Music in early Coptic imagination: cultural acts and their cosmological aspects, according to literary sources

This thesis investigates the underexplored role of music within early Coptic literature to address a significant gap in early Christian musicology. While substantial research has been conducted on Greek, Latin, and Syriac language sources (McKinnon, 1987; Page 2010), Coptic-language texts have been largely neglected despite their potential to offer unique insights into the cultural and religious dynamics of late antique Egypt. The study seeks to challenge this oversight by systematically analysing musical references across a diverse corpus of early Coptic texts. Scholarship has to-date primarily focused on the hymnic traditions of the Coptic Church and the Greek-language writings of early Church Fathers (Mikhail, 2014; Samaan, 2008; Moftah et al., 1991). However, broader literary and non-musical texts remain overlooked, resulting in a narrow understanding of early Coptic music as homogeneous and predominantly ecclesiastical. This thesis addresses these limitations by conducting literary musicology to analyse how music is represented and conceptualised in early Coptic writings c.400-650 AD. The research is guided by three key questions: (1) What musical concepts are referenced in the early Coptic texts? (2) How are cultural acts of music evidenced in the primary-source literature? (3) What do these references reveal about the role of music in the collective imagination of early Coptic-speakers? These questions are explored through a rigorous methodology involving lexicographical analysis, contextual examination, and comparative analysis with studies of other language sources of early Christian music. The findings demonstrate that musical references in early Coptic literature are far more diverse and contextually nuanced than previously acknowledged. They reveal a plurality of traditions influenced by, yet distinct from, pharaonic Egyptian, Hellenistic, and Roman-Christian musical cultures. Notably, the texts suggest that music was integral to shaping Coptic identity, serving both ritualistic and symbolic functions across ecclesiastical and non-ecclesiastical contexts. 3 This thesis concludes that early Coptic music cannot be understood in isolation but must be situated within the broader multicultural and religiously pluralistic milieu of late antique Egypt. By extending the scope of early Christian musicology to include Coptic texts, the study challenges dominant historical narratives and provides a foundation for future interdisciplinary research into the complex interplay of music, identity, and culture in this pivotal historical period