Sunday, January 10, 2021

Idaho Researchers look for Links between Clovis People & large Mammals on the Snake River Plain

By IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY  Nov 28, 2019  

About 13,000 years ago on the banks of the Pleistocene American Falls Lake on the Snake River Plain, large “megafauna” mammals now extinct — such as mammoths, mastodons, camels, short-faced bears, dire wolves & saber-toothed tigers — lived alongside the Clovis people.

However, Clovis artifacts have never been recovered side-by-side with fossil remains of these extinct megafauna mammals, even though they’ve been found near each other.

Charles Speer, an Idaho State University anthropology assistant professor, along with colleagues at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, other universities & soon with ISU students, is engaged in research to document the link between the artifacts of the Clovis people & these extinct animals that populated the area during the same time period.
Charles Speer holds part of a mammoth fossil recovered at the 2018 ISU Archaeology Field School site in the Magic Valley near Kimberly. Next summer, Speer & the school will be working closer to home near American Falls Reservoir.

In a recently published paper on Clovis technology from American Falls on the Eastern Snake River Plain in the journal “North American Archaeologist,” Speer & colleagues detailed the potential for making new scientific findings that can shed light on this period of history in eastern Idaho. This potential includes discovering new information on the area’s climate, animals & people; all of which provides the rationale for thoroughly excavating a site in the area.

“We don’t have a connection in the Snake River Plain between Clovis stone tools, some of the earliest in North America, & the megafauna we have at the time,” Speer said. “We haven’t found any kill, butchering, or scavenging sites where we have the stone tools & animals in the same place. At the American Falls (reservoir) site, it is highly likely that we will find this connection. This next summer during the ISU archaeology field school in June, that is exactly what we are going to be looking for.”

The ISU researchers will be excavating a site down 8 to 10 feet below the surface. “The primary reason we are excavating is that the whole area is in danger of eroding away,” Speer said, noting the group has been tasked by the Bureau of Reclamation to recover as much as they can.

Speer explained that the climate on this portion of the Snake River Plain was likely colder & wetter 13,000 years ago. The climate was affected by the large glaciers to the north extending down from Canada only a few hundred kilometers away. Though the climate was cooler, this area was a magnet for the animals mentioned above, as well as familiar species still making the region home like mule deer, antelope, bison & elk.

“People camped out there, made their tools & hunted the animals. We really just want to make that connection showing they were exploiting these extinct animals because that is a big missing piece,” Speer said.

Studying the climate at the time & potential kill sites can help answer a host of questions about this area’s history.  “We are interested in the animals that died off right when this Clovis culture was at its peak,” Speer said. “We ask questions like ‘did these people kill all these animals, was it climate change or was it both?’ In North America alone, 90 genera of animals over 100 pounds died off during the Clovis period at the close of the Pleistocene 11,700 years ago,” Speer said. This included horses, that flourished when re-introduced 500 years ago by Europeans.

The researchers also are interested in how human beings reacted to climate change during this period, which was right at the end of the Pleistocene period, after which the climate warmed & dried considerably.

In addition, the researchers will be looking for evidence of a culture older than the Clovis living in eastern Idaho.  “Clovis for the longest time was thought to be the oldest culture in North America but know we know it is not,” Speer said. “Researchers in western Idaho have been excavating the Cooper’s Ferry site that is associated with a projectile point style called ‘Western Stemmed’ that is both contemporaneous & potentially older than Clovis. Additionally, they have recovered artifacts several thousands years older which we hope to also discover & fill in the missing pieces with here.”

“We are hoping to see an overlap & connection between the two,” Speer continued, “because we are right on this boundary where to the east you have Clovis in abundance & to the west we have Western Stemmed in abundance, but we don’t have any sites where the two are mixed up. We are also hoping to see the site stretch back in time to 17,000 or 18,000 years ago.”

The researchers will turn over any artifacts found at the site to the Idaho Museum of Natural History, which already has more than 10,000 specimens of megafauna that lived in the area & a collection of Clovis artifacts from the American Falls area.

Friday, January 8, 2021

Terms associated with Researching Peoples in the Prehistoric Americas


As a historian of North America during the period when Europeans began to colonize the area now the USA, I am intrigued with, almost obsessed with, when mankind 1st appeared in The Americas, in North America, & especially in the Atlantic coast area later settled by European colonists. 

