If the Egyptians were known for their religious tolerance before Christianity became the dominant religion in their country, now that Christianity had taken over, Christians seemed bound and determined to wipe out all possibility of opposition. It's hard for modern scholars to understand and sympathize with the religious fervor that led to the mob destruc­tion of the famous library of Alexandria, renowned throughout the classical world. Visiting Egypt, one is struck by the immense destruc­tion that took place in the name of the true faith. On numerous temples, the faces and torsos of the old gods have been chipped away. Precedents for such destruction can be seen in the practice of pharaohs to chip away a hated predecessor's cartouches and demolition of structures ordered by him. But the only time a pharaoh sought to eradicate all evidence of a competing religion was when successors leveled an entire city erected by the “Heretic King” Akhenaton, who tried to convert Egypt to monotheistic sun worship around 1300 BC.
           
On the other hand, churches sprung up on the sites of demolished temples and inside many that were left to stand. The Copts painted pictures of Christ and the Apostles directly over the images of the pharaohs and old gods. Thus, taking off from Mircea Eliade's conception of “sacred” (as opposed to profane) land, the same locations conceived as sacred for generations under the new religions became the sacred sites of the new religion. Instead of coming to worship Ammon at Luxor or Karnak or Khnum at Esna or Isis at Philae, one now came to worship Christ. Considering the widespread identifica­tions of Isis with the Virgin Mary, a sense of continuity was further emphasiz­ed. In the temple at Wadi Sebua in Nubia, Ammon was painted over with the Apostle Paul so that it appears that Rameses II is worshipping him. The Serapeum was replaced by the Angelion, a cathedral built in the sixth century to honor John the Baptist.

As Christians continued to worship the new God on the same holy sites where they had offered sacrifices to the old Gods, traditional folk magic also remained an intrinsic part of household, everyday life. Egyptians continued to consult oracles for advice, though the wisdom was now sought from Christian saints. They still performed traditional healing spells, simply substi­tuting the name of the old God invoked with that of Christ or one of the saints. For example, a Christian mage exorcised sickness from a child using the old formula, substituting Jesus for Isis: “Let every sickness, suffering and pain cease at once. It is, who speak, the Lord Jesus, giver of healing.”