Traditions of North Africa
Mint tea, couscous Fridays, henna nights, moussems and Coptic feasts. 61 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
🇪🇬 Egypt and 6 moreMawlidمولد (Mawlid)
An annual festival marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, marked by poetry, processions and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTraditional tattooing
The ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesDress
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreHamadsha
A Moroccan possession rite kept by Muslim fraternities to cure affliction and restore social balance through music and dSpiritual
🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco and 5 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة
A spiritual musical tradition of Morocco that blends West African rhythms with Islamic ritual to heal and connect communPerformance
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreAndalusi classical musicطرب أندلسي
A classical suite of vocal and instrumental music shared across North AfricaPerformance
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptOpet Festivalḥb nfr n jpt
An ancient Egyptian festival in Thebes celebrating divine kingship and the Nile floodSpiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 4 moreMimounaמִימוּנָה
A Maghrebi Jewish celebration marking the end of Passover with sweets and open doorsFestival · Dinner
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptSed festivalḥb-sd
An ancient Egyptian royal jubilee marking thirty years of a pharaoh's ruleCeremony
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreGreat LentΜεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
The forty-day fast before Easter, kept by Eastern Christians as a season of prayerSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawlid in Algeriaيوم المولد النبوي
The Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration in Algeria with family feasts and prayersFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt and 1 moreNayrouzالنيروز (Arabic); ⲡⲓⲭⲗⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲣⲟⲙⲡⲓ (Coptic)
A Coptic feast marking the new year and honoring martyrs, kept in Egypt and Ethiopia.Festival
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptAncient Egyptian funerary practices
Rites for the dead in ancient Egypt: preserving the body, spells and grave goodsRite of passage
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptBeautiful Festival of the Valleyhb nfr n jnt
An ancient Egyptian festival honouring the dead with river processions across ThebesSpiritual
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇿 Tiaret, Algeria and 1 moreMawsimموسم
An annual regional festival and pilgrimage across Northwest AfricaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation
The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇪🇬 Alexandria, Egypt and 5 moreCenobitic monasticism
A communal way of monastic life where monks live, pray, and follow a shared ruleSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremony
An ancient Egyptian rite to awaken a spirit's senses for the afterlifeRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇳 Tunisia and 1 moreBsisaبسيسة
A North African grain and oil ritual to unlock blessings for the yearTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇪🇬 EgyptMin Festival
An ancient Egyptian royal rite for the god Min, staged by the king to renew his ruleSpiritual
🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah
A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreIslamic marital practices
Islamic wedding customs, from matchmaking and mahr to the nikah contract and walima feast.Rite of passage
🇪🇬 Alexandria, EgyptSerapia
A Roman state feast for the god Serapis, kept on 25 April in Egypt and at RomeSpiritual
🇹🇳 La Goulette, TunisiaOur Lady of Trapani procession (Tunis)
A Catholic festival in La Goulette honoring the Virgin Mary, once shared by Christians and Muslims.Festival
🇩🇿 Tlemcen, AlgeriaAshura in Algeriaيوم عاشوراء
A day of fasting, almsgiving, evening feasting and regional folk masquerades.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇿 AlgeriaWezeeaوزيعة
A communal meat-sharing custom fostering rural solidarity across AlgeriaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇦 Morocco and 2 moreTweezaتويزة
A North African tradition of communal voluntary work, mutual aid and shared harvestsCeremony · Dinner
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
- Mawlid: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Serapia: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
- Our Lady of Trapani procession (Tunis): IssamBarhoumi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beautiful Festival of the Valley: Norman de Garis Davies, Nina Davies (2-dimensional 1 to 1 Copy of an 1, Public domain, source
- Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traditional tattooing: Haa900, CC0, source
- Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nayrouz: Rafael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Ancient Egyptian funerary practices: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Ashura in Algeria: Jan Janssonius, Public domain, source
- Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Hermetic Qabalah: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Bsisa: Kamelgazzah, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mimouna: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Opet Festival: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Min Festival: NebMaatRa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mawlid in Algeria: Hammiche Hakim, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sed festival: EbonyLabelOfDen-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg : CaptMondo, CC BY 2.5, source
- Islamic marital practices: Saddam19, CC BY-SA 4.0, source