I work on a group of Sahidic texts attributed to st. Athanasius of Alexandria ( Pseudo-Athanasius).The writer tells some miracles of the Archangel Michael and St. Pachomius; attacks Arius the heretic; praises Alexander Archbishop of Alexandria because of his works in the council of Nicaea; and describes a meeting between st. Pachomius and st. Athanasius while he was exiled. In the biggest part of these texts, the writer attacks adulterers; explains how rich men can go to the kingdom of heaven; advices the poor not to envy them, and encourages people to go to the church and share in the Eucharist. 

In my research I will study the authenticity of the texts and try to find an accurate dating to them using other parallel texts (Sahidic and Arabic), and find out how the people of this age viewed their hero, the founder of orthodoxy, Athanasius. A big part of my thesis will be about the Coptic Christianity at that period throw these texts, and how it was growing at this stage of its long history especially after the Arab conquest. I also will focus on the language itself and study the dialectical variants in the texts.

• sahidic texts
• st. athanasius of alexandria