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Pope Cyril IV

Pope Cyril IV, the 110th patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, became known as the “Father of Reform” for his concern for learning, church institutions, and the laity.[^1]

Also known as: Cyril IV · Dawud Tumas Bashut · Cyril the Father of Reform · Kyrillus IV

Published 10/1/2026Updated 4 revisionsPage history

In brief

Pope Cyril IV was the 110th Coptic Orthodox patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, serving from 1854 to 1861. Known as the Father of Reform, he expanded education for boys and girls, established a Coptic printing press, supported liturgical language and chant, and undertook important missions to Ethiopia.

Life and patriarchate

Pope Cyril IV was the 110th patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, remembered as “Cyril the Father of Reform.” Born Dawud Tumas Bashut in 1816 at Naj‘ Abu Zaqali, near Akhmim in Upper Egypt, he entered Saint Antony’s Monastery at twenty-two and became its abbot at twenty-four. The biographical account associates his leadership with a love of learning and concern for monasteries, churches, and the laity.1

The same biography attributes his early appointment as abbot to his good character and charitable disposition, qualities that also brought him to Peter VII’s attention.43

His education included the traditional Coptic kuttab, or scriptorium, system.11

In 1851, Patriarch Peter VII delegated Father Dawud to address disputes between Ethiopian clergy and the Coptic metropolitan Anba Salama. His mission lasted eighteen months and achieved some success, but he was recalled during the patriarch’s final illness. He reached Cairo on 17 July 1852, after Peter VII had died, having recommended him as successor.2

Peter VII had been asked to intervene personally, but delegated Dawud because the journey was too arduous for him.44 The account of the Ethiopian prelates describes the mission’s particular concerns as reversing the effects of a doctrinal order that had divided Salama from part of the clergy and obtaining the Ethiopian ruler’s contribution toward the patriarchate’s expenses in assisting Ethiopian pilgrims at Jerusalem.45

Dawud’s absence and the lack of news about him divided the clergy over the succession, with some supporting him and others preferring the bishop of Akhmim.46 According to his biography, a majority supported Dawud after his return, but Abbas I hesitated to ratify the choice because fortune-tellers and astrologers whom he consulted warned against it.47 After two months of deadlock, the opposing parties accepted a compromise proposed by the Armenian bishop in Cairo: Dawud would become Metropolitan of Cairo for a probationary period before elevation to the patriarchate.48 Final agreement on his suitability followed fourteen months later.49

The passages differ in their dating of his patriarchate: the biographical entry gives 1854–1861, while a discussion of educational reform gives 1853–1861. A separate account distinguishes his consecration as general metropolitan in April 1853 from his installation as patriarch in June 1854.143

The account of his installation records approval from Khedive Abbas and gives the Coptic date as 11 Ba’unah 1570 A.M.12

Education and printing

Cyril devoted attention to establishing schools and is credited with sowing the seeds of modern education among the Copts.4 He also ordered the purchase of a printing press to be established in 1860.5

The older educational system combined biblical readings, especially the Psalms, and church hymnals with arithmetic and accounting, subjects that prepared Coptic scribes for work in state finance and agriculture.50 Because paper was scarce, kuttab pupils practiced on metal plates or slate tablets.51 Catholic mission schools had already offered European education to young Copts well before Cyril’s reforms.52 Around the middle of the nineteenth century, foreign missionary schools increasingly challenged the older kuttab system, with Asyut College prominent under American and British missionary leadership.53 The educational account presents Cyril’s reforms as an alternative for students who were uneasy about participation in the Protestant religious activities of those schools.54 His biography explicitly connects his program with the conviction that reform could be achieved only through a sound system of education.55

He founded the patriarchal primary school for boys in Azbakiyyah in 1853; it opened in 1855 and subsequently acquired a secondary section.13 Another boys’ primary school was established in Harit al-Saqqayin, with girls’ primary schools in both Azbakiyyah and Harit al-Saqqayin.14 His provincial foundations included a school at Bush during his leadership of Saint Antony’s Monastery and a later school at al-Mansurah modeled on it.15

The biographical account identifies the location of the Cairo boys’ and girls’ schools established in 1855 as al-Darb al-Wasi‘ and places the Harit al-Saqqayin schools in the district of ‘Abdin.56

