Music and Entertainment in Ancient Egypt
Excerpt from
Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt – 2 nd Ed.
by Moustafa Gadalla
General
Many writers have focused on western music as the only wort hy source, implying that
anything else is not eligible to be considered music.
The word ‘music’ in the English language has several alternate meanings, but basically it
means ‘Any rhythmic sequence of pleasing sounds, such as birds, water, ... etc’ . Pleasing
sounds are in the ears of the beholder just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Music and singing accompanied daily activities and religious festivals in Egypt. Workers
sang simple folk songs, as they labored. Guests at dinner parties were ent ertained by songs and
dances while they ate and drank. Hymns to God were often sung to the accompaniment of the
harp.
There is no question that the ancient Egyptians had knowledge of music and enjoyed it. So
far, we do not have any evidence to know wha t form of musical notations they did use. We
know however, that the Greeks were using the letters of their alphabet for musical purposes by
the 2 n d century BCE. Here is what some ancient travelers have informed us:

Athenaens told us that both Greeks and the “barbarians” learned their music from
Egyptian refugees.

Pythagoras was so impressed by the Egyptian wisdom and noted that they paid particular
attention to the study of music.

Plato, who was an attentive observer of the social life in Egypt, stated that Egyptians
thought that music was beneficial for youth.
Egyptians believed that music was of divine origin, and it is possible that they used
hieroglyphs (which means sacred scripts) as musical notes.
The number of pictures of musicians in the scul ptures and bas-reliefs, as well as the
paintings, is clear evidence of the important role that music had.
Can we learn anything substantial, about music, from ancient Egyptian pictorial
representations? We should remember that:
1. The temples and tombs were not meant for public displays or analysis.
2. Almost everything we see in these temples and tombs has other symbolic meanings.
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Therefore, the answer to the question is still unknown. We should, however, be wary of
“in-depth analyses” of some authors, and of others who declare the non -existence of certain
knowledge, if they cannot find the answers that fit their western paradigm.
Harmony of the Cosmos
The netert Het-Heru (Hathor) was the main divine aspect of music and
entertainment. Hathor was the great provider of spiritual nourishment. She
provided joy, lovemaking, music and cheerfulness. She was also the patroness of
spiritual healing.
She was lovingly referred to as the ‘mistress of dance’ and the ‘mistress of
music’.
The belief of universal harmony, in an astronomical, musical sense had ancient roots. As
an example, there is a representation from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2133 -1633 BCE) showing a
harpist playing a six-stringed harp. Above his head we see six red disks. A contemporary
passage on the wall of another tomb refers to the owner having ‘danced like the planets of the
sky’. The disks, even if they do not actually represent musical notes, at least suggest musical
concepts. This idea of ‘universal harmony’ in an astronomical -musical sense, was expressed
more clearly in later writings.
In a hymn to Het-Heru (Hathor), at her temple in Dendara, there is another indication of
the relationship between music and the cosmos:
The
The
The
The
sky and its stars make music to you.
sun and the moon praise you.
neteru exalt you.
neteru sing to you.
Instruments
The walls of public and private monuments tell us a good deal about their musical
instruments and how they developed over time . There are a good number of ancient musical
instruments which have survived the ages.

Ancient Egyptian harps can be divided into two groups: arched and angular. The angular
harp became common during the New Kingdom, but the arched harp seems to have been
known, from as early as the 4 t h Dynasty (c. 2613-2492 BCE).
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The harps varied in form, size, and the number of their strings; they
are represented in the ancient paintings with 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
14, 17, 20, 21, and 22 strings.

The end-blown flute changed little in appearance over the course of
Egyptian history. A similar instrument, known as the nay, is one of
the most popular instruments in Egypt and North Africa today.

The reed instrument has generally been identified as a single -reed
type, that is to say a clarinet. It is not clear from surviving examples
what kind of mouthpiece it had.

The Egyptians had several kinds of flutes, some suited to mournful, others to festive
occasions, similar to the Greek’s versions of flutes.

The double pipe was as common in Egypt, as it has been in Greece. It consisted of two
tubes, one played by the right, the other by the left hand, the latter giving a deep sound for
the base, the right a sharp tone for the tenor.

The trumpet was utilized for it s megaphone quality.

The drums used were barrel-shaped and not cylindrical.

Hand drums were used. They were of a type known, in modern Egypt, as darabukka, a clay
pot open at the lower end, with a membrane glued or laced to the upper rim.

There were many percussion instruments: they included different sizes and shapes of the
tambourine, as well as the castanets, consisting of two ivory plates hung from a necklace.
Musicians
Musicians achieved considerable status. They were master performers and composed their
own music. Skillful performances could win a high reputation. Some musicians were able to
afford important monuments of their own. Some ensembles are shown, with the players’ names
written next to them, and in these cases we may assume that they represented groups which
actually existed. Where the participants remain anonymous, it is much more likely to be a
conventional ‘ideal’ scene.
The core of the ensemble generally consisted of harp, lute and double oboe, occas ionally
with additional instruments such as lyre, tambourine and different types of harp. The
instrumentalists could be joined by people singing and clapping their hands.
There were many combinations of various instruments. In the Bacchic festival of P tolemy
Philadelphus, described by Athenaeus, more than 600 musicians were employed in the chorus ,
among them were the 300 performers on the cithara.
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They had various and distinctive roles. Some of their many musical titles included
‘overseer’, ‘instructor’, ‘director of musicians’ and ‘teacher’. The duties of each title are not
totally clear to us.
Singing
Singing was a very popular activity in entertaining guests. There were also many hymns, in
honor of the neteru.
A relief painted on a wall of a tomb at Saqqara, shows singers and flutists in a crouching
position. The conductor is raising his hand to indicate the beats, and the singers are providing
accompaniment by clapping their hands.
There were also solo performances. So metimes, a chorus of many people sang at a private
assembly without any instrument, two or three beating time at intervals with their hands.
No banquet music was complete without the human voice.
Dancing & Ballet
In all civilizations, dancing has always accompanied music.
ceremonies, the classical steps were always followed.
The
Egyptians, including the kings, danced at the temples in honor of
the neteru.
During the religious
One could dance either singly or in groups, wit h the sexes
either together or apart. The men danced with immense vigor,
accompanying their motions with rhythmic jumps. The women
used slower rhythms.
The girls and young women of Egypt were all good dancers. This activity was a favorite
and regular game for them. By dancing, all of them were in fact worshipping Het-Heru
(Hathor), the netert of love, happiness, dancing and music.
In the Tomb of Kagemni, at Saqqara, in the three -pillared room, five dancers are shown
performing an acrobatic ballet. Ballet performances can also be seen on the western wall of the
Luxor Temple.
On these wall scenes dating around 1800 BCE, the women performed pirouettes forward and
backward, cartwheels, the splits, and backward flips. Sometimes they performed these ex ercises
in pairs, one of the female dancers standing up and the other on her back. They would do
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pirouettes in that position, head up and head down alternately. These were difficult exercises
that could only be done with extensive training and practice.
Many of their postures do not differ from our modern ballet, and the pirouette delighted
Egyptian parties, four thousand years ago.
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