Nasser Abdel Basset is one of the few who makes the ottoman fez hat

For almost 45 years, the Nasser Abdel B.aσέτ proudly makes tambourines – as they are known in Arab countries, or feces, the iconic hats with a cylindrical shape, flat top and without cornice, made of wool (felt or rug) and which can have a tassel.

They got their name from the Moroccan city Fez where it was made.

It is located on Paleou Kairou Street al-Gureya, his laboratory Abdel Bassett and is one of the few left. These hats were once worn by the elites, bureaucrats and students Of Egypt.

“I learned art from an apprentice, I inherited it and now I pass it on to my son. Are you saying that feces will disappear? How is it done? “I teach their construction to my children,” said the 60-year-old craftsman.

The hat industry flourished during his reign Mohammed Ali Pasha, an Ottoman army officer who seized power in Egypt in 1805. Wearing a fez was almost mandatory for the country’s top officials, civil servants and students and was considered a sign of the stature and education of the one who wore it on his head.

After the country’s army overthrew its dominant dynasty Ali in 1952, the President Gamal Abdel Nasser, however, abolished the fez in 1958, as it was considered one of the symbols of the former ruling elite. THE Egypt then it was the largest producer of feces.

Students and scholars at al-Azhar University, thousands of years old, as well as other Muslim religious clerics are now its only clients. Abdel Basset, as it represents an important part of their costume and history. He also sells his hats to film and television production companies and of course to tourists.

“As long as Al-Azhar he is there in the shop with me, we will work and the delivery of the hats will continue “, he underlined Baσέτ.

Today, the only Muslim state to maintain the fez as part of its formal attire is Morocco, where it is a symbol of resistance to the French.