The ancient land of Egypt, with its sophisticated civilization and complex religious system, saw the dawning of Christianity in 55 A.D. According to Egyptian tradition, St. Mark the Evangelist brought the Good News to the Jewish communities extant in Alexandria and Old Cairo, then known as Babylon or Fortress Babylon. But it was not destined to remain within the Jewish Quarters.

       The once immense power of Egypt's vast pantheon and priesthood had gradually degenerated into esotericism and black magic, leading the people into spiritual darkness. The picturesque parade of foreign rulers and influences which marched through conservative Egypt took the people through cultural entropy¹ and culminated in the final blow of Roman oppression. 

       Into this milieu stepped the Gospeler Mark, probably with the Apostle Peter² as well as Apollos and Barnabus.  When they presented the Light of the Gospel of Christ, its power and purity penetrated the great darkness of Egypt, and it changed the confusion of the Curse into the hope of Eternal Life. That belief in eternal life had been a basic foundation of Egyptian everyday life...for three millennia!  It took, then, barely a century for Egyptian Christianity to spread the length of the fertile Nile Valley.

      Those who possessed the lineage of the Ancient Egyptians, with their "racial memory", their roots in the land, their deepest values and their genetic heritage, became known as the Copts. The word actually means Egyptian^3&4. In keeping with the continuous strain of Egyptian  conservatism the Coptic Christians do not generally intermarry with outsiders.  Therefore they are the closest relatives of the inhabitants of Dynastic and Pre-dynastic Egypt. 

       A major portion of what constitutes the field of Egyptology has come down to us through the work of the artists and architects of Ancient Egypt. Thus it seems appropriate to delicately sample the creativity of the Copts as found in objects ranging from fine wool textiles with dancing mythological figures to the sublimely devotional detailing of the sacred high altar (Haikal) screens.

       Nor can the austere beauty of a ruined monastery or an isolated Coptic community be overlooked. Indeed from looking deeply comes perception, and with perception comes understanding.

1. The Second Law of Thermodynamics which Albert Einstein called the premier law of all science.

2. See I Peter 5:13. Coptic Christians say this is a reference to the Babylon in Egypt. It seems to fit and has not been disproven.

3. The word "Coptic" came from the Greek name for Egyptian or "Aegyptos" and originally referred to the Egyptian language in its latest form. The (spoken) language of Ancient Hieroglyphic Egyptian was later written with a cursive script known as Hieratic, still later with another script Demotic and finally written with a mostly Greek alphabet with 7 letters retained from Demotic . This language was known as Coptic. Later, after the split in 451 AD from Eastern Orthodox and Western Churches, "Coptic" also referred to the Orthodox Church of Egypt. At that time the Copts also began to use Coptic instead of Greek in their services. (cf.T. H. Partrick Traditional Egyptian Christianity, Greensboro, N.C.: Fisher Park Press, 1996, p.xiii footnote1)

4. To view the vast wealth of Coptic literature available, with English translations by Hany Takla and others, visit www.stshenouda.com.