History Documentary hosted by Philip Hurdwood, published by RM Associates in 2000 - English narration
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The Copts are the Christians of Egypt. They constitute the largest Christian community in the Middle East. It is through the stories of the first travelers, archaeological excavations, and by sharing with us the daily life of the monks of the monasteries of Saint-Paul and Saint-Anthony, that this film makes us discover history, art and the culture as rich as it is unknown to the Christians of Egypt.
In a suburb of Cairo are a tree and a well, said to mark the place where the Holy Family took refuge after their flight to Egypt. The Copts, the native Christian community of Egypt, have a culture, a language and a church with ancient roots. Having survived Roman persecution and Byzantine rule, they have co-existed with Islam for fourteen centuries. This program visits two of the oldest desert monasteries in Egypt to observe religious practices and a way of life that have changed remarkably little since the beginnings of Coptic Christianity. Using examples of the icons found here, it illustrates the stories of the first Christian hermit, Saint Paul of Thebes, and the first Christian monk, Saint Anthony.
Alain Jomier's film also documents archaeological discoveries which have illuminated our knowledge of the customs of the early Christian Egyptians and brought to light fine examples of Coptic textiles and murals. At the monastery of Saint Anthony, the restoration of the magnificent thirteenth-century murals that decorate the church has revealed a uniquely comprehensive Coptic iconography. Father Maximus conducts viewers through the church, explaining how the images, and their ordering in relationship to the architecture, guide the believer in their spiritual quest.
A film by Alain Jomier ; Produced by Les Films d'ici Institut du Monde Arabe La Cinquieme in association with the Centre National de la Cinematographie and with the support of PROCIREP
Video Codec: x264 CABAC High@L4 Video Bitrate: 2 050 kb/s Video Resolution: 720x540 Display Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Frames Per Second: 29.970 fps Audio Codec: AAC (LC) Audio Bitrate: 61.6 kb/s VBR 44.1 kHz Audio Streams: 2 Audio Languages: english RunTime Per Part: 52 min 8 s Number Of Parts: 1 Part Size: 788 MB Source: WEB DL Encoded by: DocFreak08
