{"id":926,"date":"2009-10-19T16:54:41","date_gmt":"2009-10-19T23:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=926"},"modified":"2009-10-19T16:54:41","modified_gmt":"2009-10-19T23:54:41","slug":"deagonnakedbdpart1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/10\/19\/deagonnakedbdpart1\/","title":{"rendered":"

Naked Belly Dance in Ancient Egypt<\/h3>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Banquet<\/p>\n

Part 1: Are They Really Belly Dancing?<\/h2>\n

by Andrea Deagon Ph.D.<\/a>
\nposted October 19, 2009 <\/span><\/h3>\n

One of the most popular illustrations of ancient Egyptian dance in any medium is a painted fresco from the tomb of Nebamun, a nobleman who died sometime around 1400 BCE.  The scene is a banquet in which Nebamun, his family and friends are entertained with endless cups of drink amidst tables piled high with food, enjoying good companionship, and, of course, music and dance.  In its position on his tomb\u2019s wall, this scene of pleasure and celebration was what we might think of as a \u201cmagical\u201d representation.  <\/p>\n

It invoked the interconnected powers of prosperity, abundance, sensuality, and life force that ensured the rebirth of Nebamun and his family into eternal comfort and pleasure.<\/p>\n

In the register\tbelow the banquet itself, four musicians, all women, play for Nebamun and\this family.  One plays an aulos<\/i>, a double-reed instrument that would have sounded something like an oboe with a drone. \tOne appears to sing, while the other two clap for rhythmic accompaniment \u2013\tEgyptian hand-clapping was a musical form in itself and was capable of providing\tcomplex rhythms.  To their right, before a table of offerings, there are two dancing figures. Superimposed on one another and facing in opposite directions, seemingly lost in their own movement, these lovely young women both lean slightly forward as they dance.  One has her hands raised over her head, her fingers entwined in the two-handed finger snap illustrated in the art of several ancient cultures and still common throughout the Middle East today.  The other\u2019s hands reach evocatively forward.<\/p>\n\n\n
\"muscians
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n
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Musicians and dancers from the tomb of Nebamun<\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Like the girls who serve the banqueters in the upper register, both dancers are nude except for their jewelry: a wide necklace, bracelets, a headband worn over an ornamental beaded wig, and a hip belt. <\/p>\n

This same \u201cbejeweled nakedness\u201d is seen\tin other dancers in Egyptian art of the same period, but jewelry of this sort was worn over clothing by elite women.  In various elite tombs (and now on display in many of the world\u2019s major  museums), archeologists have\tunearthed wide, beaded collars, bracelets originally worn several at a time, and beaded hip belts that would have rustled gently as the wearer walked (or danced) along. <\/p>\n

Who were these dancers?  Since they and the serving girls are dressed alike, could they be household servants, one of whose duties is dancing?  Or are they professional entertainers?  Are they prostitutes?  Or, given their youth \u2013 daughters?  And what is the significance of their dance at this otherworldly banquet?<\/p>\n\n\n
\"dancers<\/p>\n
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Dancers from the tomb of Nebamun<\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The Nebamun dancers are probably already familiar to most belly dancers who spend any time online, because they are used to illustrate the \u201cancient history\u201d segment of any number of belly dance web sites.  They also feature prominently a s illustrations in more general discussions of ancient Egyptian dance.  Though these dancing figures are unusual in Egyptian art in many ways, they are the iconic representation of ancient \u201cbelly dance\u201d for the modern world.  These two nearly-naked dancers subtly shape our ideas about the nature of ancient Egyptian dance, and by projection, modern belly dance.  <\/p>\n

So what impressions do<\/i> the Nebamun dancers create of our (as it is often described) \u201cancient art\u201d?  <\/p>\n

On one hand, a voyeuristic reading of the Nebamun dancers as \u201cbelly dancers\u201d contributes to the idea of belly dancing as only or essentially sexy seduction, done for the pleasure of the elite at their banquets, and done in the nude, no less.  <\/p>\n

On the other hand, the nudity of the Nebamun dancers can be understood as expressing an honest sexuality that is different from the kind of sensuality exuded by the odalisques and harems that so often feature in orientalizing visions of historical belly dance.  This honesty can serve as an exemplar to the modern belly dancer, who must often struggle through layers of self-repression to find her own sensual self.  <\/p>\n

But these are just impressions.  The more important question is what is the reality<\/i> behind the image of sensual, even sexual belly dance the Nebamun dancers seem to display?  Given that they are used so freely to illustrate ancient belly dance, what can the Nebamun dancers actually<\/i> tell us about the history of belly dance?<\/p>\n

Two very significant questions about them remain:<\/p>\n