3.1 Introduction

Since the transition from Christian to Islamic rule in Egypt is by no means an insignificant one, numerous efforts have been made in trying to trace and examine it. One such attempt will be made here, as this paper intends to inquire into the implications this change of rule held for the female part of the local population. Under the new Muslim rule, the public status of leading Christian men in Egypt was gradually reduced, as and when the higher strata of the local administration, such as the office of the pagarch, were taken over by Muslim administrators and the lower levels of administrative offices became increasingly scrutinized by the Arab administration. One might expect the public position of woman to be equally reduced, at least in so far as they were connected to formerly high ranking and largely autarchic Christian officials, though such an assumption might not leave sufficient room for particular circumstances.

Although Egyptian women in Byzantine Egypt and the early Islamic period were almost certainly not a numerical minority, they appear in Greek and Coptic texts much more rarely than their male counterparts. We have far fewer letters composed or written by women, noticeably fewer contracts and leases involving women on either side, only a small number of tax documents for women, and hardly any travel documents issued in a woman's name, not to mention the lack of evidence for women in any kind of public office. Even in literary sources, such as the extremely popular Coptic martyr legends, as well as in Coptic miracula and encomia, women feature far less often as heroes and role models suffering martyrdom for their Christian faith. Of about 320 Coptic martyrs, only 46 are women; that is, roughly fifteen per cent. When it comes to Coptic saints, Christian role models in life rather than death, the percentage of women is even lower. Of about 265 celebrated Coptic saints only 20 are women, which equates to less than ten per cent. Moreover, most of them were leading a Christian existence in the guise of monks. With this data in mind, one can safely call women a minority with respect to their public presence, but that seems to be less of a new development than an aspect of continuity.