How Important Was Dance In Ancient Egypt And What Purpose Did It Serve?
|Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Ancient Egyptians loved to dance. Several ancient Egyptian tomb paintings depict dancers in various forms of dress and many different postures. Dancing was not only a form of entertainment, but it also had a religious value in ancient Egyptian life. There is a deep symbolism behind ancient Egyptian dancing, perhaps little-known to many people.
Acrobatic dancers -2500 B.C. Painting on wall Egypt, Saqqara, Tomb of Mehu. Image source
Professional dancers in ancient Egypt were usually women who performed dressed in skirts or loose tunics with shoulder straps. It was not uncommon that dwarfed entertained the pharaoh dancing as well. Pharaoh Pepi II was delighted when he was brought a dwarf from an expedition. The Pharaoh’s dwarf most likely originated from the Land of Punt.