Chapter 9 Religious violence in late antique Egypt reconsidered the cases of Alexandria, Panopolis, and Philae

• Main Author: Dijkstra, Jitse H. F. (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
• Subjects: Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Religious conflict in the ancient world|Religious persecution in the ancient world|Religious conflict in late antiquity|Religious persecution in late antiquity|Religious violence in late antiquity|Religious violence in the ancient world|Iconoclasm in the ancient world|Iconoclasm in the late antiquity|The Funerary Speech for John Chrysostom|John of Ephesus's Church History|Disability and early christianity|Deformity and early christianity|Religious persecution and early christianity|Religious violence and early christianity|Religious conflict and early christianity|pseudo-Clementine Homilies|Religious Violence in Late Antique Egypt|destruction of the Serapeum at Alexandria|Abbot Shenoute|Closure of temple of Isis Philae|Panopolis|Cologne Mani Codex|Manichaean Kephalaia|Gnostic-Manichaean Christianity|Hagiasma of Chonai|Jan Bremmer|Pieter J. J. Botha|Chris L. de Wet|Christine Shepardson|Alan H. Cadwallader|Christoph Stenschke|Maijastina Kahlos|Jitse H. F. Dijkstra|Peter Van Nuffelen|Elizabeth DePalma Digeser|Gerhard van den Heever
• Online Access: OAPEN Library: download the publication; OAPEN Library: description of the publication

Religious violence needs to be analysed on a case-by-case basis and in the context of the particular local and historical circumstances in which it arises, a theoretical premise that has also been applied to late antiquity. Stephen Emmel has conducted a meticulous analysis of all available passages on religious violence in the Shenoutian corpus. The idea that religious violence was endemic in the late antique world has remained influential. Scholars of Late Antique Studies are becoming increasingly critical of the literary accounts that describe violence between Christians and "pagans". This chapter discusses three cases that have been taken as exemplary for widespread religious violence in late antique Egypt or even for the pervasive nature of religious violence in the late antique world. The expansion of Christianity at Philae conforms entirely to similar developments in the rest of the region or, for that matter, in Egypt as a whole.