Finally, one or two examples of the sacred dance in the continent of

Africa may be offered. Speaking of the religion of the African aborigines

generally, Schneider says that a living faith in a beneficent god of

some kind is one of its characteristics. He is worshipped, on the one

hand, from fear; but on the other, as a mark of gratitude; and one of

the chief ways whereby this gratitude is shown is by songs and dances

accompanied by music[126]. Again, the Kaffirs perform ceremonious dances

on all sacred occasions; their mimic dances, performed with a view to

prepare for hunting or war, have also a serious side[127]. The same is

true of the Namaquas; among these when anyone embraces Christianity it is

said that “he has given up dancing[128].” The Masai worship the god Engai

whom they conceive as embodied in the sky, or at all events as dwelling

there; he, too, is worshipped with songs and dances[129].

Examples could, of course, be multiplied to any extent; those given

are, however, quite sufficient for our purpose; and, as will have been

noticed, they represent, apart from Europe, all the continents.

SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS

The sacred dance among the Israelites was performed in honour of Jahwe,

their national God; and it is evident that the processional form of dance

was a normal mode in the ritual of worship. Although the evidence as to

the existence of this rite among the Syrians and Arabs is scanty, yet

its prevalence is sufficiently attested by the mention on an inscription

of Baal-Marqôd, “the lord of dancing”; this name may well point to the

belief among the Phoenicians that its divine bearer was the originator

of the sacred dance; so that in performing it his worshippers did it in

imitation of him, and therefore in his honour. Dances performed by the

Bedouin Arabs of the Syrian Desert in honour of exalted personages may

quite reasonably be regarded as an adaptation of the earlier religious

rite of dancing in honour of a god or spirit.

Religious processions which were common in the worship of Assyrians and

Babylonians must be regarded as a form of sacred dance in the extended

use of the term. In connexion with the well-known joyful character of

the religious festivals among the Semites it is worth remembering that

the Assyrian word _rakâdu_ means both “to rejoice” and “to dance”; where

there was rejoicing, whether of a secular or religious kind, there was

dancing; from which we may assume that at Assyrian religious festivals

the sacred dance had its place. Direct evidence of the processional dance

among the Assyrians is offered by an inscription found in the palace of

Asshurbanipal. Some inscriptions found in Cyprus may possibly reflect

Babylonian and Assyrian usage, but the dance represented on these is of a

less formal character than the processional dance.

Two inscriptions, one from Boghazkeui, the other from Cyprus, bear

unmistakable evidence of the religious processional dance among the

Hittites.

Dancing in honour of Egyptian divinities is well attested on

inscriptions; there is justification for the contention that the

Egyptians believed that their gods and goddesses danced, and that

therefore their worshippers performed the sacred dance in imitation of

them. Ḥatḥor, Bastet, Bēs, and Isis are Egyptian divinities in connexion

with whom dancing is mentioned. A special ritual dance was performed by

Egyptian kings in honour of the god when making their offerings.

Of particular interest is the sacred dance among the Greeks. They, too,

believed that gods and goddesses first danced; it was in honour of them,

and in imitation of what they did, that their worshippers danced. Apollo,

Ares, Pan, Zeus, Hera, the Dioscuri, Athena, and, above all, Dionysos

and Artemis are the deities especially mentioned in this connexion. The

evidence, which is abundant, is obtained from representations on pottery

and inscriptions, as well as from literary sources. Among the Greeks

the type of dances here considered was performed primarily in honour

of gods and goddesses; but there is reason to believe that some dances

had originally other purposes. “Ariadne’s Dance” is probably the most

striking example; for there are distinct indications of its having been

at one time an imitation of the sun’s course in the sky, and of having,

by means of imitative magic, the purpose of assisting the sun in running

its course.

The Romans were primarily indebted to the Greeks for their sacred dances,

though oriental influences were also pronounced.

The sacred dance was an important element in Vedic and Brahman worship;

it was, likewise, performed primarily in honour of divinities.

Probably the most instructive area in which to study the sacred dance

and its objects is that of the uncultured races, for among them it is

seen in its native simplicity, unaffected, for the most part, by the

exigencies of a more advanced civilization. The dance in honour of the

sun, performed, for example, by the Dakotahs in a practically nude state

points to the belief of the sun being a person with whom it was possible

to have a more or less direct contact; the sensation upon the naked body

of the warmth of its rays would denote this contact. The long-continued

dance in its honour offers an example of touching, if _naïve_, devotion,

emphasized by the accompanying fast. The belief that by means of dancing

in honour of the gods they can be prevailed upon to answer prayers—as

exemplified by Central American Indians—reveals a mentality so deeply

ingrained in human nature that the underlying idea can be paralleled by

the religious exercises of people among the most civilized nations at the

present day. That is an interesting phenomenon about which much could be

said, but which would involve our straying far away from the immediate

subject in hand. These same Central American Indians say that the

animals taught them to dance; this belief is undoubtedly the explanation

of the form of many dances in vogue among savages; just as more civilized

peoples, such, for example, as the Greeks, imitated what they believed

to be the dances of their gods and goddesses, so these savages imitated

what they saw to be the movements of animals[130]. There, however, the

parallel ceases, for the savages believed they were descended from

these animals; it was, thus, their ancestors whom they honoured by

their imitative dances. Could the beliefs of these Mexican Indians have

developed spontaneously, untouched by extraneous influences—a thing

which is, of course, out of the question now—it is quite possible that

from these animals “high gods” would have been evolved. Perhaps an

illustration of this evolutionary process is to be seen in one of the

forms of the Greek worship of Artemis, viz. in that of the Brauronian

ceremonies. The high probability that in the dance performed during

these ceremonies it was at one time customary for the dancers to wear

bear-skins points to the connexion of Artemis with the bear. The meaning

of this ritual is clear if we suppose that some remote ancestors of

the Greeks danced in honour of the bear in the belief that they were

descended from bears. The dance in bear-skins would thus be a personating

of the goddess, that is to say, a means of union with her[131].

Another line in the process of religious evolution is seen in the

widespread worship of the Pleiades. Australian aborigines dance in

their honour for the purpose of inducing them to give rain, without,

apparently, forming any ideas as to the nature of the Pleiades; but the

Blackfeet Indians of North America imitate in dance seven young men,

identified with the Pleiades, who appear to be the guardians of the crops.

In the few examples of worship among different African aborigines given

above we have seen that dancing was in honour of their gods and an

essential part of their worship, and we may well believe that the reason

of this was the belief that the worshippers were imitating their gods in

doing so. While the purpose is always honorific, we may be sure that they

also had practical ends in view, viz. either the obtaining of food, or

effecting union with the god. So that it is true to say that the sacred

dance was the means of satisfying two essential needs of man: natural and

spiritual sustenance.

In asking, finally, what is the bearing of this short investigation upon

the religion of the Israelites we note first of all that the Israelites

were at one with practically all the nations of antiquity, as well as

with the uncivilized peoples, in performing the sacred dance in their

worship. The primary object was, among the Israelites, as among the

others, to honour their God. _Why_ this rite should have been thought

of as pleasing to the deity we have already considered. It is, however,

improbable that the question troubled the Israelites; it was sufficient

that it had been handed down from time immemorial as an essential

constituent in the ritual of worship.

