Copts

Copts are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts predominantly follow the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Alexandrian Greek Orthodox Church and the Coptic Catholic Church. They are the largest Christian population in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts account for roughly 5 to 15 percent of the population of Egypt.
Originally referring to all Egyptians, the term Copt became synonymous with native Christians in light of Egypt's Islamization and Arabization after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 639–646 AD. Copts have historically spoken the Coptic language, a direct descendant of the Demotic Egyptian that was spoken in late antiquity.
Following the Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century, the treatment of the Coptic Christians who did not convert ranged from relative tolerance to open persecution. 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. Themes of persecution and martyrdom constitute a significant part of Coptic identity due to historic and current conflicts.
Most Copts adhere to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. The smaller Coptic Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church, in communion with the Holy See of Rome; others belong to the Evangelical Church of Egypt. Under Islamic rule, the Copts held important administrative and commercial positions. Copts also played an integral role in the Arab Renaissance which is known as "Al Nahda". They also contributed to Egypt's social and political life and key debates such as pan-Arabism, governance, educational reform, and democracy. They have historically flourished in business affairs.
While an integral part of broader Egyptian society and culture, Copts also preserve distinct religious traditions and some unique cultural elements. Coptic music is thought to incorporate some influences from earlier Egyptian musical traditions. Copts also maintain the use of the Coptic calendar, which is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar and remains significant in their liturgical practices.
Many Copts view Arab identity as closely associated with Islam and may not fully identify with it, but they also have a national identity shared with other Egyptians. Copts and Muslim Egyptians are recognized as being physically indistinguishable. In urban cities of Egypt such as Cairo and Alexandria, Copts have a relatively high educational attainment, wealth index, and a strong representation in white-collar job types. However, most Copts live in Upper Egypt, mainly working in blue collar jobs, but with limited representation in security agency work. The majority of demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators are similar among Coptic Christians and Muslims in Egypt.

Etymology

The English language adopted the word Copt in the 17th century from Neo-Latin Coptus, Cophtus, which derives from the Arabic collective قبط "the Copts" with nisba adjective قبطى, plural أقباط; Also quftī, qiftī an Arabisation of the Coptic word ⲁⲓⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲛ aiguption or ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛ kuptaion. The Coptic word in turn represents an adaptation of the Greek term for the indigenous people of Egypt, .
The Greek term for Egypt, Aígyptos, itself derives from the Egyptian language, but dates to a much earlier period, being attested already in Mycenaean Greek as a₃-ku-pi-ti-jo. This Mycenaean form likely comes from Middle Egyptian wikt:ḥwt kꜣ ptḥ#Egyptian, literally "estate/palace of the kꜣ of Ptah", the name of the temple complex of the god Ptah at Memphis.
The term Aigýptios in Greek came to designate the native Egyptian population in Roman Egypt. After the Muslim conquest of Egypt it became restricted to those Egyptians adhering to the Christian religion.
In their historic Coptic language, which represents the final stage of the Egyptian language, there is no distinct term equivalent to Copt, as a designation separate from Egyptian. Instead, terms such as rem en kēme ⲣⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ, lem en kēmi, and rem en khēmi ⲣⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ are attested, all of which literally mean "people of Egypt" or "Egyptians"; cf. Egyptian rmṯ n Km , Demotic rmt n kmỉ. This is not unique to Coptic, as many community endonyms translate simply to "people", though it is understood that by saying "people", an in-group is being referred to. For example, the term Inuit means "the people", and the term Romani derives from words referring to "man" or "people". To an extent it was not necessary to make a distinction between "person of Egypt" as someone other than a Copt throughout much of history, as other groups residing in Egypt had recognized ethnonyms in Coptic, such as "Hellene", that were sufficient. In the medieval era there also was not always a distinction made between Christian Copts and their Pre-Christian ancestors, and the same ethnonym was sometimes used for both, meaning identity to the culture of being "Coptic" was not as tightly tied to Christianity as it commonly is today.
The Arabic word "Copt" has also been connected to the Greek name of the town of Kóptos in Upper Egypt. This association may have contributed to making "Copt" the settled form of the name.
In the 20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals in the context of Pharaonism began using the term in the historical sense to refer to all ethnic Egyptians, both Christians and Muslims.

