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.[36][37] The majority of demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators are similar among Christians andMuslims.[38]
The English language adopted the wordCopt in the 17th century fromNeo-LatinCoptus, Cophtus, which derives from theArabic collectivequbṭ / qibṭقبط "the Copts" withnisba adjectivequbṭī, qibṭīقبطى, pluralaqbāṭأقباط; Alsoquftī, qiftī (where the Arabic/f/ reflects the historical Coptic/p/) an Arabisation of theCoptic word ⲁⲓⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲛaiguption (Bohairic for "Egyptian" or in relation to Egypt) or ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛkuptaion (Sahidic). The Coptic word in turn represents an adaptation of the Greek term for the indigenous people of Egypt,Aigýptios (Αἰγύπτιος).[39]
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 Greek asa3-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 godPtah atMemphis (and asynecdoche for the city of Memphis and the region around it).
The termAigýptios in 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.[40]
The Coptic name forEgyptians,remənkhēmi (Coptic:ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ), is realized inFayyumic Coptic as ⲗⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲕⲏⲙⲉlemenkēmi and as ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲕⲏⲙⲉremənkēme in 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; CopticKebt andKeft) inUpper Egypt. This association may have contributed to making "Copt" the settled form of the name.[41]
In the 20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals in the context ofPharaonism began using the termqubṭ in the historical sense.[42]
Coptic icon ofSt. MarkPortrait of a Coptic Christian woman byBertha Müller, circa 1850
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 community forming around 5 to 20 percent of the population.[43][33][44][45] 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.[46]
According to ancient tradition,Christianity was introduced to present dayEgypt bySt. Mark inAlexandria, shortly after the ascension ofChrist and during the reign of theRoman emperorClaudius around 42 AD.[47] 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 inCoptic and found inUpper Egypt that can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century, and theNew Testament writings 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,Christians constituted the majority of Egypt's population, and theChurch of Alexandria was 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.
The Copts in Egypt contributed immensely to Christian tradition. TheCatechetical School 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.
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 Fathers to emulate their spiritual, disciplined lives.St Basil the Great Archbishop 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 theBible intoLatin, came toEgypt while en route toJerusalem around 400 AD, leaving details of his experiences in his letters.St. Benedict founded theBenedictine Order in the 6th century on the model ofSaint Pachomius, although in a stricter form.Coptic Christians practice malecircumcision as a rite of passage.[48]
TheFaiyum mummy portraits reflect the complex synthesis of the predominant Egyptian culture and that of the Hellenized Middle East.
By the time of Roman emperorCaracalla in the 2nd century AD, ethnic Egyptians could be distinguished from Egyptian Greeks only by their speech.[49]
Egyptian Greek is the variety of Greek spoken in Egypt from antiquity until theIslamic conquest of Egypt in the 7th century. Egyptian Greek adopted many loanwords fromEgyptian language; there was a great deal of intracommunitybilingualism in Egypt.[50][51]
The following is an example of Egyptian Greek language, used in theCoptic Church:
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
The dental morphology[52] 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.[53] 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".[54]
Modern day Copts use predominantly Arabic and Coptic, the latter being the direct descendent of the Ancient Egyptian language. For instance, theLord's Prayer in theCoptic Church is recited in the nativeCoptic language as follows:
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.
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.[70]
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 Ali in the early 19th century. He abolished theJizya (a tax on non-Muslims) and allowed Egyptians (Copts) to enroll in the army.Pope Cyril IV, who reigned from 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.[35]
Some Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of theCoptic Museum in 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some prominent Coptic thinkers from this period areSalama Moussa,Louis Awad and Secretary General of the Wafd PartyMakram Ebeid.
