Coptic Art The word Copt or Coptic, derived from the Greek world for the Egyptians. Coptic is the word used by the Arabs to describe the native Egyptians who were largely Christians at the time of the Arab Conquest ( 640 A..D. ). Today, the term Coptic serves to classify the Christian minority in Egypt.
The details of the first Christian mission to Egypt, specifiically to Alexandria, are not very clear, although there is a tradition that St. Mark brought the Gospel to Egypt approximately 50 A.D. A small community of Christions began to develop in Alexandria in the first century. By the Third Century, the number of members of this Christion Community had increased enormously. By the beginning of the Forth Century, much of the Scriptures, liturgy and religious literature was written in Coptic.
The development of Christion monastic communities favored the development of a national church, the Coptic Church. This Church used only the Coptic language for its Scriptures and liturgy. Coptic language was defined as the latest version of the Egyptian language, written in Greek letters.
|