U.S. Copts Association

 Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442): A witness & chronicler from the late medieval ages, Part II

by Ed Rizkalla

In a recent article, the writer noted that the late medieval age Muslim historian Al-Maqrizi chronicled some of the Coptic culture traits in his famous book, Al-khitat (1), though he did not recognize them as such. It should be noted that Al-Maqrizi was not a Coptophile or a friend of the Copts by any extent of the imagination. It is perhaps fair to say that he was a product of his times. Al-Maqrizi, like other medieval Arab writers, used the word “Copts” to refer to both the ancient Egyptians and the Christians of Egypt, and as he wrote about the Muslim population of Egypt he simply referred to them as “Muslims”.

Al-Maqrizi witnessed that the Copts of his time were, in fact, knowledge people (علم اهل), and noted one of their defining cultural traits, specifically the respect for education, knowledge, and love of wisdom. He also observed that Coptic men of his time, when asked about a matter that requires decision, tend to respond that they would discuss with their wives. Al-Maqrizi, however could not comprehend their behavior, and attributed it to their lack of jealousy. His observation reflected another Coptic cultural trait, namely the respect for women, their role in the family and society at large, and the equality of men and women. To the credit of Al-Maqrizi, his knowledge about ancient Egypt was limited by the meager knowledge available at the time. He also had no knowledge of ancient Egyptian literature, which might have helped shed some light on cultural traits. In this article, with the grace of the Lord, the writer will briefly review an example from ancient Egyptian literature to help put these Coptic cultural traits into perspective

The third story of the tale of “King Cheops and the Magicians” (2) (3) is briefly presented to help provide background and shed light on the two Coptic cultural traits chronicled by Al-Maqrizi in his book Al-khitat. The tale of “King Cheops and the Magicians” was included among 12 papyrus rolls acquired in 1824/25 and is known as the Westcar papyrus (P. Berlin 3033). The Westcar papyrus is among the collections of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, Germany. The text of the papyrus, though believed to have been written at the Hyksos time, is noted for the literary style of the Middle Kingdom, and describes events dated to the Old Kingdom, an early stage of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

The sons of king Cheops, a.k.a. king Khufu, the builder of the great pyramid of Giza, were entertaining their father, telling him stories about marvels performed by some of the great wise men and sages of Egypt. Bauefre told the king the third story about some awesome magic performed by a wise man, the chief lector priest Djadja-em-ankh, at the time of Cheops father king Snefru. His story indicates that king Snefru was seeking some diversion and entertainment. He called upon Djadja-em-ankh to come up with some ideas. Djadja-em-ankh suggested the king go to the palace’s lake, where a boat with twenty beautiful young women, clad only in nets, would row around the lake to entertain him. Djadja-em-ankh suggestion seems to have worked well in entertaining the king, until one of the young women stopped rowing. As she stopped, other young women in the boat followed suit and stopped rowing. The king asked them why they stopped rowing. The young woman responded that her turquoise pendant fell into the water. As the king seems to have been anxious to return back to the entertainment, he offered her a new replacement pendent instead. She however declined, and indicated she preferred her own pendent and didn’t want a replacement. The king’s response to the seeming obstinacy of this young woman was instructive. He called again upon his wise man to address the problem. Djadja-em-ankh addressed the new problem by resorting to magic. He uttered magic incantations, which caused one side of the lake’s water to move on top of the other side to reveal the bottom of the lake. He found the turquoise pendent lying on a shard, and brought it back to the young woman. The young woman was elated to get her pendent back. The king returned back to enjoy the entertainment, and rewarded his wise man handsomely.

In the above mentioned example from ancient Egyptian literature, one first notes that the king though powerful, all wise, and considered to be a deity in his own right, tended to ask for advice, and sought and respected men known for their knowledge and wisdom. One also notes that the king’s response to the young woman apparent obstinacy was mild. He did not resort to brow beating her, or coercing her into submission, or beheading her. On the contrary the king attempted to reason with her, and tried to satisfy her. More importantly, his courtiers and others at his court, and subsequent generations of ancient Egyptians and Copts, seem to have found the king’s response normal.

The ancient Egyptian literature is a rich heritage, which helps provide background and shed light on some of the Coptic cultural traits. It reveals a culture rooted in the respect for education, knowledge, and the love of wisdom; as well as respect for women, the role they play in the family and society at large, and the equality of men and women.

As I write these lines, Orthodox Copts all over the world, observe the Holy Week of Pascha in preparation for celebrating Easter on April 27th, 2008. The Coptic Orthodox Church observes Holy week with prayers, praises, and giving glory to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It may be noteworthy that some of the Coptic Holy week hymns continue to be sung in our day and age to the tune of music dating way back to the Pharaohs time, e.g. “Thy throne O God is for ever and ever” from the book of Psalms (KJV) Ps 45.6 “Pek othronos Ephnotee sha eneh ente pi eneh” (Pek `:ronoc V] sa `eneh `nte pi`eneh). Some of the readers will probably read this posting after celebrating Easter, please permit me to wish you and yours a blessed and joyous Easter.

The peace of the Lord be with you all. Irene Passe, Iryny paci.

1) لبنان, الشياح, الجنؤبي الساحل, العلؤم احياء مكتبة, المقريزية الخطط كتاب, Al-khitat by Al-Maqrizi, printed by Ihiaa’ al-‘eloum bookstore, southern coast, al-shiah, Lebanon, 1959.
2) The Literature of Ancient Egypt, An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry, 3rd edition, by William K. Simpson, with translations by Robert K. Ritner, William K. Simpson, Vincent A. Tobin, and Edward F. Wente, Jr., University of Yale Press, New Haven, CT, 2003.
3) Ancient Egyptian Literature, volume 1, The Old and Middle Kingdoms, by Miriam Lichtheim, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2006

Acknowledgements: The writer would like to thank the staff of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, for their assistance with the research for background material for this article.

Ed Rizkalla is a management consultant and a freelance writer. He is the founder of Pharos on the Potomac Group (POPG). POPG is a non-profit organization at Annandale, VA http://mysite.verizon.net/vzes76jv/pharosonthepotomacgroup. POPG was established to provide cultural services to the local communities of the Washington, DC metropolitan area.