of Sham Ennessim remained on the Christian-linked date. However, the Muslim Egyptians, and probably the Egyptians in general, historically calculated its date independently from Easter, they calculated it to be on the first day of the Khamaseen, which at the time happened to coincide with the day immediately following Easter. The Christian Egyptians have doubtless played a role in preserving the festival through their cultural agency, which was quite limited after the conversion to Islam in Egypt, but that cannot be taken to be the reason why the Muslim Egyptians collectively celebrate the festival with its exact same ancient Egyptian celebratory traditions, besides if the festival was perceived by the Muslim Egyptians to be of Christian origins or celebrated only by Christians they would have stopped celebrating it. For the festival to be collectively celebrated by the Muslim Egyptians it must have been retained by them amongst themselves after conversion, this is evident from the festival's documented history (see below), and from the fact that they perform the exact same ancient Egyptian celebratory traditions, as well as being evident from the fact that the festival is celebrated by Muslim Egyptians in rural areas as a tradition within families, without reference to a specific religion, and is evident from practices such as the traditional fesikh dish whose preparation is passed down within Muslim families as an occupation. The Egyptians evidently continued to celebrate this non-Abrahamic festival after the conversion to Islam just as they did after the conversion to Christianity. Its declaration by the Egyptian state as an official holiday was due precisely to the fact that it is a national festival celebrated by all Egyptians regardless of their religious beliefs. Besides, Sham Ennessim is not the only ancient Egyptian celebration that has survived among the Muslim Egyptians as well as among the Christian Egyptians. In his book, published in 1834, E. W. Lane reports: "A custom termed 'Shemm en-Neseem' [sic.] (or the Smelling of the Zephyr) is observed on the first day of the Khamaseen. Early in the morning of this day, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it; and in the course of the forenoon, many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northwards, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which, on that day, they believe to have