AD 395-642 Coptic

The term Copt originally meant an Egyptian but subsequently came to describe an Egyptian Christian. In AD 395 Egypt was part of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 312 the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the following year the Edict of Milan gave freedom of religious observance to the peoples of the Empire. Christianity spread rapidly through Egypt, and dominated both secular and religious institutions.

At some point during the 4th-5th centuries, the unified Kushite kingdom of Meroe (in modern Sudan) evolved into three separate kingdoms. Nobadia was in the north, with its capital at Faras, Makuria in Upper Nubia, with its capital at Old Dongola, and Alwa in the south, with its capital at Soba East. Little is known about the transition, however, as documentation is sparse. Christianity came to the region in the mid-6th century and by 580 all the Nubian kingdoms had officially converted to Christianity.

From 618 to 628, Egypt was occupied by the Sasanian Persians. In 632 a jihad(holy war) was declared against the Byzantine Empire, and in 642 Arab armies took Alexandria. Gradually Islam became the dominant religion, leaving the Copts as a significant minority. At this time the Arabs did not venture south of Aswan, so the Nubian kingdoms remained largely unaffected.