This book deals with a very critical epoch in the history of Christian Egypt, namely the time around the Council of Chalcedon that was held in 451 A.D. by the command of the byzantine emperor Marcian. On the Council of Chalcedon the Coptic patriarch Dioscorus (444-454) was disposed and exiled because he refused the dogmatic (Christological) doctrine of this council. In his stead and against the will of the Copts, Emperor Marcian appointed a certain Proterius as the new patriarch of Alexandria. The Copts remained loyal to their disposed patriarch Dioscorus and resisted Proterius who was murdered in 457. The confliction between the two parties - the chalcedonians and antichalcedonians - continued for many centuries and was not without bloodshed on both sides. Among the few works that report on this council is a panegyric on the Coptic bishop Macarius of the city Tkoou in Upper Egypt who accompanied Dioscorus to the Council of Chalcedon. The Panegyric on Macarius was traditionally attributed to the patriarch Dioscorus himself. The Panegyric on Macarius is handed down in Coptic and Arabic. The Coptic versions were mostly published. The Arabic version, in contrast, remained out of consideration. This book presents first of all the historical and dogmatic background of the Panegyric on Macarius and demonstrates the important sources used in this study. After that the research history is summarised and discussed. The core of this study is the edition of the Arabic version of the Panegyric on Macarius with a critical apparatus and a German translation. The whole text is commented in every detail philologically as well as historically. The „Nachleben“ of the Panegyric on Macarius in later Coptic and Arabic literature is discussed in a separate chapter. It demonstrates how important the Panegyric on Macarius was for composing later literature and how this work was widespread in Coptic Egypt. The last part of the book sheds light on the philosophy of writing history by the Copts. It lumps together the most important historical sour-ces in the Coptic and Copto-Arabic literature and tries through a profound study to create a conception of how the Copts dealt with the writing of their own Church History. Furthermore, the collective memory of the Copts is analysed by exploring the available sources.

Samuel Moawad Bachelor of Egyptology at the University of Cairo (Egypt) 1995 Master of Coptology, Egyptology and Islamic studies at the University of Muenster (Germany) 2003 Ph.D. in Coptology at the University of Muenster (Germany) 2005 Post-doctoral project at the University of Muenster (Germany) 2006/2007 Researcher in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Leiden (Netherlands) 2007/2008 Researcher in the Institute for Egyptology and Coptology at the University of Muenster (Germany) since June 2008

„Grundsätzlich handelt es sich bei einem Panegyrikos nicht um eine Biographie sondern um eine Lobrede zur Verherrlichung dessen, auf auf den der Panegyrikos verfasst wurde, wo dann positive Eigenschaften und Ereignisse stärker herausgestrichen und negative Seiten soweit möglich unterdrückt werden. Von einer Biographie werden dagegen mehr Realität und historisch zuverlässige Daten (S.265) erwartet. Auf jeden Fall sind auch in dem hier vorliegenden Panegyrikos auf Makarios von Tkoou zahlreiche nützliche Informationen enthalten, die zur Aufhellung der Kirchenpolitischen Situation im Rahmen des Konzils von Chalkedon beitragen.“ P. Grossmann In: Bulletin de la société d’Archéologie copte, Tome L (2011) S. 174-177. -------------------------------------- “Samuel Moawad has in this volume given us not only a critical edition of the Arabic text and commentary on the Panegyric of Macarios, but in his effort to push the scholarship on the text in a literary-critical direction has opened windows into the ongoing life of the text within the living Coptic tradition. Herein lays the real value of the work, alongside which I might note the wealth of secondary information that the author brings to bear on the study of the text. While the latter remains difficult to access, there is much to find here on many a topic of interest apart from the specifics that connect it to the panegyric. (...) These observations do not alter the judgment of this book as an important piece of scholarship that significantly advances our understanding of the Panegyric of Macarios of Tkôu and its place within Coptic tradition. Furthermore, beyond the specific text in question, the volume underscores the importance of a literarycritical approach to Coptic literature, the gains realized through the inclusion of long neglected Arabic sources in the study of the tradition, and the living nature of texts within the life of the community. While the volume’s content and structure suggests its origin as a dissertation, its erudition rewards the reader with numerous facts, insights, and ideas.” James E. Goehring In: Journal of Coptic Studies 14 (2012) S. 159-178. In: Journal of Coptic Studies. 14 (2012). pp. 165-168. ---------------------------------------------- „Hinter der Formulierung „Untersuchungen zum Panegyrikos auf Makarios von Tkoou“ versteckt sich das dritte Kapitel mit dem Titel „Die arabische Version des Panegyrikos auf Makarios: Handschrift DE-GN arab. 114“, das wohl für die meisten Leser das zentrale Kapitel sein dürfte (63- 53). Mit anderen Worten: Es handelt sich bei den „Untersuchungen“ im eigentlichen Sinn nicht nur um Untersuchungen zu einem bereits aus der Überlieferung bekannten Text, sondern um die Edition der arabischen Version nach einer Göttinger Handschrift, die mit mehreren anderen arabischen Handschriften verglichen wird. Und mit einer derartigen Edition wird ein weiterer interessanter Text aus der Kirchengeschichte für einen breiten Leserkreis erreichbar, der mitten in die Auseinandersetzung der koptischen Tradition in ihrer antichalkedonensischen Prägung mit dem Konzil von Chalkedon hineinführt: Der besagte Makarios, Bischof einer oberäigyptischen Stadt namens Tkoou, stirbt anlässlich seiner Weigerung, den Tomus Leonis zu unterschreiben, den Märtyrertod (...) Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass das Werk auch außerhalb der eher begrenzten Disziplin der Koptologie vor allem von der Theologie rezipiert wird. Immerhin werden genügend Details geschildert, die für unterschiedliche Teildisziplinen der Theologie von Interesse sind, sei es die Erforschung von Mönchtum, Brauchtum oder auch die Erforschung der Frage einer religiös motivierten Anwendung von Gewalt gegenüber Vertretern anderer Traditionen.“ Hans Förster In: Theologische Literaturzeitung. 137 (2012) 10. Sp. 1077-1079.