The curriculum included English, French, Italian, and Turkish alongside Arabic and Coptic, with both foreign and Egyptian teachers appointed to teach the subjects.16 Cyril personally supervised curricula and visited schools regularly to encourage teachers and pupils.17 Heads of the older kuttabs who were disappointed by the changes were offered pensions.18

His involvement extended to attending some classes and participating in their discussions.57

He instructed the heads of girls’ schools to visit Coptic homes and encourage families to enroll their daughters, and he established boarding arrangements for students from the countryside.19 His schools admitted Muslims as well as Copts, provided free education, and offered students of both communities stipends toward living expenses.20 Khedive Sa‘id granted him land in al-Wadi in Sharqiyyah province to help finance the schools.21 Their students could take state public examinations on the same footing as government-school pupils, opening a route to further education.22

The future statesman Boutros Ghali studied at Cyril’s patriarchal school and later taught there.23 In 1855 Cyril recruited Philuthawus Ibrahim al-Baghdadi to study Coptic and theology within the patriarchate; after graduating, Philuthawus headed the Coptic school at al-Mansurah until its closure after Cyril’s death.24

When Boutros Ghali taught at the patriarchal school, its head was Ya‘qub Nakhlah Rufaylah, who later published a history of the Copts.58 Following the closure of the al-Mansurah school, Philuthawus returned to Cairo to teach Coptic at Harit al-Saqqayin while assisting ‘Iryan Jirjis Muftah.59

Cyril intended the press, purchased from Europe, to supply affordable school textbooks and publish manuscripts preserved in churches and monasteries.25 With Sa‘id’s permission, four Coptic students were apprenticed at the Bulaq Government Press, their salaries paid by the patriarch.26 According to a reported anecdote, Cyril was at Saint Antony’s Monastery when the press arrived in Alexandria and instructed his vicar to organize a jubilant reception at the railway station, with clergy participating and deacons singing in procession to the patriarchate.27 When criticized for this reception, he replied that, had he been present, he would have danced as David had before the Ark of the Covenant.28 Publication began with a Coptic grammar and continued with religious works, while Cyril also founded libraries that assisted authors in publishing their writings.29

The educational history identifies his establishment as the first Coptic printing press.60 A separate account of the Clerical College describes Cyril as having imported the second printing press into Egypt.61

Coptic chant and liturgical publications

Cyril insisted that Coptic remain the official liturgical language in churches.30 He entrusted Abuna Takla with systematic instruction of priests in Coptic, liturgy, and hymns, a teaching role subsequently held by ‘Iryan Jirjis Muftah.31

The account of cantorial training explains that Cyril sought a highly skilled specialist who could teach others, choosing a blind young teacher from the school adjoining the patriarchal Church of Saint Mark for his voice and musical ear; this teacher was subsequently ordained deacon as Abuna Takla.62 Takla’s instruction included correcting pronunciation and insisting on proper enunciation and delivery of the hymns.63

Cyril encouraged the deacon Abuna Takla to collect old Coptic chants. Takla traveled throughout Egypt, searching villages and towns for melodies; although church chants were his priority, he also collected folk songs.6

Takla’s collecting work also enabled him to compose liturgical melodies which, according to Ragheb Moftah, remained a basis of contemporary traditional Coptic liturgical music.32

In 1859, at Cyril’s order, Takla published the first edition of The Services of the Deacon, assisted by ‘Iryan Jirjis Muftah, a teacher of Coptic in the Patriarchal College. At the pope’s direction, Takla included four Greek hymns translated into Coptic. The source describes these as retaining their Greek melodies and being sung for the feasts of the Nativity and Resurrection.7

These hymns are designated Yunani, meaning Greek.64

Muftah introduced pronunciation modeled on modern Greek in place of the older Bohairic system, meeting resistance among clergy in Upper Egypt while his teaching spread in Lower Egypt, Cairo, and Alexandria.33

A teacher of Greek at Cairo’s ‘Abidiyyah School assisted Muftah in introducing this pronunciation system.65 Muftah also wrote manuals and grammars for teaching Coptic in a reformed modern style.66 His biographical entry tentatively associates this work with Cyril’s ecumenical outlook and desire to bring the Greek and Coptic churches closer together, presenting the connection as probable rather than certain.67 It also cautions that the older Bohairic pronunciation retained by opponents of the reform has been incorrectly described as Sahidic.68

