MK's Travels: Coptic Christian Cairo

I have really been looking forward to this part of the trip. Coptics and their religion are fascinating to me. My dear friend Annie who spent much of her childhood in Cairo furthered my interest in college.

A small bit of background:

“The word Copt is an English word taken from the Arabic word Gibt or Gypt. It literally means Egyptian. The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in 641 AD, called the population of Egypt Gypt. In contemporary usage, the term "Coptic" refers to Egyptian Christians. Today, Copts form almost 13% to 15% of Egypt’s population though they are not ethnically distinct from other Egyptians as they are fully integrated into the body of the modern Egyptian nation. In 1992, there were over nine million Copts. (out of a population of some 57 million Egyptians)

The history of the Coptic Church in Egypt is basically the history of Christianity in Egypt, for the current Coptic Church is a direct evolution from those earlier times. However, it traditionally begins with the visit of the Holy Family to Egypt. Copts relate that the blessing of Christianity on their country goes back to the days when Jesus was a young boy. The holy family, consisting of the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph traveled to Egypt and lived there for some time. Numerous traditions exist about the exact locations that the holy family visited and many take annual pilgrimages following this route (it is also a popular tourist route) However, historically it was Saint Mark the Evangelist, during the first century AD, who actually is considered to be the founder of the church. He preached and suffered martyrdom in Alexandria around the time that Nero ruled Rome.

After the invasion of the Arab Muslims around the middle of the seventh century AD, the church suffered a slow decline but around the middle of the twentieth century, it experienced an unprecedented revival. This spiritual renaissance had its start in the forties and fifties in the Coptic Sunday School movements in Cairo, Giza and Asyut. Inspired by the challenges they experienced in the Sunday School classes, young men consecrated their lives to God and joined the desert fathers.”

The museum is fascinating. So many amazing found treasures that date back to the 4th century- now that blows my mind! I kept staring at the holy papers written in Coptic trying to grasp how old these documents were, and I just couldn’t do it. Americans have no sense of time or history, myself included.

Old Coptic Cairo (Masr al-Qadima) is the oldest part of Cairo, and predates what is now modern Cairo. It is believed that there was a settlement here as early as the 6th century BC. Later, the Romans built a fortress here which we know today as "Babylon". Some of these Roman walls still exist today.

After the spread of Christianity throughout Egypt, it became a Christian stronghold, with as many as twenty churches built within an area of just one square mile. Now only five remain, along with the earliest mosque ever built in Egypt.

The ones we went to:

Keniset Mar Girgis: The church of Saint George, Cairo. Originally built in 684 and rebuilt in 1857. It is best known for its wedding chamber, which dates from the 4th century AD and was reserved for marriage ceremonies.

El-Mu' Allaqa: The hanging church, Cairo. Cairo's most famous church, may have been originally built in the 7th century on the site of an older 4th century church. Built on top of the Roman walls.

The Churches and Convents of Harat Zuwaila: The church of Saint George. The church of the Virgin Mary, and the church of Saint Mercurius. Tradition holds this district was blessed by the Holy Family during their travels in Egypt.

Sitt Barbara: The church of Saint Barbara, Cairo. Exact date of construction unknown. Burnt in the Fustat fire of 750 AD and restored during the 11th century.

All very cool. I still want to do more research on these- it’s so interesting!

Coptic Christian alley