Further, we have seen that there was a very widespread belief that the

sacred dance originated with the gods, or, in the case of savages,

with animals regarded as ancestors. While there is no hint in the Old

Testament of any similar belief among the Israelites, we may well ask,

in view of what has just been said about the ubiquity of the sacred dance

itself, whether such a belief, or the echo of it, may not actually have

existed among them. It can scarcely be without significance that we get

definite traces of it in the later Jewish literature which preserves in

such numberless instances ancient traditions. It is said, for example,

in the Midrash _Shir ha-Shirim_ to vii. 1 that God Himself will lead the

dance of the righteous in the world to come. In an exegetical exercise of

a typically Rabbinical type on Ps. xlviii. 13, 14 (14, 15 in Hebr.) we

are told that the words: “Mark well her bulwarks,” should be rendered:

“Direct your heart to the dance”; for instead of _lĕḥēlah_ one must

read _lĕḥūlah_ (“to the dance”). It is said, further, that, in that day

the righteous shall point with their fingers and say, “This is our God,

who will lead us,” _i.e._ in the dance. Then it is said that the last

word of the psalm _ʿal-muth_ (“unto death”) should be read _ʿalamôth_

(“maidens”), _i.e._ God will lead the dance of the righteous in the

world to come just as the maidens lead the dance in this world! We are

not concerned with the exegesis, but only with the idea put forth. It

is quite conceivable that some old-world tradition lies behind it. In

any case, it suggests a parallel to the belief of many other peoples. It

shows also that we may at times be justified in seeking for side-lights

upon the religion of Israel from quarters which may not appear promising;

we fully realize the pitfalls into which we may stumble in such cases,

and the consequent need of caution; but one must be venturesome on

occasion.

We drew attention just now to the belief of the Central American Indians

that their gods could be prevailed upon to answer prayer by means of the

sacred dance; the “limping” dance of the prophets of Baal had a similar

purpose, though in this case there is a toning down inasmuch as there is

an appeal to the pity of the god. Not very far removed from this is the

idea of putting compulsion upon the god; an idea familiar to uncivilized

man[132]; and it is quite possible that in some cases the sacred dance

was believed to have the effect of coercing the god to do what was

required of him. The underlying idea is similar to that expressed in Gen.

xxviii. 20-22:

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will

keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat,

and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s

house in peace, then shall Jahwe be my God....

CHAPTER VI

THE RITUAL DANCE ROUND A SACRED OBJECT

I

The ritual encircling dance, whether in procession with measured tread or

in the form of a dance-step—and both are varieties of what is essentially

the same thing—is perhaps the commonest kind of sacred dance. Its

occurrence is world-wide. The object around which it takes place was in

most cases, at any rate originally, a sacred one: an idol, an altar, a

sacrificial victim, a holy tree, or a well. The encirclement was also

performed round other things; but in these cases the dance is of another

type to which attention will be drawn later.

Of sacred trees[133] and wells[134] among the Israelites we have abundant

witness in the Old Testament; there is also plenty of evidence of their

existence among other Semitic peoples, see, for example, Baudissin,

_Studien zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte_, II. 154 ff. (1876);

Robertson Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_, Lecture V. (1894);

Lagrange, _Études sur les religions sémitiques_, pp. 158 ff., 162 ff.

(1903), to mention but three of the foremost authorities. The Old

Testament nowhere mentions any details of the cult in connexion with

these sacred objects, for reasons which have been pointed out[135],

and therefore there is no allusion to the dance around them; but as we

know from so many sources that wherever sacred trees and springs existed

(which has been all the world over) part of the ritual in connexion with

them consisted of the sacred dance, we need not gather from the silence

of the Old Testament that it did not take place.

An interesting instance may be given of the way in which we are able to

supplement an Old Testament record from other sources. In Num. xxi. 17,

18, occurs this song to the well:

Spring up, O well. Sing ye unto it;

To the well which the princes digged,

Which the nobles of the people delved,

With the wand, and with their staves.

Here we have a song to the well, though no mention is made of the sacred

dance; but in a striking parallel, recorded by Nilus, we are told that

when the nomadic Arabs found a well they danced by it and sang songs to

it[136]. Both song and dance were sacred, for, as Robertson Smith says:

Of all inanimate things that which has the best marked

supernatural associations among the Semites is flowing (or, as

the Hebrews say, “living”) water ... and sacred wells are among

the oldest and most ineradicable objects of reverence among

all the Semites, and are credited with oracular powers and a

sort of volition by which they receive or reject offerings.

Of course these superstitions often take the form of a belief

that the sacred spring is the dwelling-place of beings which

from time to time emerge from it in human or animal form, but

the fundamental idea is that the water itself is the living

organism of a demoniac life, not a mere dead organ[137].

Kazwini[138] relates that “when the water [of the wells of Ilabistan]

failed, a feast was held at the source, with music and dancing, to induce

it to flow again.”

One thinks of the “Well of Fair Dances” at Eleusis; though not offering a

parallel to what has just been said, it is in so far an analogy in that

it was a spring at which sacred dancing took place, in this case by women

in honour of Demeter[139].

We have mention of sacred dancing, again, in another connexion, viz.

around the Golden Calf. The passage is Exod. xxxii. 5, 6, 19:

And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron

made proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast (_ḥag_)

to Jahwe. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered

burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people

sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to dance[140].... And it

came to pass, as soon as he [_i.e._ Moses] came nigh unto the

camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing....

This definite mention of the sacred dance here justifies the assumption

that it was also performed in honour of a similar idol set up in other

sanctuaries, such as those in Dan and Bethel (1 Kings xii. 28, 29, 2

Kings x. 29; cp. Hos. x. 5), in Samaria (Hos. viii. 5, 6), and possibly

in Gilgal (Hos. xii. 11 [12], Am. v. 4, 5)[141].

Again, there are several passages in which the encirclement of the altar

is mentioned; these merit a little attention. In 1 Sam. xvi. 11, where

there is, however, a little uncertainty about the reading, there is some

justification in translating the Hebrew thus: “And Samuel said ... we

will not go round, _i.e._ the altar, till he come.” The Revised Version

follows the Septuagint and the Vulgate in rendering: “We will not sit

down, _i.e._ to the feast, till he come”; but this use of the word is

otherwise unknown in the Old Testament[142]. Taking it in its natural

sense the word would here refer to the ceremonial encircling of the altar

which is mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, and was a recognized

part of the ritual in offering sacrifices among other peoples. In Ps.

xxvi. 6 it is said: “I will wash mine hands in innocency and will go

round thy altar, Jahwe”; this points clearly to the ritual encircling of

the altar, and the incidental mention of it without further comment seems

to imply that it formed part of the ordinary ritual[143]. A procession on

a larger scale may well be in the mind of the writer of Ps. xlviii. 13

[12 in R.V.]: “Encompass ye Zion, and go round about her”; the context

points to the reference being to some act of ritual worship; and that it

is a literal, and not a figurative, encirclement that is meant is clear

both from the use of _sābab_, as well as of _nāqaph_, which refers often

to the surrounding of cities.

