Everything about Copts totally explained
أقباط
ni.Remenkīmi en Ekhristianos
|image =
|image_caption =
Top row (left to right)
Saint Mary of Egypt • Boutros Boutros Ghali • Ester Fanous • Saint Maurice
Bottom row (left to right)
Makram Pasha Ebeid • Meriam George • Saint Paul the Hermit and Saint Anthony the Great • Pope Cyril VI
| population = 8,000,000 to 18,000,000 (estimates vary)
|region1 =
|pop1 = 7,500,000 - 16,600,000 (2008 est.)
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|pop2 = 300,000 - 1,000,000
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|pop3 = 60,000
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|pop4 = 50,000+ (2003)
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|pop5 = 20,000 - 30,000 (2006)
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|region6 =
|pop6 = 20,000 - 25,000 (2008)
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|region7 =
|pop7 = 8,000+ (2005)
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|region8 =
|pop8 = 3,000 - 5,000 (2005)
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|region9 =
|pop9 = 2,000 (2001)
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|region10 =
|pop10 = 1,000 (2004)
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| rels = Predominantly:
Coptic Orthodox Christianity.
Minorities include:
Coptic Catholicism,
Protestantism
| scrips =
Bible
| langs = Liturgical:
CopticIn Egypt:
Egyptian ArabicIn the diaspora:
English,
French,
German and others}}
A
Copt (
Coptic:
ou.Remenkīmi en.Ekhristianos, literally:
Egyptian Christian) is a native
Egyptian Christian. Today, more than 95% of the Copts belong to the
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The remaining (around 500,000) are divided between the
Coptic Catholic and the Coptic
Protestant churches. The Copts are by far the largest Christian community in
North Africa and the
Middle East. The word "Coptic" was originally used in
Classical Arabic to refer to
Egyptians in general (see
etymology section), but it has undergone
semantic shift over the centuries to mean more specifically Egyptian Christian after the bulk of the Egyptian population converted to
Islam. In modern usage, it's frequently applied to members of the Coptic Orthodox Church irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus
Ethiopian and
Eritrean Christians (and
Nubians before their conversion to Islam) were traditionally referred to as Copts, though this has been falling out of use since their Tewahedo Churches were granted their own
patriarchs.
The number of Copts in
Egypt has been subject to some controversy. Coptic sources put forward figures ranging from 14% to 20% (between 10 and 15 million), but the Egyptian government insists that Copts represent about 6% (4 million) of the Egyptian population. Part of the controversy could be attributed to the increasing number of Copts born outside Egypt and who don't carry Egyptian passports. The number of Copts within Egypt may be very slowly declining due to higher emigration rates caused by harassment and discrimination at the hands of
Islamist militants and the Egyptian government. Egyptian Copts have occasionally been on the receiving end of violent acts from Islamic extremist groups. Copts have leveled the accusation that the Egyptian government has sometimes been complicit or uncaring in the face of such incidents. The 2006
World Factbook estimates that 7.6 million or 10% of
Egyptians are Christian (9% Coptic and 1% other denominations).
Etymology
The English word
Copt is from
New Latin Coptus, which is derived from
Arabic qubṭi قبطي (pl: qubṭ قبط and aqbāṭ أقباط), an Arabisation of the
Coptic word
kubti (
Bohairic) and/or
kuptaion (
Sahidic). This word is in turn derived from the
Greek word Αἰγύπτιος,
aiguptios: "Egyptian", from Αἴγυπτος,
aiguptos: "Egypt".
The Greek term for "Egypt" has a long history. It goes back to the
Mycenaean language (an early form of Greek) where the word
a3-ku-pi-ti-jo (lit. "Egyptian"; used here as a man's name) was written in
Linear B. This Mycenaean form is likely from
Egyptian ḥwt-k3-ptḥ ("Hut-ka-Ptah"), literally "Estate (or 'House') of
Ptah" (cf.
Akkadian āluḫi-ku-up-ta-aḫ), the name of the temple complex of the god
Ptah at
Memphis. As the chief temple precinct of the capital of Egypt, the name was applied to the entire city of Memphis and ultimately to the country as a whole.
A similar situation is observed in the name
Memphis [GreekΜέμφις], which comes from the Egyptian name of the
pyramid complex of
king Pepi II,
mn nfr ppy (lit. "Established in Perfection or 'Beauty' is Pepy") at
Saqqara but which was applied to the nearby capital city. Interestingly, this usage survived in Sahidic as
Gupton and
Kupton, meaning "Memphis". In modern
Egyptian Arabic,
Cairo is usually called
Masr (Egyptian Arabic: مَصر), which is also the name of Egypt.
