Coptic Christianity in Ottoman Egypt

There are approximately 7 million Coptic Christians in Egypt, making them the largest non-Muslim minority in the Middle East. Yet Copts, one of the world's oldest Christian communities, remain understudied relative to other ethnic and religious minorities in the region. They have been marginalized in existing scholarship, their experience subsumed by that of the majority Muslim population within Egypt. This is particularly true in studies of the Ottoman era (1517-1798), a pivotal period in the shaping of modern Egypt. This book is the first monograph to examine the religious beliefs and traditions of Christians in Ottoman Egypt and to reconstruct the daily lives of this community in the context of the surrounding culture. More broadly, this study reveals Ottoman society's diversity by examining the intimate interaction between Muslim and Christian practice, and between the Muslim majority and ethno-religious minorities generally. This book will not only enrich our understanding of the Ottoman period but also elucidate the complex relations between majority and minority populations in the Middle East today.

Assistant Professor of History, Middlebury College