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Egyptian Christians Celebrate Coptic New Year Nayrouz Today

September 11, 2021
Nayrouz Coptic new Year
Egyptian Coptic priests pray during Christmas mass at Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo (photo: AP)

By Marina Kilada Today, the Coptic Orthodox community -one of several minorities in Egypt- celebrates the beginning of the year 1738 on 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. Based on the ancient Egyptian calendar, the Copts still adopt the 13-month calendar to date. Inspired by the agricultural seasons of the Egyptian year, the calendar represents three main seasons; the flooding of the Nile, vegetation, and reaping and harvesting. 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…


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