4th Century AD

When the Greeks and the Romans conquered Egypt, their religion was influenced by that of Egypt. Ancient pagan beliefs gradually faded and were replaced by monotheistic religions. Today, the majority of the Egyptian population is Muslim, with a small minority of Jews and Christians.

As official temples fell into disrepair, and religious structures across Egypt declined, the religion gradually faded away. Though imperial edicts fostered a negative atmosphere towards the pagans, they did not ultimately have a large effect on the disappearance of native religion by themselves.

And then there’s Tutankhamun’s father, Akhenaten, who ruled from 1353–1336 BC and destroyed monuments to the god Amun in his effort to remake Egyptian religion to revolve around one god, Aten, a solar deity.

Coptic Orthodox Church

Sunni Muslim

From Egyptian art, we know that people were depicted with reddish, olive, or yellow skin tones. The Sphinx has been described as having Nubian or sub-Saharan features. And from literature, Greek writers like Herodotus and Aristotle referred to Egyptians as having dark skin.

Although Egypt sits in the north of the African continent it is considered by many to be a Middle Eastern country, partly because the main spoken language there is Egyptian Arabic, the main religion is Islam and it is a member of the Arab League.

To an outsider, Egypt is in fact an Arab country. The reality on the ground, though, is slightly different. Many Egyptians prefer to call themselves Egyptians and some shun the Arab label completely. Most of Egypt’s Copts maintain that they are the purest bloodline to have descended from the ancient Egyptians.

Somalis are a people indigenous to the Horn of Africa. They possess no Arab origin nor lineage. They do not speak Arabic, they speak a Cushitic language known as Somali. Their culture, which is distinct from Arab cultures, is more similar to other Cushitic or northeast African cultures.