Lot 290
Religious Manuscripts. The Coptic Language is the name used to refer to the last stage of the written Egyptian language. Coptic should more correctly be used to refer to the script rather than the language itself. Even though this script was introduced as far back as the 2nd century B.C., it is usually applied to the writing of the Egyptian language from the first century A.D. to the present day. The ancient Egyptian devised a writing system to record their spoken language over 6000 years ago. The first application seems to have been the calendar. The system started by giving each word a symbol, called hieroglyph. This convention was of course doomed because of the tremendous vocabulary it would have generated. Out of such ideas they took some of these hieroglyphs and associated a sound value to them which, when combined together, would spell out the spoken word.
After the 14th century the Church experienced a decline spiritually and in numbers. The dominance of the Ottoman Empire over Egypt in the early 16th century seemed to accelerate such decline. Production of Coptic Manuscripts slowed down to a trickle. This is an indication that Coptic books were not used as often as before in the Church, so there was no need to produce more.
17th Century Coptic Bible Approximately 5 x 7 1/2" and roughly 200+ pages. Handwritten in "Geeshe" on gazelle skin. Five hand-drawn illustrations in black & white, and color. Sewn bindings with leather and wooden boards. Quality is quite exceptional. Very Rare.
Estimated Value $500 - 750.
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| Realized $518 |
