Tantah (Tanta), Egypt - Arab Bazaar - postcard c.1910s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Tantah [or Tanta] [Egypt] - Bazar Arabe
• Publisher: 'Tan 14'
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

Tanta (Egyptian Arabic: طنطا‎ Ṭanṭa  pronounced [ˈtˤɑntˤɑ], Coptic: ⲧⲁⲛⲧⲁⲑⲟ) is a large city in Egypt. It is the country's fifth largest populated area, with 421,076 inhabitants as of 2006.^[1] Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: 94 km (58 mi) north of Cairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate,^[2] it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry.^[3] One of the major railway lines goes through Tanta.^[4][5] Three annual festivals are held in Tanta in honor of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered Sufi figure of the 13th century, who founded the BadawiyyaTariqa in Egypt and is buried in Ahmad Al-Badawi Mosque, the main mosque of Tanta. Tanta is known for its sweetsshops and roasted chickpeas.^[6]

With its large cotton plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network, primarily for the benefit of exporting its cotton to European markets.^[7] Even by 1986 the area around Tanta was mostly open fields with scattered villages but by 2001, Tanta had grown into a large, busy city.^[8]

Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten mostly when large numbers of Egyptians descend upon on the city, during the mulid (Arabic: المولد‎) festivals.^[9][10]

This city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people,^[2] from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi,^[11] which is a colorful,^[12] religious, eight-day celebration. The moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb of Sayid Ahmad al-Badawi.^[13] He founded one of Egypt's largest Sufi orders called Ahmadiyyah or Badawiyya.^[14] He was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia and was sent to Tanta in 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was given permission to start a new order in Tanta and it soon flourished into "one of Egypt's largest Sufi brotherhoods".^[11] During the festival many sugar-coated nuts called 'hubb el 'Aziz' ('seeds of the Beloved Prophet') are eaten. They have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s.^[15]

Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries,^[11] and is also a university town with Tanta University since 1972.^[16]

The people of Tanta are called Tantawy and enjoy leisurely walks along the streets.^[17]

What originally began in Cairo, spread to Tanta when a group of young Egyptians began showing European movie screenings at Rivoli Cinema, the oldest cinema in Tanta. Called the 8th Edition Panorama of European Films, the young media students invited a film director to speak with the audience: people were enticed and the film screenings became a huge success. The group also began the Association of Cinema and Literature Lovers Group to encourage young filmmakers in Tanta.^[18]