Egyptian music:

People from Ancient Egypt thought that music was

invented by Thoth, the god of the writing and of the
Music from Ancient knowledge, and it was used to civilize the world. The god
Egypt has been Bes used music and dancing to keep away snakes and
disappearing with the other evil entities from people such as women and
pass of the years and we children. Music was found in all the celebrations or even in
can only guess that it temples. Most of this music was accompanied with dances.
sounded like the actual God
The dancers did the rituals bare excepting necklaces, small
contemporary Egyptian Thot
pieces of cloth with belts or perfumes. Due to the fatigue of
folk music. At any rate workers, this type of enjoyment which were dancing or
there are investigations listening to music kept them away from stress. By these
to reconstruct this music reasons music became part of their routine. In the
and also some evenings, when people couldnt do any work people stayed
instruments because of together listening to music.
the idea of some
Egyptologists from Music was played by professionals as nobles, although
Cairos University which people learnt how to play instruments without classes, only
are trying to rescue the by the practice that they made at home. The most famous
songs and dances of noble who knew how to play instruments was a priestess
Ancient Egypt by called Asru who played music to worship to the god Amun
documenting at in the temple of Karnak.
excavations in Saqqara,
One of the most famous
Bani Hasan or Luxor.
instruments in the Ancient
The Coptic Church has
Egypt was the harp which
persevered Ancient
was invented very small
Egyptian style of music.
and it developed until the
big size that had to be
supported by the floor.
This instrument was
normally decorated with Women playing the harp and
the guitar
expensive works of art.
Other instruments also became very famous like the flute,
the clarinet, the cymbals, the trumpets, the percussions or
the lute. They use chants and cymbals in their rituals.

Music in temples
Musical instruments:

Ancient Egyptians invented many types harps, lutes and lyres).

of instruments: wind instruments (Made
with reeds until bronze became more
common. Ex: mizmars, zummaras,
memets and shofars), percussion
instruments (Produces the sound when
they are shaken. Ex: drums, cymbals
and sistrums) and string instruments
(They were made with animal gut. Ex:
The different musical instruments were
used in religious ceremonies, at parties
and even there was a type of marching
band which helped troops during a
battle. Some examples of instruments
The
sistrum are:

Membranaphones, were played at social gatherings.

The harp Aerophones, were mostly used in army ceremonies.
Chordophones, were imported from the Asiatic invaders.

Music in Ancient Egypt was based on a pentatonic scale without half-tones. When people
from foreign conquest Egypt, they brought new instruments and began to use a heptatonic
scale.

The dance was considered in Ancient

Egypt more than a hobby, in fact,
Egyptian dance since the music and dance started to
get popularity, secular and religious
life developed. At the time of the Pre-
During the party, the guests clapped and got carried away Dynastic women both priestesses and
by the vibrant orchestras, dancers, made elastic goddesses danced with their arms
movements, jumped and bent their bodies in the time above their heads. Dance was
with the music. considered one of the most important
rituals during ceremonies. The
People from every social class were involved in music and Egyptians dance was influenced by
dancing. These two activities are inseparables so that both the Hebrew tradition, which was very
are in pictorial representations such as in tombs and popular in Rome during the Empire
temples. and still today in some places of
Sudan. Dances were most of them
There are different types of done on the enthronement of a new
dances: banquet dances, combat king and men and women never
dances, harem dances, street danced together. Egyptian
dances, religious dances and choreography seems to be complex.
For banquets, dancers were chosen
non-religious dances. However,
with the variety of servants or women
noble people didnt dance in
living on the harem. They sometimes
public. got professional dancers. Energy was
Women dancing
the highpoint to succeed, dances
similar to the ones that were
represented in the tomb of
Nenkhetifkai at Saqqara.
Dance was considerate part of the Egyptian life, even in funerary ritual dances some
choreographies were fundamental for the success of the ceremony.

Dance was also very important at religious festivals dedicated to Apis.

Bibliography:

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/music.htm

http://www.experience-ancient-egypt.com/ancient-egyptian-music.html

http://panhistoria.com/www/AncientEgyptianVirtualTemple/music.html