There is another theory which states that the Arabic word
qibṭ "Copt" was an Arabisation of the Greek name of the town of Κόπτος
Coptos (modern قفط
Qifṭ; Coptic
Kebt and
Keft), but is generally no longer accepted.
References to
Copts in the
Coptic language are both Greek and Coptic in origin. The words
kuptaion (Sahidic) and
kubti (Bohairic) are attested, but are used in the surviving texts to refer to the language, rather than the people; these both derive from Greek Αἴγύπτιος
aiguptios "Egyptian". The Coptic term for the word "Egyptian" is
rem en kēme (Sahidic),
lem en kēmi (
Fayyumic),
rem en khēmi (Bohairic) , etc., literally "people of Egypt"; cf.
Egyptian rmṯ n kmt,
Demotic rmt n kmỉ.
The
etymological meaning of the word therefore pertains to all people of Egyptian origins, not only those who profess Coptic Orthodoxy. Medieval writers before the
Mamluk period often used the words Copts (Arabic: قبط) and Egyptians (Arabic: مصريون) interchangeably to describe all the people of Egypt whether Christian or Muslim. After the bulk of the Egyptian population converted to
Islam, the word Copt came to be associated with Egyptians who retained their Christianity. In the
20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals began using the term Copts in the historical sense. For example, Markos Pasha Semeika, founder of the
Coptic Museum, addressed a group of Egyptian students in these words: "All of you're Copts. Some of you're Muslim Copts, others are Christian Copts, but all of you're descended from the Ancient Egyptians".
History
The Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities in the
Middle East. Although integrated in the larger Egyptian nation, the Copts have survived as a distinct religious community forming today between 10 and 20 percent of the native population. They pride themselves on the apostolicity of the Egyptian Church whose founder was the first in an unbroken chain of patriarchs.
Foundation of the Egyptian Christian Church
According to ancient tradition,
Christianity was introduced to the
Egyptians by
Saint Mark in
Alexandria, shortly after the ascension of
Christ and during the reign of the
Roman emperor Nero. The legacy that
Saint Mark left in
Egypt was a considerable
Christian community in
Alexandria. From Alexandria,
Christianity spread throughout
Egypt within half a century of
Saint Mark's arrival in
Alexandria, as is clear from 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 second century, and the
New Testament writings found in
Oxyrhynchus, in
Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200 A.D. In the
second century,
Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into the local language, today known as the
Coptic language (which was called
the Egyptian language at the time). By the beginning of the 3rd century A.D.,
Christians constituted the majority of
Egypt’s population, and the
Church of Alexandria was recognized as one of
Christendom's four Apostolic Sees, second in honor only to the
Church of Rome. The
Church of Alexandria is therefore the oldest church in
Africa.
Contributions to Christianity
The Egyptians contributed immensely to the formation of the worldwide
Christian mind. To name a few examples, the Catechetical School of Alexandria was the oldest catechetical school in the world. Founded around 190 A.D. by the scholar
Pantanaeus, the school of Alexandria became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as
Athenagoras,
Clement,
Didymus, and the great
Origen, who was considered the father of theology and who was also active in the field of commentary and comparative Biblical studies. However, the scope of this school wasn't limited to theological subjects; science, mathematics and humanities were also taught there. The question-and-answer method of commentary began there, and 15 centuries before
Braille, wood-carving techniques were in use there by blind scholars to read and write.
Another major contribution made by the Egyptians to
Christianity was the creation and organization of
monasticism. The most prominent figures of the monastic movement were
Anthony the Great,
Paul of Thebes,
Macarius the Great,
Shenouda the Archimandrite and
Pachomius the Cenobite. By the end of the fifth century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered throughout the Egyptian desert. Worldwide Christian monasticism stems, either directly or indirectly, from the Egyptian example. Thus,
Saint Basil the Great Archbishop of
Caesarea Mazaca, and the founder and organiser of the monastic movement in
Asia Minor, visited
Egypt around 357 A.D. and his monastic rules are followed by the
Eastern Orthodox Churches;
Saint Jerome, who translated the
Bible into
Latin, came to
Egypt while en route to
Jerusalem around 400 A.D. and left details of his experiences in his letters; and
Saint Benedict founded the
Benedictine Order in the sixth century on the model of
Saint Pachomius, although in a stricter form. Countless pilgrims have visited the Egyptian
Desert Fathers to emulate their spiritual, disciplined lives.
