Eid cakes, or as the Egyptians call it colloquially, “Eid Kahk”, biscuits, exotic and other sweets that Egyptians are keen to prepare at home before the end of the holy month of Ramadan every year, are considered to be the joy of completing the fasting of the holy month, so that their rewards are those sweets At the end of the holy month and rejoicing at the advent of the blessed Eid al-Fitr.

But what are the origins of this Egyptian custom?

Prof. Dr. Tariq Mansour, Professor of History and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University, explained to Al-Arabiya.net that Egyptians have a long tradition of making cakes of all kinds, unlike biscuits that Egyptians knew through foreigners who came to Egypt recently, especially Italians.

The Egyptians are among the oldest peoples who knew cake making In ancient Egypt, or Pharaonic Egypt as some call it, it was called “tablets”, because it was round in shape, perhaps like a sun disk.

And Mansour continued: This custom was associated with the celebrations and joys of the ancient Egyptians and religious rituals, Throughout the era of families, through the era of the modern state, throughout the Middle Ages, and until now we have reached the twenty-first century. In the tombs of Taybeh and Manf, among them are what was depicted on the walls of the tomb of Minister Rakhmi Ra, of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and these scenes explain how cakes were made at that time, as cakes were not made differently at that time than in our modern era. Li makes cakes, and they shape the dough into different shapes, and fill it with different flavors of fillings. And they were masters of forming it in various geometric and decorative shapes, and some also made it in the form of animals or leaves, etc., and they also drew on cakes the image of the god Ra, in the form of the sun disk.

The Greek and Roman eras pass by. In Byzantine

The manufacture of cakes continued throughout history among Egyptians throughout the Greek and Roman eras, through the Byzantine era, until it reached the Islamic era, especially during the era of the Tulunid state in Egypt 868 – 904 AD, where it was then made In special molds, and its industry moved to the Ikhchidian state, and it became one of the most important aspects of Eid al-Fitr at that time. Here it must be noted that some historians attribute the manufacture of Eid cakes to the Tulunid era in Egypt, although archaeological evidence proves that the ancient Egyptians also made it.

And in the era of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, 909-1171 AD, pay attention. The Fatimids by highlighting and celebrating all religious holidays among the Egyptians. They were interested in making cakes on Eid al-Fitr, when the Fatimid Caliph used to allocate 20 thousand dinars to make Eid cakes, and the bakeries were devoted to making it from the middle of the month of Rajab. Then a “ Dar al-Futna ” was established, which is a house dedicated to the manufacture of Eid cakes only.

The Mamluk era

And in the Mamluk era, 1250-1517 AD The Mamluk princes used to distribute cakes to the poor and the Sufis out of charity, especially in Princess Tatar Al-Hijazi School in Al-Jamalia district, which used to distribute soft and coarse cakes to the workers here.

The cakes industry was very popular in The Mamluk era led them to establish a market called the “Halawiyyin Market” in Bab Zuweila, where vendors used to display the finest types of cakes during the last ten days of Ramadan, after their craftsmanship mastered in engraving them with different molds.

In the Museum of Islamic Art, there are several molds for making cakes in Islamic Egypt, with phrases written on it: “All congratulations and thank you”, “All and thank your Lord” and others. It is a phrase derived from what historians narrated on the authority of Sultan Qaytbay when he went out for Hajj, and the notables met him on the way, and the Sharif of Mecca sent him a leader of his commanders with a tablecloth of sweets that the Sultan apparently had not tasted before.

In the modern era, the people of Levant who immigrated to Egypt during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and settled there played an important role in the development of the confectionery industry in Egypt, including Eid cakes and biscuits as well, as new techniques of craftsmanship appeared that added a form to it. Advanced, especially with the use of modern machines to replace the popular barn with which women used to bake cakes in their homes before going to settle it in the ovens near them.

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