Egyptian fez-maker keeps centuries-old craft alive

Cairo, Nov 26 (EFE).- (Camera:Sarah M. Qassem) Tucked away in a narrow alley crammed with pedestrians and vendors in one of Cairo’s stone-paved medieval streets, Nasser Abdel Basset gets behind what he claims to be a 600-year-old molding machine to craft his latest fez.

The 59-year-old is one of the few craftsmen left in Egypt who are still making the once traditional red headdress worn by almost all Egyptian men until the 1950s.

“I learned the art of making fezzes from skillful craftsmen back when I was just a boy,” Abdel Basset tells Efe.

DECLINE AND SURVIVAL

Egyptians donning the fez dates back to the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who was appointed by Ottoman sultan Selim III to govern Egypt in the 19th century.

But the fez began to disappear in 1958 when then-president Gamal Abdel Nasser banned the headwear because it symbolized the former monarchical rule, which he helped overthrow in a military coup six years earlier.

Despite the ban, Abdel Basset has kept alive the art of crafting the traditional hats, and is passing it on to younger generations.

“You say this business is doomed but I beg to differ. I am teaching it to my sons,” he says.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Every day at 10am, Abdel Basset opens his small workshop in the al-Ghouriya neighborhood in central Cairo, proudly serving his loyal customers until closing time at 8 o’clock in the evening.

He starts the process of making the fez by building the structure using woven palm wicker, an eco-friendly material he gets from the Egyptian port enclave of Rashid.

He then sews an underlying fabric made of silk to the mainframe.

Finally, he presses and glues the signature red wool broadcloth to the wicker before putting it in heated molds made from pure copper for the fez to take its final shape.

“I use the best material there is because I want to sell my customers a product that lasts forever,” Abdel Basset says.

The felt hat comes in several styles and shapes and there is a mold for each: the Ottoman, the Egyptian, and the turban, which takes the shape of a fez with a white cloth wrapped around it and a black tassel on top.

The Ottoman and the Egyptian fezzes now are sold to film studios and tourists but Abdel Basset’s business is largely still standing thanks to the turban worn by most of al-Azhar Islamic University’s students and teachers, as well as sheikhs.

“I will continue working as long as al-Azhar exists,” the craftsman stresses.

ANCIENT ROOTS

Known by Egyptians as tarboosh, the red headcover was named fez after the Moroccan city of Fas, where the iconic red dye of the hat used to be extracted from crimson berries.

The origins of the fez are not exactly clear, as it was worn by men in ancient Greece and Morocco; the hat certainly became wildly popular among males of all ages throughout all corners of the Ottoman Empire.

“There is a difference between the Ottoman style and the Egyptian style. The Ottoman is way shorter than the Egyptian one,” Abdel Basset says while holding two different versions.

“The tarboosh is more than a headdress. It has always been a symbol of dignity and prestige, and it still is, hence my nickname: The Craftsman of Prestige,” Abdel Basset concludes. EFE



QUOTES ABDEL BASSET:

2:26 "This is how the fez looks like after it’s crafted. This is the Ottoman style. There is a difference between the Ottoman style and the Egyptian style. The Ottoman is way shorter than the Egyptian one"

2:37 "Now let’s see al-Azhar’s turban. It takes the shape of the fez with a black tassel on top and a white cloth wrapped around it".

2:47 "This one is for imams; it’s color is light red and it has a blue tassel on top and some fringes we like to pamper imams with.

2:59 "This is how Muhammad Ali Pasha’s fez exactly looked like. You say this business faces extinction. How come? I will continue working as long as al-Azhar exists. I am teaching it to my sons. You think I would hurt my sons?"