The Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun is a Coptic text ascribed to the Coptic saint Samuel the Confessor, also known as Samuel of Kalamoun, who lived in the seventh century. It contains the strongest denunciation of the language shift in the Middle Ages of Egypt, in which the country's Coptic language was slowly replaced by Arabic. It records that the Christians in Egypt were becoming increasingly Arabized in culture and customs. Actual conversion to Islam does not seem to be a concern for the author. In reality, the arabization of Lower Egypt preceded that of Middle and Upper Egypt, as suggested by Ibn Hawqal in the late 10th century.
The text was produced in the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor. It claims to be the transcript of the monk Apollo of the words of the monastery's founder, Samuel the Confessor.Georg Graf, Geschichte der christliche arabische Literatur vol. I, p. 280-282. See also Paul VAN CAUWENBERG, Études sur les moines d'Égypte depuis le Concile de Chalcédoine (451) jusqu'à l'invasion arabe, Paris, 1914. While it has been dated to the 8th century, the actual date of the text depends on the interpretation of the list of "predicted" Arab kings that it contains. These seem to refer to the Fatimid caliphs, and the work may therefore be dated to the period between the 10th and the 12th century.
The work is a prophecy of Samuel the Confessor of how Egyptians will abandon their native Coptic language and adopt the language of the colonizers, Arabic. The text criticizes the adoption of the Church's adoption of Arabic at length, not only for the introduction of Muslim theological terms into Christian theology, but also for enabling other forms of assimilation. Roman Egypt, A History. Roger Bagnall. pp. 336 Examples of such assimilation was the increasingly more common choice of Arabic names by Christians, leading to the abandonment of saints' names and the protection they were thought to offer.Bagnall, pp. 336 The adoption of Arabic was also seen as encouraging Copts to imitate Muslim ways and to abandon their traditional practices, such as Christians taking several wives or concubines, and adopting the eating and drinking habits of Muslims this neglecting the Christian periods of fast.Bagnall, pp. 336
An excerpt of the text, translated by Ziadeh, reads as followsJ. Ziadeh, Revue de l'Orient chrétien, 20 (1915–17), pp. 379–381
See also Samuel the Confessor Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor Coptic language Coptic identity Arabization
References
External links Introduction to translation Translation of whole work Excerpt of work online