, nickname = , observedby = Egyptians , begins = , ends = , date = The day after

Eastern Christian Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, date2012 = 14 April , date2013 = 6 May , date2014 = 21 April , date2015 = 13 April , date2016 = 2 May , date2017 = 17 April , date2018 = 9 April , date2019 = 29 April , duration = 1 day , frequency = annual , celebrations = * Visiting public places * Going on picnics * Eating

fesikh Fesikh or fseekh ( arz, فسيخ ' ) is a traditional celebratory ancient Egyptian dish. It is eaten by Egyptians during the Sham el-Nessim festival in Egypt, which is a spring celebration from ancient Egyptian times and is a national festival i ...

, salted herring, and

lupin bean Lupin or lupini beans are the yellow legume seeds of the genus ''Lupinus''. They are traditionally eaten as a pickled snack food, primarily in the Mediterranean basin ('' L. albus''), Latin America ('' L. mutabilis'') and North Africa ('' L. ang ...

s * Coloring and eating boiled eggs , observances = , relatedto = Pharaonic time , alt=, litcolor=, significance=, weekday=, month=, scheduling=, firsttime=, startedby= Sham Ennessim ( ar, شم النسيم, ''Sham Al Nassim'' or ''Sham an-Nassim'';

Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...

: ''Sham Ennesim'', ; cop, ϣⲱⲙ ⲛ̀ⲛⲓⲥⲓⲙ, ''Shom Ennisim'') is an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

national festival marking the beginning of spring, as it originates from the ancient Egyptian

Shemu The Season of the Harvest or Low Water was the third and final season of the lunar and civil Egyptian calendars. It fell after the Season of the Emergence (') and before the spiritually dangerous intercalary month ('), after which the New Yea ...

festival.Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). '' Culture and Customs of Egypt''. Greenwood Press. p. 75. ISBN 0-313-31740-2. Sham Ennessim always falls on Easter Monday, which is the day after

, in accordance with the Coptic Orthodox Church. The festival has been nationally celebrated by all the Egyptians since ancient times, as it is considered a national festival in Egypt. Its history goes back to ancient Egyptian times, as it was related to the agricultural background of the ancient Egyptians, originating from

. Sham Ennessim is an official holiday in modern Egypt. The main features of the festival are: * People spend all day out picnicking in any space of green, public gardens, on the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

, or at the zoo. * Traditional food eaten on this day consists mainly of ''

'' (a fermented, salted and dried grey mullet), lettuce,

scallion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus '' Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, c ...

s or green onions, and

s. * Coloring boiled eggs, then eating and gifting them.

History

Ancient Egypt

Sham Ennessim was first celebrated by Egyptians during the

Pharaonic Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

era (ca. 2700 BC) and they kept celebrating it during the

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

times, the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times, medieval times, and up to the present day. According to annals written by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

during the 1st century AD, the ancient Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce, and onions to their deities during the spring festival known as

. Shemu ( Ancient Egyptian: šmw) provides the etymology of the Coptic name "ϣⲱⲙ (ⲛ̀ⲛⲓⲥⲓⲙ) Shom (Ennisim)", and through the phono-semantic reanalysis of "En-ni-sim" as the

form of the assimilated definite article "En-" and "nesim", "Shom Ennisim" became "Sham Ennesim".

Preservance of the festival after Christianization of Egypt

After the Christianization of Egypt, the festival became associated with the other Christian spring festival,

. Over time, ''Shemu'' morphed into its current form and its current date. The date of Easter, and therefore of Easter Monday, is determined according to the

manner of calculation as used by the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian denomination in the country.

Arab Conquest of Egypt

As Egypt became

Arabized Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...

