Pope John III of Alexandria was the 40th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark (677-686). ^[1]

He was originally from Samanoud a city in the North of Egypt, hence also known as Pope John III Of Samanoud.

During his papacy the Muslim ruler in Damascus was Marwan I as after the death of Yazid, the son of Mu'âwiyah and his son Muawiya II, Marwan I took control of the East and of Egypt.

Marwan I made his sons governors over all the provinces. He appointed his eldest son, who later became his successor Abd al-Malik as governor of Damascus, governor of Egypt was another one of his sons Abd al-Aziz.

At that stage the Ummayad rulers were still in war with Abdullah bin Zubayr.

And when Abd al-Aziz became governor of Egypt, Pope John III wrote from Alexandria to Misr to the two scribes who presided over his divan, to make known to them what had been done concerning the seal, which was set upon all the places, and the trouble with the misbelieving Chalcedonians from which he was suffering. Thereupon the said scribes sent messengers to Alexandria with instructions that the seal should be broken in the places named, and that all the property of the Church should be delivered to the Father Patriarch.

In 680 A.D. Pope John III rebuilt Saint Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria. ^[2]

References

1. ↑ Severus of Al'Ashmunein (Hermopolis), History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic church of Alexandria (1910) Part 3: Agathon - Michael I (766 AD). Patrologia Orientalis 5 pp. 3-215 (pp.257-469 of text)
2. ↑ SAINT-MARK Coptic Orthodox Church - Alexandria - EGYPT

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article