Ancient Egypt
Art and music of Ancient Egypt
The music and art of the Egyptians have been an integral part of their society, their culture and their worship systems from the times immemorial. It is apparent that the music of Egyptians existed from the prehistoric period but the evidence of it became preserved in writing just during the historical period also referred to as the pharaonic or dynastic periods after the 3100 BC. The musicians in Egypt took up various positions in the society and music was held in high esteem in various places like the temples, farms, workshops, the tombs and even the battlefields. The religious worship held music very close to the occasion more than any other sector hence there were gods that were associated with music like the Bes and Hathor (Minneapolis Institute of Art, n.d).
There were several categories of musical instruments like the wind, percussion and the stringed instruments were all present in ancient Egypt. There were the hand held drums, bells, rattles, castanets as well as the sistrum which were used for worship purposes among other uses. There were also wind instruments included the flutes and the trumpets and...
These instruments often bore the inscriptions of the name of the owner and the names of the gods related to music. In singing, both the male and the female voices were used, giving a classic touch to the ancient Egypt music. There were varying social levels to which the professional musicians belonged with the highest status for them being the temple musician. There was the 'office of the musician' dedicated to a goddess or a god and was often occupied by a woman. The musicians, with special gifts of singing were respected and had access and contact with the royal houses and just below them were the musicians who acted as entertainers during festivals and parties. Music was also used informally while working in the fields (Dunn J., 2011).
The art of ancient Egypt is also one that attracts a lot of research and scholarly writing. The art was predominantly meant for the religious uses and use in the magical art or performances. From the art of ancient Egypt radiated the beliefs that they had of the world and the efforts that they made at that time to understand the universe. The art of that time played a…
