Tagged Articles

Before Coptic mass, wooden seals are used to stamp the holy communion bread. These seals are made in different sizes and display great variety in design, whilst still incorporating traditional symbols, layout and shape. Reflecting Coptic Christianity's long history, today they have also become collectors' items.

Oceans away from their country, Toronto’s Coptic community strives to create a home away from home. Their musical heritage brings comfort and keeps them connected.

With a history stretching back almost two thousand years, the importance of Egypt's textile industry is reflected in medieval documents, the diversity of preserved textiles – some referencing Pharaonic motifs and classical legends – and even in family names.

The recent destruction of more than forty Coptic churches across Egypt highlights the need to document and preserve these historic monuments.

Though dedicated to tradition, Egypt's modern monks live quite radically different lives from the first Christian hermits, who disappeared into the desert to retreat from society almost two millennia ago. We explore how monastic life has changed and why.

The musical heritage of the Coptic Church, which springs from perhaps the oldest musical tradition in the world, had already begun to fade by the early twentieth century. However, mainly thanks to one monkish layman, authentic Coptic psalmondy survives to this day.

An exhibition of Coptic art, presenting rarely seen objects to spread knowledge and learning about Coptic culture, enthralled audiences at the Amir Taz Palace in Cairo. We present the highlights right here, in case you missed it.

Wadi al-Natrun, a geological depression west of the Delta, is one of the cradles of Coptic monasticism. In the fourth century, hermits retreated here in search of asceticism and solitude, but soon the monasteries that developed out of these anchoretic communities became centres of ecclesiastical culture. One of them, Deir al-Surian (the Syrian Monastery), is of particular interest.