Ancient egyptian music Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient egyptian music - Research Paper Example Music in ancient Egypt was known for thousands of years and evidence for its existence has been found in the pre-dynastic period. It is mainly because of the massive influence of this art that if came to be found in many aspects of Egyptian life ranging from the palaces of the royal family and nobility, to the workshops of artisans and all the way to the tombs of the wealthy. It is a fact that music was a basic part of the religious services of this ancient state and it was associated with a number of gods to whom it was dedicated. Music was used by the priests to set the mood for the people to worship the gods and the fact that these gods were worshiped using music meant that the temple musicians held an esteemed place in the society. The ability of the priests to make use of music in religious ceremonies ensured that the music of worship was completely improved by the temple musicians so that it was not only used for religious purposes, but temple music also developed into an art f orm. Such gods as Hathor and Bes tended to be associated with music and this was despite the fact that they were also associated with childbirth, fertility, and dance and this made them extremely important to musicians. All of the major known classifications of musical instruments were well represented in ancient Egypt and these were used in diverse occasions, depending on the event as well as the people who used them. Among the percussion instruments that were used by the ancient Egyptians included hand-held drums, rattles, castanets, bells, and the sistrum (Lawergren 101). The last was a very significant rattle that was used in religious worship and it is because of this that in most cases, the sistrum was found in the possession of temple musicians (Krogh and Brooke 167). It is for this reason that the sistrum was mostly represented as being in the possession of temple musicians in the illustrations that