The Copts of Egypt

By Arab Media Watch intern Peter Rice

Originally, the word 'Copt', a corruption of the Greek 'Aigyptios', referred to the ethnic descendants of the ancient Egyptians. At the time of the seventh-century Arab invasion, Copts were synonymous with Egyptian Christianity. However, due to ethnic and cultural assimilation under Arab rule, conversion to Islam and the increased presence of Western evangelical churches, the term 'Copt' has been narrowed to refer to members of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The Coptic Church's links with early Christianity are derived from the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23); from several non-canonical gospels written in Coptic (including those of Thomas, Mary Magdalene and Judas); and from St Mark, their first Patriarch. They also believe that the existence of the Egyptian Church was foretold in the Old Testament in Isaiah 19:19: "On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the centre of the land of Egypt."

The Coptic Church split from the Byzantine Church in 451 CE at Chalcedon, due to a dispute over the nature of Christ's being. In modern times, there is little difference theologically between the Coptic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Copts are ethnically indistinguishable from Arabs, but around 80% have Pharaonic surnames.

The Church and Culture

The centre of the Coptic Church is the city of Alexandria in northern Egypt, and there are also many monasteries throughout the country. The Al-Muharraq monastery, 200 miles south of Cairo, marks the place where the Holy Family resided following its flight into Egypt. Early monasteries had double-keeps but no outer-walls. Later monasteries (post-ninth century) are distinguishable by their high walls coated with lime-plaster.

The distinctive feature of Coptic churches and cathedrals is the domed basilica, mounted with a Coptic cross at the top. The most notable Coptic art comes in the form of textiles from the pre-Islamic era, including clothes and particularly tapestries, which were decorated at first in a Hellenic style.

Later, the Copts adopted their own style, using leaf patterns, figures of animals, saints, and Adam and Eve. After the Arab conquest, however, Coptic art became influenced by that of Islam, and Coptic textiles disappeared after the 12th century.

The Coptic language is now dead as a result of assimilation into Arab culture. All Copts now speak Arabic, though the liturgy of the church services is often read in the original Coptic. The language was derived from ancient Egyptian transliterated into Greek from the Egyptian hieroglyphs, with additional letters for the sounds which were beyond the scope of the Greek alphabet.

During the early 20th century, there was a Coptic cultural revival as a result of the discovery of the tombs of Nefertiti (1912) and Tutankhamen (1922), during which there was a movement calling for the re-adoption of Coptic as the native language. The movement failed, however, due to the impractical nature of its cause, and thus Coptic remains only as a sacred language.

History: 642-1171

Having lived in safety under the Byzantine Empire, the Copts were taken over by the third Muslim Caliph 'Umar, who completed his conquest of Egypt in 642 CE. 'Umar also ensured the safety of Copts, preserving their churches and maintaining the right of Copts to practice their religion.

However, some of his successors were less generous. In 689 and 722, decrees were issued ordering the destruction of images on the exteriors of all churches. Furthermore, during the eighth century, there was a concerted drive against the Coptic monasteries: monks were forced to convert to Islam, and Christians were made to wear distinctive head-dress and clothing. The extra tax imposed on non-Muslims also led to many Copts voluntarily converting to Islam.

These conversions, in addition to the organised mass-migration of Arabs into Egypt from the Arabian Peninsula in 727, meant that the Copts dwindled under Muslim rule. They became assimilated into Arab culture, taking on the language, marrying Arabs and taking up administrative occupations. However, the decreasing number of Copts led to decreased tax revenue and greater tax burdens for those Copts still remaining, and this situation led to three years of rioting from 829-831 by Copts and Arabs.

The Copts suffered their most heavy persecution under the Fatimid ruler Hakem (996-1021). Many churches were destroyed, and Christians were ordered to wear black turbans and wooden crosses weighing 5lbs around their necks.[1]

Overall, however, life under the Fatimid Empire (969-1171), which extended from Tunisia to Yemen, was stable: many Copts became counsellors in the government, and Coptic artists and craftsmen thrived. As a result, Muslims became suspicious of the level of Coptic influence in society. Once the Fatimids had been overthrown by Saladin in 1171, however, the Copts fell into relative obscurity until the 20th century.

Modern History

During the years of colonialism, the British rulers played off the Muslims and Copts against each other. Relations reached a low point when the Copts' first Prime Minister Boutros Pasha Ghali, having been appointed in 1908, was assassinated in 1910 by a young Muslim extremist. However, after the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, when Egypt became largely independent from Britain, there was a strong Muslim nationalist movement led by Saad Zaghul, who united Muslims and Copts behind him.

Nevertheless, while Copts supported him, they were still viewed with suspicion, simply because they were not Muslim. As a result, the Copts as a social group retained their introversion, concentrating on education and increasing their presence amongst the ranks of the professionals. Their success led to an ambivalent response from Muslims, who sent their children to the successful Coptic schools, but also became jealous of Copts' success.

