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Copts
ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ
Coptic diaspora
Regions with significant populations
Egypt10 million (2019)[a]
Sudan400,000-500,000 (previously); a smaller number (as of 2018)[7]
Libya60,000[8]
Diaspora:1–2 million (estimates vary)
United States500,000 (2018)[9]
Canada50,000 (2017)[10]
Australia75,000 (2003)[11]
France45,000 (2017)[12]
Italy30,000[13]
United Kingdom25,000–30,000 (2006)[14]
United Arab Emirates10,000[15]
Netherlands10,000[16]
Languages
Coptic(liturgical and ancestral)
Religion
Coptic Orthodox Church
Coptic Catholic Church
This article containsCoptictext.Without properrendering support,you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbolsinstead of Coptic letters.
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Copts(Coptic:ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ,romanized:niremənkhēmi;Arabic:الْقِبْط,romanized:al-qibṭ) are aChristianethnoreligious groupindigenous toNorth Africa[17]who have primarily inhabited the area of modernEgyptandSudan[18]since antiquity. They are the largestChristian denomination in Egyptand theMiddle East,[19]as well as inSudan[7]andLibya.[20]Coptsaccount for roughly 5–15 percent of thepopulation of Egypt;[21][22]Copts in Sudanaccount for 1 percent of theSudanese population,andCopts in Libyasimilarly account for 1 percent of theLibyan population.[8]

Originally referring to all Egyptians,[23]the termCoptbecame synonymous with nativeChristiansin light of Egypt'sIslamizationandArabizationafter theMuslim conquest of Egyptin 639–646 AD.[24]Copts have historically spoken theCoptic language,a direct descendant of theDemotic Egyptianthat was spoken inlate antiquity.

Following the Muslim conquest, the treatment of the Coptic Christians who refused toconvertranged from relativetolerancetoopen persecution.[25][26][27][28]Historically, the Copts suffered from "waves of persecution giving way to relative tolerance in cycles that varied according to the local ruler and other political and economic circumstances".[24]Persecution is significantly involved in theCopts' ethnic identitydue to historic and current conflicts.[29]Most Copts adhere to theCoptic Orthodox ChurchofAlexandria,anOriental Orthodox Church.[30][31][32]The smallerCoptic Catholic Churchis anEastern Catholic Church,in communion with theHoly See of Rome;others belong to theEvangelical Church of Egypt.The Copts played a central role in theArab Renaissanceas well as the modernization of Egypt and theArab worldas a whole;[24]they also contributed to the "social and political life and key debates such aspan-Arabism,good governance,educational reform,anddemocracy",[24]and they have historically flourished in business affairs.[33]

While Coptic Christians speak the same dialects and are culturally similar to other Egyptians, they strongly oppose Arab identity and associate it with Islam andIslamism.[34][35]In Egypt, Copts have a relatively highereducational attainment,a relatively higherwealth index,and a stronger representation inwhite-collar job types,but limited representation in military and security agencies. The majority of demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators are similar among Christians andMuslims.[36]

Etymology

[edit]
Further information:Name of Egypt

The English language adopted the wordCoptin the 17th century fromNeo-LatinCoptus, Cophtus,which derives from theArabiccollectivequbṭ / qibṭقبط"the Copts" withnisbaadjectivequbṭī, qibṭīقبطى,pluralaqbāṭأقباط;Alsoquftī, qiftī(where the Arabic/f/reflects the historical Coptic/p/) an Arabisation of theCopticword ⲁⲓⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲛaiguption(Bohairic) or ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛkuptaion(Sahidic). The Coptic word in turn represents an adaptation of the Greek term for the indigenous people of Egypt,Aigýptios(Αἰγύπτιος).[37]

The Greek term for Egypt,Aígyptos(Ancient Greek:Αἴγυπτος), itself derives from theEgyptian language,but dates to a much earlier period, being attested already inMycenaean Greekasa3-ku-pi-ti-jo(lit. "Egyptian"; used here as a man's name). This Mycenaean form probably comes fromMiddle Egyptianḥwt kꜣ ptḥ(reconstructed pronunciation /ħawitˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħajiʔˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħəjˌkuʔpəˈtaħ/,Egyptological pronunciationHut-ka-Ptah), literally "estate/palace of thekꜣ( "double" spirit) ofPtah"(compareAkkadianāluḫi-ku-up-ta-aḫ), the name of the temple complex of the godPtahatMemphis(and asynecdochefor the city of Memphis and the region around it).

The termAigýptiosin Greek came to designate the native Egyptian population inRoman Egypt(as distinct from Greeks, Romans, Jews, etc.). After theMuslim conquest of Egypt(639-646) it became restricted to those Egyptians adhering to the Christian religion.[38]

The Coptic name forEgyptians,remənkhēmi(Coptic:ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ), is realized inFayyumic Copticas ⲗⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲕⲏⲙⲉlemenkēmiand as ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲕⲏⲙⲉremənkēmein the Sahidic dialect; cf. Egyptianrmṯ nkmt,Demoticrmṯ n kmỉ.

The Arabic wordqibṭ"Copt" has also been connected[by whom?]to the Greek name of the town of Kóptos (Koinē Greek:Κόπτος,nowQifṭ;CopticKebtandKeft) inUpper Egypt.This association may have contributed to making "Copt" the settled form of the name.[39]

In the 20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals in the context ofPharaonismbegan using the termqubṭin the historical sense.[40]

History

[edit]
Main articles:Coptic Orthodox Church of AlexandriaandHistory of Christianity in Egypt
Coptic icon ofSt. Mark

The Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. Although integrated in the larger Egyptian nation state, the Copts have survived as a distinctreligious communityforming around 5 to 20 percent of the population.[41][31][42][43]They pride themselves on the apostolicity of the Egyptian Church: its founder was the first in an unbroken chain of patriarchs. The main body has been out of communion with the Roman Catholic Church since the 5th century AD.[44]

Foundation of the Christian Church in Egypt

[edit]

According to ancient tradition,Christianitywas introduced to present dayEgyptbySt. MarkinAlexandria,shortly after the ascension ofChristand during the reign of theRomanemperorClaudiusaround 42 AD.[45]The legacy that St. Mark left in Egypt was a considerable Christian community in Alexandria. Within half a century of St. Mark's arrival Christianity had spread throughout Egypt. This is clear from a fragment of theGospel of John,written inCopticand found inUpper Egyptthat can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century, and theNew Testamentwritings found inOxyrhynchus,inMiddle Egypt,which date around 200 AD. In the 2nd century, Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into Coptic (then known asEgyptian). By the beginning of the 3rd century AD,Christiansconstituted the majority of Egypt's population, and theChurch of Alexandriawas recognized as one ofChristendom's four apostolic sees, second in honor only to theChurch in Rome.[citation needed]The Church of Alexandria is therefore the oldest Christian church in Africa.

