Interest in the study of Coptic Christian culture is growing not only in Russia, but also around the world. Scientific conferences, congresses, seminars are held, which are attended by art historians, linguists, literary critics, and restorers.

Icons are an important part of Coptic cultural heritage. They were first studied at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the world learned about their existence relatively recently. This is not, of course, about the monuments of early Coptic culture, which are kept in various museums around the world, their number is relatively small. However, until recently, it was believed that with the arrival of the Arabs, the tradition of Coptic iconography was interrupted. This myth was largely dispelled by a project organized in 1987-1992. The Netherlands Institute of Egyptological and Arab Studies in Cairo together with the Institute of Coptological Studies in Cairo under the leadership of the famous restorer S. Skalova. As a result of this project, a number of medieval Byzantine icons were discovered, probably painted by local craftsmen or visiting Greek artists directly in Egypt. Many icons of the 17th and 19th centuries preserved in Coptic churches were studied and restored. During the project, S. Skalova managed to raise a new generation of young Egyptian restorers who are able to work with icons using modern methods and technologies. Belonging to the Italian School of Restoration, c. Skalova used technologies that differ from the Russian ones, which were tested for more than a century of existence of the world-famous restoration center-VKHNRC im. acad. of I. E. Grabar.

In 1999, the staff of the Center for Egyptological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CEI RAS) together with specialists of the VKHNRC took part in a new joint project organized by the Dutch Institute for Egyptological and Arab Studies in Cairo, the American Research Center in Cairo, together with the Institute for Coptological Research in Cairo under the patronage of the Supreme Council for Antiquities of Egypt. The purpose of this stage of the project was to describe, study the degree of preservation and the possibility of restoration of the most damaged icons. Groups of restorers worked throughout Egypt, from the Delta to the remote settlements of Upper Egypt. As a result, it was possible to describe more than 2 thousand Coptic icons, including about 30 medieval ones, from an art and restoration point of view. Most of the icons of the late period were painted by the masters Johanna Armani, Ibrahim Naseh and Anastasi-el Rumi (XVII-XIX centuries). Icons were selected that are subject to immediate restoration due to a very poor degree of preservation and unconditional historical and cultural value. They also took into account the interests of the Coptic Church itself, which offered to restore the most revered and considered miraculous icons.

The next stage of the project followed almost immediately. In the summer of 1999, CEI IB RAS organized the participation of a group of Russian restorers in a project to prepare for the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the Holy Family's stay in Egypt. The aim of the project was to restore medieval icons in the Haret Zueili Church of Our Lady in Old Cairo*.

The new stage of the project - restoration of most of the icons described and attributed in 1999-was carried out from November 2001 to April 2002. It was attended by specialists-

* Gormatyuk A. A. Osobennosti restoratsii i pochitaniya ikon v Egypte [Features of restoration and veneration of icons in Egypt]. Istoriya i kul'tura drevnego i rannehristianskogo Egyp [History and Culture of ancient and Early Christian Egypt], Moscow, 2001, pp. 45-56.

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A. A. Gormatyuk and V. V. Zanozin, members of the VKHNRC, and E. G. Tolmacheva, an employee of the CEI of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with Egyptian specialists. The restoration of the icons took place in several workshops: in Fayum, in the Church of Our Lady "Haret Zueili" and in the Church of Our Lady "el - Muallakka" in Old Cairo. Russian specialists worked mainly in the workshop at the Church of Our Lady "el-Muallakka", and A. A. Gormatyuk restored a number of icons in the workshop of the El-Azar temple in Fayum.

The Church of Our Lady of El-Muallakka belongs to the complex of churches of Old Cairo, located on the site of the Roman fortress of Babylon. The date of its foundation is considered to be the III-IV centuries. The church "el-Muallakka" is one of the most revered in the Coptic Church, according to legend, the Holy Family stayed in this place during their flight to Egypt; for a long time the temple was patriarchal. The Church of Our Lady of El-Muallaqqa has always served as a point of attraction for Copts from all over Egypt. This, in our opinion, explains the richness and variety of icons presented in the church, whose collection contains 86 icons.

