Is there evidence of Alexandrian culture influencing the first century Christians?: a question explored through Christian connections to the practice of mummification

This thesis research seeks to explore early Christianity in Egypt, particularly first century, by answering the question: Is there evidence of Alexandrian culture influencing the First century Christians? – and whether this may be a marker for early Christians in Egypt. Rather than seeking evidence conventionally via specificity of the term χριστιανοì or other nomina sacra in papyri, made difficult by the lack of first century examples, this thesis therefore takes the approach of looking for evidence of Alexandrian culture in Christian practice or texts. Do the Christians say they encountered and converted people from Alexandria, and is there other evidence of Egypto-Alexandrian culture meeting Christian culture? Due to Graeco-Roman culture being explicable from outside Alexandrian Egypt, this discussion focuses on the specificity of unique residual Egyptian culture persistent in the Alexandrian sphere – such as the process of mummification evident in first century Egypt and early Christian burial methods as a potential marker for both syncretistic practice and early Christian activity in Egypt in the first century.