In 1952,Gamal Abdel Nasser led 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-Arab nationalism and socialism. The Copts were severely affected by Nasser's nationalization policies, though they represented about 10 to 20 percent of the population.[71] 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.[71]
Copts in Egypt are generally characterized by relatively high levels of educational attainment, income, and representation in professional and white-collar occupations, though their participation in security-related institutions remains limited.[citation needed] A 2013 demographic study found that most socioeconomic and health indicators among Copts were broadly comparable to those of Egyptian Muslims.[72] Historical data also suggest that Egyptian Christians have been overrepresented in the country’s middle and upper-middle classes.[73]
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Copts held significant roles in Egypt’s financial and administrative sectors. They were widely employed as accountants in government offices, and by the 1960s reportedly owned a substantial portion of the country’s banking institutions.[74][75] In the mid-20th century, Christians were estimated to represent 45% of Egypt’s medical doctors and 60% of its pharmacists.[76]
A 2016 study by the Pew Research Center found that 36% of Egyptian Christians had completed university education, among the highest rates in the Middle East and North Africa.[77]
Several Coptic families have attained significant economic influence, particularly in the private sector. The Sawiris family, through its Orascom conglomerate, became one of Egypt’s most prominent business dynasties in the early 2000s, with interests spanning telecommunications, construction, tourism, and technology.[78][79][80] In 2008, Forbes estimated their combined wealth at $36 billion.[81][82][83][84]
Some scholars attribute the high educational and economic profile of the Coptic community to a historical emphasis within the tradition on literacy and the development of human capital.[85]
Many Coptic intellectuals hold to "Pharaonism," which states that Egyptian culture is largely derived from pre-Christian, ancient Egyptian 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. However, some Western scholars today argue that Pharaonism was a late development shaped primarily byOrientalism, and doubt its validity.[86][87]
Today, members of thenon-Chalcedonian Coptic 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 Catholics andEastern Rite Catholics, and otherOrthodox congregations. The termCoptic remains 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 Tawadros was 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.[89]
Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Cathedral inKhartoum
Sudan has 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 rule at 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 invasion in 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 Islam in the mid-1960s and subsequent demands by radicals for anIslamic constitution prompted Copts to join in public opposition to religious rule.[7]
Gaafar Nimeiry's introduction of IslamicSharia law 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 Front overthrew the elected government ofSadiq al-Mahdi with 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 Airways was executed for illegal possession of foreign currency.[90] 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.[90]
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 ofhijab dress laws. A Coptic child was flogged for failing to recite aKoranic verse.[90] 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]
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 Catholics and members of theEpiscopal Church of Sudan with a "smattering" of Coptic Orthodox andAfrica Inland Mission adherents.[93] A 2018 report by theMinority Rights Group said Sudanese Copts had previously estimated their numbers at 400,000 to 500,000,[94] about 1% of the Sudanese population,[7] but that emigration and conversion (including forced conversion) to Islam had decreased their number.[93]
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 Egypt is difficult to estimate because researchers are forbidden by Egyptian authorities to ask a survey participant's religion.[95] As of 2019, "Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population,"[96] 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.[96] A lack of definite, reliable demographic data renders all estimates uncertain.[3][96] Despite challenges, Copts are well integrated in Egyptian society. The highest concentrations of Copts are inUpper Egypt, especially aroundAsyut andQena.[97]
TheCoptic population in Libya is uncertain. A 2013 estimate by theU.S. Department of State placed 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.[98] 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 State violently persecuted Copts.[98]
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.
In the early 2010s, the Canadian Coptic Association estimates that the population ofCanadian Copts was 35,000.[100] By 2017, there were an estimated 50,000 Canadian Copts, with more than 80% living inOntario,[10] many in theGreater Toronto Area.[100]
TheCoptic Australians population has been estimated at 30,000 (ABC News, 2017)[101] to 100,000 (SBS, 2018).[102] The first Coptic Orthodox priest in Australia arrived in 1969; theCoptic Orthodox Church in Australia is organized into two dioceses, the first based inMelbourne (diocese organized in 1999) and the second inSydney (diocese organized in 2002).[103] There is a single Coptic Catholic church in Australia, consecrated in 2019.[104]
Jordan has a minor community of Copts; theJordan Times reported in 2005 that theVirgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in theAbdali district of Amman had 8,000 members, mostly Egyptians.[109] As of 2012, theLebanon's Syriac League estimated that the Coptic population in that country numbered 3,000 to 4,000.[110] As of 2017,Germany was home to between 6,000 and 10,000 Copts.[111] In the 2020s, the Coptic Orthodox population ofAustria was estimated to be 10,000, although the 2001 Austrian census (the country's last to record religious affiliation) tallied just 1,633 Coptic Orthodox.[112] 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.[113] InIsrael, there were approximately 1,000 Copts as of 2014, mostly residing inJerusalem.[114]
Religious freedom in Egypt is constitutionally guaranteed but restricted in practice, particularly for the Coptic Christian minority. Discriminatory policies and bureaucratic hurdles have historically hampered the construction and repair of churches. Until 2005, presidential approval was required for even minor repairs. Although this requirement was devolved to governors and further eased by the 2016 Church Construction Law.[115][116]
