Christmas in Egypt
In Egypt, about 15% of the population is Christian, most belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Coptic Christians have some really unique Christmas traditions!
- Christmas Day is celebrated twice! The traditional Christmas celebration on December 25th is celebrated by most of the Egyptian population, but on January 7th Christmas is celebrated again by the Coptic Christians (Orthodox Christians recognize the Julian Calendar – December 25 coincides with January 7 on the Gregorian calendar)
- Christmas
Advent lasts for 43 days (from November 25 through January 6), and they celebrate with a special fast called “Holy Nativity Fast” during this period, eliminating animal products from their diet - Kiahk is the month leading up to Christmas
- On Christmas Eve, Coptic Christians go to church for a special service usually beginning around 10:30pm and lasting after midnight (some last until 4:00am!)
- After Christmas service at church, people go home and gather for a large feast with lots of food they didn’t eat during their month of fast – including meat, butter, eggs.
- Rather than giving traditional gifts, Coptic Christians often give money to younger members of their family
(above picture is of Mass at a Coptic church in Cairo)
Although the majority of Egyptians are not Christians, Christmas is celebrated by many as a secular holiday. You can still see lots of Christmas decorations everywhere, Christmas trees, and traditional Christmastime food and treats.
Santa Claus in Egypt is called Baba Noël (means “Father Christmas”). Children anticipate his coming to their houses and leave out kahk, or Eid cookies, (special sweet biscuits) for him, hoping he will leave gifts by coming through a window.
In Arabic Happy/Merry Christmas is “Eid Milad Majid” (عيد ميلاد مجيد) which means “Glorious Birth Feast”.
This website has a really fun recipe for Kahk (or Eid cookies) – it’s really long, so I didn’t type it out!
(Click the picture to visit it)
http://www.hemaloto.com/Advent/pages/2/2.html
https://egyptianstreets.com/2020/01/12/christmas-a-special-holiday-celebrated-twice-in-egypt/