Contributions to Christianity

[edit]

The Copts in Egypt contributed immensely to Christian tradition. TheCatecheticalSchool of Alexandria was the oldest school of its kind in the world. Founded around 190 AD by the scholarPantanaeus,the school became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such asAthenagoras,Clement,Didymus,andOrigen,the father of theology who was also active in the field of commentary and comparativeBiblical studies.However, the scope of this school was not limited to theological subjects: science, mathematics and humanities were also taught there. The question-and-answer method of commentary began there, and 15 centuries beforeBraille,wood-carving techniques were in use there by blind scholars to read and write.

Another major contribution the Egyptian Copts made toChristianitywas the creation and organization ofmonasticism.Worldwide Christian monasticism stems, either directly or indirectly, from the Egyptian example.[citation needed]The most prominent figures of the monastic movement wereAnthony the Great,Paul of Thebes,Macarius the Great,Shenouda the ArchimandriteandPachomius the Cenobite.

By the end of the 5th century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered throughout the Egyptian desert. Since then pilgrims have visited the EgyptianDesert Fathersto emulate their spiritual, disciplined lives.St Basil the GreatArchbishop ofCaesarea Mazaca,and the founder and organiser of the monastic movement inAsia Minor,visited Egypt around 357 AD and his monastic rules are followed by theEastern Orthodox Churches.Saint Jerome,who translated theBibleintoLatin,came toEgyptwhile en route toJerusalemaround 400 AD, leaving details of his experiences in his letters.St. Benedictfounded theBenedictine Orderin the 6th century on the model ofSaint Pachomius,although in a stricter form.Coptic Christianspractice malecircumcisionas a rite of passage.[46]

Coptic Greeks

[edit]
Further information:Coptic Greeks
An Egyptiot man withAnubis,Ptolemaic empire

TheFaiyum mummy portraitsreflect the complex synthesis of the predominant Egyptian culture and that of the Hellenized Middle East.

By the time of Roman emperorCaracallain the 2nd century AD, ethnic Egyptians could be distinguished from Egyptian Greeks only by their speech.[47]

Egyptian Greek is the variety of Greek spoken in Egypt from antiquity until theIslamic conquest of Egyptin the 7th century. Egyptian Greek adopted many loanwords fromEgyptian language;there was a great deal of intracommunitybilingualismin Egypt.[48][49]

The following is an example of Egyptian Greek language, used in theCoptic Church:

ⲇⲟⲝⲁ ⲡⲁⲧⲣⲓ ⲕⲉ ⲩⲓⲱ: ⲕⲉ ⲁ̀ⲅⲓⲱ ⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁⲧⲓ: ⲕⲉ ⲛⲩⲛ ⲕⲉ ⲁ̀ⲓ̀ ⲕⲉ ⲓⲥ ⲧⲟⲩⲥ ⲉⲱⲛⲁⲥ ⲧⲱⲛ ⲉ̀ⲱ̀ⲛⲱⲛ ⲁ̀ⲙⲏⲛ

Δόξα Πατρὶ κὲ Υἱῷ κὲ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, κὲ νῦν κὲ ἀῒ κὲ ἰς τοὺς ἐῶνας τῶν ἐώνων. Ἀμήν.

Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

An Egyptiot centurion
An Egyptiot woman

According to Walker, early Ptolemaic Greek colonists married local women and adopted Egyptian religious beliefs, and by Roman times, their descendants were viewed as Egyptians by the Roman rulers, despite their own self-perception of being Greek.[50]The dental morphology[51]of the Roman-period Faiyum mummies was also compared with that of earlier Egyptian populations, and was found to be "much more closely akin" to that of ancient Egyptians than to Greeks or other European populations.[52]Victor J. Katz notes that "research in papyri dating from the early centuries of the common era demonstrates that a significant amount of intermarriage took place between the Greek and Egyptian communities".[53]

Modern day Copts use predominantly Arabic and Coptic, the latter being the direct descendent of the Ancient Egyptian language. For instance, theLord's Prayerin theCoptic Churchis recited in the nativeCoptic languageas follows:

Ϧⲉⲛ ⲫ̀ⲣⲁⲛ ⲙ̀ⲫ̀ⲓⲱⲧ: ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡ̀ϣⲏⲣⲓ: ⲛⲉⲙ Ⲡⲓⲡⲛⲉⲩⲙⲁ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ: ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲱⲧ: Ⲁⲙⲏⲛ
 Ϫⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲓⲱⲧ ⲉⲧϧⲉⲛ ⲛⲓⲫⲏⲟⲩⲓ: ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥⲧⲟⲩⲃⲟ ⲛ̀ϫⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲁⲛ: ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲥⲓ ⲛ̀ϫⲉ ⲧⲉⲕⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲣⲟ: ⲡⲉⲧⲉϩⲛⲁⲕ ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥϣⲱⲡⲓ
 Ⲙ̀ⲫⲣⲏϯ ϧⲉⲛ ⲧ̀ⲫⲉ ⲛⲉⲙ ϩⲓϫⲉⲛ ⲡⲓⲕⲁϩⲓ
 ⲡⲉⲛⲱⲓⲕ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲣⲁⲥϯ ⲙⲏⲓϥ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲙ̀ⲫⲟⲟⲩ
 Ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲭⲁ ⲛⲏⲉⲧⲉⲣⲟⲛ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ: ⲙ̀ⲫ̀ⲣⲏϯ ϩⲱⲛ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉⲛⲭⲱ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ ⲛ̀ⲛⲏⲉⲧⲉ ⲟⲩⲟⲛ ⲛ̀ⲧⲁⲛ ⲉⲣⲱⲟⲩ
 Ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲙ̀ⲡⲉⲣⲉⲛⲧⲉⲛ ⲉϧⲟⲩⲛ ⲉ̀ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲥⲙⲟⲥ: ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ⲛⲁϩⲙⲉⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϩⲁ ⲡⲓⲡⲉⲧϩⲱⲟⲩ
 Ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡⲭ̅ⲥ̅ Ⲓⲏ̅ⲥ̅ Ⲡⲉⲛⲟ̅ⲥ̅
 Ϫⲉ ⲑⲱⲕ ⲧⲉ ϯⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲣⲟ ⲛⲉⲙ ϯϫⲟⲙ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓⲱⲟⲩ ϣⲁ ⲉⲛⲉϩ. Ⲁⲙⲏⲛ.

