Egyptian music’s ancient past resurrected
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Last Wednesday, ancient met modern at El Sawy Culture Wheel when the band Welad el-Faraana (Children of the Pharaohs), wearing jeans and t-shirts and playing pharaonic and Nubian instruments, resurrected the music of their Egyptian ancestors.
Welad al-Faraana signals a trend in contemporary Egyptian music, which has steadily begun welcoming pharaonic and Nubian music back into the scene. Currently, the National Project for Reviving Ancient Egyptian Music–headed by Khairi el-Malt, a music archeology researcher and the band leader–seeks to unearth ancient Egyptian music, revive its sound, and spread it all over the world via university courses and the manufacturing of instruments in the ancient Egyptian styles. That night at El Sawy Culture Wheel, a flier advertising a Diploma of Ancient Egyptian Music was being circulated through the audience.
On that summer night at El Sawy Culture Wheel, many melodies–tunes rising and falling as softly as calm breathing–transported listeners to ancient Egypt. The instruments, in earth colors and primitive designs, looked better-suited for a museum than the El Sakia stage, which normally hosts electric guitars and hip-hop. But the two worlds were connected that night. The pear lute, sleek wood with threads of fabric artfully dangling down from its side, showed itself to be the ancestor of the electric guitar, and the deep, rhythmic echoes reverberating from the Nubian doffs (drums) were reminiscent of modern hip-hop beats.
Excerpted from an article by Sara Elkamel for ALMASRYALYOUM
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