Daily life in the Coptic Period down to the Arab Invasion of the 7th century AD incorporated Christianity at varying degrees in different levels of society. For most Egyptians their lives centred around the farming year and the annual Nile inundation, with produce and taxes going to the Roman Prefect and the Byzantine Church.

Houses were simple mud brick buildings with store-rooms and small courtyards. Women would grind barley for bread and beer and although meat was practically non-existent, their diet could have been supplemented by fish and birds. Some of the population were employed in the flourishing textile industry which now used coloured wools as well as linen.

The elite ruling class of Romans and Egyptian aristocrats had villas in places like Alexandria. Sometimes a public building of pre-Christian date such as an Odeion would be converted into different use as a church. The lifestyle of monks, based on strict rules, was extremely frugal and became even harsher with the advent of Islam in the 7th century AD when the Church no longer wielded political or financial influence.