An interesting passage is Ps. cxviii. 27, though there is some

uncertainty again about the text. The R.V. reads: “Bind the sacrifice

with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” The word _ḥag_ is here

translated “sacrifice”; but this is not justified (in spite of Mal.

ii. 3), for, as Briggs rightly points out, the procedure “would not be

in accord with sacrificial laws and usage[144].” On the other hand, to

translate it by “sacred dance” would be to give the word, as we have

seen, its essential meaning[145]. Then, further, the word rendered “bind”

(_ʾasar_) can equally well mean “join”; cp. this meaning of the word in 1

Kings xx. 14, “Who will join battle?” The same use is found in 2 Chron.

xiii. 3, “And Abijah joined battle”; in each case this root (_ʾasar_)

is used. So that our passage could be rendered quite correctly: “Join

the sacred dance.” As to the word translated “cords,” or “ropes,” this

would be used quite appropriately in connexion with dancing; it is the

same idea as that connected with _ḥebel_ (“chain,” or “band”), used of

prophets going about in single file (see further below, p. 108). In Hos.

xi. 4 the two words are used as parallels. So that the reference in the

psalm may well be to strings of worshippers being called upon to join in

the sacred dance. Briggs’ objection to an explanation of this kind on the

ground that this usage of _ḥag_ is rare and early, “not to be thought

of in so late a psalm,” is not valid when one remembers the tenacity

with which religious customs and expressions are clung to. It is well to

remember that this psalm belongs to the “Hallel” (Pss. cxiii.-cxviii.),

the most important of the festival psalms; the “Hallel” was sung at all

the great feasts. We shall see presently that very clear evidence exists

for the performance of the encircling of the altar during the singing

of this psalm in later days, as well as other dancing during the great

festivals. It may be taken for granted that both kinds of dance were not

innovations belonging to subsequent ages, but the continuance of what had

been handed down for ages.

Further, one must take into consideration the idea that underlies the

ritual of the encirclement of a city, such as we read of in Josh. vi.,

where the same root as that for the ritual encompassing of the altar

is used (_sābab_). Through the whole account the religious element in

the undertaking comes strongly to the fore; the encircling procession

is a sacred act: the sounding of the rams’ horns by the priests, seven

in number, the presence of the ark, the sevenfold encirclement on the

seventh day, all emphasize its religious character which receives its

highest stamp in the words which proclaim the presence of Jahwe Himself

in the procession: “And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken unto the

people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns

before Jahwe passed on, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the

covenant of Jahwe followed them.” The God of the nation is conceived as

being either identified with, or present in, the ark. The meaning and

object of the encirclement is clear from the words in vi. 17: “And the

city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jahwe.” It

is, as it were, a magic circle, described around the thing “devoted”

in order that nothing shall escape; by the encirclement it becomes

“consecrated”; though, of course, in a different sense from that in which

the encirclement of the altar consecrates the sacrifice on it.

Before drawing attention to some instances of this type of dance among

other peoples, mention may be made of one among the Jews of post-biblical

times. At the Feast of Tabernacles, after the sacrifices had been

offered, the priests went in procession round the altar singing Ps.

cxviii. 25 on each of the seven days during which the feast lasted. On

the seventh day a sevenfold circuit was made round the altar[146]. A

ceremony of this kind, as will be readily understood, would not have been

an innovation introduced in post-biblical times; we may confidently take

for granted that the usage, in one form or another, had been handed down

from time immemorial.

II

We have already drawn attention to the fact that the central and most

important part of the _cultus_ of the ancient Arabs was the circuit round

the sanctuary, or, when this was offered, round the sacrifice; and that

it was from this fact that the _Ḥagg_, which really means the “sacred

dance,” got its name. This sacred dance was performed not only round the

_Kaaba_, but in every sanctuary round the sacred object. The holy stone

is itself called _Davar_, “the object of encirclement,” because of the

custom of performing the sacred dance round it[147].

Another illustration of this type of sacred dance is given by Nilus.

In speaking of the Arabs of the Sinaitic Peninsula, he says that they

did not worship any god or image of a god, but sacrificed to the

morning star at its rising. Then he goes on to describe how they took

for their sacrifice a white camel which they forced into a kneeling

posture and “went circling round it in a circuitous fashion,” the

reference being clearly to some form of processional dance, which is

not, however, further described; but he mentions singing which went on

at the same time, a very usual accompaniment to the sacred dance. When

the third circuit had been made, and while the singing was still going

on, the leader in the procession slaughtered the camel[148]. According

to Jeremias this ritual perambulation (_ṭawâf_) round the altar or a

sacrificial victim among the idolatrous Semites may be explained as

having been a symbolic representation of the movement of the heavenly

bodies, in which case, as he maintains, the ritual dance would be proved

to be a product of the ancient oriental world-concept[149]. But the rite

is susceptible of a different explanation as we have seen[150].

Another instructive example among the Semites, in which it is evident

that the perambulation is not a symbolic representation of the movement

of the heavenly bodies, is that which takes place at the festival of the

Pyre at Heliopolis. Lucian describes this as follows:

The greatest of the festivals that they celebrate is that held

in the opening of the spring; some call this the Pyre, others

the Lamp. On this occasion the sacrifice is performed in this

way. They cut down tall trees and set them up in the court;

then they bring goats and sheep and cattle and hang them living

to the trees; they add to these birds and garments, and gold

and silver work. After all is finished, they carry the gods

around the trees and set fire under; in a moment all is in a

blaze. To this solemn rite a great multitude flocks from Syria

and all the regions around. Each brings his own god and the

statues which each has of his own gods[151].

This encircling procession of the gods will be referred to again when

we review the instances of this type of sacred dance which have been

gathered.

The suspending of the animals on trees reminds us—but the object is

different—of the _Dhāt anwāt_, or “tree to hang things on”; the spirit of

a departed saint is supposed to take up his abode in the tree at certain

times, and his worshippers hang rags and ribbons on its branches as

“pledges of attachment[152]”; this is still very common at the present

day[153]. Dancing is, however, never mentioned in connexion with this.

But in the case of the holy tree spoken of by the ancient Arabian

historian, Tabari, it is very probable that dancing was performed round

it, even though it is not specifically mentioned. He tells of a lofty

date-palm in Nĕgrān which the inhabitants worshipped, and in honour

of which a festival was celebrated annually; on these occasions they

bedecked the tree with as many beautiful women’s garments as could be

procured, and during a whole day divine honours were paid to it[154].

Once more, to take a modern example which may well reflect traditional

usage; among the Noṣairis, a Semitic tribe inhabiting the mountainous

country to the south of the Orontes, and among whom many ancient customs

are preserved, a festival called the feast of St Barbe is observed. At

this feast the young men and women, after candles have been lighted,

dance round the festival board, which is covered with food of various

kinds, singing and shouting[155]. Apparently there is little religious

significance in this now; but it is safe to say that at some time of

its history this dance constituted an act of honour to the saint, or a

predecessor.

We have been unable to find any further instances of this type of sacred

dance among Semitic peoples, nor yet among the Egyptians.

III

Among the Greeks the dance round a sacred object must have been very

usual, judging from representations of it which have been found in

Cyprus. Thus, a votive offering made of clay, found near the villages

of Katydata-Linu and now in the Cyprus Museum, is a very interesting

example; it consists of three bearded men dancing round another, who is

also bearded and who accompanies the dance on a Pan’s-pipe. Aphrodite was

the chief goddess worshipped in the locality. The workmanship is very

rough and belongs, according to Ohnefalsch-Richter, to the 6th century

B.C. One of the dancing figures is lost, but the three were originally

clearly represented as dancing round the one in the centre with hands

joined. “It shows a dance-group such as was so often formed at festivals

of the gods by Aryans and Semites, Greeks and Hebrews[156].” Somewhat

similar to this is another group (cxxxv. 6) of three women holding

hands and dancing round another who is playing a Pan’s-pipe. Another

represents, as Ohnefalsch-Richter says, an Olympian dance (cxxxii. 3);

in this case seven women are dancing round in a circle; the arms of

each clasp the neighbour on either side round the waist. An example of

the sexes dancing together is cxxxv. 6; this is of terra-cotta from

Leukosia[157]; six figures are dancing in a semi-circle, two are playing

the tympanum; they are alternately men and women (cp. the quotation from

the _Iliad_ given above: “Young men and comely damsels were dancing,

that clasped each other by the wrist”). Again, a vessel of stone, which

Ohnefalsch-Richter believes to have been a vessel for incense, forms a

group of three women dancing in a circle with joined hands. It resembles

many similar vessels found in the Artemis-Kybele _temenos_ at Achna,

in Cyprus, as well as in Artemis-Kybele groves; they are not found

elsewhere; all represent three women, roughly formed in the “Egyptian

style,” and seem to have been a common cult-object in the worship of

Artemis-Kybele[158].

