Min Daniel Research Paper

Mina Daniel is actively engaging in a peaceful protest in Maspero when he dies. The protest quickly changes from a protest about the destruction of a church to a “bloodbath”. Mina Daniel is one of the twenty-seven Coptic Christians who die that day. Khaled Said is important because he is the wakeup call for middle class Egyptians; Mina Daniel carries the same role for Coptic Christians in Egypt. Hossam Bahgat with 60 Minutes said, “Copts for the first time realized that the military, the army, is not going to protect them . . . In fact, the army is going to first kill them, and then tell the world that it was Christians that attacked the army. So it was a turning point in terms of the unconditional support that most Christians had expressed to the army since they replaced Mubarak.”

The artists Alaa Awad and Ammar Abo Bakr looked to ancient Egypt for iconographic inspiration. They have a rich history to draw from due to the many traditions that have existed in Egypt over the years; pharonic, Coptic, Muslim, etc. They want their art to represent the unity the people are experiencing in mourning for their martyrs. As a result of that desire the artists use many elements from the traditions’ varying iconographic and visual programs. In the case of Mina Daniel and others we see them represented with wings. These images harken back to images of saints in aged Coptic manuscripts (Figure 8). This intertextual reference draws a referential link between these modern martyrs and religious martyrs, famous figures, and angels of the past. By depicting Mina Daniel, Mariam Mesiha, Mariam Fahmy, and others with the same wings they are implying that these Egyptian citizens are saints or are, at least, on par with sainthood. They are the saints of the