With the approaching month of Ramadan, the demand for traditional lamps known as "the lantern" increases in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and merchants display lanterns of various designs, colors and sizes in the historic Sayeda Zeinab area.
These lanterns, distinguished by their colors and designs, adorn the stalls in Sayeda Zeinab, one of the historical areas in Cairo, and attract citizens to buy them in order to decorate their homes and streets during the upcoming Ramadan season.
Egypt is distinguished by the "Ramadan lantern", a symbolic element that carries great cultural and religious significance for Muslims throughout the Arab world.
Lanterns of various designs, colors and sizes in the historic Sayeda Zeinab area (Anatolia)
Going back to the past, we find that the lantern was originally a lamp that people used as a means of lighting, especially when going to mosques at night, and with the passage of time it turned into a Ramadan tradition.
The idea of the lantern dates back to the era of the Fatimid state in Egypt, and then spread to all Arab countries, and then to all countries of the world.
The story of the lantern began a little more than a thousand years ago, when the Cairenes were expecting the arrival of the Fatimid caliph al-Muizz li Din Allah at night on the fifth of Ramadan in the year 358 AH, when the military commander Jawhar al-Sicily and the viceroy at that time ordered the residents of the city to light the road with candles, so the residents of Cairo placed Candles are placed on wooden bases and covered with leather, to avoid extinguishing them, hence the beginning of the appearance of the lantern as a Ramadan ritual.
This is not the only story recorded in history, as it is also said that Cairo families and their families used to accompany the Fatimid caliph on his journey through the city, passing through the gates of old Cairo, Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, on his way to Mokattam to survey the crescent of Ramadan.