Editor’s note: This month, I’ll be examining various holiday foods cherished by our diverse group of sister cities. Because our Sonoma Aswan committee is currently on hiatus, I went looking for information about holiday celebrations in Aswan and found that Christmas is observed by the Coptic Christian population, which is estimated to comprise about 10 percent of the city’s population. Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th as they adhere to the older Julian calendar, instead of the Gregorian calendar which came into use in 1582.
The following description is an excerpt from an article published in 2023 by The New Arab online magazine. Click here to read the complete article.
“On January 7 every year, the Christmas Mass begins around 8 pm and ends at midnight. Afterwards, worshipers go home and eat special meals containing different types of meat after a long fasting time.
“Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas with food in a way that echoes the two Muslim feasts, Eid Al-Fitr, famous for ‘kahk’ (cookies), and Eid Al-Adha, known for ‘fattah’ with meat. These rituals are believed to date thousands of years ago, before the advent of Islam,” Emad Sabry, a Coptic teacher, told The New Arab.
“43 days prior to Christmas day, devout Copts fast from sunrise to sunrise. When they break their fast, they refrain from eating animal products (meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs, butter, etc.). It’s a holy nativity fast intended to show piety and self-control,” Emad explained.
Note: the photo accompanying this article comes the Happy Egypt tourist travel site. If interested, please click here for more information.