In the Name of the Father: and the Son: and the Holy Spirit: One God: Amen

Our Father Who art in heaven: hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses: as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evil one
In Christ Jesus our Lord

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Ecumenical councils

[edit]

The major contributions that theSee of Alexandriahas contributed to the establishment of early Christian theology and dogma are attested to by fact that the first threeecumenical councilsin the history ofChristianitywere headed by Egyptian patriarchs. TheCouncil of Nicaea(325 AD) was presided over bySt. Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria,along withSaint Hosius of Córdoba.In addition, the most prominent figure of the council was the future Patriarch of AlexandriaAthanasius,who played the major role in the formulation of theNicene Creed,recited today in most Christian churches of different denominations. One of the council's decisions was to entrust thePatriarch of Alexandriawith calculating and annually announcing the exact date ofEasterto the rest of the Christian churches. TheCouncil of Constantinople(381 AD) was presided over byPatriarch Timothy of Alexandria,while theCouncil of Ephesus(431 AD) was presided over byCyril of Alexandria.

Council of Chalcedon

[edit]

In 451 AD, following theCouncil of Chalcedon,theChurch of Alexandriawas divided into two branches. Those who accepted the terms of the Council became known asChalcedoniansorMelkites.Those who did not abide by the council's terms were labelednon-ChalcedoniansorMonophysitesand later Jacobites afterJacob Baradaeus.Thenon-Chalcedonians,however, rejected the termMonophysitesas erroneous and referred to themselves asMiaphysites.The majority of theEgyptiansbelonged to theMiaphysitebranch, which led to their persecution by theByzantinesinEgypt.

Arab conquest of Egypt

[edit]
Main article:Islamization of Egypt
TheHanging ChurchinCoptic Cairo

In 641 AD,Egyptwas conquered by theArabswho faced off with theByzantinearmy. Local resistance by the Egyptians however began to materialize shortly thereafter and would last until at least the 9th century.[54][55]Despite the political upheaval, Egypt remained mainly Christian, but Coptic Christians lost their majority status after the 14th century,[56]as a result of the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches there.[26]From theMuslim conquest of Egyptonwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslim regimes,[25]such as theUmayyad Caliphate,[57]Abbasid Caliphate,[58][59][60]Fatimid Caliphate,[61][62][63]Mamluk Sultanate,[64][65]andOttoman Empire;thepersecution of CopticChristians included closing and demolishing churches,forced conversiontoIslam,[27][66][67]and heavytaxesfor those who refused to convert.[68]

Copts in modern Egypt

[edit]
Main article:Copts in Egypt
Further information:Christianity in Egypt
President Nasser welcomes a delegation of Coptic bishops (1965)

During the Ottoman period, Copts were classified alongside other Oriental Orthodox and Nestorian peoples under theArmenian millet.[69]

Under Muslim rule, Christians paid special taxes, had lower access to political power, and were exempt from military service. Their position improved dramatically under the rule ofMuhammad Aliin the early 19th century. He abolished theJizya(a tax on non-Muslims) and allowed Egyptians (Copts) to enroll in the army.Pope Cyril IV,1854–61, reformed the church and encouraged broader Coptic participation in Egyptian affairs. KhediveIsma'il Pasha,in power 1863–79, further promoted the Copts. He appointed them judges to Egyptian courts and awarded them political rights and representation in government. They flourished in business affairs.[33]

Some Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of theCoptic Museumin 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some prominent Coptic thinkers from this period areSalama Moussa,Louis Awadand Secretary General of the Wafd PartyMakram Ebeid.

In 1952,Gamal Abdel Nasserled some army officers in a coup d'état againstKing Farouk,which overthrew the Kingdom of Egypt and established a republic.Nasser's mainstream policy waspan-Arabnationalism and socialism. The Copts were severely affected by Nasser's nationalization policies, though they represented about 10 to 20 percent of the population.[70]In addition, Nasser's pan-Arab policies undermined the Copts' strong attachment to and sense of identity about their Egyptian pre-Arab, and certainly non-Arab identity which resulted in permits to construct churches to be delayed along with Christian religious courts to be closed.[70]

Socioeconomic

[edit]

In Egypt, Copts have relatively highereducational attainment,relatively higherwealthindex, and a stronger representation inwhite collar jobtypes, but limited representation in security agencies. The majority of demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators are similar among Copts and Muslims.[36]Historically; many Copts wereaccountants,and in 1961 Coptic Christians owned 51% of theEgyptian banks.[71]APew Centerstudy aboutreligion and educationaround the world in 2016, found that around 26% of Egyptian Christians obtain auniversity degreein institutions ofhigher education.[72]

According to the scholar Andrea Rugh Copts tend to belong to the educatedmiddleandupper-middle class,[73]and according to scholar Lois Farag "The Copts still played the major role in managing Egypt's state finances. They held 20% of total state capital, 45% of government employment, and 45% of government salaries".[74]According to scholar J. D. Pennington 45% of themedical doctors,60% of thepharmacistsof Egypt were Christians.[75]

A number of Copticbusinessand land-owning families became very wealthy and influential such as the Egyptian Coptic ChristianSawiris family[76]that owns theOrascom conglomerate,spanning telecommunications, construction, tourism, industries and technology.[77][78]In 2008,Forbesestimated the family's net worth at $36 billion.[79][80][81][82]According to scholars Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein argue that Copts have relatively highereducational attainmentand relatively higherwealthindex, due toCoptic Christianityemphasis on literacy and thatCoptic Christianityencouraged the accumulation of human capital.[83]

Pharaonism

[edit]
Main article:Pharaonism
See also:Coptic identity

Many Coptic intellectuals hold toPharaonism,which states that Coptic culture is largely derived from pre-Christian,PharaonicEgyptian culture. It gives the Copts a claim to a deep heritage in Egyptian history and culture. Pharaonism was widely held by Coptic and Muslim scholars in the early 20th century, and it helped bridge the divide between those groups. Some scholars see Pharaonism as shaped byOrientalism.[84][85]

Church affairs

[edit]
Egyptian Coptic monks at theAmerican Colony, Jerusalem,between 1898 and 1914.[86]

