For the ancient and modern Egyptians, dance was, and is, a way to express joy and
celebration It is an essential part of their culture. People from every social class are exposed to
music and dancing. The ancient laborers worked in rhythmic motion to the sounds of songs and
percussion, and street dancers entertained passers by. Dance troupes were available for hire to
perform at dinner parties, banquets, lodging houses, and even religious temples. Some women
from wealthy harems were trained in music and dance. However, no well-bred Egyptian would
consider dancing in public because that was the privilege of the lower classes. Wealthy
Egyptians kept slaves to entertain at their banquets, and offer pleasant diversion to their owners.
The same idea is reported by those who study Middle Eastern countries today: the more
responsibility a woman has, such as being the female head of household, the less often she will
dance, even in private. In fact, she might only dance on some significant occasion, like the
betrothal of a son or daughter, to make the agreement official. At women's parties today,
potential daughter-in-laws and mothers will socialize and dance as part of the process of getting
to know one other.

Egypt is considered by many modern dancers to be the source of belly dance. Let us look,
therefore, at how the dance of ancient Egyptians evolved. An interesting legend has come to us
about the birth of the kings of the Fifth Dynasty and a group of wandering street dancers. The
story tells how the god Ra was about to become the father of triplets. The mother was Ruditdidit
, the wife of Rausir, a priest of Ra. Rausir did not know that the father of the children was his
beloved Ra. When Ruditdidit felt labor pains, Ra sent four goddesses and the god Khnumu to
help her. In order to arrive unrecognized, the goddesses transformed themselves into street
musicians and dancers. The god assumed the role of their porter. When the group arrived, they
were informed that the lady of the house was suffering the pangs of childbirt. They replied, "let
us in, for lo, we are skilled in midwifery." As payment for their services they are offered corn.
The goddesses, wishing to make their presence known, cause it to rain so that they might have an
excuse to return later to fetch their corn. They left precious treasures in the corn so that it comes
to the attention of all.

This story raises an interesting question. Did street dancers actually have a sideline as
midwives, so that it would be plausible for this story to have occurred? Was this a logical
development from their the old association of the dance with fertility cults? There is no way to
know, but it is possible. These dancers were apparently accustomed to arriving unannounced and
travelling to performs. Gypsies may be the modern heiresses to this tradition. Edward Lane,
who visited Egypt in the 19th century, described the procedure for the ritual of facial tattooing of
female children in Egypt, and added that this was usually done by itinerant Gypsy women. His
book of 1860 illustrated face, hand, and foot tatoos of ancient design. Like the practice of
applying henna designs to the bride and bridegroom, tattooing also has magical-protective
meaning for tribal peoples.

Nudity was very much a part of Egyptian society. In the Old Kingdom and Middle
Kingdom, women frequently wore very short skirts and danced bare breasted. They often
danced quite nude, except for the hip belts and perhaps jewelry. Henna (mehndi) was used to
stain the hands and nails for beauty, and for its medicinal and magical properties. This custom
has also survived: The traditional middle eastern, Indian, or North African wedding ceremony
may still have a henna ceremony for the new bride before the wedding. Henna, or mehndi, is
becoming more popular amongst Americans recently, with a new generation of henna artists and
suppliers in the United States.

The women of the harem were known as the "adorned ones.". They were there to please
and delight their master. Harem women and society ladies were instructed by choirmasters and
mistresses of dance as part of their education. They also learned to play the lute, the lyre, the
harp, and most importantly, the sistra and menits, which were religious instruments. Banquet
and harem dances were certainly more refined and sophisticated than the street dances. They
featured solos, pas de deux, pas de trois and group dances. That is to say, they created
choreography instead of just improvising the dance as they went along. There was a definitive
system for choreographic notation. These steps and gestures had names such as "the calf, the
successful-capture-in-the-boat, the leading-along-of-an-animal, the fair-capture-of-the-beauty;
the taking-of-the-gold and the colonade."

Fortunately for modern researchers, the acrobatic dances and pair dances of ancient Egypt
were described by a young man of Syracuse, who visited Memphis at the end of the fourth
century B.C. He wrote the following letter describing the entertainment provided at a private
banquet. Irena Lexova provides the following translation from the German version by Fritz
Wegge:

"Suddenly they disappeared and in their place came forward a group of dancers who jumped about in all directions, gathered together again, climbed one on top of the other with an incredible dexterity, mounting on the shoulders and the heads, forming pyramids, reaching to the ceiling of the hall, then descended suddenly one after the other to perform new jumps and admirable 'saltomortales'. Being in constant motion, now they danced on their hands, now they gathered in pairs, one turning his head down between the legs of his mate, then they lifted themselves mutually and returned to the original position, each of them alternatively being lifted and upon falling lifted his partner up."

He then describes a man and woman dancing with "clappers", i.e. wooden castanets:

"Now I caught sight of a troupe of musicians, coming with various musical instruments in their hands, in which I recognized harps, guitars, lyres, simple and double pipes, tambourines and cymbals. We were overwhelmed constantly by songs which were most cordially applauded by the audience. Then, at a given sign, the middle of the hall was taken by a man and a girl dancer, who were provided with clappers. These were made out of two small pieces of wood round and concave, located in the palms, and gave rhythm to the dancing steps when suddenly knocked together. These two dancers danced separately or together in harmonious configurations, mixed with pirouettes, soon parting and again approaching each other, the young dancer running after his mate and following her with expressions of tender desire, while she fled from him constantly, rotating and pirouetting, as if refusing his endeavors after amorous approach. This performance was done lightly and energetically in harmonious postures, and seemed to me to exceedingly
entertaining."

