The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from the ancient Egyptian words "Hikaptahquot; ie Ha-Ka-Ptah" one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt which means the house or temple of the spirit of God Ptah, one of the major ancient Egyptian Gods. The Arabs omitted  the prefix of the word Aigyptos (ai) and they end up with the word Gypt of which the pronunciation with was transformed over the time to end up with the word Copt meaning Egyptian.The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians or the Egyptian of Christian descendant, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. Also, it describes the distinctive art and architecture that developed as an early expression of the new faith.The known history of the Copts starts with King Mina the first King, who united the northern and southern kingdoms of Egypt circa 3050 B.C. The ancient Egyptian civilization under the rule of the Pharaohs lasted for approximately 3000 years. Many Copts accepted the teachings of Christianity and founded the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox church in the first century in Alexandria ( Egypt ), now under thesupreme religious leader His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, in Egypt ,has followers allover the world specially among the Christians of Egypt, Ethiopia and the Northern Sudan .Egypt was one of the first nations to adopt Christianity, and the history of the Coptic church goes back to the first division in the Christian Church.Facing hostility from the Catholic Church in Rome , the Coptic priests were obliged to escape to the desert to maintain their faith. Persecution from this quarter ended with the Islamic invasion of Egypt in the seventh century, when Coptic Christians were at least allowed second class citizenship: their status was reduced to that of "Dhimma". This codified system of legal duties and obligations was introduced by the Khalifa Omar, the second Khalifa in Islam, and regulated the treatment of the non Moslem indigenous population. The code dictates that: (1) The Dhimma should pay a regular fee in order to keep their religion. (2) They should not prevent any Christian from converting to Islam, and should not attempt to convert any Moslem to their be1ief. (3) They should not hold any pub1ic post that would give them any authority over Moslems. (4) They should not sell their books or crosses in the markets. (5) They should not raise the sound of their church bells or raise their own voices in front of Moslems. (6) They must walk on the edge of the street, and leave the middle to the Moslems.The most notorious discriminatory is the Ottoman law the "Hamayony Khat" issued in 1856, a rule which prevents the building of new churches or repairing of old ones without a presidential decree. The absurdity of this was illustrated in 1991 when the Egyptian newspapers published a presidential decree following the mending of toilets in two churches.Sudanese CoptsThe Sudanese Copts are a small but prominent minority of 500,000 who have significant communities in Northern Sudanese towns including Khartoum and Omdurman , Dongala, Atbara , Wad Medani, Port Sudan ,  Wad Medani, Port Sudan , and al-Obeid, served by twenty three churches and two bishops.The Christianity in the country dates back to the sixth century by the arrival of the Roman missionaries, the priest Julian and his successors, who converted the kingdoms of Nuba, Alwa and Maghar to Christianity. This was followed by the Coptic missionaries and the Copts who fled he prosecution by he Muslims in Egypt . Christianity continued to flourish until the invasion by the Arab in 1317 forcing the natives to convert to Islam.Christianity was revived in Sudan by the arrival of Coptic immigrants from Egypt in waves of refugees triggered by bouts of oppression from Moslem rulers of Egypt . The movement of Coptic immigrants continued after the Turco-Egyptian invasion of the Sudan in 1821 as civil servants, craftsmen, and merchants but after the Mahdi seized power in 1885, they were forced to convert to Islam.More Copts moved to Sudan after the Anglo-Egyptian troops conquered the Mahdist State ( 1885-1898). Some of those who converted to Islam returned to Christianity and lived in peace and harmony with other groups in the society and because of their advanced literacy and numeracy they were prominent in trading, banking, engineering, and the medical profession.The Copts used to avoid political involvement. Nonetheless  their political concerns were started in the 1960s when the issue of an Islamic constitution began to dominate Sudanese political life. Coptic community representatives joined the public opposition to the proposed Islamic constitution and voiced strong protest, highlighting for the first time the determination of their community to play an active role in shaping the future constitution of the country. With the military intervention of May 1969 under Nimeiri the Copts started to participate more in politics and for the first time a member of the Coptic community was appointed as a senior minister. However,  a few years later, , Sudan witnessed the increasing Islamisation of the Nimeiri regime, which culminated in the implementation of "Sharia" (Islamic law) in 1983.In the last Century The Sudanese Copts had partially escaped the fate of the Egyptian Copts as the Sudan law codes in force between 1900 and 