibtim. The latest of these bears the religious importance in the post-MeTailic period. It date 1464. was seized for a time by the Blemmye nomads (see Q"'ir Ibtim may have been largely abandoned by BElA TRIBES) who setded in the Nile Valley follow the time the Ottomans took possession of Nubia ing the Meroitic collapse, and afterward by the early in the sixteenth century. They reoccupied and Nobadae, who drove out the Blemmyes. Texts refortified the hilltop and made it ODe of their two found at Q~r Ibtim suggest that this was the earli principal control points within Nubia, the other be est residence of the kings of NOBATIA; laler they ing at SAl ISlAND. Part of Ihe old cathedral was seem to have transferred their residence to turned inter a mosque, and the remainder of the FARAS. Early in the sixth century the Taharqa temple was structure was allowed to deteriorate. The original made over into a church. This may well have been Ottoman garrison, according to local tradition, was the earliesl church building in Nubia, for archaeo of Bosnian origin, and as a result the latter-day logical evidence suggests that its conversion pre inhabitants of Qa,,;r Ibtim were usually termed ceded the "official" Christianization of Nohatia in "lIosnians" both by Ihemselves and by their neigh 543, as related by John of Ephesus. Other parts of bors. They remained in occupation until driven out the Taharqa temple complex were apparently con by Mamluk refugees in 1810. These in their turn verted for a time into a monastery, but this was were expelled by artillery fire in the following year, subsequently dismantled. and the 3,OOO-year history of the fortress came to an A bishopric was established at Q"'ir Ibtim in the end. seventh century, and shortly afterward an impres Excavations in the Qa~T Ibrim fortress were be sive stone cathedral was begun. A smaller church gun in 1963 and have continued intermittently. The was built alongside the cathedral at a laler date. original fortress was perched so high above the Nile Meanwhile, most of the secular buildings at Qa~r Valley floor that, unlike any other site in Lower lbrim seem to have been leveled, and the moun Nubia, it has nol been fully inundated by Ihe walers M taintop became primarily a religious cenler in the of Lake Nasser. II is now a small island, about 5 early Middle Ages. Visitors' graffiti show that il was acres (2 hectares) in extent, projecting above the an important pilgrimage site, as it had been in lake surface. Meroitic times. Some of the finds from O"'ir Ibrim, particularly Nubia was invaded by an Ayyubid force under the textual finds, are of outstanding historical im Shams al-Dawlah Turan Shah in 1172-1173, and portance. They include letters relating to the BAOT the invaders temporarily seized Q~r (hrim and treaty, to the commercial relations of the' parchs damaged the cathedral. This event marked a tum· of Nobatia, and to Ihe late medieval kin~m of ing point in the history both of the fortress and of Dotawo. Also imponant a...e the intact consecration Nubia. The town fonifications, which had been oe· scrolls of Bishop Timotheus, one in Coptic and one glected, were now restored and heightened. Secular in Arabic, dated 1372. and commercial buildings began to appear again on [See also: Nubian Church Organizalion.] the mountaintop alongside the churches. The ep arch of Nobatia, who had formerly resided chiefly BIBLIOGRAPHY at Faras, transferred his main headquarters to Q~r lbtim in the twelfth century. Meanwhile, the reli Adams, W. Y. Nubia, Corridor to Africa, pp. 349-53, gious importance of the place continued. A bishop 400-404, 412-14, 464-68, 474-78, 579-80. of Faras and Q~r Ibrim was consecrated at aI Princeton, N.J., 1977. _ _. "The 'Library' of Q"'ir lbrim." The Kentucky Fus!3! (modern-day Cairo) in 1372, and bishops of Review I (1979):5-27. Q~r Ibrim are mentioned in a number of docu ___. "Oasr Ibtim, an Archaeological Conspec· ments of still later dale. tus." In Nubian Studies, ed. J. M. Plumley. Wann After the medieval Nubian kingdom of MAKOURJA inster, England, 1982. collapsed. its power in Lower Nubia was assumed Plumley, J. M. "Pre-Christian Nubia (23 B.c.-535 by the splinter kingdom of DOTAWO. The capital or A.D.). Evidence from Qasr (brim." Travaux du principal royal seat of this principality seems to Centre tl'archeologie mediterraneenne de I'Aca have been at but Q~r Ibtim was also JABAL 'ADD..\.. demie polonaise des sciences II (1972):8-24. an important center within the kingdom. Many of ___. "An Eighth-Century Arabic Letter the 10 the surviving documents that relate to Lhe kingdom King of Nubia." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology of Dotawo have been recovered from the excava- 61 (1975):241-45. 