Influence

The influence of Coptic art and architecture on Islamic architecture and incorporation of some Coptic features in Islamic building started as early as the 7th century AD ^[6]

As the Church of Alexandria was the first Church of Africa the influence of Coptic art spread to Sudan and Ethiopia. Some forms of the Coptic cross are known as the Ethiopian cross and many Churches in Ethiopia show the influence of the Coptic art.

Menas flasks are very cheap terracotta bottles bought by pilgrims to Abu Mina, the shrine of Saint Menas, in the fourth and fifth centuries. The clay was impressed before firing with blocks with images of the saint. They have been found nearly all over the Christian world, and many scholars trace influence from their fairly crude images in the emerging iconography of Western medieval art, among other Coptic influences.