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Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Mark's arrival in Alexandria as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200 AD, and a fragment of the Gospel of John, written in Coptic, which was found in Upper Egypt and can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century.
However, gradual conversions to Islam over the centuries had changed Egypt from a Christian to a largely Muslim country by the end of the 12th century. [38] Another scholar writes that a combination of "repression of Coptic revolts", Arab-Muslim immigration, and Coptic conversion to Islam resulted in the demographic decline of the Copts. [39]
The vast majority of Egyptian Christians are Copts who belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. [2] [3] As of 2019, Copts in Egypt make up approximately 10 percent of the nation's population, [4] with an estimated population of 9.5 million (figure cited in the Wall Street Journal, 2017) [5] or 10 million (figure cited in the Associated Press, 2019). [6]
From the Muslim conquest of Egypt onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslim regimes, [27] such as the Umayyad Caliphate, [59] Abbasid Caliphate, [60] [61] [62] Fatimid Caliphate, [63] [64] [65] Mamluk Sultanate, [66] [67] and Ottoman Empire; the persecution of Coptic Christians included closing and demolishing churches ...
Coptic arts flourished, reaching new heights in Middle and Upper Egypt. [8] Despite this, by this time, Coptic Christians had lost their majority status, [2] [9] as a result of the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches [10] and forced conversions to Islam. [11] [12] [13] [14]
[40] The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. [41] Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law.
The "Coptic period" is an informal designation for Late Roman Egypt (3rd−4th centuries) and Byzantine Egypt (4th−7th centuries).This era was defined by the religious shifts in Egyptian culture to Coptic Christianity from ancient Egyptian religion, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.
If one reconsiders Bishop Thomas' words, they can discover that he was not wrong. He said that Copts of Egypt are not of Arab origin but rather of Pharaonic origin, and this is correct because it is the truth and history. We are Coptic Egyptians. We are Pharaonic Copts. Coptic meaning ancient Egyptian who then converted to Christianity. Copt ...