There are many similarities and differences in between the Byzantine Empire and early empires of Islam. In the Byzantium period, there were various forms of Christianity; Orthodox, Syriac, and Coptic Christianity. “Orthodox Christians --- including a Greek named Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria --- believed that Jesus the Son was divine and fully a part of the Godhead, equal and unified with God the Father and the Holy Spirit” (Cunningham et all. 217). Orthodox Christianity was the official religion of the Byzantine state. The Coptic Church was the main Christian church in Egypt. The Coptic Church believed in monophytism. “To put it simply this is the belief that Jesus Christ has only one nature; that his divine nature and his human nature are composite and totally united --church the nature of the incarnated Word, as opposed to two natures united in one person” (Coptic Orthodox Church 2006). The Syriac Christianity came from the middle east. The main similarities in the three are the fact that they all believe in God. Whether it’s one God or many. Also they all take their scriptures from the Bible. …show more content…
“During the Islamic period, diapora communities continued to grow” (Schwartz 2012). Also the Jews began to use the codex form for the Bible. This strengthened the importance of the Qur’an by being informative of it. They could gain many new followers as well as gain a stronger sense of Judaism. “As the world changed around them, Jewish communities adapted to new realities in deep conversation with their ancient traditions.” (Schwartz 2012) There were importance of the pilgrimage was for the those who journeyed on it to feel closer to their religion and to find some type of peace. “Such journeys served a variety of functions: a pilgrim might set out to fulfill a vow, to expiate a crime, to seek a miraculous cure or simply to deepen his or her faith” (Cunningham et all.