Ethiopian mission and church administration

In September 1856, Khedive Sa‘id sent Cyril to Ethiopia to negotiate a border dispute. According to the biographical account, Emperor Theodorus initially welcomed him but subsequently suspected him of involvement in a conspiracy after receiving news of a threatened Egyptian invasion. The account states that the queen intervened to save Cyril from execution and that the emperor later accepted his innocence and released him. Cyril was welcomed back to Cairo on 13 February 1858.8

This was the first visit to Ethiopia by a Coptic patriarch.34 Cyril also hoped to obtain the emperor’s intervention with Sa‘id to release young Copts conscripted into the Egyptian army, and he and Salama drafted a letter proposing their release and the reception of Egyptian civil and military workers in Ethiopia.35 An account of the Ethiopian prelates records Cyril’s imprisonment alongside Salama and a public reconciliation on 16 January 1857 following intervention by the Ethiopian clergy.36 In October 1857 Cyril ended another crisis by lifting Salama’s excommunication of those who had supported the emperor’s actions against clerical interests, and permission for the patriarch’s departure followed in November.37

The account of the Ethiopian prelates dates Cyril’s arrival in Ethiopia to December 1856.69 It acknowledges uncertainty about the mission’s precise diplomatic aims but reconstructs Sa‘id’s offer of friendship against the background of his retreat from Muhammad ‘Ali’s southern expansionist policy, reduction of Egyptian forces in Sudan, and need for a friendly Ethiopian ruler.70 The conscription dispute arose from Sa‘id’s decree of January 1856 requiring young Copts, like young Muslims, to perform military service, a measure that disturbed Copts who had long been exempt and regarded the change as an indirect form of persecution.71

In this account, Tewodros refused to sign the proposed letter because he suspected Cyril of being Sa‘id’s spy and even a secret agent of Islam.72 Cyril’s request to see the emperor’s troops intensified those suspicions, and the imprisonment of the two prelates was accompanied by the searching and plundering of the patriarch’s baggage.73 At the reconciliation five days later, the emperor acknowledged his impulsiveness and allowed Cyril to bless him, although release from imprisonment did not bring immediate permission to leave Ethiopia.74 Cyril’s later lifting of the excommunication is reported to have taken place against Salama’s advice.75 The account judges that the mission did not achieve either of its two intended objectives.76 The patriarch’s biography adds that, on reaching Egyptian soil, he knelt and kissed the ground in gratitude to God for his safe return.77

During the remainder of his patriarchate, Cyril worked to strengthen relations with other Orthodox churches, built churches, and restored the cathedral in Cairo. The biography also records that he publicly burned icons collected from old churches, presenting this action as a lesson against excessive attachment to religious images.9

He moved the patriarchal seat from Harit al-Rum, where the patriarchs had resided since John XVI, to Azbakiyyah in modern Cairo.38 He also enlarged the precincts of Saint Antony’s Monastery to the south and west.39 Cyril reestablished the metropolitan See of Misr by consecrating Anba Butrus as bishop and then raising him to metropolitan rank; Butrus was the last metropolitan of that see.40 Accounts of the icon painter Astasi al-Rumi identify Upper Egypt as a particular focus of Cyril’s orders to destroy icons.41

Other metropolitans consecrated by Cyril included Anba Basilius for Jerusalem, al-Sharqiyyah, al-Daqahliyyah, al-Gharbiyyah, and al-Qanal; Anba Yu’annis for al-Minufiyyah; and Anba Murqus for Beheira.78 Basilios II’s biography dates his appointment to Jerusalem to 1856 and records that he had previously headed Saint Antony’s Monastery.79 The account of Astasi al-Rumi also shows that icon production continued during the controversy: many of this Arabic-speaking Greek painter’s works were produced in that period, with commissions coming from Coptic priests and notables.80

Death and remembrance

Cyril died in 1861 at the age of forty-five. The biographical entry describes the circumstances as obscure and reports that some sources alleged poisoning, without establishing that explanation as fact. It remembers him as one of the great patriarchs of the Coptic Church.10

His life was commemorated in poems by Iskandar Quzman, Ibrahim Hanna ‘Ataya, and other writers.42

