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!