Sham El Nessim

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Sham el-Nessim (Arabic: شم النسيم‎, literally "sniffing air" or "breathing air") is an Egyptian holiday which can be traced back as far as 2700 B.C. It is a public holiday occurring annually on Monday, the day after the Coptic Easter Sunday.

According to the Egyptian State Information Service, the name of the holiday is actually derived from the ancient Egyptian harvest season that was called "Shamo", which means a day of creation also explaining that, according to Plutarch's annals, the ancient Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce and onions to their deities on this day. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Bakr, former chairman of the Antiquities Authority, explains that:

The spring festival coincided with the vernal equinox, and the ancients imagined that that day represented the beginning of creation. The date of Sham El Nessim was not fixed. Rather, it was announced every year on the night before the feast at the foot of the Great Pyramid. The feast of 'Shamo,' means 'renewal of life' which was later corrupted during the Coptic age to 'shamm' (smelling or breathing) and the word 'nessim' (breeze) was added. The ancient Egyptians first celebrated the feast of Shamo in 2700 BC, towards the end of the 3rd Dynasty.

In his book, "Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians", Edward William Lane wrote in 1834:

A custom termed 'Shemm en-Nessem' (or the Smelling of the Zephyr) is observed on the first day of the Khamaseen. Early in the morning of this day, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it; and in the course of the forenoon many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northward, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which on that day they believe to have a wonderfully beneficial effect. The greater number dine in the country or on the river. This year they were treated with a violent hot wind, accompanied by clouds of dust, instead of the neseem; but considerable numbers, notwithstanding, went out to 'smell' it.

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 day out picnicking in any space of green, public gardens, on the Nile and at the zoo.
Traditional food eaten on this day consits mainly of Fiseekh, a putrid salted Grey Mullet, lettuce, scallion or green onions, tirmis or Lupini Beans and boiled coloured eggs.