Marcus Simaika

Nevine Henein, Samir Simaika

Description

The compelling life and times of a leading figure of modern Coptic Egyptian history
Marcus Pasha Simaika (1864-1944) was born to a prominent Coptic family on the eve of the inauguration of the Suez Canal and the British occupation of Egypt. From a young age, he developed a passion for Coptic heritage and devoted his life to shedding light on centuries of Christian Egyptian history that had been neglected by ignorance or otherwise belittled and despised. He was not a professional archaeologist, an excavator, or a specialist scholar of Coptic language and literature. Rather, his achievement lies in his role as a visionary administrator who used his status to pursue relentlessly his dream of founding a Coptic Museum and preserving endangered monuments. During his lengthy career, first as a civil servant, then as a legislator and member of the Coptic community council, he maneuvered endlessly between the patriarch and the church hierarchy, the Coptic community council, the British authorities, and the government to bring them together in his fight to save Coptic heritage.This fascinating biography draws upon Simaika's unpublished memoirs as well as on other documents and photographs from the Simaika family archive to deepen our understanding of several important themes of modern Egyptian history: the development of Coptic archaeology and heritage studies, Egyptian-British interactions during the colonial and semi-colonial eras, shifting balances in the interaction of clergymen and the lay Coptic community, and the ever-sensitive evolution of relations between Copts and their Muslim countrymen.

Sujets

• Musulmán
• Musulman
• Islam
• History
• Egypt
• Histoire
• Middle Est

Informations

• Publié par: The American University in Cairo Press
• Date de parution: 31 août 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781617978012
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

MARCUS SIMAIKA
MARCUS SIMAIKA
Father of Coptic Archaeology
Samir Simaika
Nevine Henein
Introduced by
Donald M. Reid
The American University in Cairo Press Cairo New York
Copyright 2017 by The American University in Cairo Press 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 www.aucpress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978 977 416 823 9
eISBN 978 1 61797 801 2
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Youssef Marcus Simaika, to whom I owe so much.
-Samir Simaika
CONTENTS
The Simaika Family Tree
Chronology
Acknowledgments
Preface
List of Illustrations
Introduction by Donald M. Reid
Part 1: The Early Years
1. Cairo
2. A Love of Learning
3. A Prominent Family
Part 2: Service to Government and Nation
4. The State Railways
5. Education and Legislation
The Superior Council of Education
The Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly
6. Simaika and the British Administrators
Lord Cromer (1883-1907)
Sir Eldon Gorst (1907-11)
Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (1911-14)
Sir Henry McMahon (1914-17)
Sir Reginald Wingate (1917-19)
Lord Allenby (1919-25)
Lord Lloyd (1925-29)
Part 3: Service to the Coptic Church and Community
7. An Ancient Church
Monks and Missionaries
The Copts after the Arab Conquests
The Rise of Coptic Notables
8. The Patriarchs
Cyril IV (1854-61)
Cyril V (1874-1927)
Yohannes XIX (1928-42)
9. The Awakening of the Coptic Church
10. Al-Majlis al-Milli
11. The Coptic and Ethiopian Dispute over Deir al-Sultan in Jerusalem
12. Travels in Sudan
Part 4: The Coptic Museum and Heritage Preservation
13. A Crumbling Heritage
14. The Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art
15. A New Museum
The Mu allaqa Church
The Coptic Museum
16. A State Institution
17. Searching for Antiquities, Saving Libraries
18. Recognition
Appendix: Some Coptic Social Customs
Selected Bibliography
Notes
Index

