Coptic alphabet
The
Coptic alphabet is an
alphabet used for writing the
Coptic language. It is based on the
Greek alphabet, but contains some extra letters for sounds used in Coptic but not in
Greek. Those letters are derived from the
Demotic script, an
Egyptian alphabet.
The Coptic alphabet came into use during the 3rd century BC after the Greeks conquered Egypt. It is still used by the members of the Coptic Church to write their religious texts. All the Gnostic codices found in Nag Hammadi used the coptic alphabet.