2038 QASR NISIMAH • _ _. The Scrolls of Bishop Timotheos. Explora BIBUOGRAPHY tion Society. Texts from Excavations, First Mem Coquin, C. Les Edifices chre/iens du Vieux-Caire. oir. London, 1975. Cairo, 1974. Vantini, G. Chrislio.nity in the Sudan, pp. 159-6\. AZI2 S. ATIYA Bologna, 198\. Publication of the archaeological results from • O~r Ibrim has begun. Preliminary excavation re QATAMARUS. See Lectionary. ports will be found in Journal of Egyptian Archaeol ogy 50 (1964):52 (1966); 53 (1967); 56 (1970); 60 (1974); 61 (1975); 63 (1977); 65 (1979); 69 (1983); QAYS, AL-, city located in Middle Egypt on the and 71 (1985). west side of the Nile about 4 miles (6 km) south WIlliAM Y. ADAMS west of Bani Mazar in Minya Province. In Greek it was called Kynopolis ano (Upper Kynopolis). The commemorates the martyrdom SYNAXARlON QA~R NISIMAH 5.5 CAyn NisImah). About miles of Bisadah (Psoi) from al-Oays on 24 Tubah. Rec (9 km) south of Khargah, Nisimah is a tiny square ords indicate that the city was a bishopric in the site 164 x 164 feet (SO x SO m), perched on a till of Middle Ages. A bishop Maqarah of al-Oays attended low elevation in the middle of a small cultivated a synod held in Cairo in 1078, and a bishop Bu!rus plain. In addition to a small fort (q~r) built on a from the city was present at the preparation of the base of stones and ordinary clay mortar SO x 32 holy CHRISM in 1299 (Munier, 1943, pp. 27, 36). feet (15 x 10 m; maximum extant height 24 feet or 7.5 m) and a magnificent well·preserved columbari BIBUOGRAPHY urn, one may see the leveled down remains of a a smaU church oriented from west to east (choir Amelineau, E. La Glwgraphie de l'Egypte repoque copte. Paris, 1893. rounded to the east). The entrance door is in the Munier, H. Recueil des !iSles episcopates de l'eglise north side wall. In the nave, along the north side, copte. Cairo, 1943. are two median columns of octagonal sections that perhaps had matching columns along the south RANDALL STEWART side. This church of small dimensions 32 x 23 feet (9.5 x 7 m) is entirely comparable to that of SHAMS " QERELLOS I. AL·DIN. See Ethiopian Prelates. WAGNER GUY QERELLOS II. See Ethiopian Prelates. QA~R AL-SAYYAD. See Jabal al·Tartf; Pilgrim ages. QERELLOS III. See Ethiopian Prelates. QASR AL-SHAM' (the Fortress of Candles), • QIFT name given by the Arabs to the Roman fortress of (Coptos), city on the east bank of the Nile, Babylon following the ARAB CONQUEST OF EGYPT. Ac about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Luxor. It was cording to al-MAQRlzt candles burned every month already of some significance early on as the exit at the top of the tower of the fortress when the sun point of the desert routes to the Red Sea and to the entered a new constellation of the zodiac. This con quarries in the desert area. In the third century A.D. veyed the event to the population. In time O~r during the Palmyrene rebellion, the city fell into ai-Sham' came to designate a whole quarter of Old the hands of the Blemmyes and because of renewed Cairo inhabited mainly by Copts. resistance was besieged and destroyed by the em Four Coptic churches are still to be found in that peror in 292. However, the city soon DlOCLETIAN part of Cairo: Church of al-Mu'allaqah. Church of recovered, although at first cities like Ou~ and Oina Abu Sarjah (Saint Sergius), Church of Sitt Barb~rah tried to take its place. Under for a short JUSTINIAN. (Saint Barbara), and Church of M~r Jirjis (Saint time, it was called Justinianopolis (Kees, 1922, col. George). A fifth church, known as O~riyyat al 1368), which may suggest the existence of a Chalce Rlh~n (Church of Our Lady), burned down in 1979. danian community in the city. The city was known • QIFf 2039 • r------------------------------ I I ._-------- I I I • I • . . '. . ~V' oj .~/@ • ".,.. ; -. C , , , • . r~,.".,'' , ~, ../(::.::() , '.": . . , . I , , . , , I ............ 0 • • • I • 0 ·. ,0 • ,• , o0 •.. , 'I .. , 0 , , 0 I I I , ...,o •·•.0. 0 , , · . I I , 0, I • • I , • I , , , , · , , , • , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, o o \)~< o , ~r~ • • :---------~ ·, ,o .-------- ,, , - • , I,---------- • 1 ---- , , , • I ,I I , I I I , ,I I , I I ... -- ... - --. -- I I - --. I "- -"'-- . -', -'. -'. - - " -'- '-- ... ... - •• ... ._, -"' -. -', Plan of the large church of which traces are found in the old city of Qif'!. Courtesy Peter Grossmann. to be the seat of a bishop since the fifth century lions. Contrary to nannal tradition the basilica was (Amelineau, 1893, p. 214). A bishop oriented northwestward instead of northeastward, PHOIBAMMON from Coptos took part in the Council of in the width of the nave being roughly 31 feel (9.5 m). EPHESUS 431 (Munier, 1943, p. 14). The sanctuary consisted of three rectangular rooms. Of Christian buildings within the area of the old Apparently because of the absence of an apse, the city, only slight traces of a church have been found, building was not recognized as a church by Rei but all the same it was a structure of large propor- nach (1910, p. 39). The central main room that