ABSTRACT
This chapter examines four letters written in Egypt between the tenth and the twelfth century by Christian bishops reacting to crimes and misdemeanors in local Christian communities. The bishops all react with an accumulation of curses and threats of excommunication for the perpetrators. The analyses in this chapter adopt two perspectives. First, the letters are testimonies of the judicial and social role of Christian bishops in late antique and Islamic Egypt. The chapter challenges the view that the harsh language, with the accumulation of curses and threats of excommunication, reflects the bishops’ waning judicial authority in Islamic Egypt and instead shows the extent to which the letters, including their language, are embedded in the Coptic documentary tradition. The second perspective is that of the particular situations in which the letters performed their function. This focus on the performative aspect of the letters leads to a discussion of their intended and unintended effects on their audiences.
