Christianizing Egypt

David Frankfurter is professor of religion at Boston University and a scholar of early Christianity whose specialties include apocalyptic literature, magical texts, demonology, popular religion, and Egypt in the Roman and late antique periods. He is the author of Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance and Evil Incarnate: Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Satanic Abuse in History (both Princeton). Each won Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion from the American Academy of Religion.

List of Illustrations xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Abbreviations xix

1 Remodeling the Christianization of Egypt 1

I Overture 1

II Historical Setting 3

III The Problem of "Pagan Survivals" 7

IV Syncretism and Purification 15

V Agency, Gesture, and Landscape 20

VI Social Sites and Religious Worlds of Syncretism in Late Antique Egypt 24

VII Postscript on Comparison and the Scope of Argument 31

2 Domestic Devotion and Religious Change Traditions of the Domestic Sphere 34

I Overture 34

II Defining the Domestic Sphere and Its Religious Character in Late Antique Egypt 38

III Christianization and the Imagination of New Boundaries 44

IV The Domestic World as Site of Religious Bricolage 48

V Domestic Ritual, Domestic Agents, and the Syncretic Construction of Christianity 54

A Lamp-lighting 55

B Bread Stamps 55

C Domestic Charms and Their Dramatis Personae 56

D Female Figurines and the Ambiguity of Representation 58

E Amulets, Curses, Saintly Blessings, and Votive Donations 61

VI Agents of the Domestic Sphere: Gender and Creative Independence 64

VII Conclusion 68

3 Controller of Demons, Dispenser of Blessings Traditions of the Holy Man as Craftsman of Local Christianity 69

I Introduction: Saints and Syncretism 69

II Implications of Classification: From "Saint" to "Regional Prophet" 74

III Exorcism and the Reordering of Tradition 76

A Reordering Perceptions of Evil 78

B Exorcism and Charisma 80

C Demonology as Preservation 85

IV Holy Men in the Egyptian Landscape 87

A Divination and the Definition of New Centers 87

B Ritual and the Egyptian Environment 90

C Syncretism and the Dispensing of Materials 92

V Conclusion 100

4 A Site of Blessings, Dreams, and Wonders Traditions of the Saint's Shrine 104

I Introduction 104

II The Saint's Shrine as Social Site 108

III Gestures 111

IV Collective Expressions: Festivals and Their Gestures 114

A Festival Hilarity and Control 114

B Processions 118

C Animal Slaughter and Feasting 120

D Dance 122

V Individual Expressions: Imprecation, Contact, Votive 126

VI Divination 130

VII Possession and the Performance of Spirits and Saintly Power 138

VIII Conclusion 144

5 The Magic of Craft Traditions of the Workshop and the Construction of Efficacy 145

I Introduction: Art and Efficacy 145

II Workshops in Late Antique Egypt 151

III Examples 160

A Stonecarvers 160

B Potters and Terracotta Artisans 162

C Painters 167

D Textile Weavers 171

E The Mortuary Craft 176

IV Conclusion 181

6 Scribality and Syncretism Traditions of Writing and the Book 184

I Introduction 184

II Scribality at the Shrines of the Saints 186

III Monastic Scribes and the Mediation of Christianity 189

A Monastic Libraries and Eclectic Scribes 190

B Monastic Settings of Scribal Mediation 192

IV Scribes and the Magic of Word and Song 197

V The Recollection of Literary Traditions through the Scribal Craft 211

A The Land of Egypt Oracle 212

B Images of Amente and Its Demons 218

1 The Media of Amente in Late Antique Egypt 219

2 The Coptic Amente Mythology: Earlier Egyptian and Jewish Apocalyptic Traditions 222

3 Apocalyptic Interpretation in Egypt and the Integration of Egyptian Traditions 226

VI Conclusion 228

7 Whispering Spirits, Holy Processions Traditions of the Egyptian Landscape 233

I Introduction: Religious Landscape and Christianization 233

II Temples and Churches 237

III Habitats and Haunts of Spirits 242

IV Procession and the Perception of Landscape 248

V Inventing and Envisioning a Sacred Landscape 253

VI Conclusion 256

Afterword 257

Bibliography 263

Illustration Credits 309

Index 311