".......we lift our heads in the air and raise our hands to heaven, yes, we lift up our feet." Clement of Alexandria describing Christian worship in the second century of our era.

at left, dancers: detail of textile in the Arca Artium collection of Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minn. By permission.

Supporters as of Oct. 1, 2002

Life in Late Roman and Early Islamic Egypt,

catalogue of the exhibition will be published together with the papers from the symposium.

January 15 to March 12, 2003

Andersen Library,

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis campus.

This exhibition illustrated aspects of daily life in Egypt in the late Roman and early Islamic periods, roughly from the third to the tenth centuries of our era. It emphasized the interaction of cultural currents during that period, and the later effects of that interaction.

The objects included coins, papyri, ostraka, and ceramics from the University's collections; the Kacmarcik codex and a textile from St. John's University, Collegeville; various other objects, satellite photographs with graphic interpretations, and photographs illustrating monastic art and architecture.

Living for Eternity:

Monasticism in Egypt

March 6 to 9, 2003

March 7 to 8, Humphrey Institute,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Campus.

The papers have been edited for publication by Philip Sellew, Classical and Near Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota

The symposium opened Thursday. March 6 with apublic lecture at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts by Karel Innemée, University of Leiden, Netherlands. He spoke on "Mural Paintings in Coptic Monasteries: Problems of Dating and Conservation,"

Friday, March 7,James Goehring,, Mary Washington College, gave a public lecture on "The Ascetic Landscape as Cultural Discourse,"

Sessions on Friday and Saturday brought scholars from a number of field.s (see list of speakers and abstracts).

On Sunday afternoon, the symposium closed with discussion and a short program of Coptic church music followed by a reception, all at the Weyerhauser Chapel of Macalester College.