Egypt

Egypt is a region in northeast Africa, on the coast of the Mediterranian Sea.

Egypt in the Bible

Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt; after interpreting the pharoah's dreams, Joseph became the governor of Egypt, second only to the Pharoah himself.

A famine struck the land. Jacob, his other children and their families travelled to Egypt to get some grain. After testing them, Joseph invited his family to settle in the land of Goshen in the delta of the Nile river.

In time, the dynasty changed, and the new Pharoah enslaved the decendants of Jacob, known as the Israelites. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.

That takes us through Genesis and Exodus. Feel free to expand.

Egypt in post-Biblical history

According to tradition, the apostle Mark established Coptic Christianity in Egypt in 42 AD.

Please expand.

Egypt today

The Egyptian people have a deep sense of piety and are devout followers of their professed religions. Egypt is predominantly Muslim, covering about 90% of the population, while Christians represent about 10% (official figures put it at 6%.) The Muslim population is largely Sunni, while a significant minority is Sufi. There is also a smaller number of Shiites.

The Christians are mainly Coptic Orthodox, though a minority belongs to the Coptic Catholic Church. Other Christian groups include Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Jacobite and Armenian Orthodox, whose adherents are mainly descendants of Italian, Greek, Syrian and Armenian immigrants.

An Evangelical Protestant church, first established in the middle of the 19th century, has grown to a community of about 17 Protestant denominations. There also are followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was granted legal status in the 1960s.

The non-Muslim, non-Coptic communities range in size from several thousand to hundreds of thousands.

The number of Baha'is has been estimated at between several hundred and a few thousand.

The Jewish community which flourished before the 1950s, today number fewer than 200 persons. There are also many atheists, agnostics, and secularists, but their numbers are unknown. Worship of the original Egyptian gods has all but disappeared.

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