The Rediscovery of Shenoute

Stephen Emmel, professor at the University of Munster since 1996, has devoted much of his work to researching the manuscript tradition of the works composed by the Egyptian archimandrite Shenoute (4th/5th c.), the most prolific Coptic author and crucial for the study of the language. Thanks to a masterful reconstruction of the Shenoutean corpus, from a hundred witnesses, all fragmentary and dispersed, he made this research make considerable progress, which opened the way to studies on the content of the works and the history of monasticism during this period. In homage to these pioneering works, and to S. Emmel''s stimulating leadership, this volume brings together twenty-five contributions which illustrate the variety of approaches and issues in the study of Shenoute''s sermons and the manuscripts transmitting them: Bible, liturgy, magic, patristics, history, hagiography, philology, codicology, and even archeology are all fields affected by this collection.