Christianity and monasticism have flourished in Upper Egypt from as early as the fourth century until the present day. The contributors to this volume, international specialists in Coptology from around the world, examine various aspects of Coptic civilization along the Nile Valley from Nag Hammadi (associated with the famous discovery of Gnostic papyri) through Luxor and Coptos and south to Esna over the past seventeen hundred years, looking at Coptic religious history, tradition, language, heritage, and material culture in the region through texts, art, architecture and archaeology. Contributors: Iwona Antoniak, Heike Behlmer, Ramez Boutros, Renate Dekker, Marianne Eaton-Krauss, Stephen Emmel, Cäcilia Fluck, Gawdat Gabra, James E. Goehring, Martin Krause, Bishop Martyros, Nashaat Mekhaiel, Howard Middleton-Jones, Samuel Moawad, Ashraf Nageh, Fr. Angelous el-Naqlouny, Elisabeth R. OConnell, Tonio Siegfried Richter, Adel F. Sadek, Ashraf Alexandre Sadek, Fr. Bigoul al-Suriany, Matthew Underwood, Jacques van der Vliet, Gertrud J.M. van Loon, Fr. Awad Wadi, Youhanna Nessim Youssef
