of Christians ...”^6 Thus did Cosmos instruct his
compatriots and rouse their imagination.
Scientists, too, found the relaxed atmosphere
necessary for study. One of the rare illustrated, hand-
written copies of the book of Genesis now kept at the
State Library, Vienna, dates from this era. It contains
some eighty-eight plates, of great interest and attraction,
relevant to this book. But scriptural science is by no
means the only field of research. Biology medicine,
astronomy and music were given due attention.
Unfortunately what remains in these fields is fragmentary
because of the incessant upheavals which overtook the
ancient land of the Pharaohs. One of the rare extant
manuscripts is a book on botany presumably written at the
request of a princess.^7
It may, also, be noted that in the manuscripts of
the fifth and sixth centuries, the first elements of a
calligraphic character are found. These became the
source of inspiration for the illuminated scripts of the
Middle Ages, ornamented with floral or geometric
designs.^8
B. 351. With the death of Emperor Anastasius, the
era of peace and security for the Copts ended, and an era
of Byzantine despotism began. This era was destined to
last for almost one hundred and twenty years during
which the Emperors of Constantinople subjected the
Church of Egypt to all sorts of persecutions and abuses.
Their elected Popes were often banished; foreign,
intruding imperially-appointed prelates were imposed
upon them; many of their churches were destroyed or
desecrated, and the people were forced to pay dearly in
life and property for their resistance to the rulers and their
refusal to accept any other interpretation or form of