National Holidays
Every country has its own special holidays, where its citizens celebrate or remember specific events that happened in their country, or events their country was involved in. The National holidays of Egypt are shown below:
Egypt is a multicultural (Sterquist, 2007) country that carries many cultures, and beliefs. The most common religions/cultures in Egypt, are the Coptic and Muslim religions. National public holidays are celebrated by the entire population, throughout Egypt. There are four Islamic holidays, and two Christian holidays. Some holidays are religious, and some are secular. Some are fixed like Christmas for example, and some are movable like Ramadan. The National day of Egypt is on July 23, which coincides with the annual celebration of The Egyptian revolution of 1952, when the Kingdom of Egypt fell, and Modern Egypt rose.
Coptic Christmas Day
Date: January 6-7, 2022
Day of the week: Friday
While the vast majority of the world celebrates Christmas on December 25th, Egypt celebrates Coptic Christmas Day on January 7th, as it is recognized, as the day Jesus Christ was born. This is because Coptic Christians, follows the Coptic calendar, which is ancient Egypt’s solar calendar (Trip, 2022). Coptic Christmas, like Christmas around the world, is a fixed, religious holiday.
When celebrating Christmas, Egyptians get really festive. They indulge in conspicuous consumption (Sterquist, 2007) for their homes, and families. Towns are decorated with bright lights and Christmas themed decorations. On Christmas Eve, they attend evening mass, then return to their homes, to feast on Egyptian traditional foods like “Fattah” and roast turkey. On Christmas Day, families and close friends exchange gifts, and for the rest of the day, loved ones spend time together, drinking tea, eating Khak, chocolates, and other sweets (Birtles, 2020).
Coptic Easter Day
Date: April 24, 2022
Day of the week: Sunday
Coptic Easter Day started on the 24th of April, but Coptic Egyptians celebrate a day prior. Like Coptic Christmas, Easter is also a major religious holiday. Easter unlike Christmas is a movable holiday, meaning the days fluctuate. Easter may be the 24th in 2022, but next year the holiday may be on another day.
Before Easter, Coptic Egyptians will fast for forty days. Copts and their loved ones will sing hymns, and read psalms from the Coptic Bible, the day prior. On Easter Day, they will end their forty day fast, and have lavish banquets. Copts will feast on fattah, as well as meat and fish (Trip, 2022).
El Hijira
Date: July 30-31, 2022
Day of the week: Thursday
El Hijira (Awal Muharram, Islamic New Year) marks the first day of Muharram, which is in the lunar Islam calendar. It’s a movable, non-major religious holiday. It’s more of a cultural holiday for Muslim people. It’s a nice affair, where Islamic Egyptians sing and dance throughout the country. Like other Egyptian holidays, people practice gratitude, spend time with loved ones, while exchanging cards and gifts, and reflect on Muhammad’s journey (Martins, 2022).
Cultural Behavior
Egyptians are very polite and respectful people, who value proper etiquette, gift giving and modesty. Egyptians take religion very seriously and disrespect to someone’s faith whether Christianity or Islam, is not tolerated. Disrespecting someone’s cooking, lack of giving material possessions, and dressing immodest, are also intolerable. Fortunately Egyptians are very relaxed, and strict punctuality isn’t commonly practiced, but should still be respected.
Basic etiquette in Egypt starts with how a citizen, or a visitor greets another. Greetings always occur before any social interactions. Example, a person joining a group should greet everyone within that group. When offered a compliment, it is important for the receiver of the comment, to offer one back.
Dressing modestly is highly valued in Egypt (Fenech, 2017). Presentation matters, meaning gaudy or outfits too revealing, shows disrespect to oneself and others around. Egyptian women, and foreign women, are expected to dress conservative, with little skin exposed. Being a Muslim and a Coptic country, some women choose to cover their hair, due to their religion, environment, or for fashion (Luscombe, 2017). Places such as El Suit (The Market), mosques, and churches are some places where people decide on suitable and unsuitable clothing. In tourist spots, upper class areas, and suburban areas, women are allowed to dress a bit more freely, without constant attention. In the United States, women can dress in crop tops, shorts, mini dresses, because people have the freedom to do whatever they want, and not feel out of place.
Besides clothing, family values are another major cultural difference between the US and Egypt. In the states family is not valued, the way Egyptians value family. Example, marriage. In the US, families have their own lane, and don’t have a say in much. Some families do, but many don’t. In Egypt, the entire family is involved in the marriage and knows everything. Unlike American families, the spouse’s families are entitled to know everything about their son/daughter (in-law), without concern of their feelings. In Egypt if one wants to divorce, approval has to come from both families, and if one goes against what the family says, it brings shame and dishonor among the individual(s) (Scroope, 2017).
If invited to an Egyptian’s home, gift giving should be taken into consideration, as the offering shows gratitude. Gifts should be given or received with two hands, or the right hand (Scroope, 2017). Do not open a gift, once it’s been received. Avoid flowers, as they are appropriate for weddings and funerals. Gift giving to the host’s children is also a great welcoming gesture. Quality chocolates, and sweets are a great gift to provide, unless the guardian says no.
When visiting Egypt for an event for example, the visitor, whether citizen or a foreigner, should wait for the host(ess) to indicate a reserved seat (Fenech, 2017). Egyptians cook lavish dinners when awaiting guests, so a visitor should always wait for the host to serve them. When served food, compliment the food, don’t question it. Questioning the serving shows skepticism, and lack of trust. Speaking of compliments, always leave a small amount of food on the plate after eating. Leaving little food on the plate “serves as a compliment to the host for providing so well” (Scroope, 2017). Alcohol is normally not offered, nor consumed with foods. If an Egyptian does not consume alcohol, do not offer to them. Don’t offer, nor eat pork, in a Muslim home. Avoid eating food with the left hand, as it is reserved for personal hygiene (Fenech, 2017) .
