INIIABITANTS OF EGYPT— THE COPTS. 341 



Inhabitants of Egypt. 



The present Egyptian descendants of the ancient Retu still greatly resemble their 

 forefathers, although dm-ing the last four thousand years many foreign elements 

 have tended to modify the original type, at least in the delta and Middle Egypt. 

 The Copts especially may be regarded as of comparatively pure stock, and are in 

 fact still often known as the " People of Farun," that is, of " Pharaoh." Under 

 the djTiasty of the Ptolemies, and later during the Eoman period, they must have 

 doubtless become diversely intermingled with the neighbouring races on the 

 Mediterranean seaboard. But since their conquest, over twelve centuries ago, by 

 the Mohammedans, religious hatred has erected a barrier between these Christians 

 and the invaders, so that amongst them the national type has been better preserved 

 than amongst the other Egyptian communities. 



The Copts. 



The Copts are much more numerous than has till recently been supposed. 

 According to the patriarch of Alexandria questioned on this subject by Vansleb in 

 1671, they appear at that time to have numbered not more than 10,000, or at the 

 most 15,000 souls. But they were a few years ago estimated at 150,000, while 

 the census of 1882 returned them at no less than 400,000, or about one-fifteenth of 

 the entire population. More than any other section of the community, these Copts 

 have the right to the title of Egyptians. The very name of Copt, or Kubt, appears 

 to be a mere corruption of the ancient name of Memphis, Ha-ka-Ptah, or " Abode 

 of Ptah," corrupted by the Greeks to Aiguptos, a term applied indifferently to the 

 river and the country. However, this appellation of Copt has also been referred to 

 the name of Guft, or Coptos, a town where they are still very numerous. The des- 

 truction of this Christian city by Diocletian is the starting-point of the Coptic era. 



The Copts are concentrated chiefly in Upper Egypt, in the districts of Assiut, 

 and in the Fayum, where they possess whole villages all to themselves. In certain 

 places they have taken for their habitations the so-called der or déir, partly fortified 

 monasteries, whose former inmates were devoted to celibacy. In these remote 

 regions, far removed from the capital and situated at some distance from the main 

 routes of trade and conquest, they have succeeded in preserving their customs and 

 the monophysite form of Christianity which, like the Abyssinians, they had 

 received from the early Byzantine Church. In the Nile Valley, north of Assiut, 

 they are found only in the towns as artisans, money-changers, and employés. 

 Since the spread of religious tolerance they have taken advantage of the right to 

 establish themselves in all parts of Egypt. But none of them have ever occupied 

 high political functions, like the Turks, Armenians, and even the Jews. Before 

 they had acquired equal civil rights with the Mussulmans, constant inroads were 

 made on their numbers by Islam, especially through mixed marriages. Most of 

 the Copts being circumcised, in accordance with the old Egyptian custom long 

 antecedent to the time of Mohammed, their entrance into the mosque sufiices to 



