The Copts as a Religious Minority in the Land of the Pharaohs: From the Rise to the Decline of Christianity

Egypt has hosted a minority sect called Copt since the time of Christ. They had a long presence, but under conditions that never seemed to be perfectly desirable. Therefore contradictions, including cautious thinking along with extreme desire for martyrdom, religious faith, the hierarchy of the clergy, and the tendency towards monasticism are considered as a form of religious life. We are sure that the main disagreement and strife took place in Chalcedon and coincided with the arousal of national excitement; an independence that drew the attention to Byzantium, the political capital of Christian world. The present article, while addressing the importance of these issues, seeks to clarify the causes and aspects of the change that has taken place in the context of Christianity, especially in the Coptic society of Egypt, a group that emerged with the dream of freedom from the turmoils of a period that was full of political and religious excitements, and once again faced difficulties caused by Islamic jihad. The results allow us to assume that whatever the motive of this movement was, the political context in this period played a far more important role than religion. In the end, it led to the Copts’ unification and alliance against the empire and its representatives, both religious and non-religious.