Egyptian Christians Celebrate
Coptic New Year Nayrouz on September 11 corresponding to the first day of the
Coptic month of "Thout"
On that day, the Coptic Orthodox
community a Christian minorities in Egypt, celebrates the beginning of the the new year according to the Coptic calendar, anno martyrum or AM (Latin for Era of the
Martyrs). The Coptic New Year, Nayrouz, is celebrated on September 11 on the
Gregorian calendar, except for the year preceding a leap year when it’s
celebrated on September 12.
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| Nayrouz in Coptic |
Based on the ancient Egyptian
calendar the Coptic calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and one
intercalary month at the end of the year of 5 days in length, except in leap
years when the month is 6 days.
Inspired by the agriculture
seasons of the Egyptian year, the calendar represents three main seasons; the
flooding of the Nile, vegetation, and reaping and harvesting.
COPTIC MONTH
Tout: the deity of moon and wisdom
Baba: the journey of Amon from the Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple
Hathor: the deity of love and music
Kiahka: the deity of fertility
Toba: the deity of rain
Amshir: the deity of storms
Baramhat: the deity of the harvest
Baramouda: a feast for King Amenmhet I
Bashans: son of the moon god and a member of the Theban Trinity
Paona: the feast of the valley
Epep: the deity of chaos
Mesra: the birth of Ra
Nasie: a five-day month at the end of the year, with each day noting the birth of the five children of Nut: Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephthys.
While Nayrouz is celebrated among
Copts, and despite the calendar being associated to the Coptic year, outside
the walls of church, modern day Egyptian farmers of all faiths and religions
use the calendar as a basis for regulating the cycle of seeding and harvesting
crops.
Foreign to the origins of the
Gregorian calendar, the Coptic calendar’s months are named differently,
starting with Tout and ending with Nasie.
Nayrouz, which is celebrated on
the first day of Tout, commemorates the era of martyrdom that the Copts endured
under the Roman emperor Diocletian circa 280 C.E, hence the naming of the
calendar as Era of the Martyrs.
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| Red dates, symbolic of the martyrs' suffering, are traditionally eaten during Nayrouz in Egypt |
According to the Coptic tradition,
Diocletian is narrated to have been infamous for torturing and executing
thousands of Christians, unsuccessfully forcing them to deny their faith.
Despite the great suffering, the Era of Martyrs is remembered as the Church’s
strongest period due to its ability to withstand and survive the challenges
unchanged.
Tertullian, a second century
Western Church father states that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
church,” which is a saying and concept that has been adopted by churches since
then and until our current day.
The word Nayrouz that we know
today has undergone many modifications. Originally, the word comes from the
Coptic word ni-yarouou (translates to rivers). According to Nabil Farouq’s book
النيروز: أقدم عيد لأقدم أمة (The Nayrouz Feast: Oldest Feast for the Oldest
Nation), the suffix ous was added under the Hellenistic era.
By the time the Arabian culture
had left its mark on the Egyptian society, the word ni-yarouous was thought to
originate from the Persian New Year Nowruz, which translates to “new day”
influencing the change of the suffix to ouz instead of ous. Its alterations and
modifications made it to what is known today - Nayrouz.
Coptic Orthodox Christians, both
in Egypt and abroad, culturally celebrate the New Year by eating red dates. The
dates’ red exterior symbolizes the blood of the martyrs, the white insides
represent the purity of their hearts and the seeds of the dates stand for the
strength of their faith. Some also eat the guava fruit, which has similar
symbolism as red dates.
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| The Martyrs |
Deriving from the Church’s belief
that the martyrs’ strength of faith is its foundation and core, the Coptic Christians
relive the struggle of their ancestors through celebration and commemoration to
remind themselves that these martyrs should not solely belong to the past, but
ought to live on.
Original text by M. Kilada
