Luxor4u

Egypt 100 years ago: The Ceremony of the Holy Carpet (Mahmal)A collection of postcards by Egyptologist George Darresy constitutes a time capsule of Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century
Fathi Saleh , Sunday 10 Jul 2016

You will need to click this link to see the old photographs:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent ... pet-M.aspx

Love looking at these old photographs Thanks for posting Hepzi.

I thought you might appreciate them Horus.

I assume that the tradition no longer exists, which is really a great pity as these small things all form a part of what we are, a bit like the Christmas tree given to the UK each year by Norway.

I don't think it still happens but, having done a quick search, there seem to be a number of links relating to it.

This one shows a soundless film clip from British Pathe. 'Holy Carpet Leaves Egypt For Mecca 1946'
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/holy- ... 20(Mahmal)

The photograph on this link shows 'The Return of the Holy Carpet from Mecca 1911'. I am assuming that as each new carpet was given annually the old one was taken back to Egypt.

https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/ ... sAllowed=y

I once met a carpet weaver in the tent making part of the Khan el-Khalili a few years back,
and he said that they still make the mahamal for Mecca..

That's interesting Who2. So perhaps it is still made in Egypt, but there is just less pomp and ceremony these days.

Both are interesting snippets, the old Pathe News reels and the Dr's comment about it still being made today. I wonder what they do with the old one? is it stored away somewhere, or maybe donated to a Mosque as a special gift?

They cut it up and sell it to the 'devoted for fortunes. 'business is business and the best business is religion.
Why ? because by majority the world's population are sheep and their religions are businesses....

Ps: "the best business is religion ? Oh! just after prostitution there are very little differences.

Who2 wrote:I once met a carpet weaver in the tent making part of the Khan el-Khalili a few years back,
and he said that they still make the mahamal for Mecca..

He may have been telling porkies

." The practice of sending the mahmal from Egypt to Mecca continued until 1926 after which the practice was discontinued. It continued, however, to be paraded in Cairo until 1952:"

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/th ... ahmal.aspx

He may have been a very old carpet weaver ?
He wasn't...

But he was, a world travelling carpet seller showing me articles about himself and his business over glasses of chai
in some very highbrow magazines,
he was also highly interesting with lots of stories to tell. tall or not..

I was whiling away my time whilst my mate argued for hours over materials for his hotel,
you could hear them across the street nearly coming to blows. That's some Sa'idi 'haggling...

Perhaps he was just an old Fakir

Egyptians have a long history of embellishing the facts for the entertainment of foreigners.

They spun all sorts of yarns to Herodotus....who lapped them up, took them as 'gospel', and warped Egyptology for centuries.

I particularly like the story of pharoah Khufu putting his daughter into a brothel in order to raise funds for his pyramid.

Spoiler

Of course we now know it was built by extra-terrestrials....or was it the Jews?...I forget.

newcastle wrote:

Who2 wrote:I once met a carpet weaver in the tent making part of the Khan el-Khalili a few years back,
and he said that they still make the mahamal for Mecca..

" The practice of sending the mahmal from Egypt to Mecca continued until 1926 after which the practice was discontinued. It continued, however, to be paraded in Cairo until 1952:

I, too, have heard that in Khan el Khalili more than once.

So, I guess that this (1946) is just a parade:

Bennu. Marvelous, and at the end of this individual video the screen gives you other options of videos of royal ceremonies from the 40's and 50's. Amazing, some much formality and grandeur, so much order and so much money spent on ceremony. Lessons.

I think the royal with the sword in the video is the king's uncle, maybe Sabry, I'm not sure. The king often stayed away either because he was bored or drunk. The tables were one of his few abiding interests. If you wanted to pull the roof down then Farouk was possibly the quickest way to do it. He did have one big advantage in his favor and not shared with two of his predecessors. The English liked him and never forced him to abdicate. His more independently minded predecessors were put on yachts and sent into exile. The result of all this good imperial management was to end up with the malleable, alcoholic Farouk on the throne.

Wonder whether any of the grandees in the videos had any inkling that the whole royal facade would crumble overnight.

Decades later femme Mubarak is reported thinking things were 'swimmingly' in 2010 and 2011. We all live in fish-bowls.

Benno - thank you.

Newcastle you say: "Egyptians have a long history of embellishing the facts for the entertainment of foreigners." Not untrue but also not untrue of others when they want to tell the 'ripping yarns' of empire. In the case of Egypt, English imperial control produced little good that I can point to but maybe that could be embellished by others.

Hafiz wrote:
Newcastle you say: "Egyptians have a long history of embellishing the facts for the entertainment of foreigners." Not untrue but also not untrue of others when they want to tell the 'ripping yarns' of empire. In the case of Egypt, English imperial control produced little good that I can point to but maybe that could be embellished by others.

I always get a bit confused with repeated double negatives

If anyone hereabouts has been extolling the virtues of British rule in Egypt, I must have missed it.

newcastle wrote:

Hafiz wrote:
Newcastle you say: "Egyptians have a long history of embellishing the facts for the entertainment of foreigners." Not untrue but also not untrue of others when they want to tell the 'ripping yarns' of empire. In the case of Egypt, English imperial control produced little good that I can point to but maybe that could be embellished by others.

I always get a bit confused with repeated double negatives

If anyone hereabouts has been extolling the virtues of British rule in Egypt, I must have missed it.

I have to agree with Newcastle on this one, see my other response in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=37399&p=431950#p431950