ABSTRACT
In exploring Coptic life under Ottoman rule (1517–1798), scholars face enduring misperceptions about an epoch traditionally seen as persecutory towards Egypt’s Christians. To begin, the limited sources available about Copts can exacerbate and reinforce the idea that they were deeply marginalized within Ottoman Egyptian society. Aside from scattered mentions in known Egyptian chronicles, there are minimal references to Copts in Muslim literary or legal sources. Copts were primarily governed by local power holders—religious scholars (‘ulamā’), military households, or their own communal leaders—and they scarcely provoked the interest of Ottoman sultans, their deputies, and seemingly later historians.
