Egyptian Rhythm: The Heavenly Melodies - Softcover

Gadalla, Moustafa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1931446024 ISBN 13: 9781931446020

Publisher: Tehuti Research Foundation, 2002

Synopsis

Discover the cosmic roots of Egyptian musical, vocal, and dancing rhythmic forms.
Learn the fundamentals (theory and practice) of music in the typical Egyptian way: simple, coherent, and comprehensive.
Review a detailed description of the major Egyptian musical instruments, playing techniques, functions, etc.
Discover the Egyptian rhythmic practices in all aspects of their lives. This book will make your heart sing.

Sample Highlights:
- The nine Muses and the musical significance of the number 9, as well as 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8.
- The intimate relationship between the Egyptian calendar, music, and festivities.
- How Plato adopted the Egyptian musical system in his Ideal Republic.
- The incredible types, varieties, ranges, and playing techniques of Ancient Egyptian instruments.
- The role of music and dance in daily activities such as agriculture, fishing, etc.

About this title

About the Author

Moustafa Gadalla is an Egyptian-American independent Egyptologist, who was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1944. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Cairo University.

Gadalla is the author of eleven internationally acclaimed books about the various aspects of the Ancient Egyptian history and civilization and its influences worldwide. He is the chairman of the Tehuti Research Foundation—an international, U.S.-based, non-profit organization, dedicated to Ancient Egyptian studies.

From his early childhood, Gadalla pursued his Ancient Egyptian roots with passion, through continuous study and research. Since 1990, he has dedicated and concentrated all his time to researching and writing.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Harmony of the Spheres..pg 22-23 ...Het-Heru (Hathor) was called the Mistress of Singing, and the Mistress of Dancing. The seven Het-Heru represent the intimacy of music and dancing, to the seven planets nearest to us-on earth. All swiftly vibrating, whirling (dancing) bodies produce sounds-like a vibrating string that produces sound when it is struck. The sound produced from the string depends-among other things-on its thickness/weight, the speed of its movement, and its distance from the human ear. Likewise, the sounds (relative pitches) produced from the whirling planets are a function of the weights of the bodies, their particular speeds, and their relative position. To recognize the impact on Earth by the heavenly sounds, Earth is considered unmoving at the center of all things. The seven planets that have impact on us Earth dwellers are, from the nearest to the farthest: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They revolve, some in a larger and some in a lesser orbit. Those that have the lesser orbit revolve faster, and those that have the larger revolve more slowly.

The Moon, situated nearest to the earth, is the swiftest-moving body, therefore producing a note of the highest pitch. Saturn, the highest in the heavens (and farthest from Earth), produces the lowest pitch. The movement of the seven planets is melodious. The changing speed, direction, orbit distance, and sizes of the seven planets produce the seven natural tones known as the diatonic scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si). The natural tones of the seven planets provided the archetype for both the Ancient Egyptian music and the days of the week. The Ancient Egyptians were the first to adopt the seven-day week as a consequence of the harmony of the seven spheres.

The Two Energy Centers..pg 32-33 The present silent majority of the Egyptian people (Baladi) correlate specific activities of their daily life to certain days of the week. These activities are concentrated in two focal periods: the Eve of Monday (Sunday night) and the Eve of Friday (Thursday night), with more focus on the Eve of Friday (this has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, whatsoever). Marriage ceremonies are only allowed on these two nights, with preference to Friday Eve. Thousands of local shrines (nothing related to Islam) are visited on both these eves, with special preference to Friday Eve. People spend the night of Friday Eve at the tombs of their departed relatives (contrary to Islam). Intercourse between married couples is very special on Friday Eve. Courtship activities of all kinds are more prevalent on Friday Eve. All types of activities (cutting hair, butcher work, ...etc) follow the same pattern. Since Ancient Egyptian times, the week started on a high (musical) note, namely Saturday. [Equating Saturday to Saturn, the highest, will be clarified at the end of this chapter.] As such, the layout of the week, with the two special focal eves will look as follows: The concentrated activities towards both ends of the week (with two centers of activity-one more prominent than the other) correspond to an elliptical form that conforms to Kepler's first planetary law.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) rediscovered-from Egyptian sources-that the orbit of a planet/comet about its sun is an egg-shaped path (ellipse). Each planetary system is balanced only when the planet's orbit is an egg-shaped plane that has two foci, with its sun's center of mass at one of its foci. Similarly, the Egyptian traditions follow the same pattern. All aspects of their thinking and society can be reasoned to the egg-shaped characteristics-including music.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tehuti Research Foundation
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1931446024
• ISBN 13: 9781931446020
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240