Bilingual Coptic Arabic manuscript

A bilingual manuscript. #coptic #arabic

The byzantine influence is very evident in the header ornament and cross and you can see the influence of Greek uncial scripts on the Coptic lettering and the skill of all the scribes involved as the Arabic letters balance surprisingly well with the Coptic.

One thing I have noticed about Greek and Coptic Byzantine manuscripts is a tendency to not have marginalia but use ornamentation on headers and page dividers.

Ostrakons Some Images

OSTRAKONS some images

In an era when scraps of papyrus were rare and paper or parchment hadnt been invented yet shreds of ceramics were often used for notes.

The Name on this one is Themisthokles

A example with Coptic writing.

an apology apparently I scheduled the dates wrong hence the long gap between posts!