, the term ''Shemu/Shom Ennisim'' found a rough phono-semantic match in ''Sham Ennesim'', or "Smelling/Taking In the Zephyrs,"Lane, Edward William (1834). ''An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians''. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. p. 489. which fairly accurately represents the way in which the festival is celebrated. The

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 ...

being

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

and thus unfixed relative to the solar year, the date of Sham Ennessim remained on the Christian-linked date. However, the Muslim Egyptians, and probably the Egyptians in general, historically calculated its date independently from Easter, they calculated it to be on the first day of the

Khamaseen Khamsin, chamsin or hamsin ( ar, خمسين , meaning "fifty"), more commonly known in Egypt as khamaseen ( arz, خماسين , ), is a dry, hot, sandy local wind affecting Egypt and the Levant; similar winds, blowing in other parts of North ...

, which at the time happened to coincide with the day immediately following Easter. The Christian Egyptians have doubtless played a role in preserving the festival through their cultural agency, which was quite limited after the conversion to Islam in Egypt, but that cannot be taken to be the reason why the Muslim Egyptians collectively celebrate the festival with its exact same ancient Egyptian celebratory traditions, besides if the festival was perceived by the Muslim Egyptians to be of Christian origins or celebrated only by Christians they would have stopped celebrating it. For the festival to be collectively celebrated by the Muslim Egyptians it must have been retained by them amongst themselves after conversion, this is evident from the festival's documented history (see below), and from the fact that they perform the exact same ancient Egyptian celebratory traditions, as well as being evident from the fact that the festival is celebrated by Muslim Egyptians in rural areas as a tradition within families, without reference to a specific religion, and is evident from practices such as the traditional

dish whose preparation is passed down within Muslim families as an occupation. The Egyptians evidently continued to celebrate this non-Abrahamic festival after the conversion to Islam just as they did after the conversion to Christianity. Its declaration by the Egyptian state as an official holiday was due precisely to the fact that it is a national festival celebrated by all Egyptians regardless of their religious beliefs. Besides, Sham Ennessim is not the only ancient Egyptian celebration that has survived among the Muslim Egyptians as well as among the Christian Egyptians. In his book, published in 1834, E. W. Lane reports: "''A custom termed 'Shemm en-Neseem' ic.(or the Smelling of the Zephyr) is observed on the first day of the Khamaseen. Early in the morning of this day, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it; and in the course of the forenoon, many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northwards, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which, on that day, they believe to have a wonderfully beneficial effect. The greater number dine in the country, or on the river. This year (1834), they were treated with a violent hot wind, accompanied by clouds of dust, instead of the neseem; but considerable numbers, notwithstanding, went out to 'smell' it.''" E. W. Lane's report of the festival indicates that even in the early 1800s the festival was non-Abrahamic in nature, and in particular non-Christian in nature; as well as indicating that the celebration was not initiated in modernity at all, regardless of when it was declared by the Egyptian state as an official holiday; and, as mentioned above, it reports that historically the date of the festival was calculated by the Muslim Egyptians, and probably by the Egyptians in general, independently from Easter, they calculated it to be on the first day of the

, which at the time happened to coincide with the day immediately following Easter. In his book, E. W. Lane also reports: "''they

he Muslims of Egypt He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

calculate the period of the 'Khamaseen,' when hot southerly winds are of frequent occurrence, to commence on the day immediately following the Coptic festival of Easter Sunday.''" On the pages 540–541 of the same book, E. W. Lane also lists the Christian religious festivals that the Coptic Christian celebrated following each fast, and Sham Ennesim is not at all one of them, whereas Easter is;Lane, Edward William (1834). ''An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians''. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. p. 540–541. Sham Ennesim is only reported as a festival celebrated by the Egyptians with no reference to any religion, as illustrated above, and as being observed specifically on the first day of the

; it is important to note that the first day of the Khamaseen is not always synchronized with the day immediately following Easter, which makes Lane's report of the festival as being observed specifically on the first day of the Khamaseen quite significant.

Modern Egypt

As of today, Egyptians still celebrate Sham Ennessim on Easter Monday. As illustrated above, even though the festival falls on Easter Monday, which is the case for historical reasons, the festival is not related to

Abrahamic religions The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition ...

. It does not have more meaning for the Christian Egyptians than it does for the Muslim Egyptians, or for any other Egyptian outside those two faiths.

References