How did these early peoples try to gain some control over the weather patterns & geography? Did they create physical spaces to meet their basic needs for shelter, food, family, health, & safety. How did they organize their society & culture? Did they migrate on foot or water to these sites? Did they create myths & religions? 

Mankind has a history of constant migration, confrontation, & adaptation for hundreds of thousands of years. And, of course, different populations around the planet adapted to different conditions in different ways. If we are trying to trace early inhabitants of the Americas, we need to become familiar with the terms used to describe the period before written history. BWS

Arable: Land favorable to the cultivation of crops or land upon which crops are grown.

Archaic: The Archaic cultural period (7500 B.C. to 1000 B.C) is divided into subperiods
Early Archaic (7500 B.C. - 6000 B.C.),
Middle Archaic (6000 B.C. – 3500 B.C.) and
Late Archaic (3500 B.C. – 1000 B.C.) sub periods.

Archaeobotany: Or Paleoethnobotany is the study of archaeologically-recovered plant artifacts to
interpret how people in the past used and interacted with plants.

Clovis: A distinct Paleoindian group originally named for a distinctively shaped fluted stone spearpoint used to hunt megafauna. The Clovis people are generally regarded as the earliest human inhabitants of the New World.

Cultivation: The act of growing plants.

Dichotomous Key: Is a tool that allows the user to determine the taxomonic identity of items in the natural world, such as plants and animals. The key is a written device constructed from a series of organized statements which represent mutually exclusive choices. Identification is made by selecting choices based on the user’s comparisons with unknown specimen until a conclusion is reached.

Domestication: The process through which a plant (or animal) is adapted to life in close association with and to the benefit of humans.

Eastern Woodlands: The temperate forests zones of eastern North America stretching from the
Mississippi River east to the Atlantic ocean, and excluding the tropical forests of the south.

Extinct: A plant or animal species which no longer exists.

Extirpated: A local extinction, where a species ceases to exist in one area, but still exists elsewhere.

Flotation: A process to separate organic remains from archaeological soils.

Holocene: Is a geological epoch which began approximately 10,000 years ago and continues into the
present.

Horticulture: The art and science of growing plants.

Husbandry: The act of caring for or managing plants and animals for human benefit.

Little Ice Age: A modest cooling of the northern hemisphere following a warmer era (the Medieval
Warm Period) and spanning from the 1500’s through the mid 19th century.

Ice Age: A geologic period of long-term reduction in the Earth’s temperature which results in an
expansion of the continental and polar ice sheets.

Light Microscope: Or optical microscope is a type of microscope which uses visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small specimens.

Mantle: A thick layer of molten rock on which the earth’s crust floats.

Megafauna: Specifically, the Pleistocene Megafauna, the giant land animals of the last ice age like
mammoth, mastodon and giant bear which are now extinct.

Morphology: The form (structure, shape, color, pattern) of an organism or of a part of an organism.

Non-Indigenous: A plant or animal species that is introduced to a geographical area. Not native, an alien or exotic species.

Paleoethnobotany: Or Archeobotany is the study of archaeologically-recovered plant artifacts to
interpret how people in the past used and interacted with plants.

Paleoindian: The Paleoindian cultural period (10000 B.C. to 7500 B.C.) was a time of radical climatic change at the transition of the Pleistocene to the Holocene at the end of the last ice age.

Palynology: Is the science that studies fossil pollen and other palynomorphs (tiny organic-walled
micro-fossils).

Phytolith: Or plant opal silica bodies are rigid microscopic structures that occur in many plants. Silica Phytoliths vary in size and shape based on the plant taxon and plant part (root, stem, seed) from which they derive.

Radiocarbon Dating: A method of radiometric dating that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to determine the age of carbon-rich itens. Raw (or uncalibrated) radiocarbon ages are reported in radiocarbon years Before Present (BP) (1950). Raw ages can be calibrated to give calendar dates in years A.D. (Anno Domini) or B.C. (Before Christ).

Reference Collection - Botanical: A collection of botanical specimens arranged and maintained in a herbarium for comparative purposes to aid in the identification of archeobotanical artifacts. Materials in an Archeobotanical Reference Collection are often treated to simulate archaeological conditions such as carbonization or water-logging.

