Dance in Ancient Egypt Author(s): Patricia Spencer Reviewed work(s): Source: Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 66, No. 3, Dance in the Ancient World (Sep., 2003), pp. 111-121 Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210914 . Accessed: 19/04/2012 18:23 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The American Schools of Oriental Research is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Near Eastern Archaeology. http://www.jstor.org A ncient Egypthas left a rich and variedtextual legacy.Nevertheless, evidence on dance per se from literarysources is rare, since the ancient Egyptianssaw no need to describe in words something that was so familiarto them. There are a numberof termsthat were used for the verb "to dance,"the most commonbeing ib3. Other termsthat describespecific dances or movementsare knownbut unfortunately these often occursimply as "labels"to scenesor in contextswhere they saylittle or noth- ing of the natureof the dancein question.From casual references in literatureor administrative documentsit is, however,possible to learnsomething about dance and dancers in ancient Egypt,their lives and the attitudesof the ancientEgyptians towards performers. -: .oo : - . , ?N *~....'~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. The "Scorpion" mace head, depicting dancers performing at a royal ceremony. Three dancers (there may have originally been more) are shown with braided hair. ': '- \ They have one leg raised and would seem to be clapping . - their hands as they perform.These dancers accompany a scene of the king (named "Scorpion") ritually breaking soil - and were therefore performing in a ceremonial context. .: , Drawing by Richard Parkinson after Marion Cox. NEAR EASTERNARCHAEOLOGY 66:3 (2003) 111 r r ~~ A~~~~~~.~ r r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ j ,? _ & 4 tp Dancers performingat the Festival of Opet, during which the state god, Amun-Re,traveled in his barque from his home at Karnakto Luxor temple. Photo courtesy of the author. In the popularculture, dance was something people took for granted and rarelydescribed. This is, of course, not unique to Egypt in antiquity-references to dance in Egypt from the to the CE are scarce but Byzantine period eighteenth century The god Bes dancingand this does not mean that dance had ceased to exist. It was only playinga tambourine. when European travelers started to visit Egypt and the Near Bes, probablya god of East and to record the dance that they saw performed in Africanorigin, was private salons, at parties or in the context of weddings or street usuallyshown as a lion- festivals, that Egyptian or other "oriental" dances were headed dwarfand was associated described in any detail. particularly withthe of There are many obstacles to attempting to understand the warding-off evil spiritsand thus with purpose of dance and the contexts in which it took place in the protectionof the ancient Egypt and especially in attempting to reconstruct any motherand childduring of the movements involved. The same is true of historical any childbirth.The Egyptians which one has to on textual and decorative period for rely believed that his dancing evidence, but is especially so for ancient Egypt where the and musicwould drive conventions for depicting the human form were so stylized awayevil spiritsand offer and, essentially, static, that any accurate representation of protectionto his movement was difficult, if not impossible. charges.Reproduced Virtually all representations of dancers from ancient Egypt courtesyof the Trustees of The BritishMuseum. are two dimensional. They come from the walls of temples or 112 NEAR EASTERNARCHAEOLOGY 66:3 (2003) r Scene fromthe tomb of Intefat DraAbu'l Naga. This I tomb scene shows womenwearing calf-length dresses, braceletsand anklets,and withwhite fillets tied around a (I/? I I IIii I 1I theirlong flowing hair, dancing in pairswith a wide range of movements,some moreelegantly depicted than others.After Petrie (1909: frontispiece).Reproduced courtesyof the PetrieMuseum of EgyptianArchaeology London. .Ac U t UniversityColleqe I . tombs or fromdepictions on ostraca and papyrus, and they were governed by the artistic conventions of ancient Egypt, which required that the human form be depicted in accordance with a strict canon that left little room for flexibility or for the artist to use his imagination and skill to try and show three-dimensional movement with any degree of accuracy.There is also the additional problem that the dance scenes that have been preserved from ancient Itl I II I I'" '^I Il ^ Egyptwere not intended to informviewers about IH I; ^ dance, its nature and context, but were carved or 4 4 'Iii~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11 ,m1 painted on the walls of tombs or temples for purposes that are not always obvious or even Banquetscene from the tomb of Nebamun.Two girls are shown dancing accompaniedby a group of female