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→Coptic Christianity today: - Coptic Calendar
The Coptic Orthodox Church has her own, unique purely religious/liturgical music and chants [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_music], [http://tasbeha.org/mp3.html], [http://www.saintmina-holmdel.org/Multimedia/index.php], [http://www.coptichymns.org/index.php?module=hymns&func=catview] (some are also used by Coptic Catholics).
Following their own church calendar ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_calendar[Coptic Calendar]]), Coptic Christians celebrate [[Christmas]] on the [[January 7|7th of January]] which, since 2002, is an official national holiday in Egypt. The Coptic calendar is the calendar of martyrs. Coptic years are counted from 284 AD, the year Diocletian became Roman Emperor, whose reign was marked by tortures and mass executions of Christians, especially in Egypt. Hence, the Coptic year is identified by the abbreviation AM (for ''Anno Martyrum'' or "Year of the Martyrs").
The Coptic Orthodox Church also has her own distinguished Coptic art [http://www.coptic.net/articles/CopticArtOfEgypt.txt], [http://www.copticmuseum.gov.eg/English/internal/gallery.asp]; iconography [http://www.coptic.net/articles/CopticIcons.txt], [http://www.theotokos.org/CopticIcons/IconGallery.htm], [http://www.copticmuseum.gov.eg/English/internal/gallery_pieces.asp?section_id=1]; and architecture [http://www.copticarchitecture.com/], [http://www.coptic.net/articles/OldCairoCopticChurches.txt].