Educational and institutional legacy

Philuthawus Ibrahim, whom Cyril had recruited for theological and linguistic study, later became the first head of the Clerical College at its foundation in 1893.81 The history of the Coptic Community Council places subsequent institutional reform within the framework of the Ottoman sultan’s 1856 Khatt hamayuni, which authorized councils within patriarchates to address personal-status matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, together with the administration of ecclesiastical and charitable trust property.82 It identifies the group of notables assembled by Bishop Mark of Beheira to assist with church finances after Demetrius II’s death in 1870—not a council established during Cyril’s own patriarchate—as the first nucleus of the Coptic Community Council.83

Transmission and preservation of the musical legacy

Takla transmitted his knowledge and skills to seven students, including Abuna Murqus of Matay and Mu‘allim Armanyus.84 In the following generation, a student of these teachers was the blind cantor Mikha’il Jirjis al-Batanuni, later a teacher at the Institute of Saint Didymus.85 Ragheb Moftah selected al-Batanuni to sing for the English musicologist Ernest Newlandsmith, who between 1928 and 1936 notated the complete Liturgy of Saint Basil and numerous hymns reserved for Advent and Lent.86

Magdalena Kuhn’s account of this musical tradition describes approximately 600 liturgical melodies as having survived through oral transmission from the middle of the nineteenth century, while noting that small changes occur over time in an exclusively oral tradition.87 The earliest audio recordings described in that account comprise eleven wax cylinders made in 1931 by Alfred Berner, performed by al-Batanuni and preserved in Berlin’s Phonogramm-Archiv.88 Between 1935 and 1957, Moftah assembled a further collection of traditional chants, again performed chiefly by al-Batanuni.89 The Moftah collection is housed in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and has also been preserved digitally at the German Center of Music in Hannover.90 Kuhn emphasizes a limitation of this surviving record: study of the melodies depends heavily on material collected and created by one chanter, Takla, and performed predominantly by one later musician, al-Batanuni.91

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is Pope Cyril IV called the Father of Reform?
He established modern schools, promoted girls’ education, supported Coptic and foreign-language instruction, introduced a Coptic printing press, and strengthened the training of clergy and cantors.
Who could attend Cyril IV’s schools?
His schools admitted Muslims as well as Copts, offered free education, and provided living stipends and boarding arrangements for students from the countryside.
What did Cyril IV do for Coptic chant?
He appointed Abuna Takla to teach melodies, encouraged the collection of old chants, and ordered the 1859 publication of The Services of the Deacon.
Why did Cyril IV travel to Ethiopia?
He first went as Father Dawud to address disputes involving the Coptic metropolitan and Ethiopian clergy. As patriarch, he returned on a diplomatic mission for Sa‘id and also sought relief for conscripted Copts.
How did Pope Cyril IV die?
He died in 1861 at forty-five. The biographical account calls the circumstances obscure; poisoning was alleged by some sources but is not established.

