MUSIC IN EGYPT

Wall depiction from the southern wall of the tomb (TT359) of Inher-kha in Deir el-Medina, an ancient village across the Nile from Thebes (modern-day Luxor) that was home to the workers who constructed and decorated the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Inher-kha had the titles ‘Foreman in the Place of Truth in the West of Thebes’ and ‘Director of the Works of the Lord of the Two Lands, which indicate that he held the prime directive role in the construction of the royal tombs.

He lived in Deir el-Medina during the reigns of Ramesses III and IV at the time of the 20th Dynasty. Photo (edited for size): kairoinfo4uWe see Inher-kha and his wife Web dressed in fine pleated party clothes and seated on a lion-footed chair. In his right hand, Inher-kha holds a sekhem-scepter, a symbol of authority. The couple listens attentively with a hint of a smile to a harpist depicted sitting on a mat. His mouth is open as he sings while accompanying himself on the instrument.

In part 1 of his encyclopedic book ‘The Story of Civilization’, Will Durant succinctly defines civilization as social order promoting cultural creation. It is constituted of four elements: economic provision, political organization, moral traditions, and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. Civilization begins where chaos and insecurity end. “For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by a natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life.