The Early Coptic Papacy: The Egyptian Church and Its Leadership in Late Antiquity

This volume, the first in a three part series, examines the evolving role of the Alexandrian patriarchate from the firstto the seventh century CE. Focusing on representations of the patriarchs in both literature and art, I argue that theidentity of the Egyptian church and its leadership was shaped in late antiquity by the cultural discourses ofapostolicity, martyrdom, monastic patronage, and theological resistance.