Lexova further notes that a number of these castanets have been preserved in the collection of the
Berlin museum, as noted by Curt Sachs in his German treatise on the musical instruments of the
Egyptians. They are described as being of small size, so that they "can be seized by the hand in
such a way that on the picture one cannot perceive them." Lexova further theorizes that in
pictures where the dancer's hand is formed into a fist, it is likely holding castanets. The other
rhythm instruments which gave great freedom of movement were true clappers, i.e. short wood,
bone or ivory sticks, of various shapes and sizes. Dancers of the New Kingdom are shown using
both tambourines and castanets in dance.

Yet another interesting prop used by the dancers was a short curved stick, or cane,
ornamented with little gazelle heads. Given the popularity of various rhythm instruments,
including rattles, Lexova states that these were probably canes with rattles on the end. Since that
modern Egyptian dancers also perform a "cane dance", this is a very interesting connection to
ancient Egyptian culture.

But as the Egyptian civilization expanded and became more sophisticated, they were also
affected by foreign influences. They felt the effects of Phoenicia, Syria, Palestine, Nubia, the
Sudan, Ethiopia and the Bedouins. Foreign customs and wealth poured into Egypt. Around
1500 B.C. the Egyptians brought the previously mentioned Bayaderes, who were the elegant
temple dancers of India. As an ancient text describes, the dances were becoming less like
marches and more elegant: "the lines flow softly and pleasantly; nowhere do they bend sharply or
break; and even where the mood is impetuous and impassioned, the movement remains close."

After the New Kingdom there were several invasions: the Libyans, the Sudanese, the
Assyrians, and the Persians all influenced Egypt. In 30 B.C. Egypt became a Roman province.
Martial, a Roman writer from the last half of the first century A.D., mentioned that dancers from
the Nile were sent to Rome. Egyptian culture, whose development had been influenced by its
neighbors, was also taken abroad to influence the new Roman Empire.

Perhaps one of the oldest records of a dance contract can be found in the archives of
Greek papyri purchased by Cornell University. The following contract, recorded in koine (the
Greek used in the Hellenistic period), dates back to 206 A.D.:

"To Isadora, castanet dancer from Artemisia of the village of Philadelphia. I wish to engage you with two other castanet dancers to perform at the festival at my house for six days beginning with the 24th of the month of Payni [May 26-June 24] according to the old calendar, you receive as pay 36 drachmas for each day and for the entire period four artabas of barley and 20 pairs of bread loaves and whatsoever garments or gold ornaments you may bring down, we will guard these safely; and we will furnish you with two donkeys when you come down to us and a like number when you go back to the city. Year 14 of Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax and Marcus Aurelius Antonius Pius, Augusti, and Publicus Septimus Geta Caesar Augustus, Payni 16."

The dancer Isadora is referred to specifically as a "krotalistria", whereas the normal term for a
dancer in Greek is "orchestria". Therefore, Isadora was a specialist. She was furnished with
transportation and insured against loss of her costumes and props. Had she been a slave, she
would not have been allowed to negotiate her own contracts. Thus, Isadora was also a free
woman, and agreed to bring two other dancers with her. She could have had other dancers in her
troupe as well. Given that the standard pay for bricklayers of the same era was about 2-1/2
drachmas per day, and a skilled weaver about 7-1/2 drachmas a day, the pay of 36 drachmas a
day for the dancers was substantially higher. Saretta, who provided this analysis, added that there
were approximately 14 other contracts in this period for entertainers who performed in the cities
of the Empire.

Curt Sachs claims that Egyptian castanets existed in two forms: First, one shaped like a
small wooden boot, cut in half lengthwise and grooved in the leg part, while the tapering foot
part served as a handle. The second form was shaped more nearly like the modern Spanish
castanuelas; but it was less flat and looked more like the chestnut (castana), for which it was
probably named. Sachs adds that neither form is properly Egyptian. The best ones were Greek,
and could have come originally from Phoenicia. The actual instruments found in Egypt, in the
New Kingdom era, also include a small pair of finger cymbals with an upraised boss in the
center, connected by the aforementioned short string. These are virtually identical to a pair found
in Pompeii, c. 50 A.D., which are connected by a short chain. Whether the dancers used
connected finger cymbals or a more rounded "castanet", the tradition of castanet dancers was
widespread throughout the ancient world.

The Egyptians were famous for their production of a special type of Egyptian net
embroidery called Asyut or Asuit. In the Museum of Montbijou at Berlin are preserved
specimens of netting made by Egyptians over three thousand years ago. These nets are made
from flax. The Egyptian production of this hand-made net surpasses modern fibers in intricacy
of design, each net composed of some three-hundred and sixty-five individual fibers. Their dye
techniques were equally sophisticated; metallic salts to improve the fastness of dyes has been
found in textiles in tombs dating from before 1500 B.D. These early embroideries were done
with the application of precious metals, especially gold. The pure metal was beaten into thin
plates, divided into small slips which were rounded by a hammer, and then filed to form wire.
Few remains of ancient wire work have been found. This net would certainly have qualified as
"transparent", as shown on the tomb pictures.

Records of this beautiful art disappears in Egypt until the 1800's when it was reintroduced
by the French and Germans, possibly in the area of Asyut, where metal embroidered shawls
began to appear and were made for export. Egyptians today call this fabric "tulle bitteli", or
"tule" and pronounced as "tulley". One manufacturer calls them "toile", which is French for net.
If any of these old shawls can be located they are prohibitively expensive. However, modern
imitations are available from eastern dance suppliers, and are quite affordable. Even though
their use cannot be documented in the intervening years, an imitation asyut dress makes a lovely,
authentic accent for a costume.