Claudius Iohannes Labib (; 1868–1918) was a Coptic Egyptian

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

. His family was known for copying church books. He used to accompany his father to the Al-Mouharak Monastery to learn

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

with the monks. He was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest being Pahor and the middle being Tadros. Labib learned

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

from the French Egyptologists and was the second modern Egyptian to learn this ancient language (the first was

Ahmad Kamal Ahmed Kamal (born 9 April 1938) is a retired Pakistani diplomat, most noted for his work at the United Nations. He served as a professional diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan for close to forty years until his retirement in ...

and Ahmad Kamal is of Turkish origin). Claudius Labib is credited for making the first Coptic-Arabic Dictionary. He died before finishing it. Claudius Labib was the chief editor of "On" (, Heliopolis) magazine which had articles written in Coptic. He also pioneered educational books for children named ⲁϧⲱⲙⲫⲁⲧ (''Akhomphat)''. Claudius Labib was also responsible for editing a series of religious texts used by the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

. The works were published at Cairo as follows: Katamãrus, 1900–02; Euchologion, 1904; Funeral Service, 1905.

References

External links

The Coptist: Claudius Labib – short biography and bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labib, Cladius 1868 births 1918 deaths Coptologists Coptic language Coptic Orthodox Christians from Egypt Egyptian lexicographers Egyptian Egyptologists People from Asyut Governorate