Sham el nessim
Encyclopedia
Sham ennisim is an Egyptian
national holiday marking the beginning of spring. It always falls on the day after the Eastern Christian
Easter
(following the custom of the largest Christian denomination in the country, the Coptic Orthodox Church). Despite the Christian-related date, the holiday is celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion, and can be traced back as far as 2700 B.C.
, when it was a religious festival celebrated on the vernal equinox by the Ancient Egyptians.
The name of the holiday is derived from the Egyptian
name of the Harvest Season
, known as Shemu, which means a day of creation. According to annals written by Plutarch
during the 1st century AD, the Ancient Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce, and onions to their deities
on this day. The former chairman of the Antiquities Authority, explains that:
After the Christianization of Egypt, the festival became associated with the other Christian spring festival, Easter
. Over time, Shemu morphed into its current form and its current date, and by the time of the Islamic conquest of Egypt, the holiday was settled on Easter Monday
. The Islamic calendar
being lunar
and thus unfixed relative to the solar year, the date of Sham el-Nessim remained on the Christian-linked date even after most Egyptians had become Muslims
. As Egypt became Arabized
, the term Shemu found a rough phono-semantic match
in Sham el-Nessim, or "Smelling/Taking In of the Zephyrs
," which fairly accurately represents the way in which Egyptians celebrate the holiday.
In his book, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, Edward William Lane
wrote in 1834:
The modern Sham ennisim is celebrated by both Christian
s and Muslim
s, so it is considered a national festival, rather than a religious one. The main features of the festival are:
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
national holiday marking the beginning of spring. It always falls on the day after the Eastern Christian
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
(following the custom of the largest Christian denomination in the country, the Coptic Orthodox Church). Despite the Christian-related date, the holiday is celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion, and can be traced back as far as 2700 B.C.
27th century BC
The 27th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2700 BC to 2601 BC.-Events:*2900 BC – 2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period.*2775 BC – 2650 BC: Second Dynasty wars in Egypt....
, when it was a religious festival celebrated on the vernal equinox by the Ancient Egyptians.
The name of the holiday is derived from the Egyptian
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
name of the Harvest Season
Season of the Harvest
Season of the Harvest is the third and final season of the Egyptian calendar. The word Shemu literally translates as "low-water", and falls roughly between early May and early September. During this season, the crops of the grain harvest are collected...
, known as Shemu, which means a day of creation. According to annals written by Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
during the 1st century AD, the Ancient Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce, and onions to their deities
Egyptian mythology
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature...
on this day. The former chairman of the Antiquities Authority, explains that:
The spring festival coincided with the vernal equinox and the ancients imagined that that day represented the beginning of creation. The date of Sham ennesim was not fixed. Rather, it was announced every year on the night before the feast at the foot of the Great Pyramid. The feast of Shemu, means "renewal of life". The Ancient Egyptians first celebrated the feast of Shemu in 2700 BC, towards the end of the 3rd Dynasty.
After the Christianization of Egypt, the festival became associated with the other Christian spring festival, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
. Over time, Shemu morphed into its current form and its current date, and by the time of the Islamic conquest of Egypt, the holiday was settled on Easter Monday
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
. The Islamic calendar
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
being lunar
Lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
and thus unfixed relative to the solar year, the date of Sham el-Nessim remained on the Christian-linked date even after most Egyptians had become Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. As Egypt became Arabized
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
, the term Shemu found a rough phono-semantic match
Phono-semantic matching
Phono-semantic matching is a linguistic term referring to camouflaged borrowing in which a foreign word is matched with a phonetically and semantically similar pre-existent native word/root....
in Sham el-Nessim, or "Smelling/Taking In of the Zephyrs
West wind
A west wind is a wind that blows from the west, in an eastward direction. In Western tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds....
," which fairly accurately represents the way in which Egyptians celebrate the holiday.
In his book, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, Edward William Lane
Edward William Lane
Edward William Lane was a British Orientalist, translator and lexicographer....
wrote in 1834:
A custom termed 'Shemm en-Nessem' (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 northward, 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 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.
The modern Sham ennisim is celebrated by both Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, so it is considered a national festival, rather than a religious one. The main features of the festival are:
- People spend all day out picnicPicnicIn contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
king in any space of green, public gardens, on the NileNileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, or at the zoo. - Traditional food eaten on this day consists mainly of FeseekhFeseekhFesikh is a traditional Egyptian fish dish consisting of fermented salted and dried gray mullet, of the mugil family, a saltwater fish that lives in both the Mediterranean and the Red Seas...
(a salted Grey MulletMullet (fish)The mullets or grey mullets are a family and order of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times...
), lettuce, scallionScallionScallions , are the edible plants of various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.-Etymology:The words...
s or green onions, tirmis or Lupini BeansLupini BeansLupin or Lupini Beans are yellow legume seeds of the lupinus genus plant, most commonly the Lupinus luteus or Yellow Lupin, and were once a common food of the Mediterranean basin and Latin America...
, and colored boiled eggs.
See also
- NowruzNowruzNowrūz is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year....
- Kha b-NisanKha b-NisanKha b' Nisan or Ha b' Nisin, also Ha b' Nison; "First of April", Resha d'Sheta; "Head of the year" in Syriac, also known as Akitu, or Assyrian New Year is the spring festival among the Assyrians, celebrated on 1 April....
- Public holidays in EgyptPublic holidays in EgyptHolidays in Egypt have many classifications. There are a set of public holidays celebrated by the entire population. Since Islam is the state religion, the Islamic holidays are observed by all Egyptians...
- Easter MondayEaster MondayEaster Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
- EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
- EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...