The calamus and the cross : the Christianization of writing and the fate of classical culture in Late Antiquity (6). Schools (3)

Last year's study of monastic schools brought us face to face with the increasingly important role played by Coptic (the Egyptian language of late Antiquity Egypt) within a pedagogical framework that was nonetheless Greek in spirit ; it also made us aware of the pragmatic character that teaching could take on, to the point where we wondered whether certain texts considered to be scholastic were not more akin to a professional activity. We couldn't close this cycle on schools without giving a mention to Coptic teaching and professional training. We'll be looking at the former this year, before tackling the latter next year. Our investigation, based on papyrological sources (some of which have never been published before and are quite exceptional), will help us to revise the misconceptions too commonly held by historians of the period, and to better understand the character and functioning of written culture in Egypt at the end of Antiquity.