An embroiderer sews a verse from the Holy Koran with gold thread onto a replica of Kiswa, the cloth used to cover the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque of Mecca, for sale to tourists at al-Hussein historic district of Cairo, Egypt.

From the 13th century, Egyptian artisans made the giant cloth in sections, which the authorities transported to Mecca with great ceremony.

Celebrations would mark processions through cities flanked by guards and clergymen as Egyptians sprinkled rose water from balconies above.

From 1927, manufacturing began to move to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which would fully take over the production of kiswa in 1962.