Through the Eras

DanceSOURCESEmma Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz in alten Ägyptischen nachbildlichen und inschriflichen Zeugnissen (Glückstadt,Germany: J. J. Augustin, 1938).CULT DANCESStatuette of a female acrobatic dancer. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OFART, 13.1024, GIFT OF THE EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND. REPRODUCEDBY PERMISSION.WORSHIP. Cult dances were essential to worshippingthe gods in Egypt. Just as the gods required food,clothing, and incense, they expected dances to be performedperiodically at festivals. These dances are lessstudied than the dances associated with the funeral, perhapsbecause the scenes of these dances are less availablefor study in publications, requiring further research. TheEgyptians worshipped Hathor, Amun, and Osiris withdance, along with other gods.LEAPING HATHOR DANCE. The goddess Hathorhad many connections to dance and music. Scribes includedinscriptions naming Hathor in depictions of aleaping dance and an acrobatic dance. In the leapingdance, a girl in a short skirt danced while swinging amirror and a staff that she raised in her hand. Mirrorsoften depicted Hathor on the handle as an expression ofher connection to female beauty. Two musicians surroundedher. They wore long dresses and manipulatedthe same two objects. A third girl dancing in a circlearound the others also lifted a mirror and staff with anothergesture. All the dancers wore the ponytail with diskhairstyle that associated the dancers with the sun-god Re.A very abbreviated text mentions Hathor, but it is toobrief to allow translation.ACROBATIC HATHOR DANCE. In the tomb ofAnkhmahor from Dynasty Six, artists depicted fivewomen performing a distinctive acrobatic step. Theyraised one leg at a steep angle, while they leaned far back,dangling their ponytail with the disk weight on to theground. They balanced on one foot, flat on the ground.They wore a short skirt with a band of cloth descendingfrom the belt to below the hem and anklets. The accompanyinginscription mentions Hathor, but is too abbreviatedto translate. The artists included singers whoclapped and kept time for the dancers. In New Kingdomrepresentations of this dance, the singers held the menat,a percussion instrument also associated with Hathor.OTHER CULT DANCES. Blocks from a chapel builtby Hatshepsut (1478–1458 B.C.E.) at the Karnak Templedepict dancers in a procession during the Feast of theValley and the Feast of Opet. These two festivals were thegod Amun’s main annual festivals. The Feast of the Valleyincluded a procession between the god’s home in Karnakand the temples of deceased kings across the Nile river.The Opet Festival included a procession from Karnak toLuxor, the temple that represented the god’s harem. Thedancers in both festival processions performed an acrobaticdance. Its major movement was the bridge wherethe dancers leaned back until their arms supported them.Characteristically for this dance, their hair surroundedtheir upper bodies. The women wore only long skirts andtheir hair was loose. The musicians played the sistrum andmenat, two different kinds of ritual rattles. Both thesistrum and menat link the dance to Hathor, whose imagewas often included on these instruments.SOURCESEmma Brunner-Traut, Der Tanz in alten Ägyptischen nachbildlichen und inschriflichen Zeugnissen (Glückstadt,Germany: J. J. Augustin, 1938).SEE ALSO Music: Musical DeitiesHORIHOTEPSIGNIFICANTPEOPLEin Dancefl. Twenty-second Dynasty (c. 945–712 B.C.E.)Chief Dancer of BastetPRIEST AND DANCER. Horihotep lived some timeduring the Twenty-second Dynasty. Only a small, pyramid-shapedstone, roughly 22 inches tall, that onceArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 81