ΒΧΜ

The Christians of Egypt are called Copts, a term derived from a corruption of the Greek word “Aigyptios” in the Arabic language.

Coptic art can be traced back to the first Christian centuries and continued after the Islamic conquest of Egypt in 642. Two artistic traditions are married in Coptic art: 1) ancient Greek art with its naturalistic rendering of human forms and the physical environment, and 2) oriental art which, along with the Pharaonic artistic influences, adhered to a rigid, hieratic approach with a linear and ornamental tendency.