Nine eleven has come to be associated in our minds with the 2001 attacks on the WTC. Yet, for us Egyptians, 9/11 marks the beginning of the Egyptian New Year.

Today the Egyptian New Year’s celebrations are almost exclusive to the Copts, since almost all Muslims are experiencing a withdrawal into the Arab and Islamic identity, and trying their best to distance themselves from any Egyptian associations. As Mahdi Akef, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood organization has put it, Egypt is not a nation, but rather a province of the Islamic Khilafa, which encompasses all Islamic countries. This is rather unfortunate, and was certainly not the case 200 years ago, when the entirety of Egypt used to gather and celebrate this joyous occasion, in the same way our Ancient Egyptian ancestors used to.

Today, the Egyptian New Year’s celebrations are called Neyrouz. The word is derived from the Coptic term niiarwou (ni-yarouou), which means the rivers, since the New Year’s celebrations are actually celebrations of the rising of the Nile waters to inundate and fertilize the lands. When the Arabs invaded Egypt in the seventh century, they confused the term niiarwou with the Persian term of Nourouz: the celebrations of the Persian New Year, and this is how the Egyptian New Year has come to be known as Neyrouz.

There are 2 systems of counting the Egyptian years. Based on the Ancient Egyptian years, this year starting today is the year 6248. It is calculated starting at the year 4246 BC, which is the earliest date ever recorded in history. In Coptic years, today is the beginning of the year 1723 AM (Anno Martyrum). The Coptic years begin in the year 284 AD, that is the year Diocletian became Roman Emperor. The Copts start their calendar accordingly because his reign witnessed the harshest persecutions of Egyptian Christians ever recorded in history, with hundred of thousands of martyrs all across the land of Egypt.