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Religion and Secularism
Mark Swanson's Coptic Papacy is the second volume of a trilogy due to be completed in late 2011. The title of the book and the series may be somewhat puzzling to Western readers. Both draw upon the fact that Heracles of Alexandria (d. 247 a.d.) was the first bishop to be addressed as pappas, a designation that has been retained for the Alexandrian prelate ever since. (Roman bishops did not routinely employ the title until the 6th century.) The present volume, analyzing Coptic patriarchal biographies from the dawn of Arab rule through the Mamluk era, will be of great interest to anyone researching the history of Egypt, intercommunal relations under Islamic rule, or Christian Arabic Studies. It is a nuanced, thoughtful volume that fills an important gap within scholarly literature.
In large measure, the leanness of the monograph (which chronologically covers nearly as much as the other two volumes in the series combined but is in fact shorter than both) is due to Swanson's admirable ability to focus squarely on his topic. Coptic Papacy is not a history of the Coptic Church or community per se nor a discussion of Coptic-Muslim relations as such, though both topics figure prominently in the work. Rather, this is an analysis of the history and historiography of Coptic Patriarchs. (Although the title "Popeâ[euro] is attested throughout the period surveyed, it comes in at a distant second to "Patriarchâ[euro] in Coptic Arabic literature and in this book.) Swanson, a specialist in Arab Christian Studies, pens a masterful account, drawing upon a wide array of sources, including the writings of Arab Muslim historians (particularly al-Maqrizi and Ibn Taghribirdi), hagiographic literature,...