possible in big cities, where schools flourished and where
commercial and social intercourse was inevitable and
constant. In the rural areas, however, which contained the
bulk of the population, the heart of Egypt remained
untouched.^2 Nationalistic pride lay dormant in the
subconscious, and only needed the necessary leader. to rouse
it; such arousal finally took shape and was realised in the fifth
century A.D. under the stubborn zeal of Abba Shenouda the
Archimandrite.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian city dwellers enjoyed the
retirement of Hellenistic culture, and a goodly number of
them became steeped in Greek learning. They taught and
wrote in Greek, so much so that they were mistaken for
Greeks, and even up to the present, this misconception still
prevails regarding some of the famous Egyptian personalities
of those times.
Hellenism was, by no means, the only influential
culture of the earliest Christian centuries, although it was the
most marked. The impact of Hebraic teachings also was
deeply felt and absorbed. The Jewish community of
Alexandria was the most illustrious, and second only to that
of Jerusalem, besides being the best organised community in
the world. Apart from the great rabbis, there were great
Hebrew philosophers, such as Philo, who is invariably called
Philo of Alexandria.
- Into this city of inter-racial culture, wherein Greek
philosophies, Hebraic teachings and Oriental doctrines were
equally familiar, Christianity was, in due time, introduced.
Once the Egyptians were converted to Christianity,
they felt the urgent need for a school in order to preserve
and help spread the teachings of the New Faith. They
realised that if they were to convince and win men deeply
learned in all that was highest and best, they had to be just as