CHRONOLOGY
1864
Marcus Simaika is born in Cairo on February 28
1874
Establishment of the first Coptic Majlis al-Milli
1881
Khedive Tewfik establishes the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art
1882
Egypt occupied by British forces Simaika graduates from school. He is appointed secretary to Emily, Viscountess Strangford (Victoria Hospital; temporary, four-month appointment)
1883
Simaika is appointed translator, Engineering Department, Egyptian State Railways; transferred to Accounting Department, Egyptian State Railways, then to Purchasing Department, Egyptian State Railways
1884
Publication of A.J. Butler s The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt . Butler was assisted by Marcus s brother Abd al-Messih Simaika
1888
Simaika is appointed chief, Purchasing and Contracts Office, Egyptian State Railways
1889
Simaika is elected to the Majlis al-Milli at age twenty-five
1890
Herz is appointed chief architect of the Comit Pope Cyril V refuses to recognize the Majlis al-Milli and shuts down clerical college and girls school
Simaika is appointed secretary to the chairman of the board, Egyptian State Railways; meets Somers Clarke at A.J. Butler s house in Oxford
1891
Somers Clarke visits Egypt. Simaika accompanies him on a visit to all the ancient churches. Somers Clarke writes a letter to the Times of London deploring the poor renovations. Simaika accompanies Lord Cromer on a visit of the churches in response to Somers Clarke s letter.
1892
Pope and Bishop of Alexandria are exiled at the request of the Majlis al-Milli for opposition to reform
Khedive Abbas Hilmi II appoints his brother, Prince Muhammad Ali, as honorary president of the Comit
1893
Boutros Ghali convinces the Majlis al-Milli to recall the exiled pope, who promptly dissolves the Majlis al-Milli and appoints a weak administrative committee
Simaika is appointed secretary of the Traffic Department, Egyptian State Railways, and secretary to the chairman of the board
1895
Simaika is appointed inspector general of Accounts and deputy chief of Audit, Egyptian State Railways
1896
Coptic monuments are put under the control of the Comit . The patriarch objects, blames Simaika, and blocks his appointment to the Comit for nine years. Nakhla Bey al-Barati is the Coptic appointee to the Comit instead.
1897
The Awakening of the Coptic Church is published anonymously in the Oxford Contemporary Review by A Coptic Layman
1899
Title of bey conferred upon Simaika
1901
Simaika is appointed director general, Accounts and Audit, Egyptian State Railways
1902
Somers Clarke settles in Egypt
1904
Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale
1905
New Majlis al-Milli elected
Simaika heads Majlis al-Milli committee in charge of schools and spearheads initiative to build industrial schools
Simaika is appointed to the Comit , remaining a member until his death in 1944
1906
Simaika retires from government service at age 42. He is appointed a permanent member of the Legislative Council and also appointed to the first Superior Council of Education
1907
First attempt to establish a small Coptic Museum adjoining the Mu allaqa Church
1908
Pope gives permission to start museum
Simaika starts a subscription list for the museum
Simaika is appointed vice president of the Majlis al-Milli
Simaika s first visit to Sudan as a member of the Legislative Council Delegation for the inauguration of Port Sudan harbor by Abbas Helmy II
1909
Simaika visits Sudan with Cyril V for the consecration of the Coptic cathedral. Stops in Upper Egypt along the way.
1910
Assassination of Boutros Pasha Ghali
Formal inauguration of the Coptic Museum
Former US president Theodore Roosevelt visits the Coptic Museum
Simaika s third and final visit to Sudan at personal invitation of Reginald Wingate, governor general of Sudan
1915
Title of pasha conferred upon Simaika
1919
Approval of proposal to build Coptic hospital in Abbasiya
1920
Sultan (later King) Fuad visits the Coptic Museum
1923
Dissolution of the Legislative Assembly
Simaika leaves Superior Council of Education and retires from public life
1928
Simaika resigns from Majlis al-Milli in protest over its financial policies. He is appointed president of the technical committee of the Comit in June of this year, remaining president until ca. 1940.
1931
Decree issued declaring the Coptic Museum a state institution. The decision is met with much opposition within the Coptic community.
1936
Start of transfer of Coptic relics from the Egyptian Museum to the Coptic Museum
1938
Simaika publishes A Brief Guide to the Coptic Museum and to the Principal Ancient Coptic Churches of Cairo
1939
Second World War breaks out; Coptic Museum artifacts are packed up and moved to Saqqara for safekeeping
Simaika publishes Catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic Manuscripts in the Coptic Museum, the Patriarchate, the Principal Churches of Cairo and Alexandria and the Monasteries of Egypt with Yassa Effendi Abd al-Messih
1944
Marcus Simaika dies in Alexandria on October 2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my wife Yolande for her continuous help and unwavering encouragement throughout this endeavor, and Fayka, my sister, for kindly providing various family photographs from her albums.
To Jonathan Harris, I owe a great deal for his invaluable help, creative advice, and, above all, for his patience. Thank you, Jonathan.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Donald Reid for his insightful critique and wholehearted support and for very generously agreeing to write an introduction to the book.
Many thanks, also, to the American University in Cairo Press team for believing in the historical value of this book and making it happen.
I am also indebted to my co-author, Nevine Henein, for transforming my initial, hastily thrown-together account into a clear narrative befitting the life, wisdom, and achievements of an exceptional man, Marcus Pasha Simaika.
Samir Simaika
PREFACE
Samir Simaika
I inherited the memoirs of my grandfather, Marcus Pasha Simaika, from my father, his eldest son, some forty years ago. At that time, I only rapidly skimmed through them, not having the time to read them carefully, being very busy as an obstetrician and gynecologist with a large practice that I had taken over from my maternal grandfather, Professor Naguib Pasha Mahfouz, 1 at his retirement. When I finally diminished my work in preparation for my own retirement, I decided to read these memoirs, which had never been published, more thoroughly, and I discovered a wealth of information regarding an era spanning nearly a century, from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-1940s, a crucial time in the modern history of Egypt. Simaika was an eyewitness to many important events that eventually changed the course of the history of Egypt.
This book is based in large part on the memoirs and documents in my possession. I have expanded on the political and historical backgrounds to events related to this