During the project, Russian specialists restored 26 icons of this temple, which were in poor condition. The main problem they faced was the negative consequences of restoration work in 1984. As a result, icons were often irreparably damaged: some of the author's paintings were partially lost, or were under a layer of unprofessionally applied restoration soil (gesso), tinting sometimes covered the author's painting layer, which distorted the entire composition of the work. Another problem was the materials and technologies used in previous restorations. Almost all the icons were covered with a film of synthetic glue, which caused peeling and lagging of the paint layer. In addition, the restoration of icons used technologies related to the use of wax, a material that is unacceptable in the natural and climatic conditions of Egypt. Another negative side of this material is the difficulties associated with its removal, which can only be carried out with a scalpel. In addition, the surface covered with wax is subject to contamination and is often covered with a layer of dust and soot.

A few words should be said about the part of the church's icon collection that Russian specialists worked on restoring and preserving. As already noted, it presents icons of almost all eras and styles that existed in Egypt.

1. Medieval icons. The restoration of these icons was carried out by A. A. Gormatyuk. Among them is the most revered icon of the church-the icon of St. John the Baptist. St. Mark the Apostle, who is said to have founded the Coptic Church. A. A. Gormatyuk dates the icon to the end of the 15th century. There are several other medieval icons in the church, but their full attribution and description is impossible without conducting preliminary studies, such as X-rays.

2. Icons of the 17th and early 18th centuries. There are several similar icons in the church. The icon is a fold, its central panel depicts the Mother of God surrounded by angels, the wings represent the Holy Horsemen venerated in the Coptic Church; the icon of St. Domiana surrounded by 40 virgins and the icon of St. Juliana. These icons were restored by V. V. Zanozin, A. A. Gormatyuk and E. G. Tolmacheva.

A distinctive feature of such icons is that the basis for painting in them was paper. The very technique of writing icons is similar to the technique of book miniatures. During the restoration, we had to face a number of technological difficulties. In particular, cellulose pulp, already known in Russian restoration (restoration of graphics), was chosen to fill in the losses, the use of which gave good results.

3. Icons of the second half of the XVII - early XIX centuries. Their special feature was a more technological style of writing. It is interesting that among these icons there was also one Russian icon-a miniature. The degree of preservation of most of them was satisfactory, and the work on their conservation was carried out using the usual methods. They were restored by V. V. Zanozin, E. G. Tolmacheva and A. A. Gormatyuk.

4. Icons of the XVII-XIX centuries, duplicated on a wooden base with wax. These icons were painted mainly by invited foreign icon painters, including Armenian, Greek, and Syrian masters. They were restored by V. A. Zanozin and E. G. Tolmacheva.

5. Icons belonging to different masters and schools that are in a threatening state of preservation. Of particular interest was the medieval icon with the image of Christ on the wall.

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On the Throne, the work on which was conducted by A.A. Gormatyuk. About 20% of the author's paintings have been preserved. In the course of opening the icon, performing tracing-reconstruction, it was revealed that this icon was repeatedly rewritten and updated. Based on the drawing by Levkas, it was possible to restore the original outlines of the composition. So, the face of Christ was lost, probably as a result of an act of vandalism in the XVII century.and added in a typical writing style for that era. The icon of St. John the Baptist was also preserved in a similar way. Peter and Paul. This icon is quite unique for the Coptic Church, the founder of which is considered to be the Apostle Mark. The restoration of the icon was carried out by V. V. Zanozin using non-standard methods. Interesting from the point of view of historians of restoration in Egypt was the icon of St. George with miracles. E. G. Tolmacheva removed the note layer and, using tracing paper reconstruction, restored the original image and composition of the icon. In fact, the icon of the Mother of God with the Infant Christ was restored anew by restorers V. A. Zanozin and A. A. Gormatyuk. The faces of the icon were completely lost and replaced by analogy with the preserved images. The same works were made by V. V. Zanozin on the restoration of an icon with two unknown apostles.

The results of the project are quite impressive. In total, Russian and Egyptian specialists restored about 200 icons in various Coptic temples in Egypt. Restoration methods developed in Russia, other than Italian or Polish ones, have shown more reliable, methodologically and technologically sound results. The restoration work also dispelled the prevailing opinion in Coptology about the absence of records and inscriptions on Coptic icons.

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