Today, members of thenon-ChalcedonianCoptic Orthodox Church constitute the majority of the Egyptian Christian population. Mainly through emigration and partly through European, American, and other missionary work and conversions, the Egyptian Christian community now also includes other Christian denominations such asProtestants(known in Arabic asEvangelicals),Roman CatholicsandEastern Rite Catholics,and otherOrthodoxcongregations. The termCopticremains exclusive however to the Egyptian natives, as opposed to the Christians of non-Egyptian origins. Some Protestant churches for instance are called "Coptic Evangelical Church",thus helping differentiate their native Egyptian congregations from churches attended by non-Egyptian immigrant communities such as Europeans or Americans.[citation needed]

The previous head of the Coptic Orthodox Church,Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria,died 17 March 2012. On 4 November 2012,Bishop Tawadroswas chosen as the new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians. His name was selected from a glass bowl containing the three shortlisted candidates by a blindfolded boy at a ceremony inCairo'sSt Mark's Cathedral.[87]

Copts in modern Ethiopia

[edit]
Main article:Christianity in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia theOrthodox Tewahedo Churchwas part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959 when it was granted its own patriarch by theCoptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All AfricaCyril VI.

Copts in modern Libya

[edit]
Main article:Copts in Libya
Further information:Christianity in Libya

Copts in modern Sudan

[edit]
Main article:Copts in Sudan
Further information:Christianity in Sudan
Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Cathedral inKhartoum

Sudanhas a native Coptic minority, although many Copts in Sudan are descended from more recent Egyptian immigrants.[7]Copts in Sudan live mostly in northern cities, includingAl Obeid,Atbara,Dongola,Khartoum,Omdurman,Port Sudan,andWad Medani.[7]Many Sudanese Copts have advanced educations.[7]They have occasionally faced forcedconversion to Islam,resulting in their emigration and decrease in number.[7]

Modern immigration of Copts to Sudan peaked in the early 19th century, and they generally received a tolerant welcome there. However, this was interrupted by a decade of persecution underMahdist ruleat the end of the 19th century.[7]As a result of this persecution, many were forced to relinquish their faith, adoptIslam,and intermarry with the native Sudanese population. TheAnglo-Egyptian invasionin 1898 allowed Copts greater religious and economic freedom, and they extended their original roles as artisans and merchants into trading, banking, engineering, medicine, and the civil service. Proficiency in business and administration made them a privileged minority. However, the return ofmilitant Islamin the mid-1960s and subsequent demands by radicals for anIslamic constitutionprompted Copts to join in public opposition to religious rule.[7]

Gaafar Nimeiry's introduction of IslamicSharialaw in 1983 began a new phase of oppressive treatment of Copts, among other non-Muslims.[7]After the overthrow of Nimeiry, Coptic leaders supported a secular candidate in the 1986 elections. However, when theNational Islamic Frontoverthrew the elected government ofSadiq al-Mahdiwith the help of the military, discrimination against Copts returned in earnest. Hundreds of Copts were dismissed from the civil service and judiciary.[7]

In February 1991, a Coptic pilot working forSudan Airwayswas executed for illegal possession of foreign currency.[88]Before his execution, he had been offered amnesty and money if he converted toIslam,but he refused. Thousands attended his funeral, and the execution was taken as a warning by many Copts, who began to flee the country.[88]

Restrictions on the Copts' rights to Sudanese nationality followed, and it became difficult for them to obtain Sudanese nationality by birth or by naturalization, resulting in problems when attempting to travel abroad. The confiscation of Christian schools and the imposition of an Arab-Islamic emphasis in language and history teaching were accompanied by harassment of Christian children and the introduction ofhijabdress laws. A Coptic child was flogged for failing to recite aKoranicverse.[88]In contrast with the extensive media broadcasting of the MuslimFriday prayers,the radio ceased coverage of the Christian Sunday service. As the civil war raged throughout the 1990s, the government focused its religious fervor on the south. Although experiencing discrimination, the Copts and other long-established Christian groups in the north had fewer restrictions than other types of Christians in thesouth.

As of 2010, the Coptic Church in Sudan was officially registered with the government, and exempt from property tax.[7]In 2005, theSudanese government of National Unity(GNU) named a Coptic Orthodox priest to a government position, though the ruling Islamist party remained dominant.[7]

After the 2018Sudanese revolution,one Copt (Raja Nicola Issa Abdul-Masseh) was appointed in 2019 to the 11-memberTransitional Sovereignty Council,which was convened as part of plan to transition Sudan to democracy.[89]However, amilitary coup in 2019,led byAbdel Fattah al-BurhanandMohamed Hamdan Dagalo,dissolved the council and halted the democratic transition; Christians, including Copts, were subjected to intensified persecution during acivil war that began in 2023.[90]Many became refugees or wereinternally displaced.[90]

In 2023, Fikiru Mehari, an researcher for the Christian charityOpen Doors,estimated that about 4% of Sudanese population was Christian; the majority of these wereRoman Catholicsand members of theEpiscopal Church of Sudanwith a "smattering" of Coptic Orthodox andAfrica Inland Missionadherents.[91]A 2018 report by theMinority Rights Groupsaid Sudanese Copts had previously estimated their numbers at 400,000 to 500,000,[92]about 1% of the Sudanese population,[7]but that emigration and conversion (including forced conversion) to Islam had decreased their number.[91]

Demographics

[edit]
Further information:Christianity in Egypt,Christianity in Sudan,andChristianity in Libya

Living in countries with Muslim majorities (Egypt, Sudan, Libya), the size of the population of Copts is a continuously disputed matter, frequently for reasons of religious jealousy and animosity.

The Coptic populationin Egyptis difficult to estimate because researchers are forbidden by Egyptian authorities to ask a survey participant's religion.[93]As of 2019, "Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population,"[94]with an estimated population of 9.5 million (figure cited in theWall Street Journal,2017)[1]or 10 million (figure cited in theAssociated Press,2019).[2]Smaller or larger figures have also been cited, in the range of "somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population,"[3]with the Egyptian government estimating lower numbers and the Coptic Orthodox Church estimating much higher numbers.[94]A lack of definite, reliable demographic data renders all estimates uncertain.[3][94]Despite challenges, Copts are well integrated in Egyptian society. The highest concentrations of Copts are inUpper Egypt,especially aroundAsyutandQena.[95]

TheCoptic population in Libyais uncertain. A 2013 estimate by theU.S. Department of Stateplaced the entire population of non-Muslim Libyans at 180,000 (roughly 3% of the country's population). However, the Coptic Orthodox Church in Libya estimated that its membership alone was 300,000, including those who do not regularly attend church services.[96]In 2011, there were three Coptic churches in the country. From 2011 to 2015, during theLibyan civil war,at least 200,000 Christiansfled Libya;during that time, Islamist militants such as theAnsar al-Sharia,Nusra Front,andIslamic Stateviolently persecuted Copts.[96]

Diaspora

[edit]
Main article:Coptic diaspora
St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church inBellaire, Texas(Greater Houston). There are about 1–2 million Egyptian born Copts living outside of Egypt, and are known as theCoptic diaspora.

