Semsemeya folks music and Henna traditions had been added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage record on Thursday, 5 December, in keeping with a assertion from the Egyptian Ministry of Tradition.
This achievement was made doable by way of the lively participation of an Egyptian delegation led by Dr. Nahla Imam, Advisor to the Minister of Tradition for Intangible Cultural Heritage, together with the collective work of 16 Arab nations: the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, Bahrain, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar.
UNESCO described henna on its web site as “a logo of pleasure, used each in on a regular basis life and through particular celebrations like births and weddings.”
The UNESCO World Heritage Record is a assortment of cultural, pure, and combined tangible and intangible websites acknowledged for his or her distinctive worth to humanity. Established in 1972 by the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO), the record goals to protect these websites for future generations.
What’s the semsemeya?
Within the nineteenth century, throughout Egypt’s British occupation, native music underwent a strong revival, with the semsemeya—a conventional lyre-like string instrument—enjoying a central function. Resembling a harp in form, the semsemya is believed to hint its origins again to historical Egypt, as its picture seems within the intricate carvings of pharaonic tombs.
On this interval, music grew to become a means for Egyptians to affirm their enduring identification, reminding them that at the same time as political landscapes shifted, generations handed, and circumstances modified, their cultural essence remained intact.
This instrument is most generally discovered within the Purple Sea and Suez Canal areas, particularly amongst Bedouin musicians from the Sinai Desert, in addition to Egyptian handbook staff and fishermen round Port Mentioned and Ismailiya.
All through Egypt’s colonial historical past, nevertheless, the semsemeya remodeled into a logo of well-liked resistance, significantly throughout pivotal moments resembling the development of the Suez Canal, the institution of free commerce zones, and the wars of 1956 and 1967.
As ethnomusicologist Kawkab Tawfik notes, through the Suez Canal mission, the semsemeya grew to become extra than simply an instrument; it embodied a collective consciousness, reflecting the employees’ sense of neighborhood. Wherever it was performed, it prompted social gatherings the place the viewers was invited to hitch the efficiency.
These musical gatherings not solely strengthened the bonds between musicians and Egyptian staff but in addition supplied an area for expressing identification past nationwide anthems and flags. Dance, tune, and efficiency grew to become automobiles for social expression.
One significantly highly effective instance of the semsemeya’s function in employee identification comes from the tune lyric: “We’re the bambuṭiyya (retailers), nobody is the same as us, we’re sailor merchants, who work within the Canal.”
The semsemeya didn’t merely symbolize Egyptian identification; it additionally embodied the identification of labor and the working class. For the employees and fishermen, the music they created with the semsemeya captured their sense of self as “trustworthy, life-loving, and liberty-seeking,” contrasting sharply with the opportunistic picture of fast profit-seekers.
What’s henna?
Henna, plant-based dye, is derived from the mignonette tree or shrub, and has been revered for hundreds of years in North Africa and the Center East. Twice a yr, its leaves are harvested, dried, floor, and processed into a flexible paste. The precise recipe and strategies fluctuate throughout areas and supposed use.
Primarily related to adornment, henna paste is extensively used by ladies to dye hair, fingertips, and embellish arms and toes. Past aesthetics, henna additionally finds its place in crafts and medication, treating sure pores and skin circumstances.
Henna’s cultural significance extends past its sensible makes use of. Its utility is usually accompanied by oral traditions, together with chants, songs, proverbs, and poems. These practices are deeply rooted in age-old societal norms and customs, encompassing data of henna cultivation, paste preparation, and utility strategies.
