Editor’s Note

Abstract

The genesis of the CSCS’s Eight Annual Coptic Studies Symposium “Interchanges between the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches: Literature, Monasticism and Culture” emanated from the CSCS’s 2011 seminar: “Medieval Coptic and Ethiopian Rock-cut Churches.” At this seminar, two interventions discussed “Rock- Hewn Churches of Ethiopia” and “The Reuse of Ancient Rock-Cut Monuments in Egypt as Churches.” The common grounds between the two civilizations in the areas of religious art and architecture were clear. While Coptologists and Ethiopists have noted at scholarly meetings that the intersection between the two cultures is immense and can be obviously found in the field of history, monasticism, literature, art and architecture, nevertheless analytic and comparative research is still necessary.