Traditions of North Africa
Mint tea, couscous Fridays, henna nights, moussems and Coptic feasts. 61 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTraditional tattooing
The ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesDress
🇸🇩 SudanJirtigالجَرْتِقْ
A Sudanese wedding ritual of regal adornment, protection, and blessings of fertilityRite of passage
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة
A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress
🇹🇳 Tunis, TunisiaSafseriسفساري
A cream cloth wrapped around a woman's whole body, worn by Tunisian women for modestyDress
🇲🇦 Tangier, MoroccoNegafaنڭافة (Arabic); ⵏⴳⴰⴼⴰ (Tamazight)
The woman who dresses a bride and guards the customs of a Moroccan weddingRite of passage
🇲🇦 MoroccoMoroccan kaftan
A floor-length tunic worn by Moroccan women for weddings and celebrations, featuring heavy embroidery and rich textiles.Dress
🇪🇬 EgyptKallawtahكلوتة
A rounded Turkic cap worn in the medieval Middle East, its colour set in Mamluk EgyptDress
🇩🇿 Constantine, AlgeriaM'layaملاية
A black full-body veil worn by women in Constantine, Algeria, as a sign of modesty.Dress
🇩🇿 Algeria and 4 moreFoutaفوطة
A thin patterned cotton or linen cloth, worn as a wrap at the baths and as dressDress
🇪🇬 Luxor, Egypt and 1 moreMelaya leff
A traditional wrapped Egyptian mantle once worn for modesty and now famous on stageDress
🇩🇿 Tlemcen, AlgeriaChedda of Tlemcenشدة تلمسانية
The bridal dress of Tlemcen, velvet and gold thread, worn with a jewelled headdressDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Zajal: 13th century artist, Public domain, source
- Melaya leff: Néfermaât, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Traditional tattooing: Haa900, CC0, source
- Fouta: Emmanuel.boutet authorized by Bohemeria [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Safseri: Eleuuchi Mohamed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kallawtah: 1371 by the scribe Aḥmad ibn ‘Umar ibn Aḥmad al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian"), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jirtig: Alzain Mohammed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Djellaba: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Chedda of Tlemcen: Dezedien, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Negafa: Amine.elbahij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source