“Nowadays the people have neither the leisure which they need nor the comfort and vivaciousness that are necessary [in order to celebrate].” Thus al-Maqrīzī, a fifteenth-century Egyptian chronicler, concluded his report of the Nawrūz celebrations in Islamic Egypt. If what he tells us of the fate of Nawrūz is indeed true, then a fascinating element of popular culture of his time disappeared. What precisely were the celebrations of Nawrūz? What was popular about them? What was their role in the society of medieval Cairo? Why did they disappear by the fifteenth century – or did they? These are some of the questions that will occupy us in this chapter. As it turns out, we must first look outside of Egypt for answers. Our story begins, so it appears, in ancient Iran.

Nō Rōz, “new day” in Middle Persian, the Arabic Nawrūz (or Nayrūz), is the day of the spring equinox on 21 March, a festival still celebrated in modern Iran. Though possibly in its origins a pagan pastoral festival marking the transition from winter to summer – primeval rites of fertility and renewal can be easily recognized in some of its customs – it must have been consecrated by Zoroaster. It completed a series of seven feasts which were linked with Zoroaster's fundamental teachings concerning the seven great “Holy Immortals” (Ameshaspands) and the Seven Creations.