Outside of the Coptic primary area of residence within parts of present-day Egypt (Copts in Egypt), Sudan (Copts in Sudan), and Libya (Copts in Libya), the largest Coptic diaspora population is located within the United States, Canada, and Australia.

The first Coptic Orthodox church inNorth Americais St. Mark in Toronto; it was built in 1964.[97]The firstCoptic Orthodox church in the United States,also calledSt. Mark,was built inJersey City, New Jerseyshortly afterward.[97]As of 2018, theCoptic Americanpopulation was estimated to be more than 500,000, with more than 250 Coptic churches in the United States at the time.[9]

In the early 2010s, the Canadian Coptic Association estimates that the population ofCanadian Coptswas 35,000.[98]By 2017, there were an estimated 50,000 Canadian Copts, with more than 80% living inOntario,[10]many in theGreater Toronto Area.[98]

TheCoptic Australianspopulation has been estimated at 30,000 (ABC News,2017)[99]to 100,000 (SBS,2018).[100]The first Coptic Orthodox priest in Australia arrived in 1969; theCoptic Orthodox Church in Australiais organized into two dioceses, the first based inMelbourne(diocese organized in 1999) and the second inSydney(diocese organized in 2002).[101]There is a single Coptic Catholic church in Australia, consecrated in 2019.[102]

Smaller communities are found inKuwait,[103]the United Kingdom,[104] France (45,000),[12]South Africa.[105][106]

Jordanhas a minor community of Copts; theJordan Timesreported in 2005 that theVirgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Churchin theAbdalidistrict of Amman had 8,000 members, mostly Egyptians.[107]As of 2012, theLebanon's Syriac League estimated that the Coptic population in that country numbered 3,000 to 4,000.[108]As of 2017,Germanywas home to between 6,000 and 10,000 Copts.[109]In the 2020s, the Coptic Orthodox population ofAustriawas estimated to be 10,000, although the 2001 Austrian census (the country's last to record religious affiliation) tallied just 1,633 Coptic Orthodox.[110]InSwitzerland,the first Copts arrived in the 1960s, mostly students and those fleeing Egypt after the1952 revolution;the first Coptic church in Switzerland opened in 2004, when there were approximately 1,000 Copts in the country.[111]InIsrael,there were approximately 1,000 Copts as of 2014, mostly residing inJerusalem.[112]

Persecution and discrimination in Egypt

[edit]
Main articles:Persecution of CoptsandReligion in Egypt
Part of a series of articles on the
Modern persecution
ofCoptic Christians
Overview
Terrorist attacks
Figures

Religious freedomin Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by discriminatory and restrictive government policies. Coptic Christians, being the largest religious minority in Egypt, are also negatively affected. Copts have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952coup d'étatled byGamal Abdel Nasser.Until recently,Christianswere required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles and restrictions in building new churches. These restrictions do not apply for building mosques. Copts face ethnic and racial discrimination as they are called Adma Zarqa or blue bone and كوفت From Coptic ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲥ (guptios, “Copt” ). Hence a doublet of قبطي (ʔibṭi) and in fact the more native form, but apparently adopted by the Arabs in a mocking manner and is still used today by racists in Egypt.[113][114]

The Coptic community has been targeted by hate crimes by Islamic extremists. The most significant was the 2000–01 El Kosheh attacks, in which Muslims and Christians were involved in bloody inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian. "Twenty Christians and one Muslim were killed after violence broke out in the town of el-Kosheh, 440 kilometres (270 mi) south of Cairo".[115]In February 2001 a new Coptic church and 35 houses belonging to Christians were burned.[116]

In 2006, one person attacked three churches inAlexandria,killing one person and injuring 5–16.[117]The attacker was not linked to any organisation and described as "psychologically disturbed" by theMinistry of Interior.[118]In May 2010,The Wall Street Journalreported increasing waves of mob attacks by Muslims against Copts.[119]Despite frantic calls for help, the police typically arrived after the violence was over.[119]The police also coerced the Copts to accept "reconciliation" with their attackers to avoid prosecuting them, with no Muslims convicted for any of the attacks.[120]InMarsa Matrouh,a Bedouin mob of Muslims tried to attack Copts, with 400 Copts having to barricade themselves in their church while the mob destroyed 18 homes, 23 shops and 16 cars.[119]

Members of U.S. Congress have expressed concern about "human trafficking" of Coptic women and girls who are victims of abductions, forced conversion to Islam, sexual exploitation and forced marriage to Muslim men.[121]

Boutros Boutros-Ghaliwas a Copt who served asEgypt's foreign minister under PresidentAnwar Sadat.Previously, only two Copts were inEgypt's governmental cabinet: Finance MinisterYoussef Boutros Ghaliand Environment Minister Magued George during former president Mubarak's rule. There also used to be one Coptic governor out of 25, that of theUpper Egyptiangovernorate ofQena,and is the first Coptic governor in decades due to the higher concentration of Copts in Upper Egypt. In addition,Naguib Sawiris,Nassef Sawiris[122]andSamih Sawiris,[123]who are extremely successful businessmen and one of the world's 100 wealthiest people, are Copts.[124]In 2002, under theMubarakgovernment,Coptic Christmas(January 7) was recognized as an official holiday.[125]However, many Copts continue to complain of being minimally represented in higher positions in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion.[126][127]

While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according toHuman Rights Watch,"Egyptians are able toconvertto Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents. "[128]The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim.[129]Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions fromIslamtoChristianity(or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening.[130]In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam.[131]However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards,[132][133]but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.[134]

In August 2013, following the3 July 2013 coupand clashes between the military and Morsi supporters, there werewidespread attackson Coptic churches and institutions in Egypt bySunni Muslims.[135] [136]According to at least one Egyptian scholar (Samuel Tadros), the attacks are the worst violence against the Coptic Church since the 14th century.[137]

