Christmas in Egypt

Presented by:

Isaiah Kutu

Facts About Egypt

• Population: approx. 83,000,000 people. (USA approx. 313,000,000)

• Spoken languages: Bedouin Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Bedawi, Siwi, Egyptian Arabic, Sa’idi Arabic, Domari, Nobiin.

• Main Religions: Islam (10 - 15% Christian)

Coptic Christians

• The Egyptian Christians (called Copts or Coptic Christians) celebrate “Khiahk” on Jan. 7th.

• For the 40 days before “Khiahk” they don’t eat anything that comes from an animal. This is called the “Holy Nativity Fast”.

Coptic Christians

• On Christmas Eve they get an entirely new outfit and go to church for “Mass” from 10 p.m. to midnight.

• During “Mass” they sing songs, praising Jesus Christ, and Christmas Carols. They focus on The Nativity and how The Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) went into Egypt.

• At Midnight they ring the church bells and the priest gives each person bread called “Qurban”.

Weather

• In Egypt the summer temperatures can reach 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Nov. – Jan. it is usually warm or hot and the nights are cool.

• Egypt is usually hot, dry and hardly gets any rain.

Important Characters and Words

• The Egyptians call Santa “Papa Noel.” There aren’t any other special visitors. “Papa Noel” climbs thru the window instead of the chimney. Knowing that Egypt hardly gets any rain or snow, why would any one need a fireplace?

• They say merry Christmas “Eid Milad Majeed”.

Gift Giving Traditions

The Christians give each other short bread cookies called “Kaik” and they eat it with a drink called “Shortbat”.

Decorations

• People light candles and lanterns.

• They decorate with lights, tinsel and put up Christmas trees.

Christmas is becoming a very major holiday, in Egypt, and shops are full of “American” style decorations and artificial or real Christmas trees.

Eid Milad Majeed!