Virgin Mary Apostola Apostolorum in Arabo-Coptic Apocryphal Texts under the Fatimids: The Case of the Lament of the Virgin and the Martyrdom of Pilate

The Virgin Mary has a prominent place in Coptic Literature, Liturgy and Theology. Scholars have already studied some aspects of Coptic Mariology, but Mariology in Arabo-Coptic literature is yet to be researched, especially in apocryphal and pseudepigraphic patristic works. In this paper I aim to highlight this lacuna by examining the figure of the Virgin Mary in two Arabic apocryphal works – the Lament of the Virgin known also as the Arabic Gospel of Gamaliel and the Martyrdom of Pilate, written and redacted in Egypt during the 11th - 12th century, i.e. during the Islamic Fatimid dynasty. I will focus on the revival of the ancient tradition of Mary Apostola Apostolorum, according to which the Virgin was the first person to meet the risen Christ, and on the reasons behind this phenomenon. In fact, the important role that the Virgin Mary assumes in Arabic Christian apocryphal literature reflects the significant place she occupies in the Qurʾān and Islamic tradition, and therefore makes her the most appropriate figure to be used and instrumentalized as defender of Christian doctrines when Christians face difficult circumstances. She becomes the defender of the Christian faith against Islamic accusations of that period, i.e. the polemics against the resurrection of Christ. This paper, then, will bring to light, a new aspect of the veneration of Mary in mediaeval Egypt.