The Coptic Church is also known as the Church of Alexandria and the Egyptian Church. The ancient Copts called themselves “en‐remen‐kame” that is “the people of the Black Land” referring to the fertile black silt of the Nile valley. When the Greeks invaded Egypt in the 4th century
bc
, they arrived at the port of Alexandria (Rakoti in Coptic) where “the house or temple of the spirit of Petah,” Hak‐Ka‐Petah, was located. They named the country they invaded after the temple of Hak‐Ka‐Petah which was corrupted to Ai‐Ga‐Ptos, which became the root for the Greek word
aigyptos
, from which “Egypt” is derived. Since Semitic languages write only consonants, when the Arabs invaded Egypt
aigyptos
was corrupted further to the Arabic
qubt
, which in its Europeanized form is “Copt.” Thus the Coptic Church means the Egyptian Church. The conquering Arabs, who were Muslims, began using “Copt” to refer to the native inhabitants of Egypt, who were Christians. Though it began as an ethnic distinction, it also carried a religious connotation. Presently in Egypt, the word “Copt” is synonymous with “Christian” and is associated with Coptic Orthodox Christians, though a few Copts converted to Catholicism and Protestantism when European colonialism made new opportunities available.