USA Todayreported that "forty churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged". More than 45 churches across Egypt were attacked.[138]TheFacebookpage of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party was "rife with false accusations meant to foment hatred against Copts". The Party's page claimed that the Coptic Church had declared "war against Islam and Muslims" and that "The Pope of the Church is involved in the removal of the first elected Islamist president. The Pope of the Church alleges Islamic Sharia is backwards, stubborn, and reactionary."[relevant?]On August 15, nine Egyptian human rights groups under the umbrella group "Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights", released a statement saying,

"In December… Brotherhood leaders began fomenting anti-Christian sectarian incitement. The anti-Coptic incitement and threats continued unabated up to the demonstrations of June 30 and, with the removal of President Morsi… morphed into sectarian violence, which was sanctioned by… the continued anti-Coptic rhetoric heard from the group's leaders on the stage… throughout the sit-in."[139]

Coptic women and girls are abducted,forced to convert to Islamand marry Muslim men.[121][140]In 2009 the Washington, D.C. based groupChristian Solidarity Internationalpublished a study of the abductions andforced marriagesand the anguish felt by the young women because returning to Christianity is against the law. Further allegations of organised abduction of Copts, trafficking and police collusion continue in 2017.[141]

In April 2010, a bipartisan group of 17 members of the U.S. Congress expressed concern to the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Office about Coptic women who faced "physical and sexual violence, captivity... exploitation in forced domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation, and financial benefit to the individuals who secure the forced conversion of the victim."[121]

According to theEgyptian NGO Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance,between 2011 and March 2014, around 550 Coptic girls have been kidnapped, and forced to convert to Islam. According to the same survey around 40% of the girls were raped prior to their conversion to Islam and married their captors.[142]

Language

[edit]
Main articles:Coptic languageandEgyptian language
Coptic and Arabic inscriptions in an Old Cairo church

TheCoptic languageis the most recent stage of theEgyptian language.Coptic should more correctly be used to refer to the script rather than the language itself. Even though this script was introduced as far back as the 1st century BC, it has been applied to the writing of the Egyptian language from the 1st century AD to the present day.[143]Coptic remained the spoken language of most Egyptians until it was slowly replaced by colloquialEgyptian ArabicinLower EgyptandSa'idi ArabicinUpper Egyptby the end of the 17th century, although it may have survived in isolated pockets for a little longer.[144]

Today Coptic is extinct but it is still theliturgical languageof the native Egyptian Churches (theCoptic Orthodox Churchand theCoptic Catholic Church). It is taught worldwide in many prestigious institutions, but its teaching within Egypt remains limited.

Leaf from a Coptic manuscript, 6th-14th century, Metropolitan museum of art, NYC

Dialects of the Coptic language:

Calendar

[edit]
Main article:Coptic calendar

TheCoptic calendar,also called the Alexandrian calendar, is used by theCoptic Orthodox Churchand also byEthiopiaas its official calendar (with different names). Thiscalendaris based on the ancientEgyptian calendar.To avoid the calendar creep of the latter, a reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at the time ofPtolemy III(Decree of Canopus, in 238 BC) which consisted of the intercalation of a sixthepagomenal dayevery fourth year. However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the idea was not adopted until 25 BC, when theRomanEmperorAugustusformally reformed the calendar ofEgypt,keeping it forever synchronized with the newly introducedJulian calendar.To distinguish it from the Ancient Egyptian calendar, which remained in use by some astronomers until medieval times, this reformed calendar is known as the Coptic calendar. Its years and months coincide with those of theEthiopian calendarbut have different numbers and names.[145]

Coptic year

[edit]
See also:Computus
Coptic Orthodox Cross with traditional Coptic script reading: 'Jesus Christ, the Son of God'

The Coptic year is the extension of the ancient Egyptian civil year, retaining its subdivision into the three seasons, four months each. The three seasons are commemorated by special prayers in the Coptic liturgy. This calendar is still in use all over Egypt by farmers to keep track of the various agricultural seasons. The Coptic calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and an intercalary month at the end of the year of 5 or 6 days, depending whether the year is a leap year or not. The year starts on 29 August in theJulian Calendaror on the 30th in the year before (Julian) Leap Years. The Coptic Leap Year follows the same rules as the Julian Calendar so that the extra month always has six days in the year before a Julian Leap Year.[146]

The Feast ofNeyrouzmarks the first day of the Coptic year. Its celebration falls on the first day of the month ofThout,the first month of the Egyptian year, which for AD 1901 to 2098 usually coincides with 11 September, except before a Gregorian leap year when it's September 12. Coptic years are counted from 284 AD, the yearDiocletianbecame Roman Emperor, whose reign was marked by tortures and mass executions of Christians, especially in Egypt. Hence, the Coptic year is identified by the abbreviation A.M. (forAnno Martyrumor "Year of the Martyrs" ).[citation needed]The A.M. abbreviation is also used for the unrelated Jewish year (Anno Mundi).[citation needed]

Every fourth Coptic year is a leap yearwithout exception,as in the Julian calendar, so the above-mentioned new year dates apply only between AD 1900 and 2099 inclusive in the Gregorian Calendar. In the Julian Calendar, the new year isalways29 August, except before a Julian leap year when it's August 30.Easteris reckoned by the Julian Calendar in the Old Calendarist way.

To obtain the Coptic year number, subtract from the Julian year number either 283 (before the Julian new year) or 284 (after it).[147]

Genetics

[edit]

Copts are the descendants of pre-Islamic Egyptians, when Egyptian Muslims later ceased to call themselves by the demonym, the term became the distinctive name of the Christian minority.[148][149][150]Most ethnic Copts areCoptic Oriental Orthodox Christians.[151]According to Y-DNA analysis by Hassan et al. (2008), around 45% of Copts in Sudan carry theHaplogroup J.The remainder mainly belong to theE1b1bclade (21%). Both paternal lineages are common among other localAfroasiatic-speaking populations (Beja, Ethiopians, Sudanese Arabs), as well as the Nubians.[152]E1b1b/E3b reaches its highest frequencies among North Africans, Levantine Middle Easterners, and Ethiopid East Africans.[153]The next most common haplogroups borne by Copts in Sudan are the European-linkedR1bclade (15%), as well as the archaic AfricanBlineage (15%).[152]

Maternally, Hassan (2009) found that Copts in Sudan exclusively carry various descendants of themacrohaplogroup N.This mtDNA clade is likewise closely associated with local Afroasiatic-speaking populations, including Berbers and Ethiopid peoples. Of the N derivatives borne by Copts,U6is most frequent (28%), followed by thehaplogroup T(17%).[154]

