Communication Through Music in Ancient Egyptian Religion
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Connections: Communication in Ancient Egypt Communication Through Music in Ancient Egyptian Religion By Eleanor Simmance Music is a particularly effective medium through which to communicate, as almost anyone can appreciate it and it comes in many forms. The study of ancient Egyptian music reveals that it is filled with elements of communication: for instance, imported types of instrument suggesting trade of ideas as well as objects (fig.1), and the art known as ‘chironomy’, whereby a series of hand-gestures would direct the musicians, akin to modern conducting.1 This essay shall focus on the use of music within religion. The two main aspects of communication in this context are seen between human and god, and between god and human. The two objects from the Eton Myers Collection, here studied, each serve as an illustration of one of these potential interactions. First of all, ECM282 is a faience sistrum, albeit a fragment (fig.2). Whilst it bears an image of a goddess, undoubtedly Hathor, this instrument represents communication from the human world to the divine. The second object, ECM1021, is a small amulet in the shape of Bes (fig.3). The dwarf-god holds and beats a tambourine at his left side and hence represents the performance of music by a god in order to communicate with, and benefit, humans. The roles of the gods There are a number of gods that have links to music. The most obvious would be Hathor and Bes, and yet the personification of music was a goddess named Merit.2 Ihy, one of the sons of Hathor, was also associated with music and is sometimes seen playing a sistrum, appropriate due to his mother’s connection to that instrument.3 There is also evidence from Greek and Roman commentators that suggest both Thoth and Osiris also had connections to music.4 The evidence for communication from god to human is far less common than for human to god; several gods have definite connections with music but very rarely are they seen performing themselves. We are told by Diodorus Siculus that Thoth invented the lyre, and yet Thoth is usually seen fulfilling his role as the god of writing and not playing an instrument. Here, of course, we may be dealing with a problem of cross-cultural labelling: a Greek writer using his own religion to create and explain the functions of the religion of another culture, 1 Connections: Communication in Ancient Egypt through syncretism. However, it may provide an answer as to why gods are rarely seen performing music themselves: music, whilst they retain links to it, is more of a secondary element of their nature, and so they are more often shown in their primary function, as here in the case of Thoth. Hathor had many manifestations (especially once the distinction between her attributes and those of Isis became blurred from the Late Period onwards). Due to her assimilation with the lioness-goddess Sekhmet, she was potentially a bringer of destruction, and yet was also the goddess of music and drunkenness, whose festivals were wild affairs.5 Because of her many forms and therefore many different roles, perhaps the actual performance of music is left to the worshippers. This would also fit with Bes being the most common god to be seen with a musical instrument. He was a protective deity, used to ward away evil spirits, especially from pregnant and child-bearing women. He achieved this not only through his grotesque appearance, but also by the playing of music (creating noise in order to be frightening).6 Hence, Bes’ protective role was highly integrated with his role as a musician, explaining why he is often playing an instrument in his representations. But now to examine the two objects which form the basis of this essay. The sistrum and its uses The sistrum, ECM282 (fig. 2), is an example of a so-called Figure 2: ECM282, an ‘arched-sistrum’, as opposed to example of an ‘arched- the older type that took the sistrum’. © IAA University form of a temple door (‘naos- of Birmingham. sistrum’).7 Sachs believes that the sistrum was an Egyptian invention,8 although a very early type has been supposedly identified on a seal from Sumer, dated earlier than the first depiction in Egypt (of course, an earlier representation does not prove that Sumer invented it).9 The arched-sistrum became the preferred type in later Egyptian history, and was used in the Isis cults of the Graeco-Roman world.10 The holes in the loop, through which there would have been cross-bars to make the rattling sound, are very clear and quite large considering the size of the object as a whole. At the base of the loop is what seems to be a uraeus, on both sides, which appears to be part of the stylized headdress atop the goddess’ image. It is likely that this is a model instrument. The material, faience, does not necessarily rule