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    CYRIL IV, 110th Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (1854-1861). He was born Dawud Tumas Bashut in 1816 at Naj‘ Abu Zaqali, near Akhmim in Upper Egypt. At the age of twenty-two he entered St. Antony's monastery (DAYR ANBA ANTUNIYUS), becoming its abbot at the age of twenty-four by virtue of his good character and charitable disposition. Throughout his life he displayed a deep love for learning and keen enthusiasm to improve the condition of monasteries and churches, as well as a great interest in the laity, which later earned for him the title "Cyril the Father of Reform."
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    In 1851 reports of friction and dissent between the Ethiopian clergy and the Coptic Metropolitan "Anba Salama" were received by the Patriarch, who was requested to intervene in person. As the journey was too arduous for him, he delegated Father Dawud for this delicate task. His sojourn in Ethiopia extended to eighteen months, and he was able to achieve some success. But before he could finally accomplish his mission he was recalled by the Patriarch who had suddenly fallen ill. Two and a half months before Father Dawud arrived in Cairo on 17 July 1852, the Patriarch had already passed away, hav
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 641)
    Metropolitan Cyril, who was consecrated a general metropolitan in April 1853 following the decease of Peter VII, was installed as patriarch under the name Cyril IV in June 1854.
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 285)
    The seeds of modern education were sown among the Copts by Pope CYRIL IV (1853-1861), known as the "Father of Reform," who devoted his attention to the establishment of schools
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 743)
    Pope CYRIL IV gave orders for the purchase of a press to be established in 1860.
  6. 6.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    Abuna Takla was encouraged by Pope CYRIL IV (1854-1861) to collect old Coptic chants. He traveled the length and breadth of Egypt from north to south, from isolated villages to small towns, in search of old Coptic melodies. In the course of his mission, Abuna Takla’s first priority was to find the earliest records of Church chants, but he also collected old folk songs.
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    In 1859, at the order of Pope Cyril IV, he published the first edition of the book The Services of the Deacon (see Description of the Corpus, above), with the help of Deacon IRYAN JIRJIS MUFTAH, teacher of Coptic in the Patriarchal College. Also at the direction of the pope, Abuna Takla included therein four Greek hymns, which he translated into Coptic, and which are sung yet today for the feasts of the Nativity and Resurrection. They have kept their Greek melodies and are designated as Yunani (Greek).
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 41)
    In September 1856 he was called upon once again to undertake an important official mission to Ethiopia on behalf of Khedive Sa‘id, who delegated him to negotiate a solution to the thorny problem of the two countries' common borders. Emperor Theodorus gave the patriarch a warm welcome, but very shortly afterwards news came that Sa‘id was threatening to invade Ethiopia. The Emperor could not but think that the Coptic Patriarch was the cat's paw in a joint conspiracy. He flew into a rage and commanded his men to burn the Patriarch alive, and only the intervention of the Queen saved his life. The
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 41)
    Cyril IV resumed his effort during the rest of his pontificate to consolidate the ties between the Coptic Church and other Orthodox churches. He built new churches and restored the cathedral building in Cairo. He took the restoration as an opportunity to teach his people a lesson on the sin of excessive attachment to religious pictures and images. He even collected a number of icons from old church buildings and burnt them in the presence of a large crowd.
  10. 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 41)
    Cyril IV died in 1861 at the relatively early age of forty-five. The events surrounding his death are rather obscure, and some sources contend that he was poisoned. Nevertheless, he is remembered as one of the great patriarchs of the Coptic Church.
  11. 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    In fact, Cyril IV himself was the product of those scriptoria
  12. 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    Final agreement as to his suitability was reached fourteen months later, and approval was secured from Khedive Abbas. He assumed his responsibilities as Patriarch in the summer of 1854, on 11 Ba’unah 1570 A.M.
  13. 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    In 1853, Cyril IV founded in Azbakiyyah the patriarchal primary school for boys, which was inaugurated in 1855 and later supplemented by a secondary section.
  14. 14.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    Another primary school was established in Harit al-Saqqayin and two girls' primary schools were started in both the Azbakiyyah district and Harit al-Saqqayin.
  15. 15.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    In the provinces, he established a similar school at al-Mansurah along the same pattern of the one he had founded at Bush during his primacy at Saint Antony's monastery
  16. 16.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    The pope made sure to introduce progressive programs and foreign languages such as English, French, Italian, and Turkish, in addition to Arabic and Coptic as major disciplines. He appointed teachers, both foreign and native, to take charge of teaching all subjects.
  17. 17.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    He put the curricula under his own personal supervision and visited the schools regularly to encourage both teachers and students.
  18. 18.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    The disappointed heads of the old kuttabs were conciliated by the offer of a pension.