The Ecumenical Councils
The Egyptians also played a major role in the first three
Ecumenical councils. Thus, the
Council of Nicaea (
325 AD) was presided over by
Pope Alexander of Alexandria, along with
Saint Hosius of Córdoba. In addition, the most prominent figure of the council was the future
Pope of Alexandria Athanasius, who played the major role in the formulation of the
Nicene Creed, recited today in all Christian churches of different denominations. One of the council's decisions was to entrust the
Pope of Alexandria with calculating and annually announcing the exact date of
Easter to the rest of the Christian churches. The
Council of Constantinople (
381 AD) was presided over by
Pope Timothy of Alexandria, while the
Council of Ephesus (
431 AD) was presided over by
Pope Cyril of Alexandria. Undoubtedly, the fact that the first three
Ecumenical councils in the history of
Christianity were headed by Egyptian patriarchs attested to the major contributions that the
See of Alexandria has contributed to the establishment of early Christian theology and dogma.
Council of Chalcedon
In
451 A.D., following the
Council of Chalcedon, the
Church of Alexandria was divided into two branches. Those who accepted the terms of the Council became known as
Chalcedonians or
Melkites. Those who didn't abide by the Council's terms were labeled
non-Chalcedonians or
Monophysites (and later
Jacobites after
Jacob Baradaeus). The
non-Chalcedonians, however, rejected the term
Monophysites as erroneous and insisted on being called
Miaphysites. The majority of the
Egyptians belonged to the
Miaphysite branch, which led to their persecution by the
Byzantines in
Egypt.
The Arab Invasion of Egypt
In
641 A.D.,
Egypt was invaded by the
Arabs who faced off with the
Byzantine army, but found little to no resistance from the native Egyptian population. Local resistance by the Egyptians however began to materialize shortly thereafter and would last until at least the ninth century. Examples include the Revolt of the Beshmorites, a large-scale national resistance staged in the mid-eighth century in the
Nile Delta. It was crushed by
Marwan II, the
Umayyad caliph. The last large-scale armed resistance of the
Egyptians against the
Arabs was towards the mid ninth century, which was brutally crushed by
Al-Ma'mun, the
Abbasid caliph. Local resistances against the Arabs and the Muslims remained through the
12th century, such as the
1176 revolt of the Christian inhabitants of
Qift, which was promptly suppressed by
Al-Adil, brother of
Saladin, who hanged nearly 3000 Copts on the trees around the city.
The
Arabs imposed a special tax, known as
Jizya, on the
Christians who acquired the status of
dhimmis, and all native Egyptians were prohibited from joining the army. Egyptian converts to Islam in turn were relegated to the status of
mawali. Heavy taxation was one of the reasons behind Egyptian organized resistance against the new occupying power, as well as the decline of the number of Christians in Egypt.
The
Arabs in the 7th century seldom used the term
Egyptian, and used instead the term
Copt to describe the people of Egypt. Thus,
Egyptians became known as
Copts, and the non-Chalcedonian Egyptian Church became known as the
Coptic Church. The Chalcedonian Church remained known as the
Melkite Church. In their own native language,
Egyptians referred to themselves as
rem-en-kimi, which translates into
those of Egypt. Religious life remained largely undisturbed following the Arab occupation, as evidence by the rich output of Coptic arts in monastic centers in Old Cairo (
Fustat) and throughout Egypt. Conditions, however, worsened shortly after that, and in the eighth and ninth centuries, during the period of the great national resistance against the Arabs, Muslim rulers banned the use of human forms in art (taking advantage of an iconoclastic conflict in
Byzantium) and consequently destroyed many Coptic paintings and frescoes in churches.
The
Fatimid period of Islamic rule in Egypt was tolerant with the exception of the violent persecutions of caliph
Al-Hakim. The Fatimid rulers employed Copts in the government and participated in Coptic and local Egyptian feasts. Major renovation and reconstruction of churches and monasteries were also undertaken. Coptic arts flourished, reaching new heights in Middle and Upper Egypt. Persecution of Egyptian Christians, however, reached a peak in the early
Mamluk period following the
Crusader wars. Many forced conversions of Christians took place. Monasteries were occasionally raided and destroyed by marauding Bedouin, but were rebuilt and reopened.
Copts in modern Egypt
The position of the Copts didn't begin to improve until the rule of
Muhammad Ali in the early 19th century, who abolished the
Jizya and allowed Egyptians (Copts as well as Muslims) to enroll in the army. Conditions continued to improve throughout the nineteenth century under the leadership of the great reformer Pope
Cyril IV, and in the first half of the twentieth century (known as the
Golden Age by the Copts) during Egypt's liberal period. Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of the
Coptic Museum in 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some prominent Coptic thinkers from this period are
Salama Moussa,
Louis Awad and Secretary General of the
Wafd Party Makram Ebeid. Following the
1952 coup d'état by the
Free Officers, the conditions of the Copts have been slowly deteriorating and their human rights are often consistently violated.
