Archellites – a 10th century Coptic poem, translated by Anthony Alcock

Anthony Alcock has sent me another translation from Coptic.  There is a collection of 10th century Coptic poems, which were published in Oriens Christianus (the volumes are online at Archive.org).  One of these is about the martyr Archellites.  Here it is:

There is no historical content to this, but it is useful to have this material in English – thank you!

I remember long ago transcribing the English translation of the Legend of Hilaria, a story about a female monk, who supposedly lived in the late 5th century, in the time of the Emperor Zeno.  There is also a Legend of Archellites.  In fact a translation of these two prose narratives, and the Coptic version of the Legend of the Seven Sleepers, was made in 1947 by James Drescher.[1]  A rather clumsy site has the book here.

UPDATE: There is a useful short article on Coptic poetry online here.  It is only two pages long.  It comes from the Coptic Encyclopedia.

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  1. [1]James Drescher, Three Coptic Legends: Hilaria, Archellites, the Seven Sleepers, Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut Francais d’Archeologie Orientale, 1947.  Series:  Supplément aux des Annales du Service des antiquités de l’Égypte, Cahier No. 4.

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