Two examples representing a dance round a sacred tree may be mentioned.

One is very roughly made of clay; three women holding hands are dancing

round it (cxxxv. 4). In this case the representation is formed on a

golden ring, from Mycenae; it is evidently intended to be a dance round

a sacred tree. This kind of sacred dance, says Ohnefalsch-Richter, often

occurs on Graeco-Phoenician bronze vases[159].

Finally, just a word may be said of the ceremony called the ἀμφιδρόμια,

“the running round”; this was a purificatory rite for new-born

infants[160]. The child was carried at a running pace round the domestic

hearth, the idea being, presumably, that the proximity of the fire acted

as a lustration; this does not, however, explain the running round for

which there must have been some special reason; is it possible that the

idea here was that the current of air, produced by the quick running

round, which played upon the child, also had a purifying effect? Air was

one of the means of lustration; the combination of fire and air would

have afforded all that could be desired[161].

While this rite cannot be described as magical, it is not, strictly

speaking, religious; it seems to be in a sphere between the two; at the

same time, judging from certain Roman rites to which we turn now, the

ἀμφιδρόμια at any rate approaches the border-line of religion.

IV

The type of sacred dance which we are considering does not seem to

have been in vogue among the Romans excepting in the form of the

circumambulatory procession; and although the word “dance” can only in an

extended sense be applied to a procession, yet, as we have seen (pp. 5

f.), this is justified. The Romans worshipped their gods with sacrifice

and prayer; the two, so far as is known, were invariably combined. But

on important occasions, and for particular reasons, these

were performed in the course of a procession or circuit round

some object—land, city, army, or instruments, such as arms

and trumpets—or, again, the whole Roman people, if supposed

to be in need of ‘purification’ from some evil influence; in

this extended form the ritual was called _lustratio_; and this

ceremonial was perhaps the most characteristic, not only of the

Roman, but of all ancient Italian forms of worship[162].

The object of this rite was, according to Wissowa[163], the purification

of all that was within the circle formed by the procession; and as the

sacred victims intended for sacrifice were taken round, the effect was to

keep away all evil influences outside the circuit made.

A striking example of this circumambulatory procession was its

performance by the _Fratres Arvales_ at the festival of the _Ambarvalia_,

to which reference is made below (p. 149). Another is that of the course

of the _Luperci_ round the Palatine Hill at the _Lupercalia_ (see

further, p. 150); this, too, had as its object purification whereby

fruitfulness was imparted to the fruits of the field, and to the flocks.

As among the Greeks, so, too, the Romans had a purificatory rite for

their new-born infants on the _dies lustricus_, _i.e._ on the ninth day

after birth for boys, on the eighth for girls. Marquardt thinks that

perhaps the Romans took over the rite from the Greeks[164].

V

Among uncultured races the sacred dance in a circle, or round some sacred

object, is widely spread; many illustrations of it could be given, but it

will suffice if quite a few examples are offered because, as there is a

great family likeness between them, a few will answer the same purpose as

a large number.

Schoolcraft tells us that among the Dakotahs a feast is held every now

and then at which a special dance is performed in honour of their god

Ha-o-Kah. He is a giant god, but subordinate to the Great Spirit. This

dance

is performed by the men only, within a wigwam, around a fire

over which are kettles of meat boiling. They have no clothing

except a conical cap made of birch bark with paint to represent

lightning, and some strips of the same material around the

loins. While hopping and singing around the kettles they

will thrust in their bare hands and pull out pieces of meat

and eat them while scalding hot. After the meat is all eaten

they will splash the hot water over their bare backs, all the

time hopping around and singing out, “oh, how cold it is!”

pretending that the hot water does not scald them, and that the

god will not allow any of his clan to be injured by it.

An illustration is given of the worshippers hopping round the fire[165].

Again, the Timagani Indians have a “Bear Dance” which is performed in the

form of a circle led by the chief playing a drum and singing the “Bear

Dance” song; the circle goes round counter-clockwise.

The leader sometimes dances backwards, turns round, stoops, and

in other ways imitates the bear.... The circling keeps up until

the song is finished. The idea of this dance seems to be to

honour the bear by imitating him[166].

The performers in this dance do not encircle any object; it is simply

a dance in the form of a circle; they do not hold hands, but go round

in a follow-my-leader style. Although the dancing in honour of the bear

reminds one of the Ἀρκτεία performed in honour of Artemis, it differs

from this in that only men take part in it; and the Ἀρκτεία, in which

the performers are only young girls is, as we have seen, an initiation

ceremony. A closer parallel of the dance of the Timagani Indians is the

“Bear Dance” among the Sioux Indians mentioned by Réville[167].

At the New Year festival of the Kayans of Sarāwak, to come to another

part of the world, there is a great sacrifice of pigs, whose “spiritual

essence is appropriately offered to the spirits, while their material

substance is consumed by the worshippers.”

“In carrying out this highly satisfactory arrangement,” says

Frazer, “while the live pigs lay tethered in a row on the

ground, the priestesses dance solemnly round a sacrificial

stage, each of them arrayed in a war-mantle of panther skin,

and wearing a war-cap on her head, and on either side two

priests armed with swords execute war-dances for the purpose of

scaring away evil spirits...[168].”

This encirclement of the sacrificial victims seems to be a kind of

consecrating act prior to the sacrifice similar to the rite of the

heathen Arabs in encircling their white camel destined for sacrifice to

the morning star. The same is probably the case among the Bagobos of

Mindanao, one of the Philippine islands, who

perform a sacred dance round a human victim prior to his

sacrifice, offered for the purpose of making the crops

grow[169].

But the more usual rite for making the crops grow is the sacred dance

round a tree; the propitiation of the tree-spirit is believed to be a

potent means for securing this end[170]. Thus the Gallas dance in couples

round sacred trees, praying for a good harvest. Every couple consists

of a man and a woman, who are linked together by a stick, of which each

holds one end. Under their arms they carry green corn or grass[171]. This

is the underlying idea of the dances of a quasi-religious character round

the May-pole, and round the “Corn-Mother[172],” of which there are such

numberless instances. It is also supposed to make the cattle thrive; one

instance of numbers may be given; the Wends used to attach an iron cock

to an oak; they danced round this and then drove their cattle round it

in the belief that by this means their cattle would increase[173].

We refrain from offering further examples, for everyone knows how common

this custom was, and still is.

SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS

The objects around which dances were performed were various. In the

Old Testament dancing is not mentioned around trees and wells, but as

these were often sacred and as, in consequence, the dance around them

was very common among many peoples, it is a reasonable assumption that

the Israelites did the same. The song to the well in Num. xxi. 17, 18

strengthens this assumption, especially in view of the two parallels

given. The definite mention of dancing in connexion with the Golden

Calf (it is not specifically stated that the dancing was _round_ it,

but this would have been the most obvious form for it to take) suggests

the probability that similar idols in other sanctuaries were similarly

honoured.