Today, members of the
non-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 as
Protestants (known in Arabic as Evangelicals),
Roman and
Eastern Rite Catholics, and other
Orthodox congregations. The term
Coptic 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.
In 2005 a group of Coptic activists created a
flag to represent Copts worldwide. This flag isn't officially recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
Human rights
The religious freedom of
Egypt's Coptic community is hampered to varying degrees by extremist
Islamist groups and by discriminatory and restrictive government policies. Copts have faced increasing marginalization after the
1952 coup d'état led by
Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until recently,
Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in
2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles in building new or repairing existing churches. These obstacles are not found in building mosques.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is a Copt who served as
Egypt's
acting foreign minister twice under President
Anwar Sadat (
1977 and
1978 -
1979). Although
Boutros Boutros-Ghali later became the
United Nations Secretary-General, his appointment as an only
acting foreign minister depicted
Egypt's systematic elimination of
Copts from all governmental influential positions. Today, only two Copts are on
Egypt's governmental cabinet: Finance Minister
Youssef Boutros Ghali and Environment Minister Magued George. There is also currently one Coptic governor out of 25, that of the
Upper Egyptian governorate of
Qena, and the first Coptic governor in a few decades. In addition,
Naguib Sawiris, an extremely successful businessman and one of the world's 100 wealthiest people, is a Copt. In
2002, under the
Mubarak government,
Coptic Christmas (January 7) was recognized as an official holiday. Nevertheless, the
Coptic community has occasionally been the target of hate crimes and physical assaults. The most significant was the
2000-
2001 El Kosheh attacks, in which 21
Copts and 1
Muslim were killed. A
2006 attack on three churches in
Alexandria left one dead and 17 injured. In addition, many
Copts continue to complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, and
Egyptians who convert to
Islam face no complications. However,
Egyptians converting from
Islam to
Christianity or any other religion face great troubles with the government. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies claim that such conversions from
Islam to
Christianity may stir social unrest, and therefore take steps to prevent it from happening sometimes by detaining the subjects.
Language
Egyptian 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's usually applied to the writing of the Egyptian language from the first century AD to the present day."
Today, Coptic is the
liturgical language of the Egyptian Church and is also taught in Egypt and worldwide in many prestigious institutions.
Dialects of Coptic language:
Calendar
Coptic Orthodox Church and also by
Ethiopia as its official calendar (with different names). This
calendar is based on the ancient
Egyptian calendar. To avoid the calendar creep of the latter, a reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at the time of
Ptolemy III (Decree of Canopus, in
238 BC) which consisted of the intercalation of a sixth
epagomenal day every fourth year. However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the idea wasn't adopted until
25 BC, when the
Roman Emperor
Augustus formally reformed the calendar of
Egypt, keeping it forever synchronized with the newly introduced
Julian 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 the
Ethiopian calendar but have different numbers and names.
Coptic year
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 the
Julian 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.
The Feast of Neyrouz marks the first day of the Coptic year. Its celebration falls on the 1st day of the month of
Thout, the first month of the Coptic 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 AD 284, the year
Diocletian 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. (for
Anno Martyrum or "Year of the Martyrs"). The A.M. abbreviation is also used for the unrelated Jewish year (
Anno Mundi).
Every fourth Coptic year is a leap year
without 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 is
always 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).
More Information on the Coptic Calendar
Prominent Copts Boutros Boutros-Ghali the sixth
Secretary-General of the
United Nations,
Sir Magdi Yacoub an internationally renowned heart surgeon,
Hani Azer, a world leading civil engineer, and billionaire
Fayez Sarofim, one of the richest men in America and the world.
Related words
From the Greek word Αίγυπτος "Aiguptos" or "Aigyptos", the name for Egypt in many European languages was derived.
The word qabāṭī قباطي, a kind of textile import from Egypt and which was used to cover the Kaaba since before Islam, is derived from Arabic قبط qubṭ.
The English word gypsy is derived from the Middle English egypcien meaning "Egyptian". Likewise, the Spanish word gitano, also meaning gypsy, derives from a common Latin source. This is due to the mistaken belief that Gypsies were of Egyptian origin. Gypsy and the (probably) related term, gyp ("to swindle or cheat") are generally viewed as being pejorative; see the article Roma (people).
In modern Egyptian Arabic, the word koftes (pl. kafatsa), is a pejorative word used colloquially to refer to Christians. It is perhaps an Egyptianised form of the Latin Coptus, under phonetic and linguistic factors different from those which existed when qubṭ was derived from Greek aiguptios. This, however, seems unlikely.
Medieval sources mention one of the sons of Mitzrayim, who in turn descended from the Biblical Noah, as a possible source for the word 'Copt'.Further Information
Get more info on 'Copts'.
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