Edward I Rizkalla

An English-Coptic Psalter and Agpeya Edward I Rizkalla

This book presents the complete Book of the Psalms, a Contemporary Prayer Book of the Hours, called the Agpeya in the Coptic language, and a few select Doxologies. The text is presented in both English and the Bohairic dialect of the Coptic language, according to the traditions of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Egypt. The Coptic language is in fact the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language. The English text presented is the equivalent available English text of the Coptic. The Prayer Book of the Hours, the Agpeya, is primarily based on selections of the Psalms, appropriate selections of the New Testament Gospel readings, and some hymns of praise. The presentation of the Agpeya Prayers accordingly refers to the psalms already included in the Book of the Psalms. The editor and scribe of the book, has strived to use scientific methods of enquiry to the maximum extent possible to come up with Coptic text. He used reliable sources based on available primary sources, and compared it directly with primary sources to obtain an accurate text. As ancient texts were written mostly without spacing between the words and without the aid of modern punctuation marks, the editor has attempted to present the Coptic text using punctuation marks, as used in American English.