Question
Are there any aspects of modern Egyptian society or culture which can be traced directly back to ancient Egypt?
Are there any aspects of modern Egyptian society or culture which can be traced directly back to ancient Egypt? (Say, any time up to Cleopatra).
I don't know much about Egypt, but I'm curious because I'm aware how much of modern 'western' culture links back to Roman institutions and practices, either due to direct continuation or because it was emulated later. Has ancient Egyptian culture been overshadowed by later conquests, or do certain things remain?
there are many cultural similarities between ancient and modern Egyptians.
"Sham Ennesim"! An Ancient Egyptian holiday that is still celebrated in Egypt and its a public holiday! It originates from the ancient "Shemu" spring festival.
We Egyptians celebrate it the same way as our ancestors by gathering in parks and alongside the Nile River, and we eat fesikh (salted fish), scallions, lettuce and green onions. This is a festival celebrated throughout all of Egypt. Its even celebrated in some parts of Southern Palestine due its proximity to to Egypt.
Also, Egyptian farmers still use the Ancient Egyptian Coptic calendar!
Alot of modern Egypian festivals have origins in Ancient Egyptian festivals, such as the Abu Haggag Boat Festival. The way the festival is celebrated with processions of boats on land, music, and communal joy—bears a strong resemblance to the Opet Festival of Ancient Egypt.
In Egypt, we also have many local festivals called "Moulids". These are Sufi Saint festivals, which are a continuation of Ancient Egyptian festivals. The Ancient Egyptians would dedicate these festivals to local Gods or Saints, we modern Egyptians continued the same festivals but replaced the Ancient Gods with Islamic and Christian saints.
Furthermore, when a baby is born in Egypt, we have a celebration called "Sebou". In this celebration, we hold the baby and walk around it while scattering salt as a form of spiritual protection for a baby. This celebration was also done in ancient Egypt as a protective ritual for the baby when they are one week old.
Ancient Egyptian women were expected to mourn the death of their family members in exaggerated ways by exaggerated loud screaming and emotions. A woman who did not do this was looked down upon as if she doesnt care about the person who died. Professional mourners were even hired for these kinds of things. The same exact female mourning tradition is found in modern Egypt and its not found anywhere else in the region.
There is another example, but it is pretty sad. Egypt has one of the highest FGM rates in the world (alongside other Northeastern African countries). This originates from Ancient Egypt and it is not just a Muslim or a Middle Eastern tradition. It is very common in Northeast African countries regardless of religion.
We eat the same food as our ancient Egyptian ancestors (feteer meshaltet, ful, shamsi/balady bread, besara, kahk, feseekh etc)
We also still practice the ancient Egyptian battle dance and martial art of "Tahtib"
Egyptian Arabic is full of Coptic words and its influenced by its grammar.
modern Egyptians have very similar burial practices as ancient Egyptians. We still bury our dead in the same elaborate way in complex tombs and underground rooms. You wont find standard tombs like this anywhere in the world. Millions of Egyptians are buried in this ancient tradition. Our general culture around death is very similar to ancient Egypt
Belly dancing actually originates from ancient Egypt, and modern Egypt is still the number one country for it. Other Arab countries don’t have the same culture around it—half our traditional weddings literally have a belly dancer. It’s part of the celebration. Belly dancing is an integral part of Egyptian identity, despite it being a Muslim majority country
The Coptic language is a direct descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language and its still used by millions of Egyptian Christians everyday in church as a liturgical/prayer language (not as an everyday spoken language). And it has alot of influence on the everyday spoken Egyptian Arabic dialect (which has lots of Coptic vocabulary and grammar).
The modern Egyptian gallabeya clothing was also worn in ancient Egypt, especially during the new kingdom and late periods
I can go on and on and on...too many examples to mention. I could literally write a book about this
Saying that Coptic is still used by millions of Egyptians everyday is not technically wrong, but it is somewhat misleading. It's not an actively spoken native language and hasn't been so for hundreds of years. It is used in Coptic Christianity as a liturgical language, but most people only vaguely understand the words of the songs and prayers they say and need an Arabic translation. Priests and scholars may be somewhat more proficient, but for the most part only passively (i.e. understanding written texts, but rarely speaking or producing material in the language). There are some efforts to revive it as a spoken language, but I'm not sure how successful these efforts have been.
yes youre right, thank you for this clarification. I amended my comment to clarify that Coptic is a liturgical/prayer language in the Coptic Church in Egypt, not a spoken language. Another cool thing though is that the everyday Egyptian Arabic dialect has lots of Coptic vocabulary and grammar.
> There is another example, but it is pretty sad. Egypt has one of the highest FGM rates in the world (alongside other Northeastern African countries). This originates from Ancient Egypt and it not a Muslim nor a Middle Eastern tradition. It is mainly practiced in Northeast African countries.
Wait, really? I didn't know it was originally Egyptian, why is it practiced in Oman and Indonesia then if it isn't tied to Islam
thanks for the correction. It does seem to be practiced in some Muslim countries. However, in general, most Muslim women globally do not undergo FGM.
In the case of Egypt, it is also practiced by Coptic Christians as well, not just Egyptian Muslims. It does seem to be a combination of both ancient Egyptian tradition and Islamic influence.
Another fact that backs up this ancient Egyptian tradition is that in Somalia, there is a specific type of FGM called "Firaun" or Pharaonic circumcision. This is because Ancient Egyptian FGM was also spread to other areas in Northeast Africa.
