How Christianity enter to Egypt
1- According to ancient tradition , Christianity was introduced to the Egyptian by saint Mark in Alex shortly after the ascension of Christ and during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius around 42 A.D .
2- From Alexandria , Christianity spread through Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark arrival in Alex .
Christianity began to spread to The rural areas and scriptures were translated into the local language .
Today known as the Coptic language by the beginning of the 3rd century A.D .
3- Christians constituted the majority of Egypt’s population and the church of Alexandria was recognized as on of Christendom’s 4 apostolic see , second in honor only after the church of Roma . The church of Alex is therefore the oldest church in Africa .
4- In 451 A.D the Roman council met to discuss the incarnation of Christ and declared that Christ was one hypostasis into 2 natures .
5- Alexandria church became the standard orthodoxy for Eastern Orthodox ..... Roman Catholic and Protestant churches from then on the Coptic 2 natures .. the logos incarnate in this understanding Christ is from in 2 natures full humanity and full divinity .
6- Some in the Coptic Orthodox Church believe that their position was misunderstood at the council of chaliced on and take great pains to ensure that they are not seen as Monophystic .. denying the 2 natures of Christ .
Believe in 1 composite nature some believe that perhaps the council understood the church correctly but wanted to exile the church for its refusal to take part in politics or due to the rivalry between bishops of Alex and Roma .
To this day Christians in Alexandria church are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church .
7- The tradition says that when John Mark arrived on a missionary journey to Egypt , religion of Egypt that day was god centered of worshiping but focused upon the pyramids , also the Coptic people as they also believed in eternal life .
The Coptic people under Roman rule
Consisted of Greeks , Jews and Egyptians , therefore Christianity had to take into account the different cultural language and religious backgrounds when evangelizing and in establishing its church .
The Roman persecution
1- When Coptic were under the rule of the Roman Empire they suffered severe persecution and death for their steadfast faith and beliefs in Christ while refusing to worship emperor .
2- However , by 641 A.D , yet another tribulation began when the Arab conquest took place , overthrowing the Romans rule in Egypt, at first relieving the Coptic church from persecution what appeared to be liberty , but the freedom became bondage .
3- The societal strength and control of the Arabs caused the Coptic to endure A major language and culture change as well as confront the Islamic faith .
Babylon Fortress
1- Was an ancient fortress city or castle in the delta of Egypt located at Babylon in they are a today known as Coptic Cairo .
It was the boundary between lower and middle Egypt , where the river craft paid tolls when ascending or descending the Nile .
2- Romans built a new fortress with typically Roman red and white banded masonry nearer to the Nile.
3- The fort of Babylon contains several of the Copts oldest churches which are built into or on its walls .
These include The Moalkaka hanging church and the Greek church of Saint George , a number of other churches are nearby .
4- Babylon fortress is 18 m height, 30 m width , 31 m dimension
5- The fort is also known as candles palace as the towers of the fort adorned with illuminated candles at the beginning of every month .
6 - Six Coptic churches , a convent and the Coptic museum are actually within the enclosure of the fortress.
7- when the Roman took possession of Egypt, they used the old fort for a while , recognizing its strategic importance on the Nile but because of problems of water delivery, the Roman emperor relocated the fort to the river , since then, the Niles course has moved some 400 M to the north.
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