The ceremonial encirclement of the altar, whatever the form of the

encircling procession, is sufficiently attested in the Old Testament,

though the text is uncertain in three of the passages cited. The usage in

later days among the Jews must be regarded as the continuance of ancient

custom. The analogy of the encirclement of a city is appropriate in this

connexion. The object of the encircling procession round a city seems

to be that of “devoting” all that is within it, which thereby becomes

_taboo_. The encirclement of the altar is an act of consecration, _i.e._

of the sacrifice upon it. This explanation of the rite is suggested

by the analogous custom among the Arabs of encircling a sacrificial

victim. The contention that the encircling procession was a symbolic

representation of the movement of the heavenly bodies does not explain

why it should take place round a _sacrificial victim_. The rite seems

more likely to have had the object of consecration; and this receives

confirmation from the instance recorded by Lucian among the Syrians who

perambulated their gods round the sacrificial victims; this can scarcely

have had any other meaning than that of sanctifying all within the divine

circle traced by the gods.

The dance round a sacred object must have been very common among the

Greeks, judging by the large number of representations of it which have

come down to us; the Cyprus “finds” are full of interest. Those which

represent the dance round a person who accompanies it on a Pan’s-pipe

probably portrays the kind of dancing which took place at festivals

when numbers of such groups were formed. Such dances must often have

degenerated into mere “fun”; but that they originally had a serious

side and were performed with the single purpose of doing something

pleasing in the sight of a god or goddess, does not admit of doubt.

The representations may well reflect one form of dancing at Israelite

festivals. Among the Greeks we have direct evidence of these “ring”

dances being performed by men and women together; and it is known that

this led at times to unseemly licence. What little evidence we have on

the subject so far as the Israelites were concerned points to the fact

that the sexes danced separately; whether this was always so must be

left undetermined. The examples of the dance round the sacred tree are

instructive; it was undoubtedly practised by all peoples among whom

trees were objects of worship, and therefore in all probability among

the Israelites. The ἀμφιδρόμια, or purificatory rite of running round

new-born infants, practised by the Greeks and Romans, had no parallel

among the Israelites, so far as we know. But the ritual _lustratio_ of

the Romans may well throw light on the Israelite ritual of encircling the

altar, referred to above.

The dance of the Dakotahs round the flesh-pot was performed purely in

honour of the god; it partakes in some sense of an act of faith, for

the believers persuade themselves that their god will not permit his

worshippers to be scalded by the boiling water; whether their faith ever

reached the height of neutralizing sensation is not recorded. The Bear

Dance of the Timagani Indians and of the Sioux North American Indians

must have a point of attachment somewhere with the Ἀρκτεία danced in

honour of Artemis. The dance of the Kayans, as well as the Bagobos,

around sacrificial victims appears to serve a consecrating purpose.

One of the original objects of the dance round the sacred tree is seen

from the practice among the Gallas to be to make the crops grow; the

tree-spirit who looks after these things is propitiated by the dance

in his honour. It is difficult to resist the surmise that at one time

the Israelites did the same thing. Tree-spirits, it is true, have not

necessarily anything to do with the crops, and we may be certain that in

many cases there was no connexion between sacred trees and the growth of

the crops among the Israelites; but they were an agricultural people,

and the belief in the influence of tree-spirits upon the growth of the

crops is so widespread that the probability of its existence among the

Israelites must be reckoned with.

CHAPTER VII

THE ECSTATIC DANCE

I

An important department of our subject is that of the type of dance

performed by the early prophets of Israel. We say the “early” prophets

because the one account which the Old Testament gives us of this kind of

dance refers to it among the early prophets. There is, however, no reason

for supposing—rather the contrary[174]—that this type of the sacred dance

was confined to the _early_ prophets of Israel. Its purpose was connected

with an aspiration deeply seated in human nature; its performance has

been very widespread among peoples of antiquity; and it is found to exist

at the present day among uncultured races. So that the presumption is

that it did not cease abruptly among the Israelites, but continued, at

any rate, up to the time of the Exile.

This type of dance is the outcome of strong religious emotion which

necessitates some bodily expression. It may be paralleled with the

exuberance of physical health which demands vigorous exercise. While it

begins with moderated movements, held in check by rhythmical restraint,

yet as the nervous excitement of the performer becomes increasingly

intense and the physical exertion more exacting, so does the dance

get wilder and wilder until, as the result of the abandonment of all

self-control, the dancer ultimately loses consciousness. Its contagious

character has often been remarked upon.

But the religious emotion which thus finds expression is engendered by

an aspiration which is believed to be attained by means of the dance;

and this aspiration is nothing less than union with the deity. The loss

of consciousness which eventually takes place is replaced, so it is

believed, by the indwelling of the divine spirit; the body thus becomes

the temporary abode of the deity, and is utilized for divine purposes.

The first passage in the Old Testament with which we are specially

concerned is 1 Sam. x. 5 ff.:

... and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to

the city, that thou shalt meet a band (_ḥebel_) of prophets

coming down from the high place (_bāmāh_), and in front of

them harp and drum and pipe and lyre, and they shall be

prophesying...,

cp. xix. 20-24. It is true, no direct mention of the sacred dance is

made here, but in view of the enumeration of musical instruments which,

as we have seen, usually accompanied dancing, it is reasonable to assume

that a ritual dance was taking place. That it was a religious exercise

of some kind is made clear by the fact that they had come down from the

high place (_bāmāh_), _i.e._ a sanctuary. The technical name for such a

band of prophets, _ḥebel_, “rope” or “string” (cp. Josh. ii. 15), shows

that the procession was in single file[175]; with which we may compare

the sacred dance in single file depicted on the Hittite inscription at

Boghazkeui (see p. 59). The account given in the Old Testament of the

“prophesying” of these early prophets, and of the means employed whereby

they reached the pitch of excitement required for the purpose, is so

sober and restrained that it would be difficult to form a picture of

the whole proceeding without the help of analogous performances among

other peoples. And we are justified in believing that the practice of

this type of dance among other peoples does throw light on its mode of

performance among these Israelite prophets, because it is a question

here of a phenomenon, a curious phenomenon, which appears at a certain

stage of religious development, with few exceptions, all over the world.

Its details may, and do, differ; but the essence of the rite is the

same. There are innate tendencies in human nature which produce similar

results; and this is one of them. So that when the means used for

producing such results are given in greater detail in many cases, we are

justified in believing them to have been similar in a case in which, for

some reason or other, the details are only partially described. But if

the details of the means used to produce the result are somewhat lacking

in the Old Testament account, the result itself is stated clearly enough.

The object of all that took place was to be “possessed,”—in this case

by the spirit of Jahwe; for it was this “possession,” this indwelling

of the deity, which enforced the “prophesying.” In the passage before

us the centre of interest, in the eyes of the writer, is Saul. Of him

it is said that, as a result of his contact with the “rope” of prophets

prophesying, “the spirit of Jahwe” would come “mightily” upon him, and

that he, too, would prophesy with them, and “be turned into another man”;

the context shows that his contact with the prophets meant joining in

their ecstatic dance, the effect of which is graphically described in

verses 11, 12:

And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw

that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people

said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of

Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?...

The surprise here expressed was natural enough seeing the extravagances

to which the ecstatic state led, for in xix. 24 it is said of Saul that

as one of the results of his “possession” he “stripped off his clothes

... and lay down naked all that day and all that night.”

The point with which we are primarily concerned is the means employed

to get oneself into the ecstatic state required in order to become

“possessed.” As is well known, these were of various kinds; but the one

most prevalent in antiquity, as well as among men in a low stage of

culture at the present day, was, and is, the sacred dance accompanied

by music. While there is only one other passage (on which see below) in

the Old Testament which deals in any detail with this type of sacred

dance, it would be the greatest mistake to suppose that it was of only

rare occurrence[176]. In the passage just referred to, there is no hint

as to its being anything unusual; the only thing unusual was Saul’s

“possession,” while the very saying, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

points to the peculiarity of the prophets as something recognized and

well known. And from what we gather as to the existence of the ecstatic

dance among other peoples, the fact of its existence among the Israelites

does not strike one as other than what one would expect.

