The term “Copt” refers to the Egyptian Christians who were
evangelized by St. Mark the Apostle in the first century
A.D. The word probably originates from the old Egyptian
word Hwt-Ka-Ptah which means the “House of the God Ptah”.
While the Greeks used the word Aigyptos for Egypt, the
Copts used the Coptic term Kyptos.
Father Maximous el Antony
Monastery of
St. Antony
Red Sea