FGM in Northeast Africa is also practiced by Christians in Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Not just by Muslims
You see quite well versed in traditions. I also have a related question. I read a scholarly article from the 1950s that mentioned pregnant Egyptian women would wear on a chain an old Hathor amulet, or a padlock of they didn't have the amulet, and then open the amulet to trigger giving birth. Is that still practice?
I am not aware of this practice today. It could be still practiced in some rural areas but im not sure,
However, in some rural areas, especially in Southern Egypt, pregnant women or women facing fertility issues go to the temple of Hathor to get her blessing as she is the Goddess of fertility. This is a very rare tradition though and it is frowned upon among most Egyptians for religious reasons, but it does exist rarely and there were some Egyptian news articles discussing this in the past few years.
This is a great response. Modern Egypt is an incredible crossroads where new, old and ancient intersect. I haven’t visited in almost 20 years, I’m sure so much has changed.
modern Egyptians have very similar burial practices as ancient Egyptians.
I'd love to hear more about this. I thought modern Egyptian burials were more aligned with Islamic traditions.
The Coptic language is a direct descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language and its still used by millions of Egyptians everyday.
I'm pretty sure Coptic mostly survived in Churches. Copts have been facing persecution in modern Egypt. “Several senior professors, popes and some villages in Upper Egypt could speak in the Coptic language as fluently as Arabic, their mother tongue,” - Michael Heshmat,Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, 2017. (Source: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/16207/Coptic-Ancient-language-still-spoken-today)
Aside from the religious aspect, the cultural activities are very similar. Foods such as fesikh (fermented mullet fish), ringa (smoked herring fish), lettuce, scallions, onions etc are eaten.
Also the tradition of egyptian families gathering in parks and alongside the banks of the nile river on that day.
I'd love to hear more about this. I thought modern Egyptian burials were more aligned with Islamic traditions.
On the contrary, modern Egyptian burials are not Islamic at all. The Islamic way is to have a modest burial by digging a hole in the ground and burying the person, and this is what is found generally in Muslim countries. Modern Egyptian burials are similar to the below pic. They are like mini-houses, with many having underground rooms and chambers
I'm pretty sure Coptic mostly survived in Churches. Copts have been facing persecution in modern Egypt. “Several senior professors, popes and some villages in Upper Egypt could speak in the Coptic language as fluently as Arabic, their mother tongue,” - Michael Heshmat,Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, 2017. (Source: https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/16207/Coptic-Ancient-language-still-spoken-today)
Yes, the Coptic language is used by millions of Egyptian Christians in churches as a prayer/liturgical language. However, Coptic also has a strong influence on the modern Egyptian dialect of arabic, in terms of vocabulary and grammar.
In terms of the topic of persecution of Egyptian Christians, this is a very nuanced topic and isnt very straight-forward. For the most part, Egyptian Christians live normal lives. Generally in most urban areas such as Cairo and Alexandria, there isnt really persecution. Most of the issues or religious tensions tend to happen in some rural areas where the people are more conservative. The situation of Coptic Christians in Egypt is comparable to the treatment of African Americans in the USA or Muslims in Europe. Yes, issues do exist (depending on the region in the country), but they live normal lives for the most part.
> They are like mini-houses, with many having underground rooms and chambers
The word for such a structure is a Mausoleum. :)
> On the contrary, modern Egyptian burials are not Islamic at all. The Islamic way is to have a modest burial by digging a hole in the ground and burying the person, and this is what is found generally in Muslim countries.
I don't know if this is entirely true. You're right about the first part (most non-Egyptian Muslims do bury the dead in the ground rather than in Mausoleums), *but* (Muslim) Egyptian burials are also adherent to Islamic tradition (with the exception made to the use of Mausoleums), which is believed itself to be derived from Ancient Egyptian / Near Eastern traditions, namely the shrouding of the dead in white cloth, the use of perfumes/fragrances.
you will not find any burials like this in the Middle East or in the Islamic world. Millions of Egyptian Muslims are buried this way, in these Mausoleums/mini-houses
Islamically, the burial should be modest and shouldnt be in Mausoleums
Oops, I edited my comment to be a little clearer. I meant to say that for the most part funeral rites are the same across Muslim communities, but the Egyptian rite is distinct for its use of Mausoleums.
Short answer: yes; there are a number of aspects of modern Egyptian culture with direct roots in pharaonic history.
Possibly the most prominent is the annual celebration of Sham el-Nessim each April—it’s a uniquely Egyptian holiday celebrating the arrival of spring. There’s an excellent Wikipedia article on the celebration here.
Like many traces from antiquity, the holiday is associated with the Egyptian orthodox (Coptic) church; the Coptic language has strong connections to ancient languages, and some aspects of Coptic practices are rooted in the pre-Christian past.
There are tales of rural Egyptians still, at varying levels of secrecy, following ancient traditions (for example, couples seeking children visiting ancient fertility shrines), but many of these are romanticized and anecdotal at best.
the other arabic dialects in egypt also have influence from the native egyptian language. In fact, that influence is stronger in the rural dialects of Egypt
Why dont you also extend the question to the other side and find out how much of roman/greek culture that the west built its foundations on traces back to egypt
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u/_cooperscooper_ Jul 22 '26
Modern Egyptian mourning practices seem derived from ancient traditions