CAIRO - For many years, the traditional Egyptian tin-and-glass fawanees Ramadan (Ramadan lanterns) lost out to the Chinese lanterns during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. But things appear to have changed dramatically this year. Despite its dim light, the candle-lit fanous Ramadan has started pushing its battery-charged and brighter Chinese rivals off the shelves of gift shops downtown. Chinese lanterns are modern, brightly coloured, named after popular footballers, relatively cheap and safe to use. Despite all these advantages, the Egyptian lanterns are making a comeback this year. It seems that mums and dads have much to do with the renewed success of Egyptian Ramadan lanterns. Apparently filled with nostalgia for their happy childhood, when they had a lot of fun every evening during the holy fasting month, parents and grandparents this year, in the run-up to Ramadan, have been buying up the traditional lanterns for their curious children and grandchildren. Fawanees of every shape, colour and size can be seen spilling onto the pavement outside many shops in downtown. The craftsmen who make them were a dying breed until a few weeks ago, when they suddenly came back to life, working all hours to keep up with the renewed demand for locally manufactured lanterns. Meanwhile, Ramadan lanterns are the theme of a beautifully illustrated catalogue, published by the Centre for the Documentation of Urban and Natural Heritage, which vividly describes their history. According to the Centre's director, the catalogue is the first in a series of catalogues that will document all the crafts and industries, which used to thrive in Cairo. Fathi Saleh also says that the initiative corresponds to global suggestions to preserve and document traditional crafts and industries threatened with extinction in different world countries. As well as dealing with fawanees Ramadan, the first catalogue deals with the history of arouset el-moulid (the doll made of sugar or cloth, sold during religious festivities locally known as mawaled), tent making, candle making, marble and brass working, pottery, bookbinding and doing mother-of-pearl inlay. According to Saleh, the first candle-lit fanous flickered across Cairo on the fifth day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in 358 AH, when people took to streets in the evening to welcome the arrival of Fatimid Caliph Al-Moez Lidin- Allah. Some people in the big crowd were carrying lanterns and others torches consisting of burning branches. They were happily singing, delighted that their ruler had come home. From then on, the candle- lit lanterns became an indispensable Ramadan tradition. The Egyptian-made fawanees took the shape we all know in the late 19th century, when they were attached to the top of posts to illuminate streets in the evening. The lantern-making industry thrived under the Fatimid rulers, with the old district of el-Darb el-Ahmar in Islamic becoming the fanous-manufacturing quarter, although rival workshops also sprang up in el-Sayyeda Zeinab, southern Cairo. The traditional fanous has a spherical glass body divided vertically by thin tin bands. The body is surmounted by several conically shaped, independent strips attached to a metal ring for carrying it. The divided pieces of glass are of different colours, which look beautiful when illuminated by a lighted candle placed inside.