  19. 19.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    schools to visit Coptic homes and encourage families to enroll their daughters in their institutions. He started a boarding arrangement to accommodate students from the country.
  20. 20.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    All his schools were open to Muslims as well as Copts, without distinction. ... The pope offered free education and even paid students, both Coptic and Muslim, a stipend to help them with their living expenses.
  21. 21.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    Khedive Sa‘id (1854-1863) was impressed by the patriarch's achievement and granted Cyril IV land in the al-Wadi area of the Sharqiyyah province to help him cover the expenses incurred in his schools.
  22. 22.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 658)
    Cyril IV's Coptic schools were permitted to take public examinations on a par with government school students.
  23. 23.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 251)
    His father, the steward of the estate of Prince Mustafa Fadil, brother of Khedive Isma‘il, first sent him to the patriarchal school, which had recently been founded in Cairo by CYRIL IV (1854-1861). ... On completing his studies, he became a teacher at the patriarchal school
  24. 24.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 662)
    In 1855 he decided to move to Cairo, where Pope CYRIL IV recruited him for the study of Coptic language and theology within the patriarchate. Subsequent to graduation, Philuthawus headed a Coptic school in al-Mansurah, where he taught Coptic until it was closed after the death of the pope.
  25. 25.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    Cyril IV realized the necessity of having a printing press at the Patriarchate to supply schools with the right textbooks at a reasonable price, and also to reprint the precious manuscripts that were stored in various churches and monasteries. He therefore gave orders for the purchase of a press from Europe
  26. 26.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    obtained permission from Khedive SA‘ID to admit four Coptic students as apprentices at the Bulaq Government Press. They were to receive their salaries from the patriarch himself.
  27. 27.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    It is related that when the press arrived in Alexandria, Cyril IV was away in St. Antony's monastery, but he asked his Vicar to welcome the arrival of the press at the railway station with an organized and jubilant procession to the seat of the Patriarchate. The clergy would take part and the deacons sing.
  28. 28.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    Some persons, who could not understand the significance of such a reception, belittled the whole matter and criticized the Patriarch. He told them that had he been present at the time, he would have danced in the procession as David had danced in front of the Ark of the Covenant.
  29. 29.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    He started with the publication of a Coptic grammar, and soon a flow of religious publications poured out of this press. He founded numerous libraries, which helped many authors in the publication of their works.
  30. 30.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 713)
    CYRIL IV (1854-1861), who insisted on the use of Coptic in churches as the official liturgical language.
  31. 31.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 713)
    Cyril IV entrusted the HEGUMENOS Takla with the teaching, on a scientific basis, of the Coptic language, liturgy, and hymnal to priests. He was succeeded in this capacity by Mu‘allim ‘IRYAN JIRJIS MUFTAH.
  32. 32.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    Abuna Takla’s quest enabled him to compose liturgical melodies himself. Moftah noted that these melodies are still the basis of contemporary Coptic traditional liturgical music.
  33. 33.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 757)
    ‘Iryan, as he was called, departed from the old Bohairic system in the church offices and tried to introduce the rules of modern Greek pronunciation ... This found opposition amid the clergy of Upper Egypt who clung to the old Bohairic ... his system spread rapidly in Lower Egypt and the metropolitan cities of Cairo and Alexandria.
  34. 34.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 71)
    this was the first time that a Coptic patriarch had come to Ethiopia
  35. 35.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    Cyril IV accepted the mission in the hope also of inducing Tewodros to intervene with Sa‘id and get him to revoke the decree. ... the patriarch, in agreement with Abuna Salama III, drafted a letter in which Tewodros, accepting Sa‘id's friendship, invited him to release the young Copts enrolled by force in the Egyptian army and declared himself disposed to receive from Egypt a certain number of civil and military "workers"
  36. 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    Tewodros had Cyril IV and Salama III imprisoned. ... Five days later, on 16 January 1857, following the intervention of the Ethiopian clergy, there was a public and solemn reconciliation.
  37. 37.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    In October of the same year, following a new dispute with Tewodros, Salama publicly excommunicated all those who had followed the negus in his actions contrary to the interests of the clergy. It was Cyril IV who put an end to this new crisis by raising the excommunication ... Shortly afterward, the negus authorized the patriarch's departure (November 1857)
  38. 38.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 505)
    HARIT AL-RUM, Coptic quarter in old Cairo and the residence of the Coptic patriarchs from John XVI (1676-1718) to Cyril IV (1854-1861), who moved the patriarchal seat to the Azbakiyyah quarter in modern Cairo.
  39. 39.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 158)
