Biblia Africana (Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia) - Biblia africana (Égypte, Nubie et Éthiopie)

The Bible in its African Receptions, from Antiquity to the Middle Ages - La Bible en ses réceptions africaines, de l'Antiquité au Moyen Âge

FUTP conference

Biblia Africana
(Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia)
The Bible in its African Receptions, from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

It is often said that Christianity took root in Africa during the missions of the 19th century, in the wake of European colonial ventures. However, the numerous textual and archaeological documents that have survived attest to the fact that Christianity took root on African soil as early as the first centuries AD. Born within the framework of the Roman Empire, Christianity spread both within and far beyond the imperial limes. First present in Egypt and then in North Africa (in the 1st and 2nd centuries), the new religion spread to more distant lands, reaching Ethiopia as early as the 4th century and Nubia in the 2nd century. From this time onwards, Christianity became a major cultural and spiritual reality that would have a lasting impact on new civilizations on the African continent. The dissemination, translation and reception of Biblical text played a key role in the emergence of specific Christian identities: with the adoption and acculturation of the Bible—or, more precisely, of the texts that were to make up the Bible—in Africa, new literary languages flourished, as did countless intellectual productions, learned and popular traditions and artistic works, while new forms of Christian liturgy were born. This imprint of Biblical text, in its reception and dissemination, thus sketches out a singular profile for each region, in the variety of its literary, liturgical and artistic expressions. A source of inspiration for Christians in Africa since Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Bible continues to be a cultural, religious and political foundation for believers on the African continent.