Copts have been the target of sectarian violence. Notable incidents include the 2000–01 El-Kosheh clashes that left 21 dead,[117][118] attacks on Alexandria churches in 2006,[119][120] and mob violence in Marsa Matrouh in 2010.[121] Reports from the same period indicate that police frequently arrived too late to prevent violence, pressured Copts into "reconciliation" sessions, and rarely prosecuted attackers.[122]
Following the 2013 ousting of President Mohamed Morsi, churches and Christian properties were targeted in retaliatory attacks. At least 45 churches were attacked, with accusations that Muslim Brotherhood rhetoric incited the violence.[123][124][125]
Human trafficking and forced conversions have also been reported. Coptic women and girls have been subject to abduction, coercion, and forced marriage, with congressional and NGO concern raised about state inaction and complicity.[126][127][128]
Copts are underrepresented in public office, security services, and judiciary positions. During President Mubarak's tenure, only a few Copts held cabinet or gubernatorial positions.[129][130]
Religious conversion laws in Egypt remain asymmetrical. While conversion to Islam is easily recognized, Christians converting from Islam face legal and bureaucratic obstacles. Some converts have been arrested or denied identity documents.[131][132] Though a 2008 court ruling allowed 12 citizens to re-register as Christians after converting to Islam, it required them to list their period as Muslims on official documents.[133]
Recent years have seen incremental improvements. Church construction has become easier, with thousands of churches legalized under the 2016 law and fewer reports of obstruction.[134] In Open Doors' World Watch List, Egypt dropped from 25th place out of 50 in 2013 to 40th in 2025, indicating a decline in reported persecution, though social and legal challenges remain.[135]
Coptic and Arabic inscriptions in an Old Cairo church
TheCoptic language is 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.[136] Coptic remained the spoken language of most Egyptians until it was slowly replaced by colloquialEgyptian Arabic inLower Egypt andSa'idi Arabic inUpper Egypt by the end of the 17th century, although it may have survived in isolated pockets for a little longer.[137]
Today Coptic is extinct but it is still theliturgical language of the native Egyptian Churches (theCoptic Orthodox Church and 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
TheCoptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is used by theCoptic Orthodox Church and also byEthiopia as its official calendar (with different names). Thiscalendar is 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 day every fourth year. However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the idea was not adopted until 25 BC, when theRoman EmperorAugustus formally 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 calendar but have different numbers and names.[138]
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 Calendar or 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.[139]
The Feast ofNeyrouz marks 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 yearDiocletian became 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 Martyrum or "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 isalways 29 August, except before a Julian leap year when it's August 30.Easter is 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).[140]
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.[141][142][143] Most ethnic Copts areCoptic Oriental Orthodox Christians.[144] According to Y-DNA analysis by Hassan et al. (2008), around 45% of Copts in Sudan carry theHaplogroup J. The remainder mainly belong to theE1b1b clade (21%). Both paternal lineages are common among other localAfroasiatic-speaking populations (Beja, Ethiopians, Sudanese Arabs), as well as the Nubians.[145] E1b1b/E3b reaches its highest frequencies among North Africans, Levantine Middle Easterners, and Ethiopid East Africans.[146] The next most common haplogroups borne by Copts in Sudan are the European-linkedR1b clade (15%), as well as the archaic AfricanB lineage (15%).[145]
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,U6 is most frequent (28%), followed by thehaplogroup T (17%).[147]
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 theCoptic component, 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.[148]
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.[149]
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.[150]
^In 2017, theWall Street Journal reported 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 Journal reported: "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 Factbook reported a 2015 estimate that 10% of the Egyptian population is Christian (including both Copts and non-Copts).[5] In 2017, theMinority Rights Group reported 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]
^Teller, Matthew (12 July 2015)."Free to pray – but don't try to convert anyone".BBC. Retrieved12 July 2015.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."
^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.
^"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.
^abEtheredge, Laura S. (2011).Middle East, Region in Transition: Egypt. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 161.ISBN9789774160936.
^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
^N. Swanson, Mark (2010).The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517). American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 54.ISBN9789774160936.
^Deighton, H. S. "The Arab Middle East and the Modern World", International Affairs, vol. xxii, no. 4 (October 1946)
^Mohamoud 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
^"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
^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."
^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.
^"Circumcision".Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2011.
^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."
^Lennart Sundelin; Petra Sijpesteijn (2004).Papyrology and the History of Early Islamic Egypt. Brill. p. 165.
^Lennart Sundelin; Petra Sijpesteijn (2020).Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek. De Gruyter. p. 447.
^Dentition helps archaeologists to assess biological and ethnic population traits and relationships
^Irish JD (2006). "Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through postdynastic peoples.".Am J Phys Anthropol 129 (4): 529-43
^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 thatPtolemy andDiophantus,Pappus andHypatia were 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."
^Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854), byAl-Maqrizi
^Feder, Frank (2017). "The Bashmurite Revolts in the Delta and the 'Bashmuric Dialect'". In Gabra, Gawdat; Takla, Hany N. (eds.).Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt: Beni Suef, Giza, Cairo, and the Nile Delta. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 33–35.
^Lapidus, Ira M. (1972). "The Conversion of Egypt to Islam".Israel Oriental Studies.2: 257.
^Robert Ousterhout, "Rebuilding the Temple: Constantine Monomachus and the Holy Sepulchre" inThe Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 48, No. 1 (March, 1989), pp.66–78
^Werthmuller, Kurt J. (2010).Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt, 1218-1250. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 76.ISBN9780805440737.
^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 ...
^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.
^abNisan, Mordechai (2002).Minorities in the Middle East. McFarland. p. 144.ISBN978-0-7864-1375-1.
^Mohamoud 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
^B. Rugh, Andrea (2016).Christians in Egypt: Strategies and Survival. Springer. p. 30.ISBN9781137566133.
^van der Vliet, Jacques (June 2009), "The Copts: 'Modern Sons of the Pharaohs'?",Church History & Religious Culture,89 (1–3):279–90,doi:10.1163/187124109x407934.
^Reid, Donald Malcolm (2003)."7".Whose Pharaohs?: Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I. U. of California Press. pp. 258ff.ISBN9780520240698.
^Matson, G. Olaf (1925).The American Colony Guide-book to Jerusalem and Environs. Vester. p. 20. Retrieved7 September 2017.Copts. A very small community representing the large Coptic Church in Egypt.[...] Abyssinian. Also represented by a Bishop in Jerusalem. They, like the Copts, are Monophysites
^Mohamoud, Yousra A.; Cuadros, Diego F.; Abu-Raddad, Laith J. (2013). "Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators".QScience Connect (2013): 22.doi:10.5339/connect.2013.22.ISSN2223-506X.
^abMariz Tadros (2018). "Christians in Egypt, Libya, and Palestine Responding to the Aftermaths of the Arab Revolts". In Daniel Philpott & Timothy Samuel Shah (ed.).Under Caesar's Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution. Cambridge Studies in Law and Christianity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 108–113.
^abStanley A. Clark, "Coptic Orthodox Church" inEncyclopedia of Christianity in the United States (eds. George Thomas Kurian & Mark A. Lamport: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), pp. 638-39.
^Philip J. Hughes, Margaret Fraser, and Stephen Breck Reid (2012).Australia's Religious Communities: Facts and Figures from the 2011 Australian Census and Other Sources.Christian Research Association. p. 78.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Britannica: Copts, 3 May 2024,The Copts are 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.
^Begoña Dobon; et al. (28 May 2015)."The genetics of East African populations: a Nilo-Saharan component in the African genetic landscape".Scientific Reports.5: 8.Bibcode:2015NatSR...5.9996D.doi:10.1038/srep09996.PMC4446898.PMID26017457.The North African/Middle Eastern genetic component is identified especially in Copts. The Coptic population present in Sudan is an example of a recent migration from Egypt over the past two centuries. They are close to Egyptians in the PCA, but remain a differentiated cluster, showing their own component at k = 4 (Fig. 3). The Coptic component at k = 4 peaks highest among Copts and makes up most of their distribution while it is not predominant among Egyptians. K = 2 to K = 5 (Fig. 3) shows Egyptians distribution resemble Qatar more than Copts. Copts lack the influence found in Egyptians from Qatar, an Arabic population. It may suggest that Copts have a genetic composition that could resemble the ancestral Egyptian population, without the present strong Arab influence
Courbage, Youssef and Phillipe Fargues. Judy Mabro (Translator)Christians and Jews Under Islam, 1997.
Ibrahim, Vivian.The Copts of Egypt: The Challenges of Modernisation and Identity (I.B. Tauris, distributed by Palgrave Macmillan; 2011) 258 pages; examines historical relations between Coptic Christians and the Egyptian state and describes factionalism and activism in the community.
Kamil, Jill.Coptic Egypt: History and a Guide. Revised Ed. American University in Cairo Press, 1990.
Meinardus, Otto Friedrich August.Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (2010)
Van Doorn-Harder, Nelly. "Finding a Platform: Studying the Copts in the 19th and 20th Centuries"International Journal of Middle East Studies (Aug 2010) 42#3 pp 479–482. Historiography
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