Abu al-Makarim
Encyclopedia
Al-Mu'taman Abu al-Makarim Sa'd Allah Jirjis ibn Mas'ud was a priest
of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt
living in the thirteenth century. Abu al-Makarim is best known as the author of a famous work entitled History of Churches and Monasteries . This was written in the late thirteenth century, and remains largely unpublished.
Abu al-Makarim's work is one of the most important sources on the Coptic Church's life during his period and is frequently referenced by scholars of Coptic history.
The work first became known in the west when a manuscript of a portion of it was purchased in 1674 in Egypt for three piastres by Johann Michael Vansleb
. The manuscript is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, ms. arabe 307. A photographic copy of it is in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. A note in it indicates that the owner was Abu Salih the Armenian. This text was edited and published by B.T.A.Evetts, with an English translation, as if Abu Salih was the author. Another manuscript has since been discovered in Munich; and a third in Egypt, which has been printed by the monk Samuel al-Suryānī in five parts. Clara Ten Hacken has made a translation of the portion of the full text which relates to ancient Antioch.
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
living in the thirteenth century. Abu al-Makarim is best known as the author of a famous work entitled History of Churches and Monasteries . This was written in the late thirteenth century, and remains largely unpublished.
Abu al-Makarim's work is one of the most important sources on the Coptic Church's life during his period and is frequently referenced by scholars of Coptic history.
The work first became known in the west when a manuscript of a portion of it was purchased in 1674 in Egypt for three piastres by Johann Michael Vansleb
Johann Michael Vansleb
Johann Michael Vansleb was a German theologian, linguist and Egypt traveller. He converted to Catholicism and was a member of the Dominican Order from 1666....
. The manuscript is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, ms. arabe 307. A photographic copy of it is in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. A note in it indicates that the owner was Abu Salih the Armenian. This text was edited and published by B.T.A.Evetts, with an English translation, as if Abu Salih was the author. Another manuscript has since been discovered in Munich; and a third in Egypt, which has been printed by the monk Samuel al-Suryānī in five parts. Clara Ten Hacken has made a translation of the portion of the full text which relates to ancient Antioch.