Sham El Nessim
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Sham el-nessim which means literally sniffing air or breathing air is an Egyptian holiday which can be traced back as far as 2500 B.C.
The word sham clearly derived from hieroglyphic word shamo which means a day of creation thus the festival is apparently a celebration of creation which coincides the first day of spring or pert season. In christian era, the day comes immediately after Easter Sunday preserving its meaning as a day of new creation.
Sham el-nessim is celebrated by both christians and muslims so it is considered a national more than religious festival. The main features of the festival are:
- - people spend all the day in parks and green fields.
- - special food in this day mainly Fiseekh i.e. salted fish which denotes immortal body, Lettuce {well known as indicating fertility), Onions as a good repellent to evil souls, Termis (which also denotes immortality) and coloured eggs.
Many writers describe sham el-nessim festival e.g. Plutarch in his chronicles and Edward James Lane in his journey.
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