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[Type text] Lacie Norton Cathy Black Dance 460 12 November 2012

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Egyptian Religious Dance Gender specific ritual and ceremonial dances in Ancient Egyptian culture enhanced their religious beliefs as a people. Through research of different ceremonial and ritual dances of ancient Egypt it is relevant that dances specific to either male or female dancers enhanced their religious beliefs of the gods, and the afterlife. There are some examples of specific dance rituals that were performed to enhance these beliefs such as temple dancers, dance for the worship of Osiris, dwarf dancing, animal imitation dancing, funeral dances, and the dancing Muu. Dance was an important element in the religious worship of the ancient Egyptian gods. Although there is little information about dance worship of the gods, there is speculation that the dances performed for the kings of this time were similar or even congruent to what they may have performed for the gods. This theory is stated because the kings of the ancient Egyptian civilization were treated with the same respect as the gods and were seen as the human form of a god. So great was their belief in the afterlife, that they would have dancers that had performed for the king during his mortal life, also dance at his funeral those specific dances that he particularly liked when he was alive and ruling (Lexov, 39). Gods were thought to possess qualities of humans so they too were believed to enjoy the entertainment of dancing. As taught by Ani, an Egyptian scribe, song, dance, and frankincense are the meals for the god; acceptance of worship is his privilege (Lexov, 40, & Budge). One particular god that the Egyptians connected with dance is the god Osiris. The story of the god Osiris is about a god that was killed by his brother and torn into several pieces and scattered all over different temples. He then rose again and became the king of the underworld. He was raised to a high position congruent to Ra, the Sun-god, and worshiped by way of the bull Apis (Budge). This bull was considered the living image of Osiris and used as a representation of him raised and then sacrificed every 25 years to reenact the legend of Osiris (Kassing, 44). Within these rituals there also included the participation of the female temple dancers who helped reenact the story of Osiris death and resurrection with the bull-god, Apis, also with 40 nude virgins to signify eternity. This particular story represented the planting and harvesting as they celebrated at the fertility festivals. There were also female dancers with the purpose of dancing to chase evil spirits away. During a procession of a god, in the form of a shrine, this group of women, either completely nude or in a cloak that was open in the front, would dance around the shrine and using drums, branches, and their nudity they would ward off the evil spirits that were trying to hinder the procession of the shrine (Lexov, 41). Women within this culture were given the option of four different occupations, which included becoming a priestess, a midwife, a professional mourner, or a dancer. Many of these women became part of the temple dancers. However, if a woman had a lot of responsibility such as being the head of a household, she would not dance very often, not even in private. There was only one time that she would be permitted to dance and this was

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for the marriage of a son or daughter. She would perform a dance on this special occasion to make official the agreement for the marriage (Strouhal). Dwarf dancing also had a particular part in the religious aspect of this Egyptian culture. Before becoming part of religious rituals dwarfs were brought in from Libya to dance as entertainment for the kings. They were considered to have magical powers because their bodily formation and thought to have relation to the gods. Some of them worked for the ancient Egyptian government, made jewelry, and some later were integrated into funeral dances. These gods dancers were known to secure virility and male potency for the owner in this life as well as the afterlife (Egyptian) The detailed funeral of the master would include having the coffin drawn by bulls to the tomb with music and dwarfs dancing at the opening of the tomb. (Lexov, 37 & 41) Imitative dances were also present at the time of the Egyptians, however there is little information about these dances due to lack of known evidence. It is speculated though that these ancient people portrayed plants, nature, and some animals in their dances to imitate gods that were depicted as shrines with animal heads. Although there is no art that illustrates these dances, it is known through Egyptian text that the dancers would emulate specific animal movements (Parsons). There is one specific example of an imitative dance where the dancers depict wind with their movement. The artist painted a girl standing with her arms outstretched above all the other female dancers and the word wind next to the picture to show that she was portraying wind (Lexov, 25). This dance specific to women shows that the ancient Egyptian belief in the sacredness of nature was part of their culture. Within the Egyptian religion there were many rituals that the priests performed on different occasions. Priests were required to teach the youth of these rituals through dance so that they would be remembered throughout the times. Many of the youth would be educated in the dance-drama of Osiris, as discussed above, which provided everyone with religious remembrance of this god, as it was performed both inside and outside the temple. These youth would then become the future priests to pass on the knowledge of these ancient stories (Kassing, 44). There were three different kinds of funeral dances including ritual dances, expression of grief by the people attending, and dances performed for the deceased as entertainment. The first kind, ritual dance, was the most important and was performed with several men and women dancing with their hands above their heads and accompanied by people clapping a rhythm. The second kind of dance within the funeral dances consisted of the expression of grief by the people. They would move with specific gestures and postures that were performed in a rhythmic pattern. The third kind of funeral dance was that of entertainment for the deceased (Kassing, 45). This funeral dance included dances by performers including men, women, and dwarfs that the deceased person had enjoyed when he was alive. As mentioned above these were specific dances that were considered the deceased persons favorite to watch in his mortal life. Each of these three separate funeral dances were pertinent to the people of Ancient Egypt to enhance their religious belief of the afterlife (Lexov 36). When looking at the ritual dances for death in the ancient Egyptian culture the most prominent dance to showcase their belief of what death entails was performed by the mysterious Muu. Their cultural belief of the connection between the mortal world and the afterlife, the bridge take through death, was depicted in this three-part dance of the Muu. There were three different categories of Muu dancers. The first one would intercept

