A- Defining the terms:

1.       “Copts”:

There are two theories for defining the term “Copt”. It is not easy to affirm one and neglect the other.[5] The first theory is based on homonymy.[6] It connects the term with the name of the city “Coptos”, it is a city located about 25 miles northeast of Luxor and its modern name is “Qift”. According to this theory, the Arab gave Egypt the name “Dar al-Qibt”, or “Home of the Copts”, due to the name of this city.[7]

The second hypothesis sees that the term is derived from the Greek term “Aigyptos”. The Greek term, in turn, was a phonetic corruption of the ancient Egyptian name of the city of Memphis, which was “ha-ku-ptah”. The word “ha-ku-ptah” means the divine house of the spirit of Ptah.[8] According to this second theory, by the reduction of the initial diphthong “ai” and the ending “os”, the term reached its final state as the common word “Copt”.[9]

Generally, it can be noticed that the two hypothesizes connect the term with the land of Egypt. And since the original natives of the land were Christians when the Arabs came to Egypt, the words “Coptic” and “Christian” became interchangeable in common from the beginning of the Arab conquest of the land of Egypt.

Ethnically, the Copts are Mediterranean. Al-Jabarti[10] affirms that the Copts are the direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians. They are the Pharaohs’ offspring and the oldest nation in the land of Egypt.[11]

1.       “Ottoman Rule”:

The Ottoman rule in Egypt can be divided into two periods. The first period (1517- 1785) began with the first Ottoman conquest in 1517. It began when the Ottomans defeated the Mamluks in the battle of “el-Raidania”. The Ottoman conqueror, Selim the conqueror, defeated the Mamluk ruler Toman-Bai. The Mamluk ruler was killed near “Bab- Zwela”[12] and was hung at the top of the ancient door and the Ottoman era began in Egypt. The Ottoman rule became weak at the end of this first period because of the problems between the Ottomans and the Mamluks. Because of these problems, the Turkish Sultan sent the second Ottoman conquest in 1785. Hassan Basha el-Gzairli came to Egypt to affirm the Ottoman authority over Egypt. This second Ottoman era (1785- 1798) continued until the French conquest of Egypt in 1798.[13]

B- The general Egyptian status under the Ottoman rule:

Egypt under the Mamluk rule (1260- 1517) was the central base of the Mamluk system. By the coming of Turkish rule, Istanbul replaced Egypt. Egypt became only one of the followers of the Ottoman Empire. This change affected Egypt very much. Egypt became isolated, no longer the center of the events. This isolation gave the chance to everyone who wanted to steal Egypt. The general status in Egypt at the time of Ottomans can be shown in four characteristics:

1. The political and administrative status:

Once the Ottoman rule settled in Egypt and the Turkish conqueror Selim went back to Turkey, the Mamluks began to appear again. The Ottomans themselves began to empower the Mamluks to be their helpers in administrative issues. The Ottomans need the Mamluks because of the Mamluks’ cumulative experience in the Egyptians’ issues. Also, the Ottomans depended on the Mamluks in the army. Generally, it can be noticed that The Ottomans found the Mamluks, with their Turkish language and Sunni Islam, very qualified to be their helpers.[14]

The governmental structure in Egypt was a mixture of the Ottomans and the Mamluks. This governmental structure can be described as a pyramidical structure. The Turkish ruler was at the top of the structure. Then, at the next level, we can find the army which was a mixture of both Ottomans and Mamluks, with a majority of the Mamluks. Then the districts rulers can be found, also, with a majority of the Mamluks. There were 24 district rulers, 14 of them were Mamluks.[15] The ruler, the army, and the districts rulers were the higher governmental authority in Egypt.

1. The social status:

The social structure, also, was a pyramidical structure. The Ottomans were at the top of the structure. The slaves were at the bottom. In between the Mamluks, the Muslims, the Romans, the Copts and the Jews can be arranged in descending order.[16] The total population of Egypt in the second half of the sixteenth century was about four million, five hundred thousand of them were in Cairo.[17]

iii.      The economic status:

The whole Egyptians suffered because of the economic status under the Ottoman rule. The Muslims paid regular taxes. The Christians paid “Jizyah” in addition to these regular taxes and sometimes they paid another tax called “al-Gawali”.[18] Most of the Egyptians, Muslims, and Christians suffered from poverty.[19] In spite of this general suffering and poverty, “al-Azhar”, the institution of religious learning, became richer and more powerful.[20]

1. The religious status:

The Islamic institution was the higher authority in the Turkish Empire. All the states in the empire were Islamic states. The Turkish ruler “al-Sultan” himself could not take any decision without the agreement of “Sheikh al-Islam”, the general elder of Islam. Sheikh al-Islam had the authority to excommunicate the Sultan himself. Egypt, as a center of Islam because of al-Azhar, suffered from abusing the religion. Persecution and fanatic Islam spread throughout the whole country. Al-Azhar refused any reformation or any secular thoughts.[21] Generally, The Muslims and the Christians suffered from the Islamic religious system.

