C
ulture
Ancient Living Traditions
Sham El Nessim – Egypt’s oldest festival Amira Noshokaty Sham El Nessim is perhaps Egypt’s oldest festival and comes to us right off the walls of the temples. Ancient Egypt started to celebrate this feast at the end of the Third Dynasty, or around 2,700 BC,. According to the Egypt State Information Service, it was first called the Festival of Shmos (“Resurrection Feast”) in ancient Egypt. However, in Coptic Egypt it was shortened to Sham and the word Nessim (“breeze”) became somehow affiliated with it. According to the Egyptian Archives for Folk Life and Folk Tradition, this festival is also affiliated with the agronomy of ancient Egypt. It is usually celebrated on the 25th of the Coptic month Bramhat as a sign of the new spring/summer cycle and is a reflection of the Osiris doctrine which postulates life after death. Over the ages, Sham El Nessim became associated with a
whole week of Coptic rituals that are concluded with this feast. The week before Sham El Nessim starts off with Palm Sunday when Egyptians usually make a wheat doll which is a mixture of palm leaves and wheat. They would hang it on their doors as a good omen for a prosperous year to come. On Monday they make porridge while Tuesday is for bloodletting (rarely practiced, but once used to get rid of the bad winter blood). On Ayoub (Job’s) Wednesday they follow the tradition of Prophet Ayoub who is said to have been cured after scrubbing with Juniper. On Thursday they make lentils while Friday is named Sad because it is the day that Jesus was pronounced dead. Saturday is the Saturday of light, when Jesus was resurrected. It is also a day where all Egyptians wear Kohl in their eyes in order to protect and enhance their vision in order to see a better year ahead. Then comes Sham El Nessim on Monday. At the crack of dawn on Monday, Egyptians
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