Sam kept pointing out that with 15% of the country being Coptic Christians, that's a lot of Christians living in Egypt -- approximately 16 million plus by my math (which is usually right, I must say).
And our next activity, he set out to prove it. We went to the Coptic hanging church in Cairo, and the place was jampacked with Coptic Christians taking advantage of the two week holiday in the country to visit some of the touchstones of Coptic life.
As is done, Sam would shorten "Coptic" to "Copts," which sounded to me like "cops." After momentary confusion EVERY TIME he said it (which was a lot), I would translate "cops" to "Copts" and finally understand his point. But, I must confess to a pretty good run of temporary confusion, which is a state I've got to accept as I age, I suppose.
Anyhow, the church was modestly interesting, but it was hard to deal with the crowds. And, as luck would have it, if we were going upstairs, ten times as many Copters were coming down the stairs. If we were going downstairs, ten times as many Copters were going upstairs.
Editor: "Copters?" I don't think that's a thing. Writer: Well, it is now. People will be referring to them as "Copters" from now on. Just call me Mr. Trendsetter.
Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church dates back to the Third Century. For background, I'll be lazy and turn to Wikipedia:
The Hanging Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); its nave is suspended over a passage. The church is approached by twenty-nine steps; early travelers to Cairo dubbed it "the Staircase Church". The land surface has risen by some six metres since the Roman period, so the Roman tower is mostly buried below ground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated position.
The entrance from the street is through iron gates under a pointed stone arch. The nineteenth-century facade with twin bell towers is then seen beyond a narrow courtyard decorated with modern art biblical designs. Up the steps and through the entrance is a further small courtyard leading to the eleventh-century outer porch.
(Yes, "meters" is spelled "metres" on the website. I can deal with it, but I can't deal with being accused of typos that aren't my fault. It's just the European spelling, not my fault.")
Editor: Are you okay? Writer: Yeah, why? Editor: Are you sure?
The aforementioned Babylon Fortress dates to Roman times, although some historians say there was a fortress there as early as the 19th or 16th Century BC, and that Nebuchadnezzar, who we all learned about in world history in 6th grade was involved from Babylon.
By the way, I know the song (Rivers of Babylon) has been done by many, including Bob Marley (Editor: You included that fact for street cred. Writer: Guilty), but my favorite version was done by the great Linda Ronstadt. Her version is so good I included the link. Oh, the Bob Marley version is fabulous too, but in 1975 my 13 year old self did NOT have a crush on Bob Marley (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I did have a crush on Linda Ronstadt. Not shockingly, it was an unrequited crush.
Anyhow, we were swept into the church by the crowds, through the church by the crowds, and back out of the church by the crowds. I'm pretty sure I didn't have to put my feet on the floor because I was carried along, and this wasn't even Chinese tour groups in Versailles.
By the way, to be completely fair to the Egyptians, I had NO IDEA there were so many Coptic Christians (or "Copters" as I like to call them -- try it at home, it's fun!). Okay, I know it is a bit unorthodox, but. . .(dad jokes, that's how eye roll!). Anyhow, it is a good thing that there is a significant amount of religious pluralism in Egypt (although there are only 50 Jews in Egypt). Before you say "15 percent non-Muslim is not significant," remember that there is only 1.1% of the US that is Muslim. Of course, only 64% of the US population calls themselves Christian, so there is more than one way to skin that cat.
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