The Life Of Samuel Of Kalamun

The Life Of Samuel Of Kalamun is a hagiographical account of the life of a Coptic monk who lived between about 597 and 695 AD. He entered the monastery of Scetis at the age of 18 but when the Emperor Heraclius sent an agent to impose a new Christological doctrine upon the Copts in 631 AD, he was driven by persecution and torture first to the Fayyum and then, several years later, into the desert, where he spent three years as a captive of the Berbers, in the Siwa Oasis. On his release, he founded a monastery at Kalamun where he remained as Abbot for 57 years. Although there is no direct mention of the Arab invasion of Egypt in the text, an incident is related which might be an indirect reference to it. This Coptic text with translation and notes will be useful to any student of the language or history of medieval Egypt.

The second part of the book is a translation form Arabic of a text relating to St Samuel, which is a prophecy about the Arab conquest of Egypt.