A 2015 study by Dobon et al. identified an ancestral autosomal component of Western Eurasian origin that is common to many modern Afroasiatic-speaking populations inNortheast Africa.Known as theCopticcomponent, it peaks among Egyptian Copts who settled in Sudan over the past two centuries. In their analysis, Sudan's Copts formed a separated group in thePCA,a close outlier to other Egyptians, Afro-Asiatic-speaking Northeast Africans and Middle East populations. The scientists suggest that this points to a common origin for the general population of Egypt, or Middle Eastern and North African populations. Copts in general shared the same main ancestral component with North African/Middle Eastern populations. They also associate the Coptic component with Ancient Egyptian ancestry, without the later Arabian influence that is present among other Egyptians.[155]

Hollfelder et al. (2017) analysed various populations in Sudan and observed that Egyptians and Copts showed low levels of genetic differentiation and lower levels of genetic diversity compared to the northeast African groups. Copts and Egyptians displayed similar levels of European or Middle Eastern ancestry (Copts were estimated to be of 69.54% ± 2.57 European ancestry, and the Egyptians of 70.65% ± 2.47 European ancestry). The authors concluded that the Copts and the Egyptians have a common history linked to smaller population sizes, and that Sudanese Copts have remained relatively isolated since their arrival to Sudan with only low levels of admixture with local northeastern Sudanese groups.[156]

An allele frequency comparative study conducted in 2020 between the two main Egyptian ethnic groups, Muslims and Christians, supported the conclusion that Egyptian Muslims and Egyptian Christians genetically originate from the same ancestors.[157]

Prominent Copts

[edit]
Main article:List of Copts
Halim El-Dabh at aClevelandfestival in 2009
Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Some famous Copts include:

See also

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^In 2017, theWall Street Journalreported that "the vast majority of Egypt's estimated 9.5 million Christians, approximately 10% of the country's population, are Orthodox Copts."[1]In 2019, the Associated Press cited an estimate of 10 million Copts in Egypt.[2]In 2015, theWall Street Journalreported: "The Egyptian government estimates about 5 million Copts, but the Coptic Orthodox Church says 15-18 million. Reliable numbers are hard to find but estimates suggest they make up somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population."[3]In 2004, BBC News reported that Copts were 5–10% of the Egyptian population.[4]TheCIA World Factbookreported a 2015 estimate that 10% of the Egyptian population is Christian (including both Copts and non-Copts).[5]In 2017, theMinority Rights Groupreported that figures for the population of Egyptian Copts "range between 4.7 and 7.1 million, comprising between six and nine per cent of the population, though some estimates put the proportion at as much as 10 to 20 per cent."[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abFrancis X. Rocca & Dahlia Kholaif,Pope Francis Calls on Egypt’s Catholics to Embrace Forgiveness,Wall Street Journal(April 29, 2017).
  2. ^abNoha Elhennawy,Egyptian woman fights unequal Islamic inheritance laws,Associated Press (November 15, 2019).
  3. ^abc"Five Things to Know About Egypt's Coptic Christians".Wall Street Journal.February 16, 2015.
  4. ^"Egyptian Coptic protesters freed".BBC News.22 December 2004.
  5. ^"Egypt".The World Factbook.Central Intelligence Agency.10 April 2023.
  6. ^"Copts in Egypt".Minority Rights Group. October 2017.
  7. ^abcdefghijklmSudan: Copts,World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples,Minority Rights Group International (June 2018)
  8. ^abKjeilen, Tore."Coptic Church".LookLex Encyclopedia.Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved30 January2016.
  9. ^abShira Telushkin,The Americanization of an Ancient Faith,The Atlantic(March 2018).
  10. ^abShenaz Kermalli,Canadian Copts Ponder Future of Their Faith,Religion News Service(April 25, 2017).
  11. ^In the year 2003, there was an estimated 70,000 Copts in New South Wales alone:"Coptic Orthodox Church (NSW) Property Trust Act 1990".New South Wales Consolidated Acts.
  12. ^abIn the year 2017, there was an estimated 45,000 Copts in France:"Qui sont les coptes en France?".La Croix.16 March 2017.
  13. ^"La Chiesa copta".March 10, 2014.
  14. ^Copts number at least 20,000 in Britain"Middle Killeavy Parish Web Site".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-01-21.Retrieved2008-08-16.plus another 5,000 – 10,000 Copts who are directly under theBritish Orthodox Church (1999 figures)
  15. ^Teller, Matthew (12 July 2015)."Free to pray – but don't try to convert anyone".BBC.Retrieved12 July2015.Ten-thousand or more live in the UAE, and young, bearded priest Father Markos, 12 years in Dubai, told me his flock are "more than happy – they enjoy their life, they are free."
  16. ^"'De Koptische kerk telt in Nederland ongeveer tienduizend leden, die grotendeels afkomstig zijn uit Egypte.'".12 July 2015.Retrieved1 October2019.
  17. ^Minahan 2002,p. 467
  18. ^History of Christianity:Sudan,Coptic Christianity reached Sudan as early as the 2nd century, and there is even a tradition that St Matthew the Apostle came to the region even earlier.
  19. ^"Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?".CNN. 10 April 2017.The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1 million more Coptic Christians are spread across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the World Council of Churches.
  20. ^Coptic Orthodox Church Listings for Libya, p. 136ArchivedJuly 19, 2008, at theWayback Machine
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  22. ^Hackett, Conrad (2011-02-16)."How many Christians are there in Egypt?".Pew Research Center.Retrieved2023-11-14.
  23. ^Doorn-Harder, Nelly van (3 October 2017).Copts in Context: Negotiating Identity, Tradition, and Modernity.Univ of South Carolina Press.ISBN9781611177855.
  24. ^abcdRaheb, Mitri; Lamport, Mark A. (2020-12-15).The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN978-1-5381-2418-5.
  25. ^abRefugees, United Nations High Commissioner for."Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Egypt: Copts of Egypt".Refworld.Retrieved2020-06-15.
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  27. ^abLyster, William (2013).The Cave Church of Paul the Hermit at the Monastery of St. Pau.Yale University Press.ISBN9789774160936.Al Hakim Bi-Amr Allah (r. 996–1021), however, who became the greatest persecutor of Copts.... within the church that also appears to coincide with a period of forced rapid conversion to Islam
  28. ^N. Swanson, Mark (2010).The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517).American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 54.ISBN9789774160936.
  29. ^Deighton, H. S. "The Arab Middle East and the Modern World", International Affairs, vol. xxii, no. 4 (October 1946)
  30. ^"Egypt from" U.S. Department of State/Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs "".United States Department of State.September 30, 2008.
  31. ^ab"Egypt from" Foreign and Commonwealth Office "".Foreign and Commonwealth Office -UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs.August 15, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2012.
  32. ^Bailey, Betty Jane; Bailey, J. Martin (2003).Who Are the Christians in the Middle East?.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 145.ISBN978-0-8028-1020-5.
  33. ^abSamuel Tadros,Motherland Lost,ch 3–4.
  34. ^"Britannica: Egyptian Christians - Copt",britannica.com,retrieved30 July2023
  35. ^Dobon, Begoña; Hassan, Hisham Y.; Laayouni, Hafid; Luisi, Pierre; Ricaño-Ponce, Isis; Zhernakova, Alexandra; Wijmenga, Cisca; Tahir, Hanan; Comas, David; Netea, Mihai G.; Bertranpetit, Jaume (2015)."The genetics of East African populations: A Nilo-Saharan component in the African genetic landscape".Scientific Reports.5:9996.Bibcode:2015NatSR...5E9996D.doi:10.1038/srep09996.ISSN2045-2322.PMC4446898.PMID26017457.
  36. ^abMohamoud YA, Cuadros DF, Abu-Raddad LJ. Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators, QScience Connect 2013:22doi:10.5339/connect.2013.22
  37. ^Ackroyd, P. R.; Evans, C. F. (1963).The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 1, From the Beginnings to Jerome.Cambridge University Press. p. 27.ISBN978-0-521-09973-8.Retrieved16 October2016.
  38. ^"The people of Egypt before the Arab conquest in the 7th century identified themselves and their language in Greek as Aigyptios (Arabic qibt, Westernized as Copt); when Egyptian Muslims later ceased to call themselves Aigyptioi, the term became the distinctive name of the Christian minority."Coptic Orthodox Church.Encyclopædia Britannica Online.2007
  39. ^OEDs.v. "Copt".
  40. ^qtd. in M. Hussein.el Ittigahat el Wataneyya fil Adab el Muʻaṣir[National Trends in Modern Literature].Vol. 2. Cairo, 1954.
  41. ^Hackett, Conrad (16 February 2011)."How many Christians are there in Egypt?".Pew Research Center.
  42. ^"Egypt from" The World Factbook "".American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).September 4, 2008.
  43. ^NLG SolutionsArchived2016-03-24 at theWayback Machine<Online>.Egypt.Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  44. ^OSB, Hugh Somerville Knapman (2018).Ecumenism of Blood: Heavenly Hope for Earthly Communion.Paulist Press. p. 87.ISBN978-1-58768-744-0."The Coptic church, however, is not in communion with Rome due to the fifth-century Christological maelstrom of heresies that resulted from an attempt to more fully understand the identity of Christ."
  45. ^Eusebius of Caesarea,the author of Ecclesiastical History in the fourth century, states that St. Mark came to Egypt in the first or third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, i.e., 41 or 43 AD. "Two Thousand years of Coptic Christianity" Otto F.A. Meinardus p. 28.
  46. ^"Circumcision".Columbia Encyclopedia.Columbia University Press. 2011.
  47. ^qtd. in Alan K. Bowman,Egypt after the Pharaohs, 332 BC – AD 642,Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996, p. 126: "genuine Egyptians can easily be recognized among the linen-weavers by their speech."
  48. ^Lennart Sundelin; Petra Sijpesteijn (2004).Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt.Brill. p. 165.
  49. ^Lennart Sundelin; Petra Sijpesteijn (2020).Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek.De Gruyter. p. 447.
  50. ^Walker, Susan,op cit.,p. 24
  51. ^Dentition helps archaeologists to assess biological and ethnic population traits and relationships
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  53. ^Victor J. Katz (1998).A History of Mathematics: An Introduction,p. 184. Addison Wesley,ISBN0-321-01618-1:"But what we really want to know is to what extent the Alexandrian mathematicians of the period from the first to the fifth centuries C.E. were Greek. Certainly, all of them wrote in Greek and were part of the Greek intellectual community of Alexandria. And most modern studies conclude that the Greek community coexisted [...] So should we assume thatPtolemyandDiophantus,PappusandHypatiawere ethnically Greek, that their ancestors had come from Greece at some point in the past but had remained effectively isolated from the Egyptians? It is, of course, impossible to answer this question definitively. But research in papyri dating from the early centuries of the common era demonstrates that a significant amount of intermarriage took place between the Greek and Egyptian communities [...] And it is known that Greek marriage contracts increasingly came to resemble Egyptian ones. In addition, even from the founding of Alexandria, small numbers of Egyptians were admitted to the privileged classes in the city to fulfill numerous civic roles. Of course, it was essential in such cases for the Egyptians to become "Hellenized," to adopt Greek habits and the Greek language. Given that the Alexandrian mathematicians mentioned here were active several hundred years after the founding of the city, it would seem at least equally possible that they were ethnically Egyptian as that they remained ethnically Greek. In any case, it is unreasonable to portray them with purely European features when no physical descriptions exist."
  54. ^Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854), byAl-Maqrizi
  55. ^Chronicles, byJohn of Nikiû
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  57. ^H. Patrick Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World. Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 219.
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  64. ^Teule, Herman G. B. (2013)."Introduction: Constantinople and Granada, Christian-Muslim Interaction 1350-1516".In Thomas, David; Mallett, Alex (eds.).Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, Volume 5 (1350-1500).Brill. p. 10.ISBN9789004252783.
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  66. ^N. Swanson, Mark (2010).The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517).American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 54.ISBN9789774160936.By late 1012 the persecution had moved into high gear with demolitions of churches and the forced conversion of Christian...
  67. ^ha-Mizraḥit ha-Yiśreʼelit, Ḥevrah (1988). Asian and African Studies, Volume 22. Jerusalem Academic Press. Muslim historians note the destruction of dozens of churches and the forced conversion of dozens of people to Islam under al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in Egypt...These events also reflect the Muslim attitude toward forced conversion and toward converts.
  68. ^Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Forcing taxes on those who refuse to convert(PDF),ʿUmar is depicted as having ordered that "the poll-tax should be taken from all men who would not become Muslims"
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  72. ^"Religion and Education Around the World"(PDF).Pew Research Center. 19 December 2011.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2016-12-22.Retrieved13 December2016.
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Further reading

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Look upCoptin Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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