Scanning Electron Microscope: A type of microscope that uses electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image. Electron Microscopes can obtain much higher magnifications than light microscopes.

Starch Grain Analysis: A methodology that uses microscopic starch residues preserved on artifacts (and in soils) to understand past plant use.

Tidewater: Applies to all geographic areas of Maryland where waterways are affected by tidal influence.

Wisconsin Glaciation: The most recent glacial period which began about 110,000 years ago, reached its maximum extent between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago, and ended between 10,000 and 15, 000 years ago.

Woodland: The Woodland cultural period (1000 B.C. - A.D. 1600) is divided into subperiods
Early Woodland (1000 B.C. – A.D. 200),
Middle Woodland (A.D. 200 – A.D. 900)
Late Woodland (A.D. 900 – A.D. 1650)

Thanks to Maryland's Jefferson-Patterson Park & Museum for their assistance.

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Flight into Egypt - by Boat!!

1600, attributed to Ludovico Carracci, Flight into Egypt
Luca Giordano (Italian artist, 1634–1705) The Flight into Egypt
Maarten de Vos (Flemish painter, 1532-1603) Return from the Flight into Egypt

Flight into Egypt - Paintings

 Guido da Siena, (1225-1280) Flight into Egypt
 Guido da Siena, (1225-1280) Flight into Egypt
 1308 Duccio di Buoninsegna, Flight into Egypt
 1398 Melchior Broederlam (fl. 1381–1409) Flight into Egypt
1423 Toppling of the Pagan Idols (Bedford Master). 
 1432 Flight into Egypt, altarpiece from Verdu, 1432-34, by Jaume Ferrer II known as The Younger (active between 1430 and 1460-1470)
 1450 Fra Angelico (1395–1455) Flight into Egypt
 1465 Vittore Carpaccio (Italian painter, c 1465–1526) Flight into Egypt
1494 Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) Flight into Egypt
 1500 Fra Bartolomeo or Fra Bartolommeo (di Pagholo) (1472–1517), The Rest on The Flight into Egypt
 1501 Jörg Breu the Elder (1475–1537) Flight into Egypt
 1515 Antonio da Correggio (1490–1534) Flight into Egypt
 1515 Master of the Mansi Magdalen (Netherlandish, active 1510-1525) Rest on the Flight into Egypt c 1515
1516 Hans Baldung (1485–1545) Flight into Egypt
 1520 The Rest on The Flight into Egypt by Anonymous, Northern Italy
 1525 Wolf Huber (1480–1553) Flight into Egypt
 1530 Master AB German School Flight into Egypt
 1530 Paris Bordone (Italian High Renaissance Painter, 1500-1571) Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Catherine and Angels
 1545 Jacopo Bassano (Italian painter, 1510-1592) Flight into Egypt
 Francesco Bassano the Younger (1563-1570) Flight into Egypt
Francesco Bassano the Younger (1563-1570) Flight into Egypt
 1563 Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (Italian artist, 1563–1639) Madonna and Child The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
1596 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio 1571-1610 Flight into Egypt
 1598 Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish painter, 1598–1664) Flight into Egypt
 1600s Russian icon of the Flight into Egypt; the bottom section shows the idols of Egypt miraculously crumbling down before Jesus
 1616 Jacob Jordaens Return of the Holy Family from Egypt
 1700 Mancini, Francesco (1679 - 1758) Flight into Egypt
 1720 Giovanni Odazzi (Italian, 1663-1731) Rest on the Flight to Egypt
1828 Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794–1872) Flight into Egypt

1480 Hans Memling (circa 1433–1494) Flight into Egypt

Through the Countryside - Flight into Egypt - Illuminated Manuscripts

The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  Harley 2877 f. 62v British Library

The flight into Egypt is related in the Christian Bible in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13-23). Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary & infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi; when they learned that King Herod intended to kill the infants of that area.  When the Magi traveled search of the newly born Jesus, they had visited Herod in Jerusalem to ask where to find the newborn "King of the Jews." Herod reportedly became worried that the child would threaten his throne.  Herod decided that he needed to kill the newborn Jesus, (Matthew 2:1-8). Herod ordered the death of all infant males (Matthew 2:16-18).
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  Book of Hours

