Ramadan Lanterns
October 7th, 2007 by lmenger
When we first arrived in Cairo, we had noticed many beautiful lanterns displayed in business and residential areas. At first we just thought they were a common decoration, but they looked so festive; we finally asked what they were. Turns out, they are Ramadan lamps or the traditional Ramadan fanoos. Just like we have Christmas trees at Christmas time, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, out come the Ramadan lanterns. Often the fanoos have paper streamers attached to them. Can you imagine putting paper decorations out in the Florida humidity? They would curl up and look terrible after the first afternoon shower. In Egypt, paper decorations can be used and stay nice looking for a long time, due to the dryness of the area because it hardly ever rains.
The lanterns come in various sizes and have differing decorations, all having the same basic shape though. The history of the lanterns date back to the year 969 A.D. For us that seems a long time ago, but for a country where life has spanned over 6000 years, many traditions date back hundreds of years.
On the fifth day of Ramadan, in 969 A.D. the Fatimid Caliph Moezz el-din El-Allah, one of their caliphs was coming to Cairo. His arrival was expected to be at dusk. To welcome him, numerous residents turned out with lanterns aglow. A new tradition was born.
2 Responses to “Ramadan Lanterns”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Isn’t it fun to learn the background behind different traditions? These lanterns are so colorful and detailed. Are they actually lit at night? Or is it more of a symbolic tradition?
We saw ones that were lit up at night and some that were purely decorative, so I guess both.