    1854: CYRIL IV, hegumenos of the Monastery of Saint Antony, is named patriarch of Alexandria. He enlarges the precincts to the south and west
  40. 40.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 639)
    Pope CYRIL IV (1854-1861) reestablished the metropolitan See of Misr by consecrating Anba Butrus as bishop and promoting him to the metropolitan rank. This was the last metropolitan of the See of Misr.
  41. 41.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 715)
    the Patriarch CYRIL IV ordered the destruction of many icons, particularly in Upper Egypt.
  42. 42.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 289)
    His life was commemorated in poems by Iskandar Quzman, Ibrahim Hanna ‘Ataya, and others.
  43. 43.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    becoming its abbot at the age of twenty-four by virtue of his good character and charitable disposition
  44. 44.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    As the journey was too arduous for him, he delegated Father Dawud for this delicate task.
  45. 45.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 71)
    with the aim of reversing the effects of a doctrinal order that had set Salama III in opposition to part of the clergy and of asking the negus to contribute to the expenses that the patriarchate had to bear at Jerusalem to help the Ethiopian pilgrims
  46. 46.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    Father Dawud's absence in Ethiopia and the lack of news about him led to a split of opinion among the clergy. Some members supported him, but others were in favor of appointing the bishop of Akhmim.
  47. 47.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    the majority agreed to submit his name to the khedive Abbas I for ratification. The latter, however, was in the habit of consulting fortune-tellers and astrologers
  48. 48.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 39)
    Two months later they agreed to a recommendation made by the Armenian Bishop in Cairo, to promote Father Dawud to the rank of Metropolitan of Cairo as a conciliatory measure, for a probationary
  49. 49.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    Final agreement as to his suitability was reached fourteen months later
  50. 50.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 655)
    Coptic education in the kuttab revolved primarily around religious instruction beginning with readings from the Bible, particularly the Psalms, and church hymnals. However, it was in the secular subjects such as arithmetic and accounting that the Coptic scribes later excelled
  51. 51.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 655)
    All training in the kuttab was conducted on metal plates or slate tablets owing to lack of paper material.
  52. 52.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 387)
    the establishment of mission schools, which offered young Copts European education long before the reform movement of CYRIL IV
  53. 53.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    the foreign missionary schools began to emerge with an impact on the antiquated kuttab system. Asyut College took the lead of these institutions under the leadership of American and British missionaries.
  54. 54.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    Owing, however, to Protestant doctrinal differences taught in these schools, the students began to have second thoughts about participation in their religious activities. A solution to this situation was soon found in the educational reforms carried out by Cyril IV.
  55. 55.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    He was convinced that reform can be attained only through a sound system of education.
  56. 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 40)
    in 1855 at al-Darb al-Wasi‘ district in Cairo, two others at Harat al-Saqqayin in the district of ‘Abdin also in Cairo
  57. 57.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    The pope himself took to attending some of these classes and participated in their discussions.
  58. 58.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 251)
    he became a teacher at the patriarchal school, headed by YA‘QUB NAKHLAH RUFAYLAH, who was later to publish a history of the Copts
  59. 59.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 662)
    Consequently he returned to Cairo to teach Coptic in the school of Harit al-Saqqayin while assisting ‘IRYAN JIRJIS MUFTAH
  60. 60.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 657)
    the great patriarch established the first Coptic printing press
  61. 61.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 599)
    Pope CYRIL IV (1854-1861), who had previously imported the second printing press into Egypt
  62. 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    the pope found a blind young man who was teaching in the school adjacent to the patriarchal Church of Saint Mark, and perceiving him to be gifted with a good voice and keen ear, he appointed him to be teacher of melodies. Later, this teacher was ordained a deacon, Abuna Takla by name.
  63. 63.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    Abuna Takla corrected the pronunciation of the language, demanding proper enunciation and delivery of the hymns.
  64. 64.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    They have kept their Greek melodies and are designated as Yunani (Greek).
  65. 65.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 713)
    This took place with the assistance of a teacher of the Greek language at the ‘Abidiyyah School in Cairo.
  66. 66.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 757)
    ‘Iryan is known to have written manuals and grammar books for teaching the Coptic language in a reformed modern style.
  67. 67.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 757)
    This probably occurred under the influence of the ecumenical spirit of his superior, Cyril IV, who aimed at bringing the Greek and Coptic churches closer together.
  68. 68.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 757)
