Atiya was born in Egypt on July 4, 1898, and was a Coptic Christian. He matriculated at the University of Liverpool, where he earned a bachelor's degree with first-class honors in medieval and modern history, and obtained a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of London. He was also Egypt's first Fulbright scholar.^[4]

Atiya published a large study entitled The Crusades in the Later Middle Ages in 1938, and was also the first author of The Coptic Encyclopedia, published in 1991.^[5]

The chapters on the Copts in his book The History of Eastern Christianity (1968, 1980) have become landmarks, not only for specialists but also for the general public.^[2]

It was Atiya who had the words Coptology and Coptologist introduced into the English language.^[6]

He could speak English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Latin, and to a lesser extent, Spanish, Greek, Coptic, Turkish, Welsh, and Dutch.

• Honorary Professor of Medieval (including Oriental) History for Kahle's Orientalisches Seminar in Bonn, Germany 1935–1939
• Professor of Medieval History at Cairo University 1939–1942.
• Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1949–1950) and Chairman of the History Department at Alexandria University 1952–1954.
• Medieval Academy Visiting Professor of Arabic Studies at University of Michigan.
• Positions at the Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University.
• Patten Visiting Professor and Lecturer at Indiana University 1957
• Professor of Arabic and Islamic History at Princeton University (1957–1958).
• Professor of Languages and History at University of Utah 1959.

• Awarded a Doctor of Letters from the University of Liverpool 1938.
• Granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters and honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), Brigham Young University United States 1967.

• The Arabic Manuscripts of Mount Sinai: A Hand-list of the Arabic Manuscripts and Scrolls Microfilmed at the Library of the Monastery of St. Catherine (1955). ASIN B0006AU4NM.
• The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (1991).^[7]
• The Copts and Christian Civilization (1979). ISBN 978-0-87480-145-3.
• Crusade, Commerce and Culture (1962). ISBN ASIN B0000CLOTM.
• The Crusade (1977). ISBN 978-0-8371-8364-0.
• The Crusade: Historiography and Bibliography (1962). ASIN B0000CLOU1.
• The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages (1938).^[8]
• The Crusade of Nicopolis (1934).^[9]
• The Crusade (1962). ISBN 978-0-19-690008-7.^[10]
• Egypt and Aragon: Embassies and Diplomatic Correspondence Between 1300 and 1330 A.D. (1966). ASIN B0007J1LYI.
• A Fourteenth Century Encyclopedist from Alexandria (1977). ASIN B0006XYA4I. About Muḥammad ibn al-Ḳāsim al-Nuwayrī al-Iskandarānī, whose three-volume history of Alexandria Atiya edited and published in six volumes.
• A History of Eastern Christianity (1980). ISBN 978-0-527-03703-1. This is an expanded edition of the first edition published in 1968. ASIN B000IOZ7AG.
• The Monastery of St Catherine and the Mount Sinai Expedition (1952). ASIN B0007EBOK4.
• Atiya published approximately twenty books, many of which are multi-volume projects also journal articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia articles, including authoring or co-authoring dozens in the monumental Coptic Encyclopedia.

• Coptic history
• Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
• List of Copts
• Lists of Egyptians
• Institute of Coptic Studies
• Coptology

• Biography
• Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia, updated and maintained by the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University
• Articles authored/co-authored by Atiya as listed in the Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia
• Books titles by Aziz Suryal Atiya
• Arabic Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper at University of Utah Digital Library, Marriott Library Special Collections
• Aziz Suryal Atiya Papers at University of Utah Digital Library, Marriott Library Special Collections