| Edited by | Aziz Suryal Atiya |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Encyclopedia |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
| Published | 1991 |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | Eight |
TheCoptic Encyclopedia is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography ofCoptic Egypt.[1] The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in the field ofCoptology,history,art andtheology and was edited byAziz Suryal Atiya. It was funded byCoptic PopeShenouda III, theRockefeller Foundation, theNational Endowment for the Humanities, and others.
TheCoptic Encyclopedia is the first Encyclopedia to focus on one of theOriental Churches[2] and since its publication in 1991 it has been used by many scholars and students in the West. TheEncyclopedia is the fruit of the Coptic emigrant community in the West and the crown of the work ofAziz Suryal Atiya, who did not live to see his work carried into print.[2]
Atiya developed the vision to publish an encyclopedia during the years he taught at theMiddle East Center of theUniversity of Utah. He formed an editorial committee and scholars from all over the world were asked to contribute. Suggestions for entries were given. The work started in 1980.[2] Contributors included many non-Orthodox scholars, including such Muslims asMustafa el-Fiqi andAli el-Hillal Dessouki.
The Coptic community in the West played a role in increasing Western interest in Egyptian church life. If the interest in aCoptic Encyclopedia in English had not existed and if the project of theCoptic Encyclopedia had not received support in the Coptic migrant community in North America, the idea of producing an EnglishCoptic Encyclopedia would have never materialized. The production of thisEncyclopedia is therefore strongly linked to the growth of the Coptic migrant community in the West.[2]
Coptic Orthodox Church leader Pope Shenouda III himself contributed to the entry about emigration. In no period of Coptic history have as many Copts migrated to the west as during the Papacy of Pope Shenouda.[2]
In 2009, theClaremont Graduate University (CGU) School of Religion acquired the right to develop an updated and continuously expanding and evolving web-based version of theCoptic Encyclopedia.[3]