Tanta ( ar, طنطا ' , ) is a city in Egypt with the country's fifth largest populated area and 658,798 inhabitants as of 2018. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry. One of the major railway lines goes through Tanta. Annual festivals are held in Tanta for one week beginning on 11 October celebrating the birthday of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

figure of the 13th century, who founded the Badawiyya Tariqa in Egypt and is buried in

Ahmad Al-Badawi Mosque Elsayyed ElBadawi Mosque ( ar, مسجد أحمد البدوي) is the largest mosque in the northern city of Tanta, Egypt. It is a Sunni Sufi mosque and contains the tomb of Ahmad al-Badawi. History The mosque was built by the student and succes ...

, the main mosque of Tanta. Tanta is known for its '' sweet'' shops and roasted chickpeas.

Overview

The older name of the city is Tandata () which comes from its Coptic name. With its large cotton plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network, primarily for the benefit of exporting its cotton to European markets. The area around Tanta was mostly fields but Tanta had grown into a large crowded city. This city is a center of celebration in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people, from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, which is a colorful, religious, eight-day celebration. The moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb of

Sayid Ahmad al-Badawi ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad' ...

, who founded one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders known as Ahmadiyyah or Badawiyya. He was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia, and later was sent to Tanta in AD 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was granted permission to start a new order in Tanta and it soon flourished into one of Egypt's largest Sufi brotherhoods. Tanta is famous for its sweet candy made of gelatin, coconut, sesame, peanuts, and chickpeas. Large quantities are sold during the '' mulid'' ( ar, المولد) festivals when many Egyptians visit the city. The sweets have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s. Tanta has many cotton processing factories and textile industries, and is also a university town with Tanta University since 1972. The people of Tanta are called by Egyptian slang .

Sites

* Montazah garden *Tanta stadium *Tanta sporting club *Tanta teachers club *Tanta University *Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox church, which is over 200 years old *Saint George Cathedral *Saint Peter Catholic basilica *The Museum of Tanta contains items from ancient nearby sites of Sais, Naucratis, and Buto, such as pottery and statues. * El Mahallah is a large industrial town near Tanta, famous for its textiles. File:Tanta-1.jpg, Tanta's city center, Elgeish street. File:Mehata1-Tanta.jpg, Tanta's railway station at night File:Mosque of St. Ahmed El-Badawi.jpg, Mosque of Elsayyed Elbadawi File:كنيسة مارى جرجس بطنطا.jpg, Saint George Cathedral Church File:Tanta Railway Station.jpg, Tanta Railway Station File:TantaFerialPalace.jpg, palace in Tanta which was used as a primary school named flowers school File:TantaPark.jpg, Tanta Montaza park File:متحف أثار طنطا.jpg, Tanta museum File:صورة جامعة طنطا.jpg, Tanta university administration

Climate

As all of Egypt, has a hot desert climate (BWh), according to Köppen-Geiger climate classification system.

Notable people

* Magda al-Sabahi or Magda Sabbahi = Magda (1931-2020) actress * Huda Sultan (1925-2006) singer and actress * Kamal Amin (1923–1979), artist *

Mahmoud Zulfikar Mahmoud Qasdy Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar (18 February 1914 – 22 May 1970) was an Egyptians, Egyptian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He started his career as an architect, before becoming an actor in 1939. He was a major figur ...

(1914-1970), Film director * Khairy Beshara, film director * Abdu al-Hamuli ( ar, عبده الحامولى‎) (1836–1901), singer *

Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary Mahmoud Khalil al-Hussary ( ar, ٱلشِـيـْخ محمُود خَلِيـْل الْحُصـري), also known as ''Al-Hussary'', was an Egyptian Qari widely acclaimed for his accurate recitation of the Qur'an. Al-Hussary committed the entir ...

, (1917–1980) reciter of the Qur'an *

Mohamed Fawzi Mohamed Fawzi may refer to: *Mohamed Fawzi (general) (1915–2000), Egyptian general * Mohamed Fawzi (artist) (1918–1966), Egyptian composer and singer * Mohamed Fawzi (footballer) (born 1990), Emirati football player See also *Mahmoud Fawzi (190 ...

(1918–1966), composer, singer, and actor *

Naima Akef Naima Akef ( ar, نعيمة عاكف,‎ ; 7 October 1929 – 23 April 1966) was a famous Egyptian belly dancer during the Egyptian cinema's golden age and starred in many films of the time. Akef was born in Tanta on the Nile Delta. Her parent ...

(1929–1966), actress and circus player * Doria Shafik (1908–1975), leader of the Women's Liberation Movement in the early 1950s * Ahmed Hijazi (1936–2011), known as "Hegazy", a caricature artist * Nasr Abu Zayd (1943–2010), thinker and liberal theologian * Ahmed Khaled Tawfik (1962–2018), author * Amina Rizk (1910–2003), actress *

El-Sayed Nosseir El-Sayed Mohammed Nosseir ( ar, السيد محمد نصير, August 31, 1905 – November 28, 1974) was an Egyptian weightlifter. Nosseir won the gold medal in the light heavyweight class at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He lifted 3 ...

(1905–1977), Olympic Gold medal winner in weightlifting *

Hilana Sedarous Dr. Hilana Sedarous (1904-1998) was a Coptic Egyptian physician. She was the first woman to become a doctor in Egypt. Education After finishing her primary education, Hilana Sedarous enrolled at "Madraset Al Saneyah" (a girls' boarding school ...

first female Egyptian doctor and first female Egyptian gynaecologist *

Maximos V Hakim Maximos V Hakim ( ar, ماكسيموس الخامس حكيم; May 18, 1908, in Tanta, Egypt – June 29, 2001, Beirut, Lebanon) was elected Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church i ...

, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch *

Nabil Farouk Nabil Farouk Ramadan Bayoumi Ramadan ( ar, نبيل فاروق رمضان بيومي رمضان ) (9 February 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Egyptian novelist. best known for his books in the '' Rewayāt Masreyya Lel Gēb'' (''Egyptian Pocket ...

, novelist

References

External links

Egypt: Handbook for Travellers : Part First, Lower Egypt, with the Fayum and the Peninsula of Sinai by Karl Baedeker (1885)

Families as We are: Conversations from Around the World by Perdita Huston, 2001

The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information
by Hugh Chisholm, 1910
The Coptic Diocese of Tanta
{{Authority control Governorate capitals in Egypt Populated places in Gharbia Governorate Nile Delta Cities in Egypt Religious festivals in Egypt