Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/421

 INHABITANTS OF EGYPT— THE COPTS. 841 Inhabitants of Egypt. The present Egyptian descendante of the ancient Retu still greatly resemble their forefathers, although during the last four thousand years many foreign elements have tended to nicxlify the original tj-pe, 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 Faran," that is, of " Pharaoh." Under the dj-nasty of the Ptolemies, and later during the Roman 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, Hsl-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 deU 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 employes. 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 bad 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 suffices to