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Summary:

Among the various genres of Coptic liturgical texts, hymnography provides a unique window to Coptic religious culture. This volume presents an edition and translation of a particular genre of Bohairic hymns, each consisting of a hymn (Bohem) stanza and its accompanying stanzas known as parallax. Compositions of this genre survive for the feasts of Christ, the Virgin Mary, angels, apostles, martyrs, and saints. The present edition is based on more than 20 late medieval and early modern manuscripts of Coptic hymns ranging from the fourteenth to the early-twentieth centuries. The introduction introduces this hymnographic genre, discusses its liturgical context, influence by Coptic literature, and provides a detailed analysis of the manuscripts utilized in this edition. This understudied corpus of Coptic hymnography affords a precious window to the religious experience of Coptic Christians in the second millennium as expressed in Christological feasts and the veneration of saints.