History

Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., the country came under the rule of Greek Ptolemaic kings. While the majority of the population remained Egyptian, foreign settlers of both Greek and non-Greek origin emigrated to Egypt during that period. While 10% may stand as a very approximate figure for the total immigrant population in Ptolemaic Egypt, including both Greeks and non-Greeks, this figure has been challenged as excessive. The native Egyptian population, which remained Egyptian in language and culture, spoke the latest stage of the Egyptian language, which came to be known later as Coptic. The creation of Coptic as a coherent writing system to express the Egyptian language undoubtedly served to cement the distinction between the native population in Egypt and the ruling Greeks.
Despite the presence of these immigrants and a foreign pharaoh, Egypt remained home primarily to Egyptians, by far the largest group within the population. In fact, most of the rural and urban native population that lived in towns, villages and hamlets the length of the Nile Valley continued their lives little changed during the rule of the Ptolemies. Even in Alexandria, the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and the largest Greek city outside of Greece, the number of native Egyptians far outnumbered that of Greeks. In numbers and in culture, Egypt remained essentially Egyptian, even as foreign communities were incorporated into the life of the country. Over time, the small numbers of foreigners were integrated into the Egyptian population so that, when finally Rome took control of Egypt in 30 BC, the vast majority of Greeks in Egypt were essentially categorized by the Roman conquerors as Egyptians.
The Faiyum mummy portraits reflect the complex synthesis of the predominant Egyptian culture and religion, with that of Hellenistic art, and were attached to sarcophagi of firmly Egyptian character. The dental morphology of the Roman-period Faiyum mummies was 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.

Foundation of the Christian Church in Egypt

According to ancient tradition, Christianity was introduced to present day Egypt by St. Mark in Alexandria, shortly after the ascension of Christ and during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius around 42 AD. 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 the Gospel of John, written in Coptic and found in Upper Egypt that can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century, and the New Testament writings found in Oxyrhynchus, in Middle Egypt, which date around 200 AD. In the 2nd century, Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into the Coptic language. By the beginning of the 3rd century AD, Christians constituted the majority of Egypt's population, and the Church of Alexandria was recognized as one of Christendom's four apostolic sees, second in honor only to the Church in Rome. The Church of Alexandria is therefore the oldest Christian church in Africa.

Contributions to Christianity

The Copts in Egypt contributed immensely to the Christian tradition. The Catechetical School of Alexandria was the oldest institution of its kind in the world. Founded around 190 AD by the scholar Pantanaeus, the school became an important focus of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus, and Origen. 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 before Braille, blind scholars used wood-carving techniques there to read and write.
As major early adopters of Christianity, Copts have the reputation of missionaries spreading the Christian faith as far afield as Switzerland, Abyssinia and India, influencing Mesopotamia, Persia, Rome, and Ireland.
Another major contribution the Egyptian Copts made to Christianity was the creation and organization of monasticism. Worldwide Christian monasticism stems, either directly or indirectly, from Egyptian origins. Prominent figures of the early monastic movement in Egypt included Anthony the Great, Paul of Thebes, Macarius the Great, Shenouda the Archimandrite and Pachomius 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. Pilgrims from all over the world visited the Egyptian Desert Fathers to emulate their spiritual, disciplined lives. St Basil the Great Archbishop of Caesarea Mazaca, and the founder and organiser of the monastic movement in Asia Minor, visited Egypt around 357 AD and his monastic rules are followed by the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Saint Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin, came to Egypt while en route to Jerusalem around 400 AD, leaving details of his experiences in his letters. St. Benedict founded the Benedictine Order in the 6th century on the model of Saint Pachomius, although in a stricter form.