History of Egypt

Geography: The country of Egypt is larger than the state of Texas and New Mexico combined. The majority of the country is dry, arid, desert land inhabited by small oases. The Sahara desert is located in Southwestern Egypt and is also referred to as the Western Desert. Africa’s longest river, the Nile, runs north through Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. Summers are extremely hot and dry with temperatures averaging to about 108°F. Winters are fairly mild with lows of 40°F. Rainfall is very scare ranging from nothing to about 8 inches in the Nile Delta.

History: The earliest Egyptian Dynasty was a combination of Egyptians from the upper and lower parts of Egypt which was around 3000 B.C. Today’s Egyptians are very proud of the Pharaonic rule that followed. Egypt became under Persian control in 525 B.C and was later taken by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C which brought Greek rule to the country. Egypt was one of the first countries that Christian missionaries visited causing many Egyptians to undergo religious persecution. Due to this religious persecution Egyptians welcomed the Muslim invasion which began in 642 A.D. As a result Egypt is still heavily populated with people who practice the Muslim religion.

Culture: Warmth in relationships is important in Egyptian culture, and greetings are elaborate. Social classes play a large role in society and social greeting are depend heavily depend on the differences in social classes between individuals.

Society: Family is extremely important is Egypt. In the majority of Egyptian home, a young woman is protected by her brothers and may even accompany her in public. A man’s honor is based on how well he protects his wife. In many rural setting a young women will discontinue school once she is married. In customary households in is not uncommon for the extended family to live together with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. However due to urbanization it also has become common for the immediate family to live separate from the extended family. The thought of putting the elderly in a rest home is repulsive. The parents expect for the children (mostly the eldest son) to support them through old age. Neither dating nor public displays of affection are accepted in Egypt. Moral purity is highly valued and is key requirement for women in the marriage contract. Now, individuals have more say as to their marriage whereas before marriages were arranged by the heads of the households. Weddings are extremely elaborate and can last up to three days. A family-reform law was enacted in 2000 and allowed for women to file for divorce. Before this law it was virtually impossible for women to be granted a divorce.

The People: The official language that is spoken and written in Egypt is Arabic. Egyptians are extremely proud of the rich language: riddles, clichés, jokes, and wordplay are an integral part of Egyptian culture. Arabic is taught in school in addition to English which is also apart of the Egyptian curriculum. Around 90% of Egyptians are Sunni Muslim. The Qur’an is considered to be their sacred scripture and the last word of Allah (God.) Egyptian Muslims accept and respect all Judeo- Christian prophets but consider Muhammad to be the last and greatest prophet. Although Egypt is considered to be a secular state, laws and principles are still greatly centered on Islamic culture.

The Arts: Music, Dance, literature (oral and written), film, and traditional crafts continue to be apart of Egyptian art. Egyptians have always loved poetry, genres such as the short-story and novel emerged after the literary renaissance soon after the turn of the century.

Some of the revered singers of today’s Egypt include Umm Kalthum and Abd al-Hamlin Hafiz who blend singing with poetry of longing and emotion in traditional styles. These songs may extend for hours on end! Copts, Nubians, Sufis, Bedouins, and others have their own styles as well as their own unique instruments.

Egypt, like many other nations, has been influenced by Western music and in particular pop music. Young Egyptians enjoy pop music, shaabi and nashid: which are blends of Arabic and Western Music. Furthermore, music and belly dancing are deeply rooted in the Egyptian culture and are frequently performed at wedding and other events.

Egyptian Music

Ancient Egyptian Music: Hieroglyphics records the spontaneous music that was created by ancient Egyptians for all occasions secular and non-secular. Singing was marked by responsorial, antiphonal, and other refrain forms. Singing and dancing were often accompanied by instrument.

Ancient Egyptian Instruments: The first musical instrument that was noted was called the kinnor, which is a lyre similar to a kithara. Another ancient instrument was the ugab which was similar to a vertical flute. There were also instruments that were played for events that were ceremonial and less for entertainment which include: hasosra, a trumpet, and the shofar, a ram’s horn or a goat’s horn. The music that was played in temples was highly developed and including many types of cymbals.

Egyptian music represented all the major types of instruments including percussion, winds, and strings. Percussion instruments included hand-held drums, rattles, castanets, and the sistrum: a highly important rattle used in religious worship. Hand clapping was also used a rhythmic accompaniment. Wind instruments included the flute and the trumpet. Strings instruments included the harps, lyres, and lutes which were plucked rather than bowed. Instruments were often inscribed with the owners name and decorated with symbols of the goddess (Hathor) and the god (Bes). Male and Female voices were used in ancient Egyptian music.

Professional musicians had social classes. The highest belonged to the temple musicians which was a position primarily held by women. Musicians that were connected to the royal household were also in high-esteem as well as musicians that were seen as especially gifted. Musicians that acted as entertainers for parties and festivals were lower on the social scale. The ancient Egyptians did not record their music however; representational evidence gives a general idea of how their music sounded.

“Zeina”– Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Mohamed Abdel Wahab – He is a composer and wrote more than a thousand songs and personally sang hundreds. He was born in 1907 in Cairo, and he made his first recording at the age of 13. First he wrote songs with traditional melodies but later on Western influences affected his music.

General

Homophonic

4/4 Time signature

Balanced Phrase

Instrumentation: Banjo, Guitar, Brass instruments (Trombone, Trumpet), Wind instruments (Egyptian flute), percussion (Bango, drum set)

Structure

0:00 – 0:07 Banjo plays solo (introduction)

0:08 – 0:17 Percussion comes in and it goes with consistent beat, which makes this song somewhat Western likes.

0:18 – 0:30 Female vocal comes in saying “Zeina” and wind instrument plays in the background.

0:31 – 0:54 Wind instrument starts with solo and brass instrument plays scale in the background and it harmonizes

0:54 – 1:03 Female vocal comes in saying “Zeina” (repetition)

1:04 – 1:29 it repeats flute’s solo and brass instrument playing scale in the background.

1:30 – 1:37 Percussion solo, changes theme, tango-sound like

1:38 - 2:41 repetition

2:41 - 3:21 female voice comes in, gets slower and it ends

Context

The composer is Mohamed Abdel Wahab, from Egypt and he trained formally in both Arabic music and Western music, so this music has a lot of Western influence. Especially after visiting Paris and he was familiarizing himself with more Western music and film musical. He often combined the oriental quarter tone melodies with Western themes.

Egyptian traditioanl Flute

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Egyptian harp

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Egyptian Cymbals

http://www.aldokkan.com/music/cymbals.jpg

Belly dancing

http://www.dancematrix.com/images/gift_bellydancing.jpg

Opera House

http://www.egypttoursandtravel.com/images/modernegyptoperahouse.JPG