Egypt’s rich cultural identity is shaped by its diverse environments, from coastal cities and Delta villages to urban cityscapes, the southern deserts, and the country’s isolated oases. Each area has its own customs, clothing, and crafts, all of which have collectively shaped the memory of Egyptian society over decades.
The Museum of Folklore in Cairo has collected and documented the features of Egyptian folk culture in one place. For nearly 70 years, and continuing to this day, researchers have travelled across Egypt to gather elements of heritage and culture for its collections.
“The Centre for Folk Art Studies was established in 1957 with the aim of collecting folk heritage materials from across Egypt, preserving them, and making them available at the Museum of Folklore to researchers and scholars,” said Mohamed Abou Elela, director of the Centre for Folk Art Studies and the Museum of Folklore.
“In 1958, the centre’s first missions began documenting and photographing folk cultures in different communities. Researchers acquired various items from the residents of these communities, including traditional clothing. Some of the collected items were gifted by local residents to the researchers, while others were purchased from them. The function of each costume and the occasions associated with wearing it, whether weddings, funerals, or other social events, were also documented,” he added.
Egypt’s geographical diversity has created a rich cultural variety among its people, with the environment functioning not merely as a backdrop to life, but also as a key factor shaping the lives of those who lived within it, Abou Elela said. The Sea Folklore Hall at the Museum, for example, reflects the traditional daily lives of people living in Egypt’s coastal cities, along with the diversity of fishing methods that shows the strong reliance on fishing and other environmental resources.
The displays in this hall include models of fishing boats donated by the Damietta governorate, each designed for different conditions depending on water depth and the type of fish being targeted.
“Models of fishermen were commissioned for the display, with precise details recreating their appearance, clothing, and work at sea. The captain has a moderately muscular build, for example, reflecting his control over the ship’s sail and rudder, while the fisherman responsible for the nets and used to long journeys in deeper waters is portrayed with a stronger physique and more prominent muscles. The fisherman who works close to the shore has less muscular mass in line with the lighter nature of his work,” Abou Elela said.
The display is not limited to exhibiting the work of those who have traditionally been engaged in fishing, as it also shows the professions associated with it, he said. It documents the role of fish sellers, often the fishermen’s wives, who after the fishermen returned to shore early in the morning after an exhausting night at sea would sell the catch. The hall includes a model of a woman selling fish, her darkened complexion symbolising the long hours she would have spent under the sun.
“At the end of the hall there is a reed hut, the kind of building that was once common along the coasts, where women used to shelter from the sun while repairing fishing nets,” he added. “There is a machine for making sweets, and there are traditional musical instruments, both items that used to be well known in the coastal cities. There are models of the lamps that some fishermen would use to attract fish so they could catch them.”
Urban life in Cairo and other cities saw the development of traditional occupations. One of the most well-known was the saqqa, the water carrier, who would bring water from the Nile to homes and supply passers-by in the streets. The saqqa began to disappear with the development of a modern water system in the later 19th century, and it disappeared altogether when piped water reached all private homes.
“But traditionally, the saqqa would have carried a leather water container, which had to be clean and not recently tanned so it would not affect the taste of the water. Since he collected water directly from the Nile, he had to ensure it was free from impurities,” Abou Elela said.
“His physical ability was also tested through a strength test in which he had to carry a sack of sand weighing nearly 60 kg while walking with it. The saqqa was approved by the ‘sheikh of the water carriers’, who was responsible for selecting them and assigning them to specific areas.”
Over time, many other traditional professions began to disappear with the arrival of modern infrastructure and technology, including the repairmen who would take care of kerosene stoves before the widespread use of gas cookers. There were also ironing shops where workers would use their feet to move heavy irons for pressing clothes before the introduction of electric irons in homes.
“But while some traditional occupations faded, others have managed to survive, though in limited forms, such as shoe shiners,” Abou Elela said. “There are also liquorice vendors, known for their distinctive clothing and for carrying glass cups to serve the liquorice drink to passersby.”
“These professions are represented in the museum’s Market Hall, which includes models designed to resemble the appearance and clothing of the vendors. It also has vegetable carts and a model of a woman selling Egyptian cottage cheese, a scene that can still be found in some Egyptian markets today,” he said.
COFFEEHOUSES: Among the most traditional features of Egyptian social life is the coffeehouse, reconstructed in a special hall in the museum.
“Some coffeehouses were designated for workers in specific professions. For example, if a coffeehouse was known as the builders’ coffeehouse, construction workers and members of that trade would gather there. Anyone wishing to construct a building would visit the builders’ coffeehouse to make agreements with the workers,” Abou Elela explained.
“The coffeehouses themselves were also quite distinctive. A list of prices was usually hung in one corner, while a radio was also placed prominently in another as a source of news and culture. This attracted customers, since radios at first could only be found in the house of the local mayor and a few wealthy homes,” he said.
