Why do people in Egypt now believe in Allah instead of their Egyptian Gods?
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Because they were converted either by force or willing in the early conquests of Islam.
The same is true for most big religions and their followers.
The Arabs conquered Egypt between 639-642 AD. However, before that there were Christian and Jewish Egyptians. Most were converted during the conquest, however some Coptic Christians and Jews did not.
However, there may be fringe Cults that worship the Egyptian gods just like there are cults that worship the Greek pantheon post Christinization of Greece.
It is fair to assume with the rise of Paganism there is “new” cults surrounding the Egyptian gods, but they are underground due to fear of persecution.
There was a big Muslim conquest of North Africa, and it began in Egypt in the year 640. It didn’t take long before it was under Islam. Worth noting at that time, Egypt was under Byzantine Christian control anyways, and the ancient Egyptian religion had already fallen to the wayside. So, the people in that region slowly became Christianized with the rise and spread of Christianity, and then eventually Islamized around 640, and they remain so today.
The short answer is massive waves of Arabic immigration and conquest displacing them, but as others have noted they were merely the most recent one in a long line. Most modern day Egyptians aren’t directly descended from the classical Egyptians of the Pharoahs, and their culture has been displaced several times.
Egypt was conquered by Muslims in the early, rapid spread of Islam. It was conquered by the Muslim Rashidun Caliphate (the first caliphate after the death of Mohamed) in 642 A.D. When the Caliphate conquered Egypt, they brought their new religion with them, although it took several centuries to really cement itself.
Even prior to this though, the unified ancient Egyptian religion was significantly declining in influence for several reasons. First was the decline of Egypt as a centralized power politically and the decline of the Egyptian culture and civilization. By roughly 600 B.C., Egypt had already been on the decline, due largely to a number of invasions and occupations from neighboring empires such as Persia, and Assyria, which placed Egypt under the rule of foreign leaders who were not Egyptian and had no connection to the culture or religion. This left Egypt without a centralized authority to promote and guide the religion.
In 332 BC, Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, a Macedonian Greek. This led to nearly 300 years of Egypt ruled by Macedonian Greeks, and their religion and culture in some ways merged with the local Egyptian religion and culture, creating a blend. Then in 30 BC, Egypt was conquered by Rome, and became a province of the Roman Empire, adding further foreign influence from the Roman religion.
Not long after that, Egypt became an early center of Christianity, which took root and flourished there in the first centuries, before Rome officially accepted Christianity in 313 AD. Christianity continued to be widespread there until it was conquered by the Rashudin Caliphate in 642 A.D. Although again, it took a long time for Islam to really spread and take hold.
And across the centuries while all of this was going on, the ancient Egyptian religion was just sort of neglected and stagnant and slowly disappeared as political and cultural change and upheaval brought new beliefs.
It’s important to note that Christianity is still a major religion in Egypt. Roughly 10% of Egyptians are Coptic Christians, so while the large majority are Sunni Muslims, not all are.
So anyway, that’s how it happened. Many centuries of decline, invasions, and being overtaken by other religions.
The ancient Egyptian pantheon pretty much died out a long time ago. It started to get replaced by Greek gods after Ptolemaic dynasty (named after one of Alexander the Great’s generals) controlled it, and later by Roman gods.
After Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire, Christianity actually became one of the primary religions in the country. However, from 639 and 642 AD, it was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate which was a Muslim empire. There were some periods of relative religious tolerance, but other periods of extreme persecution towards Egyptian Christians and Jews. Eventually, Islam was the dominant religion there.
An interesting aside. If you observe ancient religious sites you can still see observances being conducted. Officially they are Muslim but unofficially the old ways still exist in a suppressed manner.
The story goes that as Islam followers conquered regions, religious freedom was maintained. However a tax was levied on those who were not Muslims and many found it to be efficacious to just convert. Also it was easier then to get deals done because you were in the ruling social circle.
Religions are largely about social cohesion and clublike behaviours. If you are part of the club you will get preferential treatment. When the leadership of the country is muslim it pays for you to join their club.
Same reasons the Italians don’t pray to Roman gods or the Greeks to the pantheon of Mt Olympus
Same reason Western Europeans now follow a middle eastern religion instead of their original religion. Culture changes and develops through trade and conquest
They were invaded and colonized by Arab armies conquering in the name of Islam. It happened to all of North Africa.
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