He was born in the town of Tama, in the district of Girga in Upper Egypt.

He became a monk in the Monastery of Saint Anthony near the Red Sea.

When his predecessor, Abba Yoannis, the 107th Patriarch departed, the papal seat remained vacant for four months, then this father was chosen as a patriarch and ordained on 2 October 1796 AD (24 Thout 1513 AM) He lived through Three forms of governments in Egypt: first under Ottoman governors of the Ottoman Empire, then the French Invasion of Egypt (1797- 1801 AD), two years after his ordination, then the Ottomans returned again in 1801.

He consecrated the new Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Azbakeya in Cairo that was built by Al-Moallim Ibrahim El-Gohary and moved the Seat of the Coptic Pope to this cathedral in 1800.

Pope Mark VIII of Alexandria departed on 21 December 1809.