1983 awarded equal rights to followers of all religions and up till 1983 they were even considered  a prestigious minority as result of their proficiency in business and administration as well as their good social and financial status.By it's very nature Sharia law relegates non-Moslems to second class status and determined that the testimony of non-Moslems was not admissible in certain "hudud" crimes, even if a non-Moslem was involved in the trial.Following the fall of Nimeiri regime by popular uprising in 1985, the Sharia Law remained in place both under the transitional government and the elected Parliament, but the use of amputation and capital punishment was suspended.In June 1989 the military coop headed by General Omer Hassan al-Bashir, seized power and the discrimination against Copts escalated. By September 1990 more than 30 churches, set up by different denominations to serve the displaced people around Khartoum and Omdurman were closed. In al-Obeid and al-Nahud in Western Sudan two churches were closed and some of their staff were deported by the authorities. The job applicants are required to produce a legal testimonial that they are MoslemsBy the beginning of 1991 the discrimination against The SUDANESE Coptic Christians reached it's peak. They have been conscripted into the army and the Popular Defence Force (PDF) militias, obliging Copts to fight a holy Islamic war against Christians in the south of Sudan .Sudanese Copts they started to move to abroad seeking refuge.  Shortly after their arrival to UK in 1991 and as a result of the many difficulties they faced the Sudanese Coptic Christian established a group of help (SUDANESE COPTIC ASSOCIATION) which was first met and democratically elected on Friday 7th of FEB 1992.   The language of the Copts:The origin of the Coptic language:The Coptic language is the last phase in the evolution of the ancient Egyptian language or the language of the Faros and it was used since the year 3400 BC.They used to write it in three different styles.1.     Hieroglyphic style to write on the walls of the temples, stones and obelisks. 2. Herocratic style and it was conclusive to the priests. 3. Demonetic style and it was used public to write their letters, deeds and documents.This last style of writing went on up to the 4th century AD and when Alexander the great concurred Egypt the Greek language dominated and Egyptians started using it in their every day’s life tasks and so the Demonetic style of writing declined.  But some started to write their ancient language in Greek alphabets and this became the Coptic language used by the Egyptians during the Christian time.  It wasused in normal conversation, writing letters, deeds and documents and in their prayers.  The different accents in the Coptic language: 1. The northern accent and it is known as the Memphis accent due to Memphis and it was used in Alexandria .  The accent is closely related in its construction to the Demonetic ancient style and it became the Coptic church since H.H. pope Chrestozolus moved the patriarchat residence from Wade El-Natroun to Cairo towards the end of the 11th century which was the capital of the country at that time.2.     The southern accent known Theibian accent due to the ancient city Thebes and it became the accent of literature in upper and central Egypt .3.     The Fayome due to the city if Fayoum and is known as the Beshmoric accent. 4. The Eckmeam accent due to the city of Eckmeam .There are relics for the Coptic language since it was used from towards the end of the 3rd century AD and of these are the full translations of the Holly Bible from the Greek language and different letters, ceremonies, autobiographies, church books, etc.From the important relics of this language are: 1. The Holly Bible which was translated in full from the Greek language in the northern and southern accents and some of the books of the Holly Bible in the other two accents.  The old testament was translated before this in Alexandria from the Hebrew to the Greek by 72 of the Jews rabies by the orders of Patlemos Pheladephos around the year 282 BC and this was supervised by the knowledgeablePentenos and his assistant Eklemandous of Alexandria. 2. The autobiographies of saint, martures, pioneer monks and the rules of monasteries. Saint Antonio the father of all monks wrotehis letters in the southern accent and so did saint Shenoda. 3. Books of the different aspect of the Christian faith and the omitted books of the Holly Bible. 4. Different letters concerning laws, buying and selling deeds inheritance and taxations. 5. Books of literature.The regression of the Coptic language:The Coptic language flourished in the 4th to the 6th centuries and again in the 8th century, but after the Arab conquest of Egypt it started regressing gradually and this was from the 9th century to the 13th century when the Arabic language completely dominated. In the 13th century all the Coptic theologians wrote their theology books in Arabic but the Coptic language remained the spoken language in thesouth up to 17th century.  In the 18th century the Coptic started writing their ancient language in Arabic alphabets, then in the 19th century the Coptic language remained only as the language of the church up till now

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                                                 ?2007 Sudanese Coptic Association