Ancient Egyptian Music - The Holy Lotus

This musical tribute to ancient Egypt was originally composed in 1978 by Alo Jihad Racy for the King Tutankhamun exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. It was inspired by the artistry of the ancient treasures and the religious symbolism of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which suggested titles of the compositions. Only traditional Near Eastern instruments were used in making this recording, like the nay, salamiyyah, buzuq, mijwiz, mizmar and others.

Although music existed in prehistoric Egypt, the evidence for it becomes secure only in the historical (or "dynastic" or "pharaonic") period--after 3100 BCE. Music formed an important part of Egyptian life, and musicians occupied a variety of positions in Egyptian society. Music found its way into many contexts in Egypt: temples, palaces, workshops, farms, battlefields and the tomb. Music was an integral part of religious worship in ancient Egypt, so it is not surprising that there were gods specifically associated with music, such as Hathor and Bes (both were also associated with dance, fertility and childbirth).

All the major categories of musical instruments (percussion, wind, stringed) were represented in pharaonic Egypt. Percussion instruments included hand-held drums, rattles, castanets, bells, and the sistrum--a highly important rattle used in religious worship. Hand clapping too was used as a rhythmic accompaniment. Wind instruments included flutes (double and single, with reeds and without) and trumpets. Stringed instruments included harps, lyres, and lutes--plucked rather than bowed. Instruments were frequently inscribed with the name of the owner and decorated with representations of the goddess (Hathor) or god (Bes) of music. Both male and female voices were also frequently used in Egyptian music.

Professional musicians existed on a number of social levels in ancient Egypt. Perhaps the highest status belonged to temple musicians; the office of "musician" (shemayet) to a particular god or goddess was a position of high status frequently held by women. Musicians connected with the royal household were held in high esteem, as were certain gifted singers and harp players. Somewhat lower on the social scale were musicians who acted as entertainers for parties and festivals, frequently accompanied by dancers. Informal singing is suggested by scenes of workers in action; captions to many of these pictures have been interpreted as words of songs. Otherwise there is little evidence for the amateur musician in pharaonic Egypt, and it is unlikely that musical achievement was seen as a desirable goal for individuals who were not professionals.

The ancient Egyptians did not notate their music before the Graeco-Roman period, so attempts to reconstruct pharaonic music remain speculative. Representational evidence can give a general idea of the sound of Egyptian music. Ritual temple music was largely a matter of the rattling of the sistrum, accompanied by voice, sometimes with harp and/or percussion. Party/festival scenes show ensembles of instruments (lyres, lutes, double and single reed flutes, clappers, drums) and the presence (or absence) of singers in a variety of situations.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ancient
• egyptian
• music
• ali
• jihad
• pharaoh
• tutankhamin
• mummy
• cleopatra
• sammy
• nyman
• kaaleet
• pyramid
• sfinx

[TheNewBlackster]

@philosophysicallyhot

Agree.

[KINGOFPIEISH]

b-e-a-utiful

[philosophysicallyhot]

@philosophysicallyhot It is not rare to have foreigners rulinng a land that is not theirs, be it ancestral or not, Europe is a great example, the Hapsburg (multi-national European rulers), Spain even had a few Kings who were not even born in Spain at all or grew up there etc... ex: French Prince and later King ofSpain Phillip V. Egypt was no exception

[philosophysicallyhot]

@philosophysicallyhot It will be interesting for you to know that many Pharaohs especially towards the end of the Egyptian empire were barely of Egyptian descent, many of them foreign. Cleopatra was of Greek descent, the Greeks took over the Egyptian Empire and a Greek was made Pharoah (Cleopatra's ancestor). Tutankhamon, there are still many mysteries surrounding him...

[philosophysicallyhot]

@gmussolini1488 I don't think Ancient Egyptian were neither Black or White in the modern sense of the term as race in Ancient times was not perceived as it is today. However they were African. Ancient Egypt was called Khmet or Land of the Blacks.

[sajokal20]

The Somalis still dance like those Ancient-Egyptians . In the collapse of the Egyptian Empire , more than 200 thousands Egyptians migrated in the south of Egypt in the North/East Africa according to the greek historian Diodorus of Sicily . The Egyptian culture was preserved in the horn of Africa , just visit it !

[sajokal20]

@gmussolini1488 I think you lost the logical mind . The Ancient-Egyptians were africans and they were not the arabic ,and eurasiatic invaders . The Dna of ancient-egyptians is African . Zahi Hawaas is not a genetist but the europeans genetists proved that the ancient-egyptians were blacks africans with the same sub-saharan black dna . So don't dream . Go see the indigenous african parents of Akenathon Queen Tiyi and Amenhotep III . The Persians ,Greeks and Arabs are invaders ,not Egyptians

[gmussolini1488]

@sajokal20 "Despite the refusal of the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, to release any DNA results which might indicate the racial ancestry of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, the leaked results reveal that King Tut’s DNA is a 99.6 percent match with Western European Y chromosomes."

[gmussolini1488]

@sajokal20 oh really? so.. egiptians were black? Thats not what a I have seen in the latest DNA test in King Tutankhamon who showed to the world his haplogroup R1B , in other words, european! just type in google "king tut dna test" and see... by the way, the fall of egiptian civilization has an explanation, blood mix with nubian (blacks) in the south, when cleopatra ruled (white queen) the egiptian people were already mixed with blacks, thats why the empire has been ruined after her death...

[sajokal20]

I am sorry , this video does not show the true ancient-egyptians who were africans according to the ancient-egyptians . The europeans and asiatics invaded Egypt in the last times of Kingdom ! But the ancient-egyptians proved that they were from the land of Pount , East Africa ,the region ,of Somalia and Djibouti and Ethiopia now, you can find the folk and the music of the pharaohs still preserved in somali folk ! History said that Egypt learnt the music to the greeks and romans !