“I will shock you, ask me what is the price of this huge red lantern?” The old vendor at Al-Sayeda Zeinab Ramadan Makeshift market told me.
“Shock me” I replied.
That huge big handmade lantern made of cloth is sold for LE 4,000 |
“It is sold for LE 4,000,” he told me.
This is the price of the largest size of the Egyptian handmade traditional lantern whether made by cloth like the one above or like the traditional glass and tin.
Usually, those sizes are sold to restaurants, companies, embassies and shops as well as exported to other Arab countries.
Ramadan Kareem again
This post is not your usual Ramadan celebratory post celebrating Egypt’s traditional Ramadan lanterns and markets because it comes at a time of economic crisis.
Lanterns sold in front of El-Sayeda Zeinab Mosque in Cairo |
Although there has been a ban on imported lanterns since 2015 “I think the ban was older than that” which made the Egyptian traditional lanterns not only survive but also regain their power regionally, the prices of the lanterns went up by 20%-40% compared to the last year.