In order to attract customers, coffeehouse owners might engage traditional storytellers to perform folk tales that could continue for months. These stories were based on popular epics and featured human emotions such as patience and betrayal, keeping audiences returning daily to follow the rest of the narrative.
Religious belief forms another essential layer of Egyptian popular culture, and it is represented across several halls of the museum. The mahmal procession, which traditionally took the embroidered covering of the Kaaba in Mecca from Cairo, is commemorated in one of them. The covering was manufactured in Cairo by skilled craftsmen and sent annually to Saudi Arabia in a tradition that continued until 1962. The procession was led by a specially designated camel that was used only for this task. It carried the new covering to Mecca and returned with the old one, which was later cut into pieces and distributed as gifts to senior officials.
“The cultural tradition of decorating homes when receiving or seeing off pilgrims for the pilgrimage to Mecca is also presented. Families decorated house facades or interior walls with Quranic verses and drawings of the means of transport used for pilgrimage journeys, as an expression of joy at the pilgrimage,” Abou Elela noted.
“The museum presents practices unique to Muslims, those unique to Christians, and those revered by both communities. A key example is the hall of the Holy Family’s journey in Egypt, which is honoured by both communities. It displays models of the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, and Joseph during their journey from Palestine to Egypt when they fled from the persecution of King Herod in search of a refuge.”
There are also halls that differ in name but share the same underlying meaning, such as the concept of al-wali in Islam and the saint in Christianity. Both refer to figures believed to be especially righteous and to whom vows and prayers may be offered and from whom help is sought.
“An example is the resemblance between Al-Sayed Al-Badawi in the Islamic tradition and Saint Mar Girgis in the Christian tradition, as both are regarded as figures who respond to calls for help and provide assistance, reflecting a shared pattern in Egyptian popular belief,” Abou Elela said.
CELEBRATIONS: “Alongside religious traditions, traditional games also held a deeply rooted place in everyday life across Egypt. Folk games at moulids [religious festivals] and social occasions formed an essential element, varying according to the specific environment,” he said.
In Upper Egypt, for example, the tahteeb, a traditional stick-fighting game, was widely performed. Al-marmah also developed as an equestrian display in which horsemen performed skillful movements during public shows. There were also other games and entertainments across Egypt.
“Children enjoyed a range of traditional entertainments, including shadow puppets, which projected the shadows of wooden or leather figures on a screen in a show that was accompanied by narration. Another example is the sandouq al-donia, a wooden viewing box that allows a storyteller to tell a story through a series of images shown one after another,” Abou Elela said.
“As the storyteller turned each picture, he would narrate the next part of his story, while children would watch through a small circular opening and follow the tale as it unfolded. In the aragoz, a traditional puppet show, the puppeteer would offer humorous social commentary on daily life and public behaviour, and of course there were also children’s outdoor games.”
The museum has documented traditional holidays, social occasions, and seasonal celebrations as part of its collection of Egyptian folklore. Given the central importance of Ramadan in Egyptian religious and cultural memory, an entire hall is dedicated to its traditions.
Customs related to birth and marriage are represented in a dedicated hall. Traditional celebrations of newborn children are called al-sebou, for example, because they take place on the seventh day after birth. The celebrations involve traditional singing and the distribution of grains for protection against envy. Decorated clay jugs are made in two distinct designs for boys and girls.
Wedding preparations are presented in the same hall, including a large wooden chest traditionally used to store the bride’s clothes and jewellery until marriage. Models of Nubian women wearing black lace ceremonial overlays are also displayed. These garments are still worn over clothing during weddings and special occasions as a symbol of celebration.
The museum includes Egypt’s desert and oasis communities. According to Tawfiq Selim, a researcher at the Folk Arts Studies Centre, it has collections that highlight the traditions and ways of life of these communities, including the Bedouin and Amazigh, as well as Nubian communities in the Nile Valley.
Each hall reflects the heritage and customs of a community, along with its products and everyday objects.
“The Bedouin Hall stands out by its display of the traditional Bedouin tent inspired by the tents of the Sinai Bedouins. The tent illustrates how it was divided up inside, with one section designated for receiving men and another separate area for women,” Selim said.
“In their section, women would perform household tasks and do handicrafts such as embroidery and spinning. The display also documents the Bedouin nomadic lifestyle linked to trade and grazing, where tents would be taken down and transported on camels in search of water and for trade purposes.”
There are examples of Bedouin clothing and adornments, often made by women from wool embroidered with beads. From the age of seven, girls would learn embroidery in preparation for making clothes for various life occasions, including eventually their wedding dresses.
“Bedouin clothing is decorated with geometric ornaments and accessories believed to protect against envy,” Selim said. “There are also accessories carrying social meanings, such as the ornaments worn by girls in their hair. These consist of metal chains and rings that clink together as the girl moves while herding livestock, producing a distinctive sound.”
This sound would traditionally have indicated that the girl was unmarried, allowing suitors to propose marriage, he explained.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 May, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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