Pahor Labib
Encyclopedia
Pahor Labib ( Arabic باهور لبيب ) (born 19 September 1905 at Ain Shams
, Cairo
; died 7 May, 1994) was
Director of the Coptic Museum
, Cairo, Egypt, from 1951 to 1965 and one of the world leaders in Egyptology
and Coptology
.
, also an Egyptologist and Coptologist who was one of the first Egyptians to learn Hieroglyphics from the French Egyptologists in Egypt and who compiled a Coptic-Arabic dictionary. He grew up in Ain Shams, a suburb of Cairo, where his father had a house with a few acres of land (13 "feddans") that were used to cultivate
fruits and vegetables.
For preparatory school Labib went to the "Great Coptic School" and then to Khedivieh Secondary School, both in Cairo. After Labib received his "Bachaloria", he entered the Faculty of Law. However, the Faculty of Archeology had recently opened and he joined this as well. At the final year, exams for both studies clashed, so he choose to sit the Archeology final which he passed with distinction.
Labib was sent for higher studies to Berlin
, Germany
in 1930. He obtained his Ph.D.
degree from the Frederick William University
in 1934. The subject of his doctoral degree was King Ahmose I
, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty
, who expelled the Hyksos
from Egypt. Labib showed that the Hyksos stayed in Egypt for 150 years (previously suggested periods were much longer) and that they came from Canaan
. He was the first Egyptian to obtain a doctorate in Egyptology. His teachers in Germany included Herman Grapow (with whom he stayed in touch till the latter’s death in 1967) and Kurt Heinrich Sethe
.
in 1935. In 1945 he obtained the post of Keeper at the Egyptian Museum
, Cairo. He was later appointed director of the provincial museums, during which period he established a few museums around the country, and expanded the Aswan Museum
. He was instrumental in transferring the Ismaila Museum from the Suez Canal Company
to the administration of the Department of Antiquity. In 1951, he was appointed Director of the Coptic Museum
, a post he kept until retiring in 1965.
Labib was chosen as acting director of the Egyptian Museum in the summer of 1964 to investigate the disappearance of a piece of Tutankhamun
's treasures. He remained acting director of the Egyptian Museum for a year.
During his directorship of the Coptic Museum
he turned the museum into a world famous research centre for Coptic Studies. He was one of the first to use the word "Coptology". Labib started the excavations in Abu Mena
, Western Desert in 1951. Through his contacts, he managed to build a rest house that was spacious and well furnished (built by the German Archeological Institute, Cairo). Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
used to visit the place and even stayed there, to hold an early service in the site of the ancient Cathedral of Saint Menas
. Later Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
started the building of the Monastery of Saint Mina
. Labib was also involved with excavations in "Tel-Atrib", near the city of Banha
in Lower Egypt
; the site of a great Cathedral
before the Arab invasion. Pope Shenouda III had an interest in and visited the site of these excavations.
Labib also contributed to the study of the Nag Hammadi texts. Translating these texts was a mammoth task as the Coptic language
encountered was also dealing with philosophy
. The UNESCO
had an interest in these texts and established an international committee to translate and publish this work. Labib was a secretary, vice president, and president of this committee. The first publication of part of the collection was by him in 1956. Publications of the translated manuscripts carried on until 1984. Labib believed that this philosophy is Egyptian in origin (rather than Greek) and presented a paper on the subject to the First International Congress of Coptology in Cairo in 1976.
A Coptic exhibition was held in Villa Hegel in Essen
(West Germany
) in 1963 to which Labib was an invited guest.
Labib served on many committees both nationally and internationally owing to his expertise in many fields. In the national arena he served on dozens of committees including the highest in the land to award the most prestigious awards in Arts and Social Sciences in the country. He also served on many committees for Archeology and Tourism, including one for Coptic Tourism. Labib further served on the management boards of the Coptic and Islamic Museums in Cairo and on the council for "Greater Cairo". He was a council member of the Coptic Archeology Institute and a founding member of the Institute of Coptic Studies
and La Societe de Saint Minas Le Miraculeux.
Labib was a founding member and President of the National Society of Art and served on the Council of the Society "Des Amis des Arts".
Labib taught at the University, both Egyptology and Coptic Language, especially the Hieroglyphic origins of Coptic words. His knowledge in both languages, with all their dialects and variations, was outstanding.
Labib was a member of the German Institute of Archeology, Berlin, and the Archeology Institute of the University of Prague
, and the UNESCO
Committee for Museums.
to the Coptic Museum
in 1963, he was awarded the World Decoration of Denmark. Also, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
awarded Labib a Gold Medal following a visit to the museum in 1959. From 1976-1994 he was an Honorary President of the International Association for Coptic Studies.