1. An analytical reading for the general Egyptian status under the Ottoman rule:

By analyzing the previous brief description of the general status of the Egyptian society, two main factors that affected the society in a negative way can be noticed. The first factor was the appearance of the Mamluks in the higher authority of the political administration. The Mamluks were the previous rulers of Egypt. By the coming of the Ottoman rule, the Mamluks lost their privileges as the basic authority. When the Ottomans gave them the chance to restore some of their previous authority, they abused the authority. They even tried to collect money in the wrong ways. Iris Habib wrote that the Mamluks’ restoration of authority weakened the economic status in general and caused an unsecured life in Egypt.[22]

The second factor which affected society in a negative way was fanatic Islam. The fanatic Islam empowered racial discrimination. It was normal to consider anyone who had a different opinion from al-Azhar as a blasphemer or “Kafer”. Also, the Muslims dealt with the Christians, in some periods of this era, as blasphemers. The fanatic Islam was against any spreading of cultural or secular thoughts in the society. Any thoughts from outside al-Azhar were considered as blaspheme. Fanatic Islam helped the darkness and the corruption to spread all over the country.

C- The Copts’ status under the Ottoman rule:

In this section of the essay, the characteristics of the Coptic community under the Ottoman rule will be discussed. As shown previously, the whole Egyptian community was subjected to corruption. The Christian community, as a minority, was subjected to this corruption more than any others. The Coptic status can be summarized in the following characteristics:

1. The political status:

The general rule was “No role” for any Christian in political life. There was no Christian ruler. There was not any Christian in the army. History did not record any appearance of the Copts in political life except some Coptic strikes against the Muslim rulers. Even these strikes can not be described as political. Most of these strikes were because of the increase of al- Jizyah.[23]

1. The administrative status:

The Copts had a very good experience in the financial administrative issues.[24] Because of this experience, the Ottomans involved them in administrative life. The Copts worked as taxes collectors.[25] The Ottomans depended on them in collecting the money but never allowed them to share in any process of making decisions. The Ottomans only used and abused the Copts. The Copts understood this kind of thinking. As a result of that understanding, many of the Copts abused their authority, stole the taxes, and encouraged corruption.[26]

 In spite of those Copts who abused the authority, there were some Copts who became very famous because of their honesty. Ibrahim al-Gohary was one of these honest Copts. He was the chief of all the Coptic administrators.[27] Also, there was another Coptic man called Barakat. The Turkish ruler took Barakat with him to Turkey to help him in the administrative issues. Barakat became the chief scribe of the state. He organized for Sultan Selim the state finances and the methods of collecting the taxes.[28]

iii.      The economic status:

The Copts shared in the economic life in different ways, their economic activities can be shown in the following three points:

1. The agriculture:

Although the Ottomans prevented the Copts from owning the lands[29], the Copts paid rent for the lands, planted them, and cropped it. The Copts rent the lands in the Upper and in the Lower Egypt. They planted gardens and crops.

2. The crafts:

Although Sultan Selim carried with him to Turkey most of the experts, the Copts remained very loyal to their professions. They were well-known as jewelers. Also, they were experts in some other crafts such as the texture’s craft, the carpentry, the dyeing, and the perfuming.[30]

3. The commerce:

The Copts shared in the commercial activities. But in general, commercial life was very weak from the period of the Mamluk rule. When Selim came to Egypt in 1517, he asked for twelve Egyptian merchants to talk with them about the commercial activities in Egypt. He could not do this meeting, because he could not find this number of honored merchants in Egypt. Some historical studies show that the Copts were more active than the Muslims in commercial life.

1. The social status:

The social status can be discussed in five points:

1. The general population:

It is very hard to give an accurate number of the total population of the Copts under the Ottoman rule.[31] The basic numbers came from the statistics to those who paid al-Jizyah every year or from the foreign historians who visited Egypt during this era. The number of those who paid al-Jizyah varied from year to year according to the states’ needs. And the foreign historians put their statistics randomly[32]. The higher number according to the Jizyah’s statistics was 120 thousand of Copts in 1737. And the higher number according to the foreign historians was 150 thousand of Copts in 1670.[33]

2. The geographical distribution:

The Coptic occurrence was concentrated in Upper Egypt. The Muslim rulers of Upper Egypt were weaker than those in Lower Egypt, so the Christians preferred to live in Upper Egypt. They did not prefer Alexandria or Suez. In Cairo, they were concentrated in some private streets.[34]  There were three main areas of the Coptic occurrence in Cairo. These three areas[35] formed a triangle downtown.[36]

3. Persecution and suffering:

In addition to the regular taxes, al-Jizyah and al-Gawali, the Ottomans persecuted the Copts by adding fines in every situation. Even in many Coptic funerals, the Ottomans did not permit them to bury the dead persons without paying fines. Copts could not bury their patriarch Matthew ΙV in 1675 until they paid fines first.[37] Also, the monks and the priests had to pay taxes.[38]

The Ottomans prevented the Copts from using the horses. They prevented them from wearing the regular colors; the Copts had to wear blue and had to cover their heads with black.[39] They had to walk on the left side of the streets and they were prevented from eating in Ramadan.[40] The Copts had to hang the crosses when they entered the public baths.[41] The Ottomans dealt with the Copts as blasphemers, especially the monks.[42]

