Ancient Near Eastern Studies, volume 53, (2016).

CONTENTS INCLUDE

Notes on an Aramaic Fragment of the Apocryphal Stories in the Book of Daniel
Takamitsu Muraoka

Towards the end of the 19th century an important Aramaic text was discovered by M. Gaster, who claimed that this was an original text from which Theodotion translated in the pre-Christian period two of the three tales in the book of Daniel, but not contained in the traditional Hebrew/Aramaic form of the text. Though this text has not received much attention it deserves, Gaster’s position, we believe, is well founded. Here is a brief discussion of some salient features of the language of this Aramaic text, accompanied by philological observations of the two Daniel passages in Greek as compared with the Aramaic text.

Some Features of Coptic Identity
Samuel Moawad

In a multi-lingual and multi-religious society such as the Egyptian one, the development of the collective memory is obvious and can be traced in order to identify the events in Christian Egypt that were most influential in shaping Coptic consciousness. Coptic identity can be recognised in every element of the Coptic heritage, such as literature, archaeology and art. The present paper tries to highlight the self-identification of the Copts as it is reflected in their own literary texts produced until the end of the Mamluk period (1517 CE). Since Coptic identity is variegated, this brief study will be limited to only three features: language, conversion and martyrdom, and apologetics and religious dialogue.

The Life of Christ in Coptic Psalis
Youhanna Nessim Youssef

This article overviews a genre of psalis in the Coptic liturgy that have never been studied before. We publish here three psalis that are used in the month of Kiahk and during the Coptic year. We compare the episodes of the Life of Christ treated in these texts. We make a commentary on these psalis.