For Ancient Egyptians

For ancient Egyptians, dance was a huge part of daily life
Several tombs in the necropolises of Egypt depict figures dancing across the walls and playing
instruments. But when Egyptologists took a closer look, they were able to piece together how the
art form evolved.
From easing the passage of the deceased into the afterlife to celebrating the joys of life on Earth,
dance was integral to the daily lives of ancient Egyptians. Depictions of dancers on tombs and in
temples dating across two millennia helped Egyptologists piece together the rituals surrounding
Egyptian dance and how dancing evolved through time.
In its early stages, formal dancing was performed by priests and ritual performers to celebrate gods
at religious festivals or processions. Later, dance was used in a variety of more secular settings, such
as performances to entertain guests at banquets. Throughout its long history, the repertoire of
Egyptian dance was enriched by new styles and moves.
(A ritual performance)
Conventions governing ritual dance developed after Egypt’s unification around 3100 B.C., when
Egypt’s first dynasties fused Upper and Lower Egypt. This union led to the establishment of the Old
Kingdom (ca 2575-2150 B.C.), a period of political stability that saw great advances in art and
architecture, including the building of the Giza Pyramids. Depictions of dance at this time come from
tomb scenes, mostly showing female dancers and musicians performing at a funeral procession or
grave site.
(This ancient diary reveals how Egyptians built the Great Pyramid.)
These highly organized groups of professional dancers and musicians, known as khener, were
affiliated with specific temples or funerary settings, led by a director, and performed mainly in
ceremonies such as funerals.
(The rhythm of castanets and tambourines)
(This fragment of a relief shows dancers and musicians)
This fragment of a relief showing dancers and musicians was found in a 19th-dynasty tomb within the
necropolis of Saqqara, near the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis in Lower Egypt.
During funeral ceremonies, dances were seen as rituals to facilitate the rebirth and regeneration of
the deceased. They were performed at the procession and final banquet held at the graveside. One
such dance is depicted in the that was found in a private tomb in the necropolis of Saqqara, home to
the royal and nonroyal tombs for Egyptians living in the ancient capital of Memphis.
In this depiction of a funeral procession during the New Kingdom, the left side shows a group of
female dancers of different ages beating tambourine-like
fragment of a funerary relief instruments. Next to them, two younger dancers play castanet-like
instruments as they dance. To the right, two soldiers, three priests, and (at the edge of the fragment
reproduced here) three dignitaries raise their arms in jubilation. The limestone relief, which dates to
the 19th dynasty, circa 1250 B.C., is now in the Egyptian Museum.
As a rule, early ancient Egyptian art depicts mostly female dancers, but there are exceptions. A well-
preserved depiction from the third millennium B.C. comes from the early 2nd-dynasty tomb of
Nynetjer at Giza, prior to the start of the Old Kingdom. It shows male dancers holding throw sticks
used to hunt birds, accompanied by female musicians and followed by a female dwarf. Dwarfs were
often depicted participating in dances, as they were associated with Bes, god of music and childbirth,
who was represented as a dwarf and frequently shown dancing.
Tomb art often shows the dancers accompanied by Egyptian instruments. One notable instrument
was the sistrum, which was made of bars loaded with small metal disks and played like a kind of
rattle. The sistrum was often used in dances dedicated to Hathor, goddess of joy, love, music, and
beaut.
At funeral ceremonies, Hathor, who was believed to have power over fertility, was invoked to bring
about the rebirth and revival of the deceased in the afterlife. Female dancers waved sistrums to
evoke the noise Hathor made as she walked through the reed beds. The rattling sounds they
produced were thought to be pleasing to the divinities.
(Dancing monkeys
A monkey playing the aulos in a 13th century B.C. depiction.
A monkey playing the aulos in a 13th century B.C. depiction.
DEA/Getty Images)
Archaeologists have found numerous ancient Egyptian depictions of monkeys playing instruments or
dancing. While some see this as evidence that animals were involved in performances, others
suggest that the images are satires of human behavior, perhaps mocking nobles—even the king.
The association of Hathor with dance would persist throughout Egyptian history. The Temple of
Hathor at Dendera, a structure dating from the Ptolemaic period (332-30 B.C.), bears the following
inscription:
We beat the drum to her spirit, we dance to her Grace. We raise her image up to the heavenly skies.
She is the lady of the sistrum, the mistress of jingling necklaces.
(Worship of this Egyptian goddess spread from Egypt to England.)
(A joyful turn)
A time of turbulence and weakened central rule known as the First Intermediate Period followed the
Old Kingdom. After that, the Middle Kingdom (ca 1975-1640 B.C.) was characterized by a flourishing
of the arts under renewed central government.
In this period, the structured nature of ritual dance performances, which had been confined to the
sanctity of the temples and only seen by a select group of priests, changed. Dances were brought into
the open for processions held at public rituals, such as when a divine image was taken from its
temple and paraded to visit other deities at their temples. The public was able to join in, and dancing
became less inhibited. In a far leap from its solemn beginnings, dancing turned into a joyous, lively
act.
(Honoring gods and the pharaoh)
(A musician plays the aulos (double flute) while others dance in a painting)
(A stone relief shows women dancing)
A stone relief shows dancer, wearing braids weighted with a ball-rattle, make a diamond shape with
arms raised.
(Dancers perform backbends, their loose hair trailing on the ground)
(In a painting, people stand in a line dancing, wearing white garb and broad collars)
(Dancers lean backward, raising both arms and one leg, balancing in a stone relief)
Many dances appear in depictions on ancient Egyptian tombs and temples, reflecting the solemn and
celebratory role of dance in life and death. In this painting from the tomb of Nebamun, a musician
plays the aulos (double flute) while others dance.
The Story of Sinuhe, one of the oldest Egyptian literary texts recovered from the Middle Kingdom,
includes passages that are testaments to the joyful turn that dance took. The tale recounts how an
Egyptian man fled his kingdom and lived as a foreigner for some time but became desperate to
return to Egypt. When the king welcomed Sinuhe back and agreed to allow him to be buried in Egypt,
Sinuhe spontaneously broke into a dance of joy: “I roved round my camp, shouting and singing.” His
town, too, was “in a festive mood, my young people rejoicing with dance.”

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For ancient Egyptians, dance was a huge part of daily life

(The rhythm of castanets and tambourines)

(This fragment of a relief shows dancers and musicians)

A monkey playing the aulos in a 13th century B.C. depiction.

A monkey playing the aulos in a 13th century B.C. depiction.

(Worship of this Egyptian goddess spread from Egypt to England.)

(A stone relief shows women dancing)

(Dancers perform backbends, their loose hair trailing on the ground)

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