Community members preserve Red Sea heritage through traditional music

Aly El-Sayed and the Bahar community organisation host traditional music performances in El-Quseir, a historic port on Egypt's Red Sea coast.

The group uses a butter-yellow bungalow built in 1888 to host gatherings where locals listen to the simsimiyya, a triangular lyre. These performances feature ballads about old ports and seafarers, preserving a musical tradition that once accompanied sailors on dhows, which are traditional wooden sailing boats.

Nizar Ghanem, an ethnomusicologist, explains that the simsimiyya likely originated in Sudan and the Nile valley basin of Upper Egypt. The instrument moved north to Suez in the mid-1860s as migrant labourers built the canal. Ghanem notes that the music served as a symbol of resistance against the occupation of the Sinai Peninsula between 1967 and 1982. The songs and dances of the Red Sea region share similarities across various ports, including those in Sudan and Saudi Arabia.

While modern tourists often bypass El-Quseir for larger resorts, the town maintains a unique cultural identity shaped by its history as a hub for Hajj pilgrims and trade. The community preserves this heritage through local traditions, such as the Al-Mahmal camel parade. This event commemorates the arrival of the Kiswah, the black silk fabric that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, which historically arrived at the port from Cairo.