On the occasion of Labib's 70th birthday, the Committee of the Nag Hammadi Library
organized a special celebration and published a book in his honor, to which twenty-one international distinguished Coptologists contributed.
Ain Shams
Ain Shams or Ein Shams is a suburb of Cairo, Egypt. The name means "eye of the sun" in Arabic, with reference to the fact that Ain Shams is built on top of the ancient city of Heliopolis, once the spiritual centre of ancient Egyptian sun-worship.According to the 10th century Jewish biblical...
, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
; died 7 May, 1994) was
Director of the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
, Cairo, Egypt, from 1951 to 1965 and one of the world leaders in Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
and Coptology
Coptology
Coptology is most commonly defined as the science of Coptic studies, the study of Coptic language and literature.-Origin:The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in...
.
Early life and education
Labib was born in 1905 in Cairo. His father was Cladius LabibCladius Labib
Cladius Labib was an Egyptian Egyptologist. His family was known for copying church books. He used to accompany his father to the Al-Mouharak Monastery to learn Coptic with the monks. He was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest being Pahor and the middle being Tadros...
, also an Egyptologist and Coptologist who was one of the first Egyptians to learn Hieroglyphics from the French Egyptologists in Egypt and who compiled a Coptic-Arabic dictionary. He grew up in Ain Shams, a suburb of Cairo, where his father had a house with a few acres of land (13 "feddans") that were used to cultivate
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
fruits and vegetables.
For preparatory school Labib went to the "Great Coptic School" and then to Khedivieh Secondary School, both in Cairo. After Labib received his "Bachaloria", he entered the Faculty of Law. However, the Faculty of Archeology had recently opened and he joined this as well. At the final year, exams for both studies clashed, so he choose to sit the Archeology final which he passed with distinction.
Labib was sent for higher studies to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1930. He obtained his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degree from the Frederick William University
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
in 1934. The subject of his doctoral degree was King Ahmose I
Ahmose I
Ahmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Tao II Seqenenre and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, King Kamose...
, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
, who expelled the Hyksos
Hyksos
The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....
from Egypt. Labib showed that the Hyksos stayed in Egypt for 150 years (previously suggested periods were much longer) and that they came from Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. He was the first Egyptian to obtain a doctorate in Egyptology. His teachers in Germany included Herman Grapow (with whom he stayed in touch till the latter’s death in 1967) and Kurt Heinrich Sethe
Kurt Heinrich Sethe
Kurt Heinrich Sethe was a noted German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman...
.
Career
Labib returned to Egypt and was appointed Lecturer in the Institute of Archeology at Cairo UniversityCairo University
Cairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
in 1935. In 1945 he obtained the post of Keeper at the Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....
, Cairo. He was later appointed director of the provincial museums, during which period he established a few museums around the country, and expanded the Aswan Museum
Aswan Museum
Aswan Museum is a museum on Elephantine Island, in the south-eastern side of Aswan, Egypt.It opened to the public in 1912 and features Nubian artefacts saved during the construction of the Aswan Dam...
. He was instrumental in transferring the Ismaila Museum from the Suez Canal Company
Suez Canal Company
The Universal Suez Ship Canal Company was the Egyptian corporation which was formed by Ferdinand de Lesseps during 1858, constructed the Suez Canal between 1859 and 1869, and owned and operated it for many years thereafter...
to the administration of the Department of Antiquity. In 1951, he was appointed Director of the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
, a post he kept until retiring in 1965.
Labib was chosen as acting director of the Egyptian Museum in the summer of 1964 to investigate the disappearance of a piece of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
's treasures. He remained acting director of the Egyptian Museum for a year.
During his directorship of the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
he turned the museum into a world famous research centre for Coptic Studies. He was one of the first to use the word "Coptology". Labib started the excavations in Abu Mena
Abu Mena
Abu Mena was a town, monastery complex and Christian pilgrimage center in Late Antique Egypt, about 45 km southwest of Alexandria. Its remains were designated a World Heritage Site in 1979...
, Western Desert in 1951. Through his contacts, he managed to build a rest house that was spacious and well furnished (built by the German Archeological Institute, Cairo). Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
Father Mina became Pope of Alexandria on 10 May 1959 . In accordance with the old Coptic church tradition, Pope Cyril VI was the only monk in the 20th century to be chosen for papacy without having being a bishop /Metropolitan first...
used to visit the place and even stayed there, to hold an early service in the site of the ancient Cathedral of Saint Menas
Saint Menas
Saint Menas , the Martyr and Wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Egyptian saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers...
