Introduction
to Sahidic Coptic

Program

The Coptic Language Summer School aims to provide students, scholars, and enthusiasts of ancient religious history with a comprehensive and well-founded understanding of the Coptic language, with a focus on the Sahidic variety.

The course is designed to introduce students to the basic elements of Coptic grammar and morphology, enabling them to read and translate simple texts in the main classical variety of the language. The primary emphasis of the course will be on the Coptic verbal system, with some attention given to syntax.

This course is suitable for beginners with no prior knowledge of Coptic, but a basic understanding of ancient Greek may be helpful. The course is taught in English, and no previous knowledge of Coptic or other languages is required.

The course textbook is Introduction to Sahidic Coptic by Thomas O. Lambdin, published by Mercer University Press in 1983. While digital copies of selected materials will also be made available, participants are strongly encouraged to obtain their own copy of the textbook, although it is not essential for a fruitful participation in the course. Additional useful bibliography for the course includes: Coptic in 20 Lessons by Bentley Layton, published by Peeters in 2007, and A Coptic Grammar by Bentley Layton, published by Harrassowitz Verlag in 2011.

Throughout the course, students are offered opportunities to practice reading and translating Coptic texts, while engaging in discussions of the cultural and historical contexts in which Coptic texts were produced.

9-11 AM CET Class

6-7:30 PM CET Seminar (Guest Professor)

Friday 21 July 2023

9-11 AM CET Class

6-7:30 PM CET Tutoring Session

The Coptic Summer School program offers three types of learning experiences:

Classes: these lectures are conducted in English every morning for two hours, during which the instructor provides necessary grammatical knowledge using a shared virtual screen and digital handouts. There are ample opportunities for discussion and further exploration with participants. The instructor assigns exercises to be completed independently by participants throughout the day.

Tutoring Sessions: these sessions take place in the late afternoon and involve group correction of exercises assigned during class. The tutoring sessions also offer an opportunity to ask the instructor for additional clarification and for the instructor to assess the progress of learning and make appropriate adjustments as necessary.

Conferences: they are specialist conferences held twice a week in the late afternoon by a guest professor. The seminars focus on historical and cultural content with a practical approach. Typically, the seminars begin with an analysis of selected passages in the Coptic language, followed by cultural and religious exploration of the late antique Egyptian world.

Instructor

Vittorio Secco

Vittorio Secco (1992) obtained at the University of Genoa a Bachelor's degree in History (2014), a Master's degree in Classical Philology (2016), and a Master's degree in Theoretical Philosophy (2018); after a period of study at the Humboldt Universität in Berlin, he obtained in Rome, at the Waldensian Faculty of Theology, a Bachelor's degree in Protestant Theology (2021). As of 2019, he became a member of the Coptic Studies Group at the Waldensian Faculty of Theology. In the Coptic Summer School of 2022, he served as the instructor for the course "Introduction to Sahidic Coptic". His interests range from biblical exegesis to the study of textual transmission in ancient versions of the Bible, with particular reference to Coptic.