In the Service of the Gods: The Role of Priestesses

The blog post for this week is written by Linda Kimmel, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. When she retired from full-time work as a data research manager in late 2020, she began studying about the ancient world, and serving as a docent at the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Linda had never heard of the Egypt Centre before the pandemic but has taken every course offered since she first noticed a tweet about the museum in the fall of 2020 and hopes to visit Swansea in late 2022 or 2023.

The last five weeks flew by as I spent my Sunday afternoons (U.S. time) enjoying the latest Egypt Centre course, In the Service of the Gods: Priests and Priestesses in Ancient Egypt, taught by Ken Griffin. While I was sad that the course was ending, I had looked forward to the final class, the role of priestesses, the entire course. Despite the claim by Herodotus that “no woman holds priestly office, either in the service of goddess or god; only men and priests in both cases” (Herodotus II, 35), we saw in both this class and the one the week before, that women filled many roles “in the service of goddess or god”. Additionally, these roles often changed over time. Women held a wide variety of titles connected to temples, although it is unclear how many were functional rather than honorific.

The titles women held varied with some being regional, and others connected to specific gods and goddesses. In our final class, Ken introduced us to many different titles held by women, including the Priestess of Hathor, the Priestess of Mut, and the Priestess of Min. We learned that female priestly roles were downgraded during the New Kingdom. At the same time, the roles of female musicians became more prominent. I was particularly intrigued by the title of Chantress and the associated Kheneret. I wanted to know more about female musicians in ancient Egypt!

Fig. 1: Female musicians with instruments (MMA 30.4.9)

Music is an important element in many religions, both ancient and modern, and the religion of ancient Egypt was no exception. For the ancient Egyptians, music served to appease the gods. While there are examples of male musicians, musicians were primarily female. It was believed that the gods were fond of music and could be “pacified” by a woman’s voice (Onstine 2005). Musicians are easy to identify in tomb reliefs by the instruments they carry, such as in this relief from Theban Tomb 38 (fig. 1).

The title of Chantress is one of the most common found for women in ancient Egypt. While priestesses reached a peak during the Old Kingdom, the title of Chantress was originally attested in the Old Kingdom but became more common in the New Kingdom. Initially, most of the women who held the title of Chantress seem to have been from elite, and even royal, families. However, as time went on, Chantresses were drawn from less elite families. In fact, the title of Chantress eventually became so common that some Egyptologists estimate that most households probably had one. Some women held multiple titles, and their titles could be associated with specific gods, such as the Chantress of Amun and the Singer of Khonsu.

Fig. 2: Image of the sistrum at the Egypt Centre (W553) 

But what did a Chantress do? They seem to have been responsible for singing and playing musical instruments in temple activities and festivals, and in funeral processions. They are commonly depicted carrying sistra and other musical instruments. Sistra are often associated with the goddess Hathor and were shaken to produce a noise. Graves-Brown (2010, 96) suggests that the “sistrum was shaken to drive away hostile forces and revive the gods”. The Egypt Centre has an intriguing bronze sistrum (fig. 2) dated from the Late Period to the Graeco-Roman Period that includes images of both Hathor and Bes. Chantresses can also be depicted clapping in a rhythmic manner and holding a menat, a form of jewelry also associated with the goddess Hathor (figs. 3–4). Like a sistrum, the menat necklace could be shaken to produce a swishing sound from the beads (Emerit 2013).

Fig. 3: Hathor presenting Menat necklace to Seti I (Louvre B 7)

 

The Chantress was originally associated with the Kheneret, but rather than being a single individual, the Kheneret was a group. The exact meaning of the group has been disputed. Early Egyptologists translated the word as meaning a “harem,” with a host of disparaging connotations. More recently, the term has been translated as a “musical troupe,” or a group of musicians who had an important role in Egyptian religion. The Kheneret are most frequently attested during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but rarely during the New Kingdom. As with the title of Chantress, the Kheneret could be attached to specific deities, with the most common association to Hathor. The Kheneret were often associated with the palace, with the King’s daughters shown as participants. We learned about an interesting association between the Kheneret and an artifact found in many museums, such as one in the Egypt Centre (fig. 5): the paddle doll. These paddle dolls have been identified in a variety of ways by Egyptologists from actual dolls to signs of sexuality, to associations with the goddess Hathor. Ken introduced us to an article by Ellen Morris (2011) who believes the dolls represent members of the Kheneret.

Fig. 4: Menat necklace from Malqata (MMA 11.215.450)

Many details are still unclear about the titles of Chantress and Kheneret. For example, how much access did the musicians have to the temples? Did they have access to the inner sanctums of the temples or were they limited to the courtyards? Similarly, where did they live? We know male priests lived within the temple complex. However, so far, there is no evidence as to whether these female musicians lived within the temples or had their own homes.

Fig. 5: Paddle Doll in the Egypt Centre (W769)

What do we know about the women who held these positions, and how do we know it? These questions led to an exploration of a major source of information: burial equipment. From artefacts such as mummy bandages, coffins, and shabtis, we often know the names of the women, their family members, and the titles held by their family members. From such sources we know that many of the women were married to priests, although they might not have served the same gods. Some of these women are also identified by the burial equipment of their family members. For example, a mummy bandage in the Egypt Centre reveals that the deceased’s mother was the Sistrum Player of Amun-Re (fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Mummy bandage mentioning a Sistrum Player of Amun-Re (W901)

The class ended with an in-depth look at some of the funerary equipment, including an inner coffin of the Chantress of Amun, Iwesenhesetmut (fig. 7). She held this title during the Twenty-first Dynasty. Her exact tomb location is unknown but is believed to be in Western Thebes. There is a fascinating post from late last year about this equipment at the Egypt Centre blog, which can be read here.  

Fig. 7: Inner coffin of Iwesenhesetmut (W1982)

I remain sad this course is over; I could easily do another five weeks or more on the topic. But in the meantime, I will be catching up with some of the wonderful articles Ken has sent us each week, while waiting for the next course, The Funerary Artefacts of the Ancient Egyptians, to start on February 27, 2022.

Bibliography:

Emerit, Sibylle 2013. Music and musicians. Edited by Willeke Wendrich. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013 (July).

Graves-Brown, Carolyn 2010. Dancing for Hathor: women in ancient Egypt. London: Continuum.

Morris, Ellen F. 2011. Paddle dolls and performance. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 47, 71–103.

Onstine, Suzanne Lynn 2005. The role of the chantress (šmꜥyt) in ancient Egypt. BAR International Series 1401. Oxford: Archaeopress.