ABSTRACT
THECopts,thatistosay,theEgyptianswho acceptedtheteachingofSt.Markinthefirstcentury ofourera,andembracedChristianity,seemtohave eschewedmedicalscienceastaughtbythephysicians ofthefamousSchoolofMedicineofAlexandria,and tohavebeencontentwiththemethodsofhealing employedbytheirancestors.NoCopticBookof Medicinehashithertobeendiscovered,andtheoldest remainsoftheirliteraturearewhollytheologicaland patristicincharacter.Egyptwasconqueredbythe ArabsA.D.640,andNubiatwelveyearslater,and whentheArabsbegantheworkofadministeringthe countrytheyfoundthattheeffortsoftheirgovernors andofficerswerehamperedbytheirignoranceofthe Copticlanguage,andthemachineryoftheGovernmentwasworkedprincipallybyCopts.Intheninth andtenthcenturiesthepersecutionoftheCoptsby theArabsbegan,andforsomethreecenturiesthe ChristiansinEgyptandNubiaandontheIslandof Meroesufferedgreatly.DuringthisperiodArab writersbegantocomposeGrammarsandVocabularies oftheCopticlanguage,andmanyoftheseareextant inmodernmanuscripts.(SeeRieu,Supplementto theCatalogueofArabicMSS.intheBritishMuseum, No.47,andCrum,CatalogueofCopticMSS.,p. 384ff.)Inoneofthese(Brit.Mus.Orient.1325)
wehaveacopyofthe"ScalaMagna"ofAbualBarakat,commonlyknownasIbnKabr,whodied A.D.1363,andafacsimileoffol.117aisgivenon p.81.Inonesectionwehavealistoftrees,alist ofvegetablesandplantspossessingaromaticperfumes,andalistofseeds,bothagriculturaland medical-infact,akindofCoPTICHERBAL.The listsarebilingual,CopticandArabic.Thefollowing isatranscriptoftheCopticnamesofplantswhich aregivenonp.81.
