Egyptians follow Coptic (Orthodox) Church and this celebrate Christmas
on 7th of January. The preceding Advent season is forty-days long and
people abstain from eating meat, poultry or dairy products during this
period. However, people only follow this dictum for the last week of
Advent. On Christmas Eve, Egyptians attend church dressed in a
completely new outfit and the service lasts till midnight. Bells are
rung to mark off the end of the service and people disperse after
receiving special bread called 'qurban' (meaning sacrifice) at the
conclusion of the service. This bread has a Holy Cross in the middle and
12 dots to represent the 12 apostles. Then, they eat a special Christmas
meal in their homes, which is known as 'Fata'.
This meal uses bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat as its main
constituents. In the morning, people visit their friends and neighbors
and exchange 'kaik' (a type of shortbread) that is eaten with a drink
called 'shortbat'. Christmas is celebrated as a public holiday,
especially for the Christians. Since the Holy Family fled to Egypt, the
church is decorated with candles and lamps on Christmas to remind us of
the times when Joseph lit candles to keep the cold away from Mary during
the Nativity. Both Muslims and Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus
with equal enthusiasm and Christmas traditions are influenced by
regional culture throughout Egypt and thus, have a certain diversity to
boast of.
Egyptians follow Coptic Church,
which is an orthodox church and its traditions and customs of
Christmas celebrations.