3 Weirdest Egyptian Traditions You won’t Believe Existing

Egypt is an amazing country, rich in culture and tradition. In this article, I talk about 3 of the weirdest Egyptian traditions and customs that will blow your mind. Do not forget to check my blog for other interesting aspects of Egypt and the Arabic language.

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The Impossible Invitation

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The impossible invitation, or what Egyptian call in Arabic ‘3ozomet el-marakbeyya’ (Sailor’s invitation) is a strange yet very funny custom in Egypt.

Imagine you are a sailor and you are shipping through a river and you are near the river bank. Suddenly, you found your friend standing on the shore and waving at you. You wave at him. You then shout: ‘come in – have some tea with me’

Although you invited him to have some tea with you, you didn’t approach the shore to let him in. Instead, you are on your way through the river. What you did is just verbally invite him/her without any real intention to do so – it is an ‘impossible’ invitation

Well, this is what Egyptians call: ‘Sailors impossible invitation’ – It is a fun trick that many Egyptians use – But it is mostly for fun and never for real – Egyptians are kind and generous people by nature.

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Baby’s seventh-day Celebration (El-Soboo3)

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This tradition is very interesting in Egypt and is considered one of the weirdest but sweetest Egyptian traditions. As kids and even until today, almost ALL Egyptian celebrate what Egyptians call ‘el-soboo3’ or the seventh day of birth. Why exactly seven – I have no idea.

In this sweet celebration, all families gather and celebrate the coming of the newborn. Traditionally, the parents put the newborn in a sieve and shake him. At the same time, they keep telling the baby to obey certain members of the family and disobey others.

Sometimes, parents also use a metal bowl (used for mincing the meat) and keep hammering it while the baby is being shaken in the sieve.

This tradition is not as vivid today as it used to be in the past. However, it still exists and is considered one of the most important aspects of the Egyptian tradition – Ask any Egyptian about it and he/she will tell you A LOT.

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Sham-el-Neseem and El-Feseeskh

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If you ever visited Egypt during the spring, you most probably heard of ‘Sham-el-Neseem’ (literally in English: smelling of the breeze). This is a very important celebration that dates back to ancient Egypt. The celebration occurs on the day after the Eastern Christian Easter (by the Coptic Orthodox Church).

In this celebration, many Egyptians spend all day in gardens and on the banks of the Nile River. The traditional food Egyptians eat during this day is a very salted type of fish (mullet), which Egyptians call ‘El-Feseekh’.

Egyptians usually eat this food with green onions. and also colored Eggs. Egyptians preserve this fish by over-salting it.

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These were 3 of the weirdest Egyptian Traditions ever. Hope you liked this article and find it interesting.

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If you visited Egypt before, maybe you know any other weird traditions – Share with me in the comments below. Meanwhile, know more about this topic on my YouTube channel. In my related episode, I talk about these three weird traditions plus the other two traditions.

If you haven’t already done, I recommend that you enroll in my ‘Egyptian Arabic 101’ basic course. This course is 100% free and is tailored to give you a good background in spoken Egyptian.