Part II – The Christianisation of Egypt
3.1 St Mark the Evangelist and the Birth of the Alexandrian Church
According to early ecclesiastical tradition, St Mark the Evangelist arrived in Alexandria around 42 CE, bringing the Christian message from Jerusalem to one of the ancient world’s greatest intellectual capitals. While the historical details are difficult to verify, the Alexandrian Church consistently regarded Mark as its founding patriarch, and successive bishops traced their spiritual lineage to him (Atiya 1968).
Alexandria’s plural environment—Greek philosophy, Jewish scholarship, and Egyptian religiosity—proved fertile soil for theological innovation. The first generations of Egyptian Christians were predominantly Greek-speaking urban dwellers who engaged deeply with Hellenistic thought. From the Catechetical School of Alexandria, theologians such as Clement (c. 150–215 CE) and Origen (c. 185–254 CE) produced sophisticated syntheses of Scripture and Greek philosophy, developing allegorical interpretation and exploring the relationship between divine Logos and creation (Chadwick 1993). These works made Alexandria second only to Jerusalem as a centre of Christian learning.
3.2 Persecution and the Era of the Martyrs
Despite its intellectual vitality, early Christianity in Egypt faced intense persecution. Under emperors Decius (249–251 CE) and Diocletian (284–305 CE), Christians were ordered to sacrifice to the Roman gods or face execution. Thousands refused, viewing martyrdom as imitation of Christ’s passion. Their steadfastness inspired the Coptic Church’s enduring commemoration of the Era of the Martyrs, which begins in 284 CE—the year of Diocletian’s accession—forming Year 1 of the Coptic calendar (Meinardus 1965).
Hagiographical texts such as the Acts of the Martyrs of Alexandria recorded the courage of believers like St Catherine of Alexandria and St Menas. These narratives cultivated a theology of witness through suffering, a theme that would re-emerge whenever Egyptian Christians endured hardship under later regimes.
3.3 Imperial Recognition and Theological Consolidation
The Edict of Milan (313 CE), issued by Constantine the Great and Licinius, legalised Christianity across the empire, transforming its social position. Constantine’s own visit to Egypt in 326 CE confirmed imperial favour, and church building began on a monumental scale. By the end of the fourth century, Emperor Theodosius I (379–395 CE) had made Christianity the official state religion, banning pagan worship and closing many temples.
In Egypt, this imperial endorsement caused a profound shift: ancient cults of Isis and Osiris disappeared, their temples converted into churches. Yet local artistic and ritual continuities remained. Coptic iconography drew upon pharaonic symbolism, while feast days replaced ancient festivals with Christian meaning (Hornung 1999; Bowman 1996). The Coptic language, derived from late Egyptian written in Greek script, became both liturgical medium and marker of cultural identity.
3.4 Doctrinal Conflict and the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE)
Egypt’s intellectual leadership in theology also made it a centre of controversy. The School of Alexandria championed the unity of Christ’s divine and human natures, articulated by Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412–444 CE). After his death, disagreements with Constantinople culminated in the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE). The council affirmed that Christ existed “in two natures,” divine and human, “without confusion, change, division, or separation.”
Many Egyptian Christians rejected this formula, seeing it as undermining Christ’s true unity. The dissenting majority formed the Coptic Orthodox Church, separating from the imperial Chalcedonian (Byzantine) Church. This schism permanently divided Egyptian Christianity and entrenched a distinct Coptic identity—doctrinally independent, linguistically Egyptian, and often politically alienated from the Byzantine state (Wessel 1965).
3.5 Monasticism and the Spiritual Landscape of the Desert
Parallel to theological disputes, Egypt witnessed the birth of Christian monasticism—arguably its most influential legacy. St Antony of the Desert (c. 251–356 CE) withdrew into solitude seeking perfection through prayer, fasting, and manual labour. His biography by Athanasius of Alexandria popularised the ideal of the monk across Christendom (Athanasius, Vita Antonii). St Pachomius (c. 292–346 CE) later organised communal monasteries with written rules, founding the first cenobitic order.
Monastic settlements flourished in the Nitrian Desert, Scetis (Wadi el-Natrun), and the Thebaid. These communities preserved Scripture, theology, and Egyptian heritage through turbulent centuries. Monastic ideals of asceticism, simplicity, and perseverance became defining features of Coptic spirituality and later influenced both Eastern Orthodox and Western monastic traditions.
3.6 Christian Egypt on the Eve of the Arab Conquest
By the early seventh century, Egypt was a predominantly Christian land—perhaps 85–90 per cent of the population (Mikhail 2014). Yet internal divisions weakened resistance to external forces. Relations between the Coptic majority and the Chalcedonian Byzantine administration were tense; many Copts viewed imperial officials as foreign oppressors. When Muslim Arab forces invaded in 640 CE, some Copts perceived them not as destroyers but as potential deliverers from Byzantine control (Butler 1897).
Nevertheless, Christianity remained the foundation of Egyptian culture for centuries to come. The spiritual resilience, monastic discipline, and linguistic heritage of the Copts would enable them to survive the transformations of the Islamic era and preserve an unbroken ecclesiastical lineage from the apostolic age to the present.
Key References
- Athanasius of Alexandria (trans. Gregg, R.C.) (1980) The Life of Antony. New York: Paulist Press.
- Atiya, A.S. (1968) A History of Eastern Christianity. London: Methuen.
- Bowman, A. (1996) Egypt after the Pharaohs: 332 BC – AD 642. London: British Museum Press.
- Butler, A.J. (1897) The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Chadwick, H. (1993) The Early Church. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- Hornung, E. (1999) The One and the Many: Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Meinardus, O.F.A. (1965) Christian Egypt: Faith and Life. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.
- Mikhail, M.S.A. (2014) From Byzantine to Islamic Egypt: Religion, Identity and Politics after the Arab Conquest. London: I.B. Tauris.
- Wessel, K. (1965) Early Christian Art and Architecture. London: Thames & Hudson.