An angel warned Joseph to take Jesus & his mother into Egypt (Matthew 2:13).  “‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Hosea 11:1), ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son’” (Matthew 2:13-15).  Egypt was outside the rule of King Herod.  Egypt & Palestine were part of the Roman Empire, linked by a coastal road known as "the way of the sea", making travel between them easy & relatively safe.  Church scholars and historians speculate, that the Holy Family spent a period of about four years in Egypt. After the death of King Herod, Joseph returned to Nazareth with Mary and Jesus (Luke 2:39 & Matthew 2:19-23).
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside Bibliothèque Stanislas MS 305

We are not told by Matthew exactly how long the Holy Family remained in Egypt, nor are we given any geographic information about their journey. The Nile River is not mentioned by Matthew. Although the expanded tradition is largely based on written accounts, physical sites that have been popularly associated with the Holy Family also play an important role in supplying further details. Sites made sacred because they are believed to have been touched by the Holy Family often feature unusual physical features. Some of these include miraculous hand or foot prints of the Christ child, unusually shaped trees thought to have sheltered the Virgin, or healing springs where the family quenched their thirst.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  1400s HM 1163 Book of Hours of Paris manuscript at Huntington Library at Berkeley online at Digital Scriptorium.

These sacred sites are scattered across the Nile Delta, & are found along the Nile as far south as Asyut.  Churches or monastic settlements mark most sites associated with the Holy Family in Egypt. The rich heritage of Coptic paintings, in particular icons & murals, is also an integral part of the network of belief & ritual practice shaped by the Coptic tradition of the Holy Family's journey in Egypt. The Coptic pictorial tradition is very conservative in nature. The iconographic image of the Flight has remained largely unchanged for the last 1500 years. It usually shows the Virgin holding the infant Christ, riding a donkey, & Joseph on foot.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  

In addition to the few depictions of the Flight that have survived from this long period, a much wider range of sacred images that do not at first appear to be closely tied to the journey of the Holy Family should actually be understood to be making a reference to their stay in Egypt. Just about any Coptic depiction of the Virgin & the Christ Child can be seen as having points of connection with the Holy Family's trip, & with the transformation of Egypt into a 2nd holy land.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside   Paris  Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin1156a

The Holy Family, according to Coptic traditions, seems to have spent most of their time traveling. Sometimes they are depicted in a boat on the Nile, but more often the Virgin & Jesus ride a donkey. It is possible to chart the Holy Family's journey through Egypt by combining written sources with sacred geographical sites.  The Coptic Church divides stages of the Holy Family's journey into 4 geographic groups, consisting of the coastal road linking Palestine to Egypt, the Nile Delta, the vicinity of greater Cairo & the Nile Valley.


During their travels, written Coptic accounts indicate that they received charity from pious strangers, but often they were without shelter, food or water. Most of the sites associated with the Flight of the Holy Family reflect some tribulation overcome by the Holy Family. For example, walking in the heat of the day, they find shade under a tree, which is blessed. When they are hungry, a palm tree bows down, offering its dates. Their thirst is quenched by local wells, or in more dire circumstances, by springs brought forth by the infant Jesus. When chased by thieves, a tree opens up to hide them. If there is no room in an inn, they sleep in a conveniently located nearby cave.

After each encounter, the tree, well, spring, or cave was thereafter endowed with miraculous healing power. In time, each became a place of pilgrimage that was marked by a church, monastery or convent, typically dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Hence, the Copts have a long tradition of venerating the Virgin (al-'Adhra). Indeed, such churches are found throughout Egypt. Though most are not actually associated with the Flight, their sheer number indicates the central position held by Mary in the devotion of the Copts. Six of the 15 largest Christian mulids (pilgrimage festivals) in Egypt are dedicated to the Virgin, & all but one are held at Holy Family sites.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside
  
Today, in Egypt are many of the world's oldest Christian Churches, not to mention the very foundations of monastic orders. Its traditions related to the Christian religion are deep & fundamental, expanding forward from the Flight to the early days of persecution, the legalization of Christianity, & it is central to the internal strife that eventually broke the religion into various segments.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  

