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  • Essay / Egyptian dances, instruments and music

    Over the centuries, Egyptians trained in the art so that they could be employed in temples or among priestesses. Initially, it started with women from the lower classes. While playing, the women danced while the men played the instruments to please the ruler. Only the lower classes performed in public, while the upper classes sat and watched. Instrumentation, music and dance were used for entertainment, religious devotion, to reveal human sexuality, for earthly pleasures and ceremonies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When music was first introduced to the Egyptians, they believed that the instrumentation carried the goddess Hathor; the goddess of music. Besides Hathor, many other gods were visible on the walls of the temples with instruments such as the drum or the menit. Egyptian instrumentation varied from strings and trombones to lutes and percussionists. Other instruments used are lyres and harps (Reshafim). The menit was a percussion instrument used by the goddess Hathor. As Hathor went door to door, she shook the menit inside the households of different families because she believed it brought good health and peace to the households. The second most popular instrument was the sistrum; which means to vibrate. The sistrum was a Y-shaped instrument that was primarily known for being made of wood, but sometimes metal and ceramic were also used. This was another instrument used by Hathor. This instrument represented the love someone had for Hathor (7 original instruments originating from ancient Egypt). In Egypt, the Old Kingdom was best known for the presence of a male soloist and not the instrumentation, while the New Kingdom was known for its extraordinary performers who loved the details put into all their performances (Simmance). Most dances performed in Egypt were intended for religious rituals, festivals, ceremonies or funeral ceremonies. Another reason people danced was for entertainment. The dances were known to be dramatic, religious, funeral or war dances. The level of dancing was generally excessive. For example, today dances would be similar to ballet and gymnastics which included splits, cartwheels and backbend (Lichteim). In Egypt, the Old Kingdom was known for having more formal dancers, Middle Kingdom dances consisted of stomping and jumping. New Kingdom dance was more graceful and fluid (Hays). The only way for a man and a woman to dance was to separate them. Dancing together was not known in Egypt at that time. If a woman started dancing, anyone would follow her. In Egypt, what we call a professional dancer today is called chebejet. The Chebejets were women or girls from the royal harems. Women were selected from among the sovereign's servants to perform at all sociable bouquets (Lichtheim). The only time a Chebejet performed alone was when the dance consisted of great flexibility and physical fitness. Most dancers received prior training before performing the number. Most exotic dancers received most of the attraction from Pipi; a god who was a child when he performed a dance which the Egyptians were more impressed with than his divine powers (Lichtheim). When the Egyptians carried out a.