. Later Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
Father Mina became Pope of Alexandria on 10 May 1959 . In accordance with the old Coptic church tradition, Pope Cyril VI was the only monk in the 20th century to be chosen for papacy without having being a bishop /Metropolitan first...
started the building of the Monastery of Saint Mina
Monastery of Saint Mina
The Monastery of Saint Mina is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in the Western Desert near Alexandria. The modern monastery is built close to the ruins of Abu Mena, the original pilgrimage site, which was destroyed by the Arabs during the Muslim conquest of Egypt of the mid-7th...
. Labib was also involved with excavations in "Tel-Atrib", near the city of Banha
Banha
Banha , also spelled Benha, is the capital of the Qalyubia Governorate in north-eastern Egypt. Egyptians call it Banha Elasal, which means "Sweet like honey"; the nomenclature originally comes from when the Prophet Muhammed sent his massage to Elmoqwqs to convert to Islam, he replied by sending him...
in Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
; the site of a great Cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
before the Arab invasion. Pope Shenouda III had an interest in and visited the site of these excavations.
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
encountered was also dealing with philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. The UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
had an interest in these texts and established an international committee to translate and publish this work. Labib was a secretary, vice president, and president of this committee. The first publication of part of the collection was by him in 1956. Publications of the translated manuscripts carried on until 1984. Labib believed that this philosophy is Egyptian in origin (rather than Greek) and presented a paper on the subject to the First International Congress of Coptology in Cairo in 1976.
A Coptic exhibition was held in Villa Hegel in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
(West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
) in 1963 to which Labib was an invited guest.
Labib served on many committees both nationally and internationally owing to his expertise in many fields. In the national arena he served on dozens of committees including the highest in the land to award the most prestigious awards in Arts and Social Sciences in the country. He also served on many committees for Archeology and Tourism, including one for Coptic Tourism. Labib further served on the management boards of the Coptic and Islamic Museums in Cairo and on the council for "Greater Cairo". He was a council member of the Coptic Archeology Institute and a founding member of the Institute of Coptic Studies
Institute of Coptic Studies
The Institute of Coptic Studies was founded in 1954 by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is based in Cairo....
and La Societe de Saint Minas Le Miraculeux.
Labib was a founding member and President of the National Society of Art and served on the Council of the Society "Des Amis des Arts".
Labib taught at the University, both Egyptology and Coptic Language, especially the Hieroglyphic origins of Coptic words. His knowledge in both languages, with all their dialects and variations, was outstanding.
Labib was a member of the German Institute of Archeology, Berlin, and the Archeology Institute of the University of Prague
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...
, and the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Committee for Museums.
Awards
Labib was awarded the Decoration of the High Cross from Germany in 1976. Following a visit by Crown Princess Margrethe II of DenmarkMargrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
to the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
in 1963, he was awarded the World Decoration of Denmark. Also, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
awarded Labib a Gold Medal following a visit to the museum in 1959. From 1976-1994 he was an Honorary President of the International Association for Coptic Studies.
On the occasion of Labib's 70th birthday, the Committee of the Nag Hammadi Library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
organized a special celebration and published a book in his honor, to which twenty-one international distinguished Coptologists contributed.
Books
- Glimpses of ancient Egyptian studies, 1947 (in Arabic). ·
- "HUR MOHEB" Legislation, with Soofi Abu Taleb, 1972 (in Arabic).
- Glimpses of Minute Arts & Artifacts of Egyptian Antiquities, with Moh’d Hammad, 1962 (in Arabic).
- A Guide to the Coptic Museum, 1955 (in English).
- The Coptic Museum and the Babylon FortressBabylon FortressBabylon Fortress was an ancient fortress city or castle in the Delta of Egypt, located at Babylon in the area today known as Coptic Cairo.It was situated in the Heliopolite Nome, upon the right bank of the Nile, at latitude 30°N, near the commencement of the Pharaonic Canal , from the Nile to the...
in Old CairoOld CairoOld Cairo is a part of Cairo, Egypt, that contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before Cairo, such as Fustat, as well as some other elements from the city's varied history. For example, it encompasses Coptic Cairo and its many old churches and ruins of Roman fortifications...
, with Victor Girgis, 1975 (in English). - Coptic Art (issue 118 of "Your Book" series), 1978 (in Arabic) (ISBN 977-247-231-7).
- Coptic Gnostic Papyri in the Coptic Museum, Vol I, Government Press, Cairo, 1956 (in English).
- Nag Hammadi Codices III, 2 and IV, 2: The Gospel of the Egyptians (The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit) [Coptic Gnostic Library; Nag Hammadi Studies IV]. by Alexander and Frederik Wisse eds. with Pahor Labib (Author), 1975 (ISBN B001KZBSZ0).