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Egyptian embroiderer Ahmed Othman el-Kassabgy (R), whose family was traditionally responsible for used to be honoured with the task of producing the Kiswa, the cloth used to cover the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, supervises as another employee (L) sews with gold thread a verse from the Holy Koran, Islam's holy book, onto a replica drape to be sold as a souvenir for tourists visiting the historic district of al-Hussein of Islamic Cairo in Egypt's capital on June 15, 2022. From the 13th century, Egyptian artisans made the giant cloth in sections, which authorities transported to Mecca with great ceremony. Celebrations would mark processions through cities, flanked by guards and clergymen as Egyptians sprinkled rosewater from balconies above. From 1927, manufacturing began to move to Mecca in the nascent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which would fully take over production of the kiswa in 1962. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)
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