Coptic Apocrypha

The contributors to this volume present detailed and groundbreaking studies of Coptic apocrypha in the context of Egypt in late antiquity and the early Islamic period, including new editions as well as studies synthesizing their history and development over the centuries. They explore the monastic context of the production and use of apocrypha, the relationship between apocrypha, liturgy and magic, and the role of apocrypha in doctrinal controversies. The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on new theoretical and methodological approaches, including digital humanities and cognitive perspectives; the second part consists of new editions with commentary; and the third part contains studies contextualizing Coptic apocrypha. The book covers the entire period of Coptic literary production, from the fourth to the fourteenth century, i.e., all the way from the early Nag Hammadi Codices and the Tchacos Codex to the much later pseudo-patristic homiletic writings deriving from monasteries all along the Nile valley. It should be of interest to scholars of "Gnosticism," monasticism, literary and media studies, late antique religion, magic, and liturgy, as well as patristic studies. Methodologically, the contributors ground their work in material philology, with a keen interest in scribal practices and fluid textual transmission; detail the design and function of a sophisticated relational database of Coptic apocrypha, based on the PostgreSQL platform, and explain how this database can be used for statistical as well as network analyses of Coptic apocrypha in light of the contexts of their material carriers; and explore the use of 4E Cognition to deepen the understanding of the functions of Coptic apocrypha in the communities in which they were produced and used.