But we turn now to another passage in which we read of a sacred dance of

a peculiar kind which seems to develop into an orgiastic form of ecstatic

dance. This was a ritual limping dance performed at sanctuaries, and

apparently in cases of great emergency. Its object was not the same as

that form of it to which we have just referred; however, as it evidently

must belong to the category of ecstatic dances, we consider it here. The

passage is the familiar one, 1 Kings xviii. 26, where it is said that

the prophets of Baal executed a special kind of limping dance around

the altar: “They limped about the altar which was made.” This was done

after the ineffectual calling upon the name of their god from morning

till noon, so that it seems to have been regarded by them as a special

means of appeal to which recourse was had as a last resort. The dance

consisted of a step which had the effect of making the dancers look

lame[177]. This is clear from the use of the root in other connexions.

Thus, Mephibosheth “became lame” (2 Sam. iv. 4 and ix. 13), as the result

of a fall. The same root is used in reference to men who are lame in 2

Sam. v. 6-8, and also in Lev. xxi. 18, where a lame man is not permitted

“to offer bread to his God.” It is also used in reference to animals not

regarded as fit to be sacrificed because of lameness (Deut. xv. 21, Mal.

i. 8-13; cp. also Isa. xxxiii. 23, xxxv. 6, Jer. xxxi. 8, Prov. xxvi. 7,

Job xxix. 15; and as a proper name it occurs in 1 Chron. iv. 12, Ezra

ii. 49, Neh. iii. 6, vii. 51). In a figurative way, but connoting the

same idea, the word occurs in 1 Kings xviii. 21: “How long will ye limp

upon two legs?” That the prophet is making a word-play here is obvious;

but the passage raises the question as to the kind of step in which

the dance was performed. Limping on two legs can hardly mean that the

“limping” was done on both legs at the same time, for a frog-leap of this

kind would not suggest lameness! The limp must have been done on either

leg alternately, yet neither leg being raised from the ground; as this

involves the bending of the knees, one can form a fairly clear idea of

what this dance looked like. The word for “legs” is used in Isa. xvii.

6, xxvii. 10 of the forked branches of a tree, cp. Ezek. xxxi. 6-8; if

one pictures to oneself such a fork, gnarled and bent, it might certainly

suggest the position of a man’s legs while performing this dance. The

purpose of this curious dance-step may well have been that by simulating

lameness it was thought that the pity of the god would be aroused, and

that he would therefore be moved to answer petitions. As Robertson Smith

says, “the limping dance of the priests of Baal in 1 Kings xviii. 26 is

associated with forms of mournful supplication, and in Syriac the same

verb, in different conjugations, means ‘to dance’ and ‘to mourn[178].’”

While the dance began in sober style[179] it gradually increased to an

orgiastic frenzy, as is clear from verse 28: “And they cried aloud, and

cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood

gushed out upon them”; cp. Hos. vii. 14[180].

This dance was performed by the prophets of Baal, and it may therefore be

objected that it does not reflect Israelite usage because the worship of

these prophets was Phoenician (cp. 1 Kings xvi. 30-33); but to this it

must be replied that the Old Testament gives ample evidence to show that

the influence of the indigenous cults of the land was very powerful upon

the Israelites[181]; the prophet Elijah himself regards practically the

whole nation as under this influence (1 Kings xix. 10, 18). Moreover, we

have mention of a ritual dance similar to that just referred to in Gen.

xxxii. 30, 31 (31, 32 in Hebr.), though the word used is a different one

(_zalaʿ_):

And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for I have seen

God face to face, and my life is preserved. And the sun rose

upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh.

We must see here, as Gunkel points out, an aetiological _trait_: “Just

as, and because, Jacob limped in Penuel, so are we also wont to limp

in Penuel[182].” The name implies that it was a sanctuary, a name such

as “the face of God” proves that here a god was believed to manifest

himself[183]; and, whatever may have originally been the reason for it,

it was the custom at this sanctuary to perform the “limping” dance. It

took place at sunrise (see verse 31), so that it may at one time have had

something to do with sun-worship.

Conceivably another ancient sanctuary where this special kind of

dance was performed was _Zēlaʿ_[184], the name of Saul’s ancestral

dwelling-place (2 Sam. xxi. 14).

Although the passages in the Old Testament in which this type of sacred

dance is referred to are not numerous, they are sufficient to show that

the ecstatic dance was not unknown among the Israelites. We have already

shown reasons to account for the comparative paucity of references in the

Old Testament to the religious dance generally; what we have said applies

to this limping dance with special force, since there are grounds for

believing it to have been of Syrian origin; as characteristic of Syrian

religion it would have been regarded with special abhorrence by Israelite

religious leaders as being the heathen rite of that form of alien cult to

the influence of which the Israelites were most exposed.

It will have been noticed that mention has been made of what are,

in effect, two distinct forms of what for the want of a better term

we have called the ecstatic dance, viz. that which had for its

object the bringing about of a state of semi-consciousness, or total

unconsciousness, during which state the deity was believed to take up

his abode in the body of the worshipper, _i.e._ union with the deity;

and that which had for its purpose the enforcing of the deity to answer

prayer. They differed in important particulars, to which we shall refer

again; but that wherein they were similar was the state of wild frenzy

which both ultimately assumed.

We shall now draw attention to some examples of both forms of this

ecstatic dance among other peoples.

II

It is a significant fact that, with the exception of Syria, there is

scarcely any evidence of the existence of the ecstatic dance among the

Semites. In the great mass of Babylonian and Assyrian texts of which

translations have been published[185] many refer to ritual of various

kinds; in these some incidental references to this type of dance might

have been expected to occur had such been in existence. We have sought

in vain among many of these translated texts for any hint of it; nor

have we been able to find in the works of authoritative writers on

Assyro-Babylonian religion any allusion to it. It may, we believe, be

accepted as a fact that the ecstatic dance was unknown among these

people; and this would accord with what is otherwise known of their

religious practices, which were austere and restrained.

What has been said applies also to the ancient Egyptians; evidence for

the existence of this type of religious dance does not appear on the

inscriptions, nor yet in Egyptian texts[186]. On the other hand, one

has only to think of the Dancing Dervishes to realize that the ecstatic

dance exists in Egypt at the present day. Tristram compares the dancing

of the modern dervishes with that of the early Israelite prophets; and

he gives an interesting description of Arabi Pasha leading a procession

with the sacred carpet for the Kaaba of Mecca out of Cairo on its way to

the Prophet’s shrine; “in front,” he says, “was a vast crowd of ulemas

and dervishes, leaping, bounding, swaying their arms, and whirling

round in time to the din of drums, trumpets, and cymbals which followed

them[187].” One feels that there must be a long history behind this, and

though the evidence is wanting it is difficult to believe that there was

not something of the kind in ages long since past.

Again, as to the ancient Arabs, there is almost as great a dearth of

evidence, though some slight indications exist of this type of dance

having been performed in days gone by[188]. Thus, a proceeding very

similar to that of Saul is mentioned by Robertson Smith of Kûkubûry, who

used “under the influence of religious music, to become so excited as to

pull off part of his clothes”; like Saul he was what the Arabs would now

call _malbûs_[189]. This type of dance exists at the present day among

the Arabs, and it is interesting to note, among other things, that it is

regarded as a means to mystic experiences[190].

