ysteries of Isis and Osiris, in which dancing played an
important part, the character of the ceremonies is matter of dim
conjecture; but from the hints that have come down to us like
significant shrugs and whispers from a discreet past, which could say a
good deal more if it had a mind to, I hasten to infer that they were no
better than they should have been.

Naturally the dances for amusement of others were regulated in movement
and gesture to suit the taste of patrons: for the refined, decency and
moderation; for the wicked, _a soupcon_ of the other kind of excellence.
In the latter case the buffoon, an invariable adjunct, committed a
thousand extravagances, and was a dear, delightful, naughty ancient
Egyptian buffoon. These dances were performed by both men and women;
sometimes together, more frequently in separate parties. The men seem to
have confined themselves mostly to exercises requiring strength of leg
and arm. The figures on the tombs represent men in lively and vigorous
postures, some in attitude preliminary to leaping, others in the air.
This feature of agility would be a novelty in the oriental dances of
to-day; the indolent male spectator being satisfied with a slow,
voluptuous movement congenial to his disposition. When, on the contrary,
the performance of our prehistoric friends was governed and determined
by ideas of grace, there were not infrequently from six to eight musical
instruments, the harp, guitar, double-pipe, lyre, and tambourine of the
period being most popular, and these commonly accompanied by a clapping
of hands to mark the time.

As with the Greeks, dancers were had in at dinner to make merry; for
although the upper-class Egyptian was forbidden to practice the art,
either as an accomplishment or for the satisfaction of his emotional
nature, it was not considered indecorous to hire professionals to
perform before him and his female and young. The she dancer usually
habited herself in a loose, flowing robe, falling to the ankles and
bound at the waist, while about the hips was fastened a narrow, ornate
girdle. This costume--in point of opacity imperfectly superior to a
gentle breeze--is not always discernible in the sculptures; but it is
charitably believed that the pellucid garment, being merely painted over
the figures, has been ravished away by the hand of Time--the wretch!

One of the dances was a succession of pleasing attitudes, the hands and
arms rendering important assistance--