Melaya leff

A type of mantle worn by women (and men) and wrapped around the body can be seen in art dating back to the Ptolemaic era in Egypt.

Depictions of Egyptian women wearing dark wraps similar to the melaya in English date back to Richard Pocoke's drawing of such a garment, in 1743.

However, the first recorded use of the term "Melaya" (or, more accurately, "milayeh") in English sources comes from Edward William Lane's work.

[3] He recounts it as being made of blue and white checked cotton fabric, with red at the ends, and distinct from the silk habarah.

Another style of shugga also worn in Assiut is made of a floor length gathered skirt, with a long panel extending from the waist that drapes in two bunches over the hips and is thrown over the head.

[7] In Luxor one finds the hubbara, made of medium weight black silk, lightweight rayon with a ribbed stripe and twisted fringe, or coarse wool.

[7] In Sohag, Idfu, and Kom Ombo, there is the birda, named for a striped wool fabric called bird, said to have been worn by the Prophet.

[8] In Qena and Bahriya one finds the nishra or futa, a fine plaid wool rectangle with fringed ends and a black background and red and white lines.

[11] The first dance, according to Mahmoud Reda, was a skit where a licorice seller angered a woman by spilling syrup on her, and she threw off her melaya to fight him.