About the Coptic Orthodox Church

Name and Origin:

The Copts are the original Egyptians, and the word "Copt" itself is derived from the Greek word "Aegyptus" which means Egypt. The Copts are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians. They are considered one of the most anthropologically pure races in the world.

The Coptic Era:

When people think of Egypt, they usually think of ancient Egypt with its pyramids. Then they jump over to the Islamic period represented by the forest of minarets, which a person sees in Cairo today. However, in between these two extremes, there is a modest bridge. This bridge does not pass over a valley of darkness where the Copts resided in complete isolation. On the contrary, this era is considered one of the luminous periods in the national and ecclesiastical history of Egypt.

Strictly speaking, the purely Coptic Christian period extends for about six centuries at the dawn of the Christian era. In Egyptian history, this is a tiny fraction but not at all insignificant. From the cultural standpoint, that short span was epoch-making in the development of Egyptian ideas and ideals. Indeed it stands for what is rightly called "Coptic Civilization".