A very Happy Christmas to all our family and friends all around the world! We had a very special day enjoying the company of friends from New Zealand and the Middle East, some of the latter with a Coptic heritage. We learnt that the Coptic Church celebrates the birth of Jesus on January 7th of the Gregorian Calendar. By the year 2100 C.E. this will change to January 8th. The Coptic calendar, claimed to be the oldest in history, originated three millennia before Christ. This link gives an extensive description of the development of the Coptic or Alexandrian calendar. About 10% of Egyptians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; the church was founded by the Apostle and Evangelist St. Mark around 42 A.D. and is part of the Oriental Orthodox church which separated from the Eastern Orthodox church after divisions originating during the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D.
