The decline of the Melkite Church in Islamic Egypt and its revival by Patriarch Cosmas I (ca 727-768)

Abstract

This study focuses on the relations of the Melkites and Copts, two rival religious communities in early Muslim Egypt, at a critical turning point, i.e. the time of the patriarch of Alexandria Cosmas I (ca 727-768), about which not enough attention has been paid by modern scholars. Cosmas’s sincere intention to unite the two rival Christian Churches of Egypt, a fact recognized even by his adversaries, is emphasized. Simultaneously, the author points out the initial impartiality of the Arabs towards the perennial dispute between the Coptic and Melkite Churches, which changed drastically by the time of Cosmas I’s election.

Keywords

• Monophysites-Copts
• Chalcedonians-Melkites
• Copt Patriarch of Alexandria Benjamin
• Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria Cyrus