Qasr Ibrim: The Greek and Coptic Inscriptions Published on Behalf of the Egypt Exploration SocietyRegular readers will recall that numerous manuscript fragments were also excavated at Qasr Ibrim, among them the Coptic fragments of 2 Enoch.
by Adam Lajtar and Jacques van der Vliet
This book contains the publication of the Greek and Coptic inscriptions that were brought to light during archaeological work on the site of Qasr Ibrim (Egyptian Nubia) carried out by the Egypt Exploration Society from 1963 onwards. 330p, c.90 figs (Journal of Juristic Papyrology 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-83-925919-2-4
ISBN-10: 83-925919-2-5
Hardback. Not yet published - advance orders taken. Price GB £75.00
Jack Sasson quotes some further information on the book, which I have not been able to find on the website:
The natural citadel of Qasr Ibrim in Northern Nubia occupied for thousands of years a strategic position between Egypt and the Middle Nile region (the present-day Sudan). In Late Antiquity, it was the political centre of an independent kingdom, Nobadia. Following the Christianization of the region in the sixth century, it became the see of a bishop, for whom a magnificent stone-built cathedral was erected. Towards the year 700, Nobadia became politically integrated into the southern kingdom of Makouria, which had its capital in Old Dongola, but Qasr Ibrim remained the residence of a ‘viceroy’, the eparch of Nobadia, who played a pivotal role in the contacts between Christian Nubia and Islamic Egypt. The capture of Qasr Ibrim by Shams ad-Dawla, Saladin's brother, in 1173, was a dramatic event that inaugurated the decline of the Christian kingdoms of Nubia.
This book brings together the Greek and Coptic inscriptions found at Qasr Ibrim during the excavations of the British Egypt Exploration Society, undertaken between 1963 and 2008. It contains over 90 inscriptions from the period between the sixth and the twelfth centuries, a majority of which are stone monuments that are edited here for the first time. Each inscription is reproduced, translated and provided with a full commentary; extensive indices enhance the accessibility of the material. Most of the inscriptions are of a funerary nature (tombstones), including a series of epitaphs
commemorating bishops, whereas others include building inscriptions and apotropaic texts. Together they present a vivid picture of the mainly clerical élite of this Christian centre at a crossroads between Africa and the Mediterranean, revealing patterns of commemoration and in-group status maintenance.