Fuller information is forthcoming with regard to the ancient Syrians.

There is the interesting story of Wen-Amon, an Egyptian official who

came to Byblos in Phoenicia in the 11th century B.C. Here we are told of

how a noble youth, while he was sacrificing to his gods, was seized by

the god who caused him to fall into a state of ecstasy; the hieroglyph

depicts a man rushing forward with outstretched arms. While the youth is

in this state he prophesies, declaring that a certain messenger who had

arrived had indeed brought the image of a god, and must be received, for

he had been sent by Amon. This occurs as the messenger with his god is

on the point of being sent away. We are not concerned with the various

details of this story; the point is that a youth is supposed to have been

caused by the will of the god to fall into an ecstasy; the hieroglyph

clearly implies an ecstatic dance; and as a result he reveals the arrival

of another god brought by the messenger. He speaks while in this state

of ecstasy words which are divinely put into his mouth, so that he is

the mouthpiece of the god[191]. This is precisely the same idea as that

of the spirit of Jahwe coming mightily upon Saul, he prophesies, and is

turned into another man.

Another example is given by Heliodorus (_Aethiopica_, IV. 16 f.), who

describes the sacred dance of the Tyrian seafarers in the worship of the

Tyrian Herakles; he says:

And I left them there with their flutes and their dances,

which they performed after the manner of the Assyrians [_i.e._

Syrians], hopping to the accompaniment of the quick music of

the Pektides, now jumping up with light leaps, now limping

along on the ground, and then turning with the whole body,

spinning around like men possessed[192].

The limping here recalls the dance of the prophets of Baal, or rather of

its earlier phase, and that of Jacob at Penuel. For the wilder phase of

the dance of these prophets we have a very interesting parallel given by

Apuleius of the ecstatic dance of the priests of the Syrian goddess. This

is well worth giving in full; it occurs in _The Golden Ass_, VIII. 27, 28:

The day following I saw them apparelled in divers colours, and

hideously tricked out, having their faces ruddled with paint,

and their eyes tricked out with grease, mitres on their heads,

vestments coloured like saffron, surplices of silk and linen;

and some ware white tunics painted with purple stripes which

pointed every way like spears, girt with belts, and on their

feet were yellow shoes. And they attired the goddess in silken

robe, and put her upon my back. Then they went forth with their

arms naked to their shoulders, bearing with them great swords

and mighty axes, shouting and dancing, like mad persons, to

the sound of the pipe. After that we had passed many small

villages, we fortuned to come to a certain rich man’s house,

where, at our first entry, they began to howl all out of tune

and hurl themselves hither and thither as though they were mad.

They made a thousand gests with their feet and their heads;

they would bend down their necks, and spin round so that their

hair flew out at a circle; they would bite their own flesh;

finally, everyone took his two-edged weapon and wounded his

arms in divers places. Meanwhile, there was one more mad than

the rest, that fetched many deep sighs from the bottom of his

heart, as though he had been ravished in spirit, or replenished

with divine power, and he feigned a swoon and frenzy, as if

(forsooth) the presence of the gods were not wont to make men

better than before, but weak and sickly.... And therewithal he

took a whip, such as is naturally borne by these womanish men,

with many twisted knots and tassels of wool, and strung with

sheep’s knuckle-bones, and with the knotted thongs scourged

his own body, very strong to bear the pain of the blows, so

that you might see the ground to be wet and defiled with the

womanish blood that issued out abundantly with the cutting of

the swords and the blows of the scourge...[193].

The close parallel of this procedure of these Syrian priests with that of

the prophets of Baal needs no insisting upon.

III

We turn now to Greek sources; and here the material is as abundant as

it is interesting; the examples to be given are therefore restricted in

number, but they will be sufficient to illustrate the important part that

this type of dance played in Greek religious ritual.

By way of introduction the following words of Farnell[194] will be found

instructive; he is dealing with the earliest period of Greek religion,

and in writing about the worship of Dionysos, says he was

vaguer in outline (than Apollo or Athene), a changeful power

conceived more in accordance with daimonistic, later with

pantheistic, thought, incarnate in many animal-shapes, and

operative in the life-processes of the vegetative world; and an

atmosphere of Nature-magic accompanied him;

then he goes on to say that

the central motives of this oldest form of ritual were the

birth and death of the god—a conception pregnant of ideas that

were to develop in the religious future, but alien to the

ordinary Hellenic theology, though probably not unfamiliar to

the earlier Cretan-Mycenaean creed. But the death of this god

was partly a fact of ritual; he was torn to pieces by his mad

worshippers and devoured sacramentally, for the bull or the

goat or the boy that they rent and devoured was supposed to

be his temporary incarnation, so that by this savage, and at

times cannibalistic, communion they were filled with his blood

and his spirit, and acquired miraculous powers. By such an

act, and—we may suppose—by the occasional use of intoxicants

and other nervous stimulants, the psychic condition that

this worship evoked was frenzy and ecstasy, which might show

itself in a wild outburst of mental and physical force, and

which wrought up the enthusiastic feeling of self-abandonment,

whereby the worshipper escaped the limits of his own nature

and achieved a temporary sense of identity with the god, which

might avail him even after death. This privilege of ecstasy

might be used for the practical purposes of vegetation-magic,

yet was desired and proclaimed for its own sake as a more

intense mood of life. This religion preached no morality, and

could ill adapt itself to civic life; its ideal was supernormal

psychic energy.

It is only one aspect of the ritual of this religion with which we are

now concerned, and which is to be illustrated by the examples given,

namely, the ecstatic dance which played such an important part in it.

Therefore we naturally think of the mythic Maenads[195], and more

especially of their historical counterpart, the Thyiads, who are much

the same as the female Bacchantes. According to the myth concerning the

origin of the Thyiads, they were so called because the first priestess

of Dionysos was named Thyia, and she performed orgiastic dances in his

honour; hence all women who danced, or “went mad,” in honour of Dionysos

were called Thyiads after her. The Maenads are depicted on many Greek

vases and bas-reliefs, so that we can form a good idea of the kind of

dances they were supposed to perform; and these were, of course, the

actual form of the dances executed by the Thyiads. Thus, for example,

on a vase in the Naples Museum four Maenads are represented dancing;

two, with head thrown back, carry the thyrsus, a staff with vine-leaves,

at the top of which was a pine-cone. One of them has also a torch; two

others, while dancing, play, one a tambourine, the other a pipe[196]. Or

again, on a cup in the Athens National Museum a Maenad is represented

playing a tambourine, or timbrel, and dancing in wild fashion[197].

Another example is the dancing, accompanied by instrumental music,

which is portrayed on the beautiful cylix of Hieron, “perhaps the most

exquisite that ceramography has left us[198]”; the movements of the

maidens are superbly executed. But instances of this kind could be

greatly multiplied; they all exhibit one or other phase of orgiastic

dance, “the same mad revelry, the utter exhaustion and prostrate

sleep[199]”; and they represent the kind of dancing which historically

was performed by the Thyiads. “Maenad,” as Miss Harrison says, “is the

Mad One, Thyiad the Rushing Distraught One, or something of the kind ...

Mad One, Distraught One, Pure One, are simply ways of describing a woman

under the influence of a god, of Dionysos[200]”; and, of course, this

madness could be caused by any other orgiastic divinity.

Those who took part in these dances are described as “raving and

possessed”; their over-wrought state caused them to see visions[201]; the

god was believed to be present, though invisible; and at the Dionysos

festivals the maidens celebrated his presence[202], thus direct contact

with him by his worshippers was effected[203].

In an interesting passage in Pausanias we read:

But I could not understand why he (_i.e._ Homer, in _Od._ XI.

