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'''Athanasius of Qus''' (fl. late 14th century) was a [[Coptic Orthodox|Coptic]] monk, bishop and scholar. He was a leader of the church in [[Upper Egypt]] and [[Lower Nubia]]. He wrote in both [[Arabic]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]]. His works include theology, Coptic grammar and poetry. His primary dialect was [[Sahidic]].

==Life==
He wrote in Arabic a grammar of the Coptic language entitled ''Necklace of Composition in the Science of Interpretation''.<ref>{{harvnb|Sidarus|2001|p=70}}; {{harvnb|Frederick|1991}} translates it ''Necklace of Writing for the Science of Translation''. The Arabic is ''Qilādat al-taḥrīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr''.</ref> Most of what is known about his life comes from this work. He was born at [[Qamulah]] on the right bank of the [[Nile]], the son of a priest named Salib. He entered the nearby [[Dayr Mar Buqtur|monastery of Mar Buqtur]] on the left bank of the Nile before succeeding Gabriel as bishop of the fortified city of [[Qus]].{{sfn|Frederick|1991}}{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}} In 1371–1372, he took part in the consecration and enthronement of [[Timothy of Faras|Timothy]] as [[Coptic Diocese of Faras|bishop of Qasr Ibrim]].{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}}{{sfn|Sidarus|2001|pp=70–74}} In 1374, during the patriarchate of [[Pope Gabriel IV of Alexandria|Gabriel IV]], he took part in the concoction of the [[chrism]] (''myron'') and wrote a description of the Upper Egyptian rite.{{sfn|Frederick|1991}}{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}}

In the past, his activity was sometimes dated to the eleventh century, but the evidence points towards the second half of the fourteenth.{{sfn|Frederick|1991}}{{sfn|Sidarus|2001|pp=70–74}} The Berlin manuscript of the ''Necklace'' contains a preface to a different (lost) grammar in which the ''Ecclesiastical Ladder'' of [[Yuhanna al-Samannudi]] is mentioned. If this preface was written by Athanasius, as seems likely, his dates must be pushed back at least to the second half of the thirteenth century. He is not mentioned in any thirteenth-century grammars or dictionaries, nor is he in the index of authors of [[Ibn Kabar]] (died 1324).{{sfn|Frederick|1991}}

His episcopate corresponds to a rough period for the Copts of Upper Egypt. The city of Qus was targeted by the [[Banu al-Kanz]], who lost their control of [[Makuria]] in 1365. There were also outbreaks of [[Second plague pandemic|plague]] in 1374–1375 and 1379–1381, Nile floods in 1360, 1376, 1382 and 1395, and famines in 1374–1375 and 1394–1396.{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=172}} There were even [[new martyr]]s in Qamulah in 1378.{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}}

==Works==
Athanasius' ''Necklace'' was originally composed for the Sahidic dialect,{{sfn|Gabra|2009|p=42}} but a [[Bohairic]] version also exists.{{sfn|Frederick|1991}} Athanasius himself records that these were the only two surviving dialects of Coptic, [[Bashmur]]ic being extinct by his time. This is, however, the earliest reference to a Bashmuric dialect, which has not been conclusively identified in any of surviving Coptic text.{{sfn|Feder|2017|p=35}} Athanasius' ''Necklace'', moreover, is the first major treatment of Sahidic and he also wrote a commentary (''sharḥ'') on his Sahidic grammar.{{sfn|Sidarus|2001|pp=70–74}} A Sahidic ''[[sullam]]'' (Copto-Arabic dictionary) is also attributed to him.{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}} The Sahidic in Athanasius' account of the rite of the chrism was supplied by his colleague Gabriel, bishop of [[al-Marg]]. This is one of the latest descriptions of the unique Upper Egyptian rite.{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}} The lost grammar prefaced in the Berlin manuscript, titled ''Sufficiency of the Seeker'',<ref>Arabic ''Bulghat al-ṭālibīn''.</ref> was in the form of a didactic poem in which Sahidic [[homonym]]s were explained through Arabic.{{sfn|Sidarus|1978|p=137}}