out its actual use (though faience, of course, does not have great acoustic properties), since I would argue that the quiet rattling of a faience sistrum could be quite suitable for a religious ritual. However, the small size of this sistrum fragment, especially the loop, would make it almost useless for actual performance, and the original cross-bars would have been too small to accommodate enough additional plates (sometimes added to increase the rattling). So, it is probable that this instrument was never actually 2 Connections: Communication in Ancient Egypt used, but it is nevertheless representative of the kind of music in existence. Votive sistra are not uncommon, and were used as offerings that could be performed magically for eternity, perhaps by non-human hands.11 The rattling of the sistrum was a way to invoke a god, and the instrument was used in a variety of cults, including that of the Aten. This is evident by the great number of representations, in both royal and non-royal tombs at Tell el- Amarna, of the Amarna royal family bathed in the rays of the Aten, with the princesses playing sistra,12 and also by the presence of two sistra in the funerary assemblage of Tutankhamun.13 It has also been suggested that the rattling of a sistrum during the cult activities of Hathor placated her and invoked her benevolent manifestations.14 The presence of her face on both sides of sistra has been said to represent her opposing aspects: dangerous and benign,15 which were therefore kept in balance by the shaking of the sistrum. The instrument is not restricted to priestesses – men are also seen playing it. For instance, a scene from a Middle Kingdom tomb at Kom el-Hisn in the Delta shows a man, apparently a teacher, instructing ten women in both sistrum-playing and hand-clapping.16 Also, the statues of the bald priests of Hathor, which begin to appear regularly from the Nineteenth Dynasty, often show the individual supporting a large object that recalls the naos-sistrum, bearing the face of Hathor.17 The priests themselves occupied an intermediary function between human and god, and it can be imagined that rituals for passing on messages from ordinary people to Hathor involved playing sistra. Interestingly, Hathor is not only associated with the sistrum, and occasional representations, such as at the temple of Dendera, show priestesses in the garb of Hathor. They each beat a tambourine as the king makes offerings – they may be acting as the goddess’ representatives on earth, in order to communicate her messages to worshippers.18 The amulet and the importance of Bes The Bes amulet, ECM1021 (fig. 3), so small and yet relatively detailed, shows the god facing left (a typical representation in this kind of amulet), holding a round tambourine, also known as a frame drum, to his left and beating it with his right hand. It is possible that his left hand or fingers also beat the drum, but the amulet is simply too small to see such detail. The position of his legs, with right leg raised, suggests he is dancing. His beard can just be made out, as can the lion’s tail. The amulet is flat-backed and has a suspension loop, which indicates its use as an amulet worn around the neck. Bes would therefore be bestowing his protective properties upon the wearer, itself a kind of communication.19 Very similar objects have been recovered from the site at Tell el-Amarna, of the same form as the amulet from the Eton Myers Collection. One example, from the collection of H.M. Tudor and supposedly found in the royal tomb, is also flat-backed, but 3 Connections: Communication in Ancient Egypt lacks a suspension loop, so it is suggested that it was used as a mummy amulet instead.20 The presence of Bes at Tell el-Amarna, the residents of which glorified the sun-disk Aten, is significant. It points to the lasting popular appeal of Bes as a personal deity, even to the extent that he resists the complete reorganisation of ancient Egyptian religion during the reign of Akhenaten. The unusual appearance of Bes is partly because he is a dwarf. Dwarves seem to have had a significant role in the music and dance of ancient Egypt and appear as part of dancing groups.21 For instance, a scene in the tomb of Nunetjer at Giza shows a group of dancers holding sistra, including a female dwarf.22 A letter from the six-year-old pharaoh Pepi II to his official Harkhuf (recorded in the latter’s tomb), who was returning to Egypt from an expedition to the south of Egypt, states: ‘bring this dwarf with you…alive, prosperous and healthy for the dances of the god, to distract the heart and gladden the heart of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt…My majesty wishes to see this dwarf more than the produce of the mining region or of Punt.’23 Harkhuf apparently brought back a dwarf from his expedition and the young king demonstrated his eagerness to see this foreign oddity.