Textual, iconographical and archaeological evidence for the performance of ancient Egypt Music. In: Ventura, A. G., Tavolieri, C., Verderame, L. (Hrsg.): The Musical Performance in Antiquity: Archaeology and Written Sources. Newcastle upon Tyne 2018, 93-120. (original) (raw)

Music, dance and instruments in Ancient Egypt (English Translation)

The study starts clarifying where and why people learned music. It will then deal with chant that precede any other human instruments, and dance, a body language for music that was performed by professionals sought by broad social categories. After having covered various aspects of the repertory and clothing, we will discuss the function of music. We will see then the first attempt of polyphony, although it cannot be considered as such, as it does not fit the harmonic requisites nowadays. Additionally, the notation assumes a progress we had no idea about, as the chironomes -people speaking about music through body gestures- have not had been studied enough. Finally, we shall identify the main instruments of the Old Kingdom according to their families and will refer to their manufacture and importance.

Music and Political Space in Ancient Egypt

2019

In Ancient Egypt, music was an important element of the public space, structuring military parades, royal festivals and religious processions. At the same time, all these settings can be understood as political space, inasmuch as they always served political communication as well. The present paper investigates how music and musical instruments were employed to this effect and how political realities and their changes are reflected in the choices involved.

Sound Studies and Visual Studies Applied to Ancient Egyptian Sources

co-écrit avec Sibylle Emerit, dans Sounding Sensory Profiles in the Ancient Near East, edited by A. Schellenberg and T. Krüger, Ancient Near East Monographs 25, 2019, p. 315-334, 2019

The aim of this paper is to present how sound and visual studies can renew our understanding of ancient Egyptian music, by articulating a theoretical presentation of this anthropological approach with ancient Egyptian sources, both iconographical and textual. The work being currently carried out by researchers in ethnomusicology and anthropology of music invite to break down the artificial barriers between disciplinary fields and objects of study, in order to perform analysis on a broader scale . The concept of “music” itself, used e.g. by Victor Loret (1859-1946), Curt Sachs (1881-1958) or Hans Hickmann (1908-1968), is inappropriate for studying the organised sounds produced by the ancient Egyptian as it leads to apply Western classification to ancient Egyptian material. Renewing our knowledge of ancient Egyptian music requires to take sound as a whole to be studied not only in relation to musical manifestations, but also in relation to other expressions, within the general framework of the sensory studies. For example, it seems sterile to separate music from dance, and music from emotion, just as it seems artificial to dissociate senses from one another. On this basis, the three major epithets of the goddess Hathor, which define her as mistress of music, dance and joy, perfectly illustrate the importance of having a multi sensorial approach to ancient Egyptian sources, which frequently associate hearing and sight. The sistrum, a sonorous object and hathoric effigy, is therefore to be understood as a ritual device transmitting sounds and images, soliciting the senses of the goddess Hathor as well as those of the gods and people who are actors of the rites. More generally, a sensory reading of ancient Egyptian rites leads to re-examine space in temples, by taking into account iconographic and textual material relating to music, dance and joy.

Beyond the Borders of Egypt: Questions on the origins and offspring of the harp.

Ricardo Eichmann, Dahlia Shehata. Music Beyond Cultural Borders. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the DOT 2017, Studien zur Musikarchäologie XII, pp.89-104 , 2021

The arts of ancient Egypt are often described as unchanging. For the harp, the iconography shows that it was a major instrument of the Egyptian musical culture between the Old Kingdom and the Roman period. This incredible longevity supports the idea of the conservatism of the pharaonic society. Played by men and women, this instrument is used as accompaniment for singing. This paper shows that not only the harp evolved over the course of time and with cultural contact, but also that the player of this instrument, called hesou, was able to adapt his or her repertoire with the introduction of new stringed instruments coming from western Asia. The issue concerning the origin of the harp and its dissemination beyond cultural borders is also discussed in order to draw the attention on the methodological problems that are encountered when one attempts to write the history of an instrument over the long term and to retrace its spread within a geographical space that extends far beyond the frontiers of Egypt.

Musical Performance in Ancient Israel

2016

Archaeological and textual data demonstrate that ancient cultures shared many distinct similarities and differences. Architecture, pottery, and figurines help define elements of these enigmatic groups. Scholars work diligently with fragmented, complex puzzle pieces to understand subtle and overt intricacies in these areas. Music is also one of those fascinating, yet challenging realms. Although the precise sounds of music from the past are lost to us, archaeological and textual data show that ancient Near Eastern cultures possessed distinct characteristics and differences in musical instruments and performance. This paper offers unique questions to the available data in an effort to further our understanding of musical practices in antiquity among these complex groups/cultures/societies. 1) Did musicians perform melodies but interject them with regional or cultural flavor? 2) Did musicians

Music Bands in the Old Kingdom

Journal of Tourism, Hotels and Heritage

The Egyptians loved music and it apparently played an important part in their lives, this is demonstrated on the walls of tombs and temples as early as the Old Kingdom whether in private banquets, or in religious contexts, under the offering table of the deceased. Egyptian-musical instruments were well developed and varied. The music scenes of the Old Kingdom included string instruments like different types of harps, percussion instruments like clappers and rattles, wind instruments like flutes, clarinets, double pipes. Music-bands appear on walls as early as the 5th dynasty, some of which were male or female bands or even mixed bands, the number of musicians differed as well. This paper is concerned with the formation of music bands in the Old Kingdom in relation to participants gender and number, also musical instruments used, their designation in the ancient Egyptian language. The study ends with a main conclusion.