The Art of Coptic Egypt 

From the Collection of Dr. Robert Steven Bianchi 

On view September 13, 2024, through May 2025 

The word “Copt” refers to the native population of Egypt, many of whom converted to Christianity in the early centuries of the Roman period. Tradition maintains that the Holy Family sojourned in Egypt and that Saint Mark, the Evangelist, established the first Christian church in Egypt in Alexandria in the first century. The Copts shared a common material culture with their polytheistic neighbors. Imperial edicts established Christianity as the religion of the empire in the late 4th century, which allowed the Coptic community to flourish. 

The Art of Coptic Egypt showcases over fifty artifacts from a local private collection dating from early centuries of the Roman Imperial to the Middle Ages, although special attention is given to objects specifically associated with the Coptic church. Today, there is still a thriving, vibrant Coptic community in Egypt and beyond, including in Tampa. 

The noun “Copt” and the adjective “Coptic” are etymologically derived from الْقِبْط, al-qibt, an abbreviated Arabic transcription of the Greek Αἴγυπτοs, Aigyptos, that in turn is based on the ancient Egyptian phrase Hut-ka-Ptah, the temple of Ptah, which was used to refer to the city of Memphis as a substitute for Egypt as a whole. (Compare our use of the phrase “the White House” as a substitute for the U.S. government.) Initially, the noun “Copt” was applied to non-Arabic speaking non-Muslims living in Egypt. Eventually, it came to identify the native Egyptians who converted to Christianity since the early centuries of the Roman Imperial Period. 

During these early centuries the Copts living in Egypt were part of the Roman Empire. They shared a common material culture with their polytheistic neighbors—those who worship many gods. That culture derived in part from pharaonic Egypt, as well as Greece and Rome. Intimately bound to the first generations of Christianity, Egypt also witness severe persecutions under the Roman Empire. The liturgical calendar of the Coptic Church actually marks its beginning from 284 of the common era—the Anno Martyrum (“Year of the Martyrs”)—the year Emperor Diocletian came to the throne and under whose reign the second wave of persecutions took place. 

The provisions of the Edict of Milan promulgated by Emperor Constantine the Great (313 ᴄᴇ) removed the stigma of being a Christian. The Edict of Thessalonica, issued by Emperor Theodosius I (380 ᴄᴇ), established Christianity as the only recognized religion across the Empire. The Coptic community flourished even after the fall of Alexandria to ‛Amr ibn al-‛As (641 ᴄᴇ), which ushered in the Islamic Period, when many traditions of the Copts were allowed to continue. The objects on display in this exhibition are part of the private collection of renowned Egyptologist and Fine Arts Historian Dr. Robert Steven Bianchi.