The Separation of Early Christianity from Judaism By Marianne Da ...

At the same time, there is no satisfactory direct evidence for the existence of Christian communities in Egypt during the first century, but as Alexandria was the greatest port in the eastern Mediterranean, it is likely that Christianity had reached Alexandria by the end of the century. Although sources give little information on the history of Jews and Christians in the second century, it is known that Christianity existed in Egypt, for the Gnostic writers Valentinus and Basilides were active in Alexandria in the latter part of that century.⁴⁴ The Edict of Decius against Christians in 250 CE indicates that by this time Christianity had spread to Alexandria and elsewhere in Egypt.

Trade Routes and Geographical Influences

Initially, the geography of the ancient Near East had a significant influence in the spread of Christianity. The success of the latter was also influenced by the cultural mix of the population. The area of the ancient Near East may be defined as being between Greece in the northwest and the Iranian plateau in the northeast, with the Libyan plateau in the southwest and the eastern littoral of the Arabian peninsula in the southeast. The western boundary was the Mediterranean Sea, which not only served as a major shipping route but was also one of the constricting factors that forced greater emphasis on the roads of the littoral. Thus, the strategic position of the Near East made it a crossroads between trade routes. The unique features of the region, such as resources, mountains, and climate, had a direct bearing on the cultural mix of the region and the dissemination of ideas. A constricting factor was the lack of a land route between Europe and Africa, or Africa and Asia, except across the narrow land-bridge bounded by the Mediterranean and Red seas and the Persian Gulf. Another constricting factor is the mid-world desert belt to the east of the coastal lands that includes Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, which reaches towards the great mountain ranges radiating from the Armenian knot.⁴⁵

Trade was facilitated by certain natural routes, which followed the lines of least resistance alongside the mountain ranges. The Piedmont route, which came to be called the ‘silk road’, crossed the Zagros Mountains