The second Ottoman era in Egypt (1785- 1798) was a very dark era. The Ottomans persecuted the Copts more and more. Hassan Basha el-Gzairli prevented the Copts from using even the donkeys, so the Copts had to walk whatever the distance was.[43] El-Gzairli forced the Copts to change their names which were similar to the names of the prophets.[44]

4. The Coptic situation from the foreign capitulations:

The Copts were against the capitulations. They refused to be dealt with as foreigners. They affirmed that they are the original Egyptians and the offspring of the Pharaohs. The Copts refused any efforts to help them from outside. Even, they refused to send their children to learn outside Egypt.[45]

5. Coptic language:

The Coptic language was the spoken language of ancient Egypt until the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century.[46] With the Arab conquest, the use of the Arabic language began to appear among the Egyptians and gradual disappearance of the Coptic language began to happen. Although this gradual disappearance began to take place from the time of the Arab conquest, some historians agree that some places in Egypt kept the Coptic language for centuries after the Arab conquest.

Al-Maqrizi[47] wrote that in his days, in the fifth century, he met some women from Upper Egypt who could not talk any other language except the Coptic language.[48] In the sixteenth century, according to statements made by the famous Egyptologist Maspero, the Copts still spoke Coptic. In the seventeenth century, the Coptic language was taught in Coptic schools.[49] Also, the Dominican traveler J.M.Vansleb pointed out, in the account of his travels in Upper Egypt in 1672-1673, that he met an Egyptian man called Athanasius who used to use Coptic in conversations.[50] According to these notices, it can be stated that the Ottoman rule was the last period of practicing the Coptic language.

1. The religious status:

The religious status can be discussed in five points:

1. The spiritual status:

The Copts under the Ottoman rule can be described as religious people. They defended their religion against the Muslims.[51] In spite of their religiousness, they lived a very weak spiritual life. Their lives were full of corruption. They were alcohol addicts and gamblers. They tried to enter the priesthood by bribes. All of these corrupted things show that the Coptic religious appearance was only a reaction to fanatic Islam. There are some scrolls in the Coptic museum which show some sermons by the Orthodox bishops against this corruption in the Copts’ lives.[52]

2. Building of the churches:

The general rule in the Ottoman era was “No church in Islam”. The Copts could not build new churches nor rebuild the old churches.[53] There were some angry reactions from the Copts against this persecution. For example, in 1577 the Copts built a new church on the rubbish of a razed mosque. When the Muslims tried to prevent them, the Copts fought the Muslims with weapons.[54]

3. The Coptic Orthodox patriarchs under the Ottoman rule:

The coming of the Ottoman conquest of Egypt was during the patriarchate of patriarch Yoannis XIII. He was the 94^th patriarch. The Ottoman-era ended with the French conquest of Egypt in 1798 during the patriarchate of patriarch Marcus VIII, the 108^th patriarch.[55]

4. The Coptic situation from the foreigner missionaries:

As mentioned previously, the year of the beginning of the Ottoman rule was the same year of the beginning of the Reformation movement. The Western Catholic church began to send missionaries to Egypt for two reasons. The first reason was to empower the Catholic people in Egypt against any Lutheran appearance. The second reason was to try to affiliate the Coptic Church.

The Coptic patriarchs refused any suggestions of affiliation. The patriarch Yoannis XIV, the 96^th patriarch, was the only one who agreed to affiliate, but he passed away before completing the affiliation.[56] There were some correspondences between the Coptic and the Roman Catholic which show the detailed negotiations and reflect the strict Coptic situation against any affiliation. One of the famous correspondences was the detailed epistle which the patriarch Yoannis XVIII, the 107^th patriarch, sent to the Pope of Rome. This epistle was a detailed, reasoned, logical and irrefutable explanation of the true Orthodox doctrines.[57]

When the Roman Catholic Church could not change the patriarchal situation, it began to attract the Copts people themselves. The Catholic Church built schools in many places, but the Copts dealt with them in a very strict way also.[58]

History shows that the Copts dealt with the missionaries in a respectful way, but they refused any kind of support from them.[59] Except Peter Heyling[60], the Lutheran missionary who stayed in St. Macarius’ monastery for almost a year, there was not any deep relation between the Copts and the missionaries.

5. The monks and the monasteries:

At the end of the Ottoman era in 1798, the monasteries reached a very weak status. The number of monks declined to a very limited number and they were distributed among only four or five monasteries. St. Macarius’ monastery was an exception. The Macarian monks faced the Ottoman power with patience. They rebuilt the old buildings in the monastery many times from the rubbish.[61] The monastery of St. Macarius had many good relations with the foreigner missionaries. It served as a training school for Franciscan missionaries in the middle of the seventeenth century.[62] During the Ottoman era, many foreigners visited the Macarian monastery with its famous old library.[63] By the coming of the French conquest, there were twenty monks in the monastery of St. Macarius.[64]