CAIRO - Oct. 18 Reuters - For nearly 45 years, Nasser Abdel Basset has been a proud maker of the fez, the iconic wore hat worn once by Egypt's elite, bureaucrats and students.
Located in the Street of Al-Ghoureya in Old Cairo, Abdel Basset's workshop is one of the few remaining.
I learned the craft from an apprentice, passed it on and now I am returning it. "I'm passing it on to my children", the 60-year-old craftsman said.
The industry boomed during the rule of Mohamed Ali Pasha, an Ottoman army officer who seized power in Egypt in 1805. The fez was almost mandatory for the country's leading officials, public employees and students and was considered to be a sign of the wearer's stature and education.
However, after the country's military toppled Ali's ruling dynasty in 1952, President Gamal Abdel Nasser abolished the fez as it was considered one of the symbols of the former ruling elite
Students and scholars from the thousand-year old Al-Azhar University, as well as other Muslim religious clerics, are now Abdel Basset's only clients, as it represents an important part of their uniform and history.
As long as Al-Azhar remains, we will work, Basset said.