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the funeral procession on the banks of the river where they used gestures to indicate permission to enter the necropolis, which is defined as a cemetery or tomb. The second category was known as watchmen over the necropolis. Both of these two categories were depicted in the art that has been found today with high green headdresses that they wore during the ritual (Reeder). The third category of Muu dancers consisted of two men dancing facing each other. They were different in that they were portrayed as being bareheaded in the Ancient Egyptian art. This pair danced at the arrival of the coffin of the dead, which was being transported by boat. The Muu were theorized to be demigods from the afterlife, and sometimes were seen as the deceased kings of the past. All three groups of the Muu would cross the threshold that lies between the mortal world and the afterlife to accept the dead. At the death of a noble the Muus were called up by the lead priest to receive the dead and take the noble back with them to the afterlife. This example of a dance performed by the Muu helps illustrate the beliefs of the ancient Egyptian culture about death (Reeder). Dance was essential and is one way the Ancient Egyptians kept their religious culture alive. The continually passing of knowledge of these dance rituals from generation to generation allowed for this ancient culture to flourish for as long as it did and kept the true essence of what they believed in their daily lives. Although there is little information that has been discovered about religious dance within the Ancient Egyptian culture there is enough to show that dance had an essential part in this ancient peoples religious beliefs. From dancing women to ward off evil spirits, to dead kings from the afterlife dancing to accept newly deceased persons, both men and women had their own part in enhancing the Egyptian religious beliefs through dance. Bibliography Budge, E. A. Wallis. Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life. (2004) Web. 5 Nov. 2012 Egyptian. Plaque with a Dancing Dwarf with Large Phallus. 1st century BC-AD 1st century (Greco-Roman). Art Walters Museum, Maryland. The Walters Museum. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. "Historic Illustration of Dancing." The Dance: Historic Illustration of Dancing from 3300 B.C. to 1911 A.D. (2005): Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Kassing, Gayle . "History of Dance." 45-48. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Lexov, Irena, Milada Lexova, Diane Bergman, and K. Haltmar. "Ancient Egyptian Dancers. 57-66. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Lexov, Irena. Ancient Egyptian Dances. New York, Dover Publications, inc. 2000. Print. Parsons, Marie. Egypt: Dance and Dancers in Ancient Egypt. Dance and Dancers in Ancient Egypt. Tour Egypt. 1996. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. Reeder, Greg. "The Mysterious Muu and the Dance they do." The Mysterious Muu and the Dance they do (1995): 1-13. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Strouhal, Eugen, Even Strouhal, and Werner Forman. Life of the Ancient Egyptians. London: Opus Publishing LTD. (1992): 41-48. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. "The Dancing Of Ancient Egypt And Greece." The Dancing Of Ancient Egypt And Greece. (1924): 1-8. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.

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