581) spoke of the fair dancing grounds of Panopeus till it was

explained to me by the women whom the Athenians call Thyiades.

The Thyiads are Attic women who go every other year with the

Delphian women to Parnassos, and there hold orgies in honour

of Dionysos. It is the custom of these Thyiads to dance at

various places on the road from Athens, and one of these places

is Panopeus. Thus, the epithet which Homer applies to Panopeus

seems to allude to the dance of the Thyiads[204].

The finest and most graphic description of this ecstatic dance is that

given by Aristophanes in the _Frogs_, 325 ff. which is sung by the chorus

of the Mystae:

Thou that dwellest in the shadow

Of great glory here beside us,

Spirit, Spirit, we have hied us

To thy dancing in the meadow!

Come, Iacchus; let thy brow

Toss its fruited myrtle bough;

We are thine, O happy dancer; O our comrade, come and guide us!

Let the mystic measure beat:

Come in riot fiery feet;

Free and holy all before thee,

And thy Mystae wait the music of thy feet!

Spirit, Spirit, lift the shaken

Splendour of thy tossing torches!

All the meadow flashes, scorches:

Up, Iacchus, and awaken!

Come, thou star that bringest light

To the darkness of our rite,

Till thine old men dance as young men, dance with every thought forsaken.

Of the dulness and the fear

Left by many a circling year:

Let thy red light guide the dances

Where thy banded youth advances,

To be joyous by the blossoms of the mere![205]

Iacchus was the name by which Dionysos was known at Eleusis[206].

Pindar, in the Pythian Ode, refers to the dancing of the Thyiads at

the annual festival celebrated in honour of Pan, when, according to

Herodotus, VI. 105, sacrifice was offered and a torch procession took

place:

I would pray to the Mother to loose her ban,

The holy goddess to whom, and to Pan,

Before my gate, all night long,

The maids do worship with dance and song[207].

Reference may also be made to Pausanias, V. xvi. 5, where we read of the

“Sixteen Women” who get up two choruses, that of Physcoa and that of

Hippodamia; the former was loved by Dionysos, and she is said to have

been the first to pay reverence to him; and therefore “among the honours

which Physcoa receives is a chorus named after her and arranged by the

Sixteen Women.”

The Thyiads are, as already mentioned, the same as the female Bacchantes

often spoken of Pausanias, for example, makes a reference to them:

... Beyond the theatre is a temple of Dionysos; the image

of the god is of gold and ivory, and beside it are female

Bacchantes in white marble. They say that these women are

sacred, and that they rave in honour of Dionysos[208].

It is to these that Euripides refers in the _Bacchae_[209]. Diodorus

speaks of them thus:

... In many towns of Greece every alternate year Bacchanalian

assemblies of women gather together, and it is the custom for

maidens to carry the thyrsus and to revel together, honouring

and glorifying the god; and for the (married) women to worship

the god in organized bands, and to revel in every way to

celebrate the presence of Dionysos, imitating thereby the

Maenads who from of old, it is said, constantly attended the

god[210].

The male correlatives of Maenads, or rather Thyiads, are the Kouretes,

who took their part in the Orphic mysteries. They were

the young population considered as worshipping the young male

god, the Kouros; they were “mailed priests” because the young

male population were naturally warriors. They danced their

local war-dance over the new-born child, and, because in those

early days the worship of the Mother and the son was not yet

sundered, they were attendants (_prospoloi_) on the Mother also

... they are divine (_theoi_), and their dancing is sacred[211].

Clement of Alexandria refers to them thus:

The mysteries of Dionysos are wholly inhuman; for while he

was still a child and the Kouretes were dancing their armed

dance about him, the Titans stole upon him, deceived him with

childish toys, and tore him to pieces[212].

A typical instance of myth regarded as reality. We are only dealing here,

however, with a _few_ examples of the ecstatic dance among the Greeks.

Those given will suffice for present purposes.

It will have been noticed that all these examples present the ecstatic

dance in its milder form; it is comparable with the dance of the

Israelite prophets, not with that of the Syrian prophets of Baal. The

fact is that this latter form of worship was not popular among the

Greeks. It is true, the worship of Attis, in which the ecstatic dance

in its most barbaric form figured prominently, is mentioned in Pausan.

VII. xvii. 9, XX. 3; but this is quite exceptional, for the rites, of

Syrian origin, which were performed in honour of Kybele and Attis were

un-Hellenic and did not appeal to the Greeks.

“The barbarous and cruel character of the worship, with its

frantic excesses, was doubtless repugnant to the good taste

and humanity of the Greeks, who seem to have preferred the

kindred but gentler rites of Adonis. Yet,” continues the same

writer, “the same features which shocked and repelled the

Greeks may have positively attracted the less refined Romans

and barbarians of the West. The ecstatic frenzies, which were

mistaken for divine inspiration, the mangling of the body, the

theory of a new birth, and the remission of sins through the

shedding of blood, have all their origin in savagery, and they

naturally appealed to peoples in whom the savage instincts were

still strong[213].”

Among the Romans, under the Empire and onwards, this worship became

prominent, and was still existent in the 4th century, for Symmachus tells

of the celebrations of the festivals of Magna Mater[214]. Its special

feature was the orgiastic dance of the priests[215], accompanied by

song, which culminated in self-laceration. The third day of this festival

of Kybele and Attis was known as the Day of Blood (_Dies Sanguinis_); the

Archigallus or high-priest drew blood from his arms and presented it as

an offering. Nor was he alone in making this bloody sacrifice:

Stirred by the wild barbaric music of clashing cymbals,

rumbling drums, droning horns, and screaming flutes, the

inferior clergy whirled about in the dance with waggling heads

and streaming hair, until, rapt in a frenzy of excitement, and

insensible to pain, they gashed their bodies with potsherds or

slashed them with knives in order to bespatter the altar and

the sacred tree with their flowing blood[216].

Thus, while among the Romans during the early centuries of the Christian

era, and owing to the influx of oriental cults, the ecstatic dance in

its most barbaric form was prominent, among the Greeks this form of it

made but little appeal, and it is only rarely that reference is made to

it. But although this extreme and sanguinary form was distasteful to the

Greeks, the ecstatic dance was with them of a very wild character; and

it is possible that the _purpose_ of this type of dance among Greeks and

Romans respectively may have had something to do with its form. Reference

is made to this point below (see p. 138), but we must first take a brief

glance at the ecstatic dance as practised among some of the uncultured

races.

IV

Among uncultured peoples the ecstatic dance appears both in its milder

and its more barbaric forms. To take a few examples of the former first.

The means employed to become “possessed” are various, but the most usual

is the dance accompanied by the rhythmic beating of a drum or other

instrument; this is persisted in until with the rising excitement it

becomes wilder and wilder, and ultimately brings about unconsciousness,

or at least semi-consciousness, in the dancer. Thus, the Vedda form of

“possession” is attained by a dance which began with moderate movements

in which “the shaman, while uttering invocations to the spirits, circles

round the offerings; the dance increases in speed until the seizure

takes place[217].” Again, in Southern India we have the example of the

so-called “devil-dancers,” who work themselves into paroxysms in order to

gain inspiration,

whereby they profess to cure their patients. So, with furious

dancing to music and chanting of the attendants the Bodo priest

brings on a fit of maniacal inspiration in which the deity

fills him and gives oracles through him[218].

Another instructive instance is that of the Tshi-speaking peoples of the

Gold Coast whose priests and priestesses are believed to be from time to

time

possessed or inspired by the deity whom they serve; and in that

state they are consulted as oracles. They work themselves up to