    the clergy of Upper Egypt who clung to the old Bohairic, now wrongly described as Sahidic
  69. 69.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    From the time of his arrival in Ethiopia in December 1856
  70. 70.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 71)
    The documents available are silent in regard to the precise aims of the mission, but the history of the Copts permits some deductions. The viceroy of Egypt, Sa‘id Pasha (1854-1863), was inclined not to pursue in the south the policy of expansion adopted by his father, Muhammad ‘Ali.
  71. 71.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 71)
    In January 1856, with the aim of forming a national army, Sa‘id had decreed that all young Copts, like young Muslims, were to do military service. The Copts, who for centuries had been exempt from any military obligation, were greatly disturbed by this decree
  72. 72.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    Suspecting that Cyril was in the service of Sa‘id as a spy and even a secret agent of Islam, Tewodros refused to sign the letter.
  73. 73.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    His rage became fully manifest when Cyril expressed the desire to see the negus's troops; convinced of the justice of his suspicions, Tewodros had Cyril IV and Salama III imprisoned. Then he had the patriarch's baggage searched and plundered.
  74. 74.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    Five days later, on 16 January 1857, following the intervention of the Ethiopian clergy, there was a public and solemn reconciliation. Recognizing that he had been too impulsive, Tewodros liberated the two prelates and allowed Cyril IV to bless him, but the patriarch was scarcely authorized to leave Ethiopia.
  75. 75.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    It was Cyril IV who put an end to this new crisis by raising the excommunication, and this, it is said, despite Salama's advice to the contrary.
  76. 76.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 72)
    The two objects of the mission were not attained; indeed, it had results opposite to those hoped for.
  77. 77.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 41)
    As soon as he set foot on Egyptian soil he knelt down and kissed the ground in gratitude to God for his safe return.
  78. 78.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 641)
    Anba BASILIUS, metropolitan of Jerusalem, al-Sharqiyyah, al-Daqahliyyah, al-Gharbiyyah, and al-Qanal (Suez Canal); Anba Yu’annis, metropolitan of al-Minufiyyah; Anba Murqus, metropolitan of Beheira
  79. 79.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 105)
    He was then chosen to be head of the monastery. In 1856 he became archbishop of the see of Jerusalem during the time of Patriarch CYRIL IV
  80. 80.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 715)
    Most of his many icons, which were commissioned either by Coptic priests or by Coptic notables, were painted in Cairo, where he lived in the HARIT AL-RUM. Many of his icons were produced during the iconoclastic controversy within the Coptic church
  81. 81.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 656)
    the hegumenos PHILUTHAWUS IBRAHIM who first headed the CLERICAL COLLEGE at its foundation in 1893
  82. 82.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
    following the issuance of the Sultan's Khatt hamayuni (official decree) in 1856 ... It authorized the establishment of special councils within the patriarchates to deal with problems of "personal status," such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, as well as the administration of the waqfs
  83. 83.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 644)
    With the death of Pope Demetrius in 1870, Mark (Murqus), bishop of the province of al-Beheirah, was appointed locum tenens ... Bishop Mark chose a number of notables to assist him in the administration of the financial affairs of the church. This may be considered the first nucleus of the community council.
  84. 84.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    Abuna Takla had seven students to whom he transmitted his knowledge and skills. Among these were two cantors, Abuna Murqus of Matay, and Mu‘allim Armanyus.
  85. 85.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    In the generation following, one of their students was the blind cantor, Mu‘allim MIKHA’IL JIRJIS al-Batanuni ... A faithful teacher at the Institute of Saint Didymus
  86. 86.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 104)
    he was the cantor chosen by Ragheb Moftah to sing to the English musicologist, Ernest Newlandsmith, who, from 1928 to 1936, notated the complete Liturgy of Saint Basil and many hymns reserved for Advent and Lent
  87. 87.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    from time to time, some small changes take place in an exclusively oral music tradition. As an oral tradition, some 600 Coptic traditional liturgical melodies have survived from the middle of the 19th century to the present day
  88. 88.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    The first audio recordings, 11 wax cylinders of Coptic music, are deposited in the Phonogramm-Archiv in Berlin. They were recorded in 1931 by Alfred Berner ... and were performed by the professional musician and cantor Mikhail Girgis al-Batanouny
  89. 89.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    Between 1935 and 1957, Moftah put great effort into building up a collection of known Coptic traditional chants. These chants were also mostly performed by al-Batanouny.
  90. 90.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    The entire Moftah collection is housed in the United States in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It has also been saved in digital files at the German Center of Music in Hannover
  91. 91.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
    unfortunately collected and created by one single chanter, the deacon Abuna Takla, and mostly performed by one professional musician, al-Batanouny

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