By the 2nd century AD, hieroglyphic and demotic scripts were proving to be too unwieldy for the needs of Christian Egypt and a new script evolved, based on the Greek alphabet. For the first time vowels were represented and six signs were taken from the demotic script to write sounds in the Egyptian language for which there was no Greek equivalent.

By the mid-4th century Coptic script was widely used, and both Coptic and Greek scripts were in use simultaneously. Different Coptic dialects existed throughout the Nile Valley. The Sahidic dialect was chosen for translating the Bible and became the main choice for works of literature such as sermons, lives of the saints and moralising letters, until it was supplanted by the Bohairic dialect in the 10th century.

The Arab conquest of Egypt in the mid 7th century brought a new religion, a new language and a new script. Egypt converted to Islam and the Egyptian language and Coptic script fell into disuse. By the 15th century Coptic had all but disappeared as a spoken language, though a small part of it is preserved to this day in part of the liturgy of the Coptic Church.