Seven Coptic Christians were killed in an attack on two buses near a monastery in Minya on Friday.
It was the latest in a series of attacks by extremists on Egypt's Coptic Christian minority.
Terrorists ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing seven people and wounding 19 reported The Guardian newspaper this week. The minority Christian Copts are increasingly under attack in Egypt by Muslim extremists.
Who Are They?
Most people have never heard of Coptic Christians even though there are small settlements around the world. It was the Coptic language that contributed to the unlocking of the Rosetta Stone and the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs. So it is a very old language indeed and one that was spoken in Ancient Egypt. The Coptic Church still conducts its rites and rituals in the old Coptic language of the ancient Egyptian religion and its hymns and liturgical music is that which would have been heard before Christianity came on the scene.
The Invention of Christianity
Christianity is Jewish in origin and was to be the Jewish version of the existing Mystery religions prevalent in the Region at the time. However, it was not constructed in Jerusalem as many would have us believe but in Egypt and in the city of Alexandria to be precise. Coptic simply translates at Egyptian so when Rome decided to nationalise the Christian religion the Egyptian priests simply applied their existing structures to the new faith. Except it wasn't exactly a new faith : it was the story of Isis, Horus and Osiris writ anew. So Christianity already had a hierarchy of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. It already had its ceremonies. It already had its vestments, head wear, shepherd's crook and symbols of office, it had its cross in the form of an Ankh.
Evidence of this
Sir Wallis' Budge, the famous Egyptologist, has often made it known that there is enough information to identify the links between ancient Egyptian religion and Christianity to fill a whole library.
My favourite writer D M Murdock who goes under the pseudonym of Acharya S wrote a most scholarly book on the subject called 'Christ in Egypt which gives clear evidence of the construct of Christianity in Egypt and its wholesale adoption of the Egyptian Horus myth.
Further Study
If you want to explore this further I can provide you with a Bibliography of about 750 books which you should read.
Music
The music of the Coptic church is very ancient. It was handed down orally and because of the danger of it dying out in the 20th century it was tape recorded and saved for future generations.
You will find many examples of Coptic music on YouTube. Coptic music is the descendant of Ancient Egyptian Music . A hymn like Golgotha (Calvary) melodies is taken from Ancient Egyptian burial rituals. To make it easier for you, this version is translated into English.
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