A French tradition states that Saint Aphrodisius, an Egyptian saint who was venerated as the first bishop of Béziers, was the man who sheltered the Holy Family when they fled into Egypt.  It is also held that the Holy family visited many areas in Egypt including Farama, Tel Basta, Wadi El Natrun, Samanoud, Bilbais, Samalout, Maadi, Al-Maṭariyyah & Asiut among others.  It is also tradition that the Holy Family visited Coptic Cairo & stayed at the site of Saints Sergius & Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) & the place where the Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) stands now.  At Al-Maṭariyyah, then in Heliopolis & now part of Cairo, there is a sycamore tree (& adjacent chapel) that is a 1672 planting replacing an earlier tree under which Mary was said to have rested, or in some versions hidden from pursuers in the hollow truck, while pious spiders covered the entrance with dense webs.
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside   Egerton 2781 f. 14 British Library

The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. Also, it describes the distinctive art & architecture that developed as an early expression of the new faith.
Gondarine sensul, The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside, Walters Manuscript 36.10, fol. 3v

The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century, a dozen of years after the Lord's ascension. He was one of the 4 evangelists & the one who wrote the oldest canonical gospel. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival in Alexandria as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200 A.D., & a fragment of the Gospel of Saint John, written using the Coptic language, which was found in Upper Egypt & can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century. The Coptic Church, which is now more than 1900 centuries old, was the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament. Isaiah the prophet, in Chapter 19, Verse 19 says "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, & a pillar to the LORD at its border."
The Flight into Egypt through the Countryside  Paris BA 640

Although fully integrated into the body of the modern Egyptian nation, the Copts have survived as a strong religious entity who pride themselves on their contribution to the Christian world. The Coptic church regards itself as a strong defendant of Christian faith. The Nicene Creed, which is recited in all churches throughout the world, has been authored by one of its favorite sons, Saint Athanasius, the Pope of Alexandria for 46 years, from 327 A.D. to 373 A.D.


Story of the Flight into Egypt + Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Donkey

The flight into Egypt is related in the Christian Bible in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13-23). Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary & infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi; when they learned that King Herod intended to kill the infants of that area. When the Magi traveled search of the newly born Jesus, they had visited Herod in Jerusalem to ask where to find the newborn "King of the Jews." Herod reportedly became worried that the child would threaten his throne. Herod decided that he needed to kill the newborn Jesus, (Matthew 2:1-8). Herod ordered the death of all infant males (Matthew 2:16-18).
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Book of Hours

An angel warned Joseph to take Jesus & his mother into Egypt (Matthew 2:13). “‘Get up, take the child & his mother, & flee to Egypt, & remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child & his mother by night, & went to Egypt, & remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Hosea 11:1), ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son’” (Matthew 2:13-15). Egypt was outside the rule of King Herod. Egypt & Palestine were part of the Roman Empire, linked by a coastal road known as "the way of the sea", making travel between them easy & relatively safe. Church scholars & historians speculate, that the Holy Family spent a period of about four years in Egypt. After the death of King Herod, Joseph returned to Nazareth with Mary & Jesus (Luke 2:39 & Matthew 2:19-23).
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Bibliothèque Stanislas MS 305

We are not told by Matthew exactly how long the Holy Family remained in Egypt, nor are we given any geographic information about their journey. The Nile River is not mentioned by Matthew. Although the expanded tradition is largely based on written accounts, physical sites that have been popularly associated with the Holy Family also play an important role in supplying further details. Sites made sacred because they are believed to have been touched by the Holy Family often feature unusual physical features. Some of these include miraculous hand or foot prints of the Christ child, unusually shaped trees thought to have sheltered the Virgin, or healing springs where the family quenched their thirst.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt 1400s HM 1163 Book of Hours of Paris manuscript at Huntington Library at Berkeley online at Digital Scriptorium.

These sacred sites are scattered across the Nile Delta, & are found along the Nile as far south as Asyut. Churches or monastic settlements mark most sites associated with the Holy Family in Egypt. The rich heritage of Coptic paintings, in particular icons & murals, is also an integral part of the network of belief & ritual practice shaped by the Coptic tradition of the Holy Family's journey in Egypt. The Coptic pictorial tradition is very conservative in nature. The iconographic image of the Flight has remained largely unchanged for the last 1500 years. It usually shows the Virgin holding the infant Christ, riding a donkey, & Joseph on foot.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt

In addition to the few depictions of the Flight that have survived from this long period, a much wider range of sacred images that do not at first appear to be closely tied to the journey of the Holy Family should actually be understood to be making a reference to their stay in Egypt. Just about any Coptic depiction of the Virgin & the Christ Child can be seen as having points of connection with the Holy Family's trip, & with the transformation of Egypt into a 2nd holy land.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin1156a

The Holy Family, according to Coptic traditions, seems to have spent most of their time traveling. Sometimes they are depicted in a boat on the Nile, but more often the Virgin & Jesus ride a donkey. It is possible to chart the Holy Family's journey through Egypt by combining written sources with sacred geographical sites. The Coptic Church divides stages of the Holy Family's journey into 4 geographic groups, consisting of the coastal road linking Palestine to Egypt, the Nile Delta, the vicinity of greater Cairo & the Nile Valley.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Francoise Brinnon Book of Hours

During their travels, written Coptic accounts indicate that they received charity from pious strangers, but often they were without shelter, food or water. Most of the sites associated with the Flight of the Holy Family reflect some tribulation overcome by the Holy Family. For example, walking in the heat of the day, they find shade under a tree, which is blessed. When they are hungry, a palm tree bows down, offering its dates. Their thirst is quenched by local wells, or in more dire circumstances, by springs brought forth by the infant Jesus. When chased by thieves, a tree opens up to hide them. If there is no room in an inn, they sleep in a conveniently located nearby cave.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin1370

After each encounter, the tree, well, spring, or cave was thereafter endowed with miraculous healing power. In time, each became a place of pilgrimage that was marked by a church, monastery or convent, typically dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Hence, the Copts have a long tradition of venerating the Virgin (al-'Adhra). Indeed, such churches are found throughout Egypt. Though most are not actually associated with the Flight, their sheer number indicates the central position held by Mary in the devotion of the Copts. Six of the 15 largest Christian mulids (pilgrimage festivals) in Egypt are dedicated to the Virgin, & all but one are held at Holy Family sites.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt (BL Yates Thompson 13 f. 95v)

Today, in Egypt are many of the world's oldest Christian Churches, not to mention the very foundations of monastic orders. Its traditions related to the Christian religion are deep & fundamental, expanding forward from the Flight to the early days of persecution, the legalization of Christianity, & it is central to the internal strife that eventually broke the religion into various segments.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France Latin1171

A French tradition states that Saint Aphrodisius, an Egyptian saint who was venerated as the first bishop of Béziers, was the man who sheltered the Holy Family when they fled into Egypt. It is also held that the Holy family visited many areas in Egypt including Farama, Tel Basta, Wadi El Natrun, Samanoud, Bilbais, Samalout, Maadi, Al-Maṭariyyah & Asiut among others. It is also tradition that the Holy Family visited Coptic Cairo & stayed at the site of Saints Sergius & Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) & the place where the Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) stands now. At Al-Maṭariyyah, then in Heliopolis & now part of Cairo, there is a sycamore tree (& adjacent chapel) that is a 1672 planting replacing an earlier tree under which Mary was said to have rested, or in some versions hidden from pursuers in the hollow truck, while pious spiders covered the entrance with dense webs.
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Egerton 2781 f. 14 British Library

The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. Also, it describes the distinctive art & architecture that developed as an early expression of the new faith.

Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Harley 2979 f54 British Library
Illuminated Manuscript, Gondarine sensul, Flight into Egypt, Walters Manuscript 36.10, fol. 3v

The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century, a dozen of years after the Lord's ascension. He was one of the 4 evangelists & the one who wrote the oldest canonical gospel. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival in Alexandria as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200 A.D., & a fragment of the Gospel of Saint John, written using the Coptic language, which was found in Upper Egypt & can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century. The Coptic Church, which is now more than 1900 centuries old, was the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament. Isaiah the prophet, in Chapter 19, Verse 19 says "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, & a pillar to the LORD at its border."
Illuminated Manuscript The Flight into Egypt Paris BA 640

Although fully integrated into the body of the modern Egyptian nation, the Copts have survived as a strong religious entity who pride themselves on their contribution to the Christian world. The Coptic church regards itself as a strong defendant of Christian faith. The Nicene Creed, which is recited in all churches throughout the world, has been authored by one of its favorite sons, Saint Athanasius, the Pope of Alexandria for 46 years, from 327 A.D. to 373 A.D.