Discrimination against Copts applying for posts in the armed forces, universities and government led to many setting up private businesses, while others chose to emigrate, mainly to the US, where 700,000-1 million Copts now reside[2]. In 1952, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Nasser nationalised the property of many Coptic businessmen. As a result, many Copts changed occupations to work in foreign embassies and foreign banks. Emigration has led to the formation of Coptic communities throughout North America, in Australia, South Africa, Europe and Brazil.

In the 1970s, President Anwar Sadat, in order to polarise his opposition, encouraged the Muslim Brotherhood in their opposition to the left-wing Nasserites. The Brotherhood had become extremely suspicious of the Copts, due to their involvement in foreign banks and embassies. Equally, the Brotherhood disliked Sadat due to his economic policy and reconciliation with Israel in the late 70s. Meanwhile, the Coptic Church had staged a revival in the 1940s, followed by a monastic revival in the 70s which had a modernist, economic bent.

Thus, at the same time as the Muslims were gaining in strength, the church was becoming more outspoken through its 117th Patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, an ardent political and religious justice campaigner whose activism even upset some quietists amongst his fellow Copts. Tensions between the three factions were not helped by the American Coptic Association, which printed anti-Sadat advertisements in American newspapers during Sadat's state visits.

The first major incidents occurred in 1980, when churches were burnt and many Copts were attacked and killed. Shenouda III called the Holy Synod together, who decided to 'ban' Easter, a move which attracted huge international attention and, as a result, intensely annoyed Sadat. The following year, a Coptic priest was murdered in broad daylight, 20 Copts were killed whilst protesting against the proposal to build a mosque on church property, and a bomb killed a dozen more.

This was the final straw for Sadat, who arrested 1,536 named people without charge or trial in September 1981, mostly religious leaders from the Muslim and Coptic communities, including Pope Shenouda III. Sadat was assassinated on 6 October 1980 along with a Coptic bishop, but Shenouda III remained under house arrest at the monastery of St Bishoi in the Western Desert until 1985, when he was freed by Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak.

Following his release, Shenouda III began to preach reconciliation, and does so to this day: "We pray that fratricidal war will end…If one part of the body is in pain the whole suffers. In Egypt we hope to be of one spirit and one mind for the sake of our beloved homeland"[3].

Nevertheless, Muslim-Coptic tensions have since simmered under the surface. In 1998, following the murders of two Copts, the police were accused of wrongfully arresting and even torturing Copts in order to avoid inflaming tensions by charging Muslims with the murders. Violence erupted between Copts and Muslims in December 1999, and between Copts and police in 2001, following the publishing of photographs allegedly showing a former monk having sex with women in a monastery. In 2004, there were violent protests when a priest's wife was claimed to have been forced to convert to Islam.

In 2006, there were three days of riots following the funeral of a murdered Copt, one of three to be murdered in a single day in Alexandria. Police reports stated that there had been three simultaneous attacks, yet the Egyptian Interior Ministry blamed one "deranged man". This added to the Coptic sense of injustice that the murderers of Copts were going unpunished or given lighter sentences.

In the media sphere, Copts feel that their writers are being targeted by the government: in 2006, the government severed the internet connection of a Coptic blogger and prevented her from leaving the country pending a juridical investigation. The blogger had been attempting to highlight persecution of the Coptic minority, including allegations of police complicity in anti-Copt violence.

There are, however, signs of reconciliation between Muslims and Copts. A moderate Islamic political party, Hizb Al-Wasat, formed of disillusioned Muslim Brothers, is encouraging Christians to join its ranks, and says it would be happy to see a Copt become head of state. The decision over their application for a licence has been continually delayed, following an initially encouraging pronouncement by the Egyptian Court in April 2005. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood expressed its sympathy concerning Coptic complaints of injustice during the 2006 riots.

Overall though, Copts remain under-represented in Parliament, claiming only six seats at the last election - disproportionately few compared to their share of roughly 9% of the 79 million population[4] (though estimates vary between 8% and 16%). Furthermore, while freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Egyptian constitution, Islam, as the official state religion, enjoys certain advantages - mosques receive free water and electricity supplies, and a licence to build a church is notoriously difficult to obtain.

More pressingly, however, Copts feel they are being persecuted socially from all angles: by the government, by Muslims and by the police through violence, censorship, and the destruction of their homes and churches.

Sources

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html#People

news.bbc.co.uk;

www.coptic.org;

www.copts.com;

Watson, J.H., Among the Copts (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press 2000);

Watterson, B., Coptic Egypt (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press 1988).



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[1] As Watterson points out, “Hakem declared himself a manifestation of God and became the founder of a new religion which today is represented by the Druses in the Lebanon, who expect his reappearance as the Messiah” Watterson (1988), p.156.

[2] source: http://www.copts.com/english/CoptsDiaspora.aspx

[3] Cited in Watson (2000), p.117

[4] according to CIA statistics.