21 Coptic Prayer Book Leaves: Overview of Text Early eighteenth century CE Egypt Vellum, Dimensions: 19.5 x 13.7 cm Portland State University Library, Special Collections, Mss 40 Dating from the early eighteenth century CE, this hand-rendered manuscript fragment is an example of an Agpeya, or, a Coptic Book of Hours. Intended to be used as a daily prayer book, the manuscript contains twelve extant leaves painted on vellum pages and implements both bilingual liturgical text and ornamental iconography to emphasize the various stories told within its pages.1 This particular manuscript contains the daily prayers associated with the Coptic cycle of canonical hours that relate to the various events in the life of Jesus Christ. The beginnings of the Third, Sixth, Ninth and Midnight Hours, as well as a protective nighttime prayer have all been identified with this text. Accompanying the hours are vivid illuminations such as ornamental chapter headings which clearly designate sections of the text, as well as compelling warrior saint imagery depicting Saint George, Saint Theodore and Saint Mercurius painted in a manner which aligns within Eastern iconographic tradition.2 The twelve leaves contained within the Agpeya represent a limited but revealing example of the daily devotional life of a Coptic Christian and how the fragment may have been used and interpreted by its user. Reading from left to right, the Agpeya features both Coptic and Arabic scripts, with Arabic translations featured prominently in the right-hand margins. The main text was written in Bohairic Coptic with Arabic placed in the right hand margins and is accompanied by limited headings in Greek. These bilingual texts are commonly found in the Coptic liturgical tradition, and are considered to be one of the oldest divisions of manuscript production examined by specialists.3 Coptic, based on the ancient Egyptian language, continues to be used in church manuscripts to this day, although as a spoken language its use has been limited since about the seventeenth century. The Arabic contained within the text has been interpreted as vernacular Arabic, though there have been a few deciphered anomalies within the text which may be a result of the “Arabization” of Coptic words and phrases by manuscript copyists.4 While the majority of manuscript copyists working in this era were considered professionals, there are several sections within the Agpeya that can be described as exhibiting evidence of “sloppy transcription.”5 Often, it was not necessary for a scribe of Coptic manuscripts to fully understand the language he was copying, and usually
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