Besides his grammatical works, Athanasius also composed poetry between 1365 and 1378. He may also be the author of the ''[[Triadon]]'', a long poem in Sahidic that survives in a single manuscript with an Arabic translation. The poet describes himself as a monk from Upper Egypt who moved to Lower Egypt and used his native tongue in order to demonstrate its suitability.{{sfn|Frederick|1991}}

His theological works include a treatise (''arguzah'') on [[baptism]] and another in the form of 100 questions from the ''[[Canons of the Apostles]]''.{{sfn|Youssef|2010|p=171}}

Athanasius' is "one of the last names that can be mentioned for the 13th- and 14th-century golden age of Copto-Arabic literature".{{sfn|Gabra|2009|p=42}} His ambit and his preference for Sahidic are representative of the southward shift of the Coptic centre of gravity under the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]].{{sfn|Sidarus|2001|pp=70–74}}{{sfn|Gabra|2009|p=42}} The ''sharḥ'' he wrote on his own grammar was the main source for [[Raphael Tuki]]'s ''Rudimenta linguae coptae sive aegyptiacae ad usum Collegii Urbani de Propaganda Fide'' (1778).{{sfn|Sidarus|2001|pp=70–74}}{{sfn|Browne|1983|p=270}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite journal |first=Gerald M. |last=Browne |title=Notes on Athanasius of Qūṣ |journal=Orientalia |series=Nova Series |year=1983 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=268–270 |jstor=43077520}}
*{{cite book |first=Frank |last=Feder |chapter=The Bashmurite Revolts in the Delta and the ‘Bashmuric Dialect’ |title=Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt: Beni Suef, Giza, Cairo, and the Nile Delta |editor1=Gawdat Gabra |editor2=Hany N. Takla |year=2017 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |pages=33–36}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |last=Frederick |first=Vincent |title=Athanasius of Qus |editor-link=Aziz Suryal Atiya |editor=Aziz Suryal Atiya |encyclopedia=[[The Coptic Encyclopedia]] |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |location=New York |year=1991 |at=cols. 303b–304a |volume=1 |url=https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/271}}
*{{cite book |editor-first=Gawdat |editor-last=Gabra |title=The A to Z of the Coptic Church |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2009}}
*{{cite thesis |first=T. C. |last=Peterson |year=1913 |title=An Unknown Copto-Arabic Grammar by Athanasius Bishop of Kus, or the Source of Tukhi's Rudimenta lingua coptae sive aegyptiacae |type=PhD dissertation |institution=The Catholic University of America}}
*{{cite book |first=Adel Y. |last=Sidarus |title=The Future of Coptic Studies |editor=Robert McLachlan Wilson |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1978 |chapter=Coptic Lexicography in the Middle Ages |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11555107 |pages=125–142}}
*{{cite journal |first=Adel Y. |last=Sidarus |title=Medieval Coptic Grammars in Arabic |year=2001 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5819200 |journal=Journal of Coptic Studies |volume=3 |pages=63–79|doi=10.2143/JCS.3.0.503607 }}
*{{cite book |first=Youhanna Nessim |last=Youssef |chapter=Athanasius of Qus and His Time |editor1=Gawdat Gabra |editor2=Hany N. Takla |title=Christianity and Monasticism in Upper Egypt |volume=2 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2010 |pages=171–180}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Christian religious leaders from the Mamluk Sultanate]]
[[Category:14th-century Egyptian people]]
[[Category:14th-century Christian monks]]
[[Category:14th-century Christian theologians]]
[[Category:14th-century Arabic-language poets]]
[[Category:Coptic Orthodox bishops]]
[[Category:Coptic writers]]
[[Category:Medieval linguists]]
[[Category:Copto-Arabic literature]]