musicians.The two dancers are depicted with much more freedom than was possible for earlierartists and their bodies are almost entwined as they dance and snap their fingers to the beat of the music. Reproducedcourtesy of the Trusteesof The BritishMuseum. NEAR EASTERNARCHAEOLOGY 66:3 (2003) 113 A funeraldance scene fromthe tomb of Niunetjerat Giza.Three of the dancershold a throw-stickin their left handswhile shaking sistra. (The sistrum is a musicalinstrument with smallmetal disksthreaded horizontallyto forma kindof rattle.)Throw-sticks were used by the Egyptiansin hunting,to bringdown birds,and their occurrencein dance scenes may indicateorigins in a ritual"hunting-dance." After Junker (1951: Abb.44). intelligible to modern eyes-for example, to demonstrate devotion to a cult, to facilitiate entry to the next world or to show activities that, hopefully, would occur in perpetuity once the deceased had attained his eternal goal. Most of the scenes were never intended to be seen by more than a handful of , cult devotees, whether of a god or a deceased individual. _* IfoWith these privisos in mind, however,it is possibleto surveywhat is known of dance in ancient Egypt, even if a full understanding of its nature and its context must remain tantalisinglyunattainable. It should also be borne in mind that the ancient Egyptiancivilization lasted j for over three thousand years and, while it is deservedly regarded as having been a very "conservative" Acrobaticdancers in the tomb of Kagemniat Saqqara.The young women are shown standing on one culture, there must have been leg andleaning backwards (with the otherleg andboth their arms raised) to an extentthat would be changes and developmentsin dance physically- impossible a in real life. Reproducedcourtesy of the EgyptExploration Society. during that time. 114 NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 66:3 (2003) Dancers in the tomb 4-, n Fei L 0 ~ depicted I ' 1 " I i a. It, .,,^?e olrelp,=~'C7 - = of Antefikerat Thebes. After (5^= I.1 - _Norman....." de GarisDavies (7920: pls. 23, 23a). 4 , . / )/ well-preservedscene fromthe tomb of Niunetjer at Giza. The dancers are described collectivelyas ib3wtand they are accompanied by a (I / f r`??K kneeling group of three female singers (hswt) who \ are marking the beat by clapping.The costumeof the dancers in this tomb is typical of the period, with -lr '^ss. short skirts and crossed ................... ,::: . bands across their chests. The three dancersare led by a fourth who carries a The earliest depictions of dance in Egypt are found in rock- sistrumbut no throw-stick,and are followed by a female dwarf, art and on predynasticvessels and are describedin Garfinkel's who also plays a sistrum. Another three dancers face in the contribution to this issue. Egypt became a unified kingdom oppositedirection and have neither throw-sticksnor sistra.The about 3100 BCEand the political and military stability that entire groupmay be an attempt to represent (in so far as it was followed unification led to the flourishing of the distinctive possible for the Egyptian artist within the prevailing pharaonic civilization and the establishment of the artistic conventions) seven women dancing around the dwarfin their conventions to which all representations of dance in ancient midst (Anderson 1995: 2563). Egypt had to conform. The "Scorpion"mace head showing an Similar scenes, though the details vary, are found in many Upper Egyptian king of the period just before unification Old Kingdom tombs. The dancers are often shown in rows providesan early representationof dancers in accordancewith (though this, of course, may simply reflect Egyptian artistic dynastic Egyptianartistic conventions. On the mace head the conventions) and their dance would appearto have been very dancersare shown taking part in a royalceremony and the vast stylized with a limited number of movements. Many of the majorityof depictions of dancersfrom ancient Egyptalso come movements depicted are "acrobatic"in nature, as in the scene from ceremonialreligious or funeraryscenes. from the tomb of Kagemni.Here the dancers are accompanied by women clapping (and probablysinging) as in so manyother FuneraryDances funerarypaintings of dancers.In these Old Kingdomtomb scenes, Chronologically,the next seriesof dance depictionscomes from male dancerswear what mightbe regardedas "everyday"clothes tomb-scenesof the Old Kingdomwhere dancersand singersare with a short kilt. Femaledancers, however, at a time when most shownperforming during the funeralprocession or at the entrance women weredepicted with long ankle-lengthdresses, usually also to the tomb. In this period,these entertainersseem to have been wore short skirts, probably to free their legs for the dance. groupsof, presumably,professional musicians and dancers who Occasionallythey aredepicted as if naked,or withjust a belt around wereattached to temples,funerary estates and importanttombs or their hips.