Christianity arrived in Egypt by the first century AD and was based around the city of Alexandria. The fact that Alexandria was a centre of culture, science and philosophy must have contributed greatly to the development of Egyptian Christianity and its status in the Mediterranean world. It was certainly no coincidence that at the Council of Nicea in 325, when the first three patriarchates were established, Alexandria was one of them, together with Rome and Antioch.

But in spite of its theological tradition and respected position, the Egyptian Church ended in isolation. This was mainly due to the uncompromising attitude of the Coptic Patriach, Dioscorus, at the council of Ephesus in 449. Dioscorus challenged the authority of the other patriarchates of Rome, Antioch and Constantinople (the latter was made into a patriarch after the council of Constaninople in 391), about a point of Christian theology, and lost. As a result, at the council of Chalcedon in 451, Dioscorus was deposed. This was the first schism in the Christian Church and the Egyptian church was left in an isolated position. The foundations for a separate, Coptic Church, were laid, which continues to the present day.

Monasteries
One aspect of Egyptian Christianity that has been of immense influence on Christian culture in general is monasticism. Monasticism started as a lay-movement, but from the 5th century it took on a more organised and official nature. It was not long before it became a practice and finally a rule to recruit bishops and patriarchs from monastic communities. It is apparent how much intertwined the church and monasticism have become when one looks at episcopal dress: more than half of the costume of a Coptic bishop consists of monastic garments.