Proceedings of the XI International

Congress of Egyptologists

Florence Egyptian Museum

Florence, 23-30 August 2015

edited by

Gloria Rosati and Maria Cristina Guidotti

 A new light on Coptic Afterlife
(O.4550 from the Coptic Museum in Cairo)

Hind Salah El-Din Somida Awad

Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University

Abstract
Coptic ostraca are one of the main sources in studying Coptic language and its history, as well for throwing light on Egyptian life from at
least the beginning of Roman rule. The aim of this article is to publish ostracon number 4550 from the Coptic Museum in Cairo, which was
found in Manqabad-Assyut. The subject of the text concerns a theological procession associated with the Afterlife.
Keywords
Coptic; ostracon; Apocrypha; Lycopolis; Pisentius; mummy

Description: The pottery ostracon (Figure 1) is a red-cream color;

its dimensions are c. 14.3 x 9.7cm. The text is in good condition,
although the top and right sides are partly damaged. It was written
on one side only and contains 12 lines of writing, rendered by the
scribe using black ink; the scribe’s neat hand is noteworthy.

Text
1. ] on [
2. aht : euhn(a)[n
3. eun/u ete[
4. nouwt. auei[
5. cwma mpecnau
6. hm pe hmot mpn
7. oute hw. auj@t ehra[@
8. etpe a@nau eroou m[p
9. ecnau eun/u ebol h[n t
10. pol@c hm peuta@o.
11. pno[ me je hrw n nƎn[eh
12. ounteu ba rw cate[

Translation
1. ] .. [
2. … :They are approaching
3. They are coming to the [
4. alone. They came [
5. body together
6. in the Grace of
7. God sufficient. They took me upwards [
8. to the sky I looked at them [
9. together, they are coming out from the [
10. City in their glory.
11. The Great place that is Eternal Furnace [
12. They have branch of date palm and on the contrary
fire [

Figure 1: Ostracon 4550 (the Coptic Museum, Cairo).

Commentary

Lines 2, 4, 7 and 10: The scribe uses the Coptic punctuation double-stop some specific ideas, as well as utilizing the Coptic impersonal verb
sign in line 2 and the full stop from the Coptic punctuation in lines 4, 7 hw(‘sufficient’) in line 7 as a means of punctuation to end his line.
and 10. Coptic punctuation was used in general to indicate the structure
Line 11: The scribe wrote a reversed epsilon in the word Ǝneh
and organization of the Coptic text, in the same way as other Coptic
(‘Eternal’). The habit of changing the direction of the letter in Coptic
manuscripts used full stops to divide sentences and double-stops to end
texts was common among Egyptian scribes, illustrating the continuity of
paragraphs (Plumley 1948: 19).However it is notable here that the scribe
their Ancient Egyptian writing habits (Salah
used both full and double-stop symbols to end

ICE XI (2017): 553-555 553

Hind Salah El-Din Somida Awad

El-Din 2013: 263–4), as, e.g., in line 7 of the Abydos Graffiti, number of tormentors’ (Budge 1913: 329). Additionally, in line 12,
which dates back to the end of the 3rd century BC, where the scribe the scribe prefers to give a brief symbolic contrast between ba
changes the direction of the Coptic letter n to the other side (Salah (‘the branch of the date palm’) and cate (‘the flames of fire’)
El-Din 2007: 37–8, 160; 2013: 263–4), as well in P.Brit. when he affirms that ‘they have branch of date palm and on the
Mus.10808, assigned to the 2nd century AD, where the scribe contrary [they have] fire’, and when comparing this with the
inserts the hieroglyph sign of the seated man looking to the right, Bohairic and Arabic texts one sees that they also coincide with our
while the Coptic line of writing runs left (Salah El-Din 2007: 55, text in terms of meaning and context, specifically when the mummy
79). Moreover, to divide the letters of the same word in two replies to Pisentius about having rested from the punishments of
different directions, as occurs, e.g., in the two Berlin mummy labels Hades (Amelineau 1889: 409–10; Budge 1913: 329–30; De Lacy
dated to the 2nd century AD, and specifically label 10541, where 1930: 426–7), as summarized by our scribe in line 12, when he
the scribe writes from right to left , instead refers to a rest from the punishment of Hades thanks to the grace of
of the traditional form trom n atripe – ‘The woman from God.
Atribis’ or ‘the man of Atribis’ (Steindorff 1890: 49–53; Satzinger
1991: 170; Salah El-Din 2007: 55). Furthermore, the symbolism of the date palm branch coincides with
the ‘Lord’s Day’ (i.e. Sunday) in the Bohairic and Arabic texts; the
Conclusion branch of the palm was specifically a known symbol of that day for
in Matthew (21: 8) and John (12:13), when Christ was welcomed
The text was written in the Sl idiolect (Kasser 1980: 67; Kasser by his followers with palm branches when he entered Jerusalem
1991a: 143–5), specifically from the use of the word me for the before his crucifixion, the palm symbolizing victory over death.
Sahidic ma (‘place’) in line 11, and ounteu for the Sahidic Likewise, in Revelations (1: 10–1) and Mark (16: 2) it is the day of
ountau (‘they have’) in line 12. The text can be assigned to the Jesus’ resurrection, i.e. His victory over death. Thus our scribe
8th century AD, especially due to the shape of the letters a, b, e, m, refers to ‘Sunday’ by using its symbol only. Moreover, it can be
t, h (Stegemann 1936: 10; Kasser 1991b: 175–84). seen that the scribe agrees only with the Arabic text when
mentioning just ‘Sunday’, as the Bohairic version mentions both
The subject of the text is a description for the moment of death, i.e. ‘Saturday’ and ‘Sunday’.
when the soul starts to depart from the human body in the hands of
the angels of God, and realizes its final destination towards the Other points of interest shed some light on the thoughts of our
Afterlife – whether it will go to Paradise or Hell. It is noteworthy scribe in terms of his vision of the Afterlife. For example, in line
that the text is in the form of separate ideas and not a unified whole, 11, the ‘Great place that is; Eternal Furnace’, it is clear here that he
i.e. each part describes a specific moment of the soul’s departure. was equating the two places by using the Coptic conjunction je
Therefore to trace the source one has to compare these lines from (‘that’). But what was the ‘Great place’? The answer comes here
their content and sequence of episodes and, consequently, they from the Bohairic (Amelineau 1889: 408– 9; Budge 1913: 329) and
reveal that they match the story of the encounter of St Pisentius Arabic texts (De Lacy 1930: 425–6), which show that it was the
with the Hellenic ‘mummy’ from the Coptic Apocrypha, ‘Outer Darkness that contains a great gulf’ and was more than 100
specifically the passage where the mummy complains to him of the cubits deep, and filled with various reptiles, some of which were
torments of Hades (or Amente). covered with scorpions. The scribe uses the same word pno[me
from the Bohairic text when describing the Outer Darkness:
This well-known episode concerns St Pisentius, the 7th-century epi,aki etca bol ainau eounist mma, with its literal
bishop of Qift (AD 548–632), the great preacher, letter writer, meaning ‘to the Outer Darkness I saw a Great place’; in addition
administrator, servant of the poor, and generally one of the most the Arabic text also mentions a ‘deep pit’, and consequently our
outstanding personalities of the Coptic Church (Revillout 1900: scribe believes that the ‘Outer Darkness’ is the ‘Eternal Furnace’,
133–77; Budge 1913: xli–1; Detlef et al. 1991: 1978–80). The story as the ‘Great Place’ (pno[ me) according to the consequence of
of the encounter of the saint with the Hellenic mummy is detailed in the two texts means the ‘Outer Darkness’.
two texts in particular – Bohairic (Amelineau 1889: 261–423;
Budge 1913: 322–30) and Arabic (De Lacy 1930: 419–29). By If we explore further we find that the phrase ‘Outer Darkness’ is
comparing these two sources with the text of our scribe (lines 2 to mentioned three times in the Bible: in Matthew 8: 12, 22: 13, 25: 30
5), we can see that the latter summarizes the details of the moment the ‘Outer Darkness’ is a place connected with weeping and the
of death, i.e. when the angels arrive to take the soul of the mummy gnashing of teeth. Again in Matthew (13: 42, 50) we read that the
(as they also do in the Bohairic (Amelineau 1889: 407–8; Budge wicked will be gathered from God’s Kingdom and cast into a
1913: 329) and Arabic texts (De Lacy 1930: 424–5). However, in furnace of fire and that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
lines 6 and 7 our scribe writes hm pe hmot mpnoute (‘in the connected with the furnace of fire. Consequently one can say that
Grace of God’), which does not appear in the Bohairic or Arabic the ‘Outer Darkness’ equates to the ‘Furnace of Fire’, as the scribe
sources, and then ends this idea with the Coptic impersonal verb of our text states. Moreover, when we explore the place which the
hw (‘sufficient’) before summarizing his following theme, i.e. the scribe equates with the ‘Outer Darkness’ (i.e. hrw n eneh or
moment after the soul’s capture and its arrival at its final ‘Eternal Furnace’) we find that the fire/furnace is a description of
destination, as mirrored in the Bohairic text (Amelineau 1889: 408– Gehenna, especially in the Jewish-Christian context, i.e. in contrast
9; Budge 1913: 329) and in lines 7 to 11 of the Arabic text (De with Hades as a provisional place of punishment, Gehenna is the
Lacy 1930: 425–6). place of eternal punishment by fire, and this corresponds to the
expression the scribe uses in line 11: hrw n eneh (‘Eternal
It is noteworthy here that the scribe uses in line 7 the verb j@t in Furnace’). In the Coptic texts Gehenna is thought of as a fiery hell,
its pronominal form, ‘took me’, which is the same verb from the as we can see in the express wish that ‘the fire of hell will be
same episode that appears in the Bohairic text: aut/ it etotou extinguished’, which happens after the descent of Christ (Budge
nou/r ntimwrict/c (Amelineau 1889: 408), translated as ‘they 1913: 3; Zandee 1960: 321), as well as when John prays to Christ
delivered me over into the hands of a large when dying (Budge 1913: 57).

International Congress of Egyptologists XI 554

 A New light on Coptic Afterlife (O.4550 from the Coptic Museum in Cairo)

In addition, in the discourse of Apa John, in Gehenna there is an thoughts and visions of the Afterlife in Upper Egypt, and the
everlasting fire (Budge 1910: 35): ari pmeeue nnau nim auw important influence of St Pisentius and his teachings in this area as
mpr r pwbs m psah [nim] n tkehenna ete m ecjna it expressed local views on the Afterlife; this in turn could suggest
(‘Remember at all times and do not forget the flame of hell which is that it was copied from other native and similar sources of the story,
not extinguished’), and this corresponds with the expression of so there may well be other Sahidic versions which could appear in
eternity which the scribe uses: hrw n eneh (‘Eternal Furnace’), the future. The text also proved that the story of St Pisentius was
as well as in line 12 when he uses the word cate (‘fire’), which is firmly entrenched in the local consciousness, as the scribe makes
a punishment by burning that often occurs in Coptic texts, the specific references so as to ensure its context and sequence are not
meaning of which is not the destruction of the soul but an forgotten. Moreover, our scribe’s thoughts on the Afterlife suggest
everlasting painful torment in accordance with Jewish-Christian that it retains some aspects of the beliefs of peoples from Upper
notions. The Coptic sources are close to it and this corresponds with Egypt, especially when we bear in mind that Upper Egypt enjoyed a
the text of our ostracon, especially when we compare it to other variety of theological beliefs that still need research and analysis
texts, where we find that cate is usually connected with hrw, i.e. before we can know with certainty how these individuals viewed
the ‘Eternal Gehenna’, as, e.g., nte tehrw n cate swpe n and believed in the Afterlife, especially as the scribe has added
some points in his text that are still debated by scholars, although
at [om (‘and let the furnace of blazing fire be without
he has provided clues to certain passages in the story that were
power’)(Budge 1913: 57; Zandee 1960: 320–3). In addition, fire
unclear in the Bohairic and Arabic texts, specifically when he
and worms are found together in Mark (9: 47–8), associated with
makes a brief reference to the Grace of God including sinners, as
fire and ‘Outer Darkness’: ehouo eroc ere bal cnau mmok
well as the ‘Outer Darkness’ and the ‘Eternal Furnace’.
ncenojk etgehenna. pma etmpeu bent namou an auw
teucate najena an (‘…rather than having two eyes that you
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‘Eternal Gehenna’. However, the final questions still remain: does
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significance from many points of view. First of all it is another new Evolution. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Cairo.
source for the story of the encounter of St Pisentius and the Salah El-Din, H. 2013. A Group of Coptic Ostraca from
Hellenic mummy, about which the paleographical point of view has Thebes, Publication and Analytical study. Unpublished PhD
shown that it is even older than the Bohairic and Arabic texts. The thesis, University of Cairo.
dialect of the text revealed the use of the Sl idiolect and its added Satzinger, H. 1991. Old Coptic. In A. S. Atya (ed.), Coptic
importance lies in the fact that Coptic texts from Assyut, and Encyclopedia, Vol. 8: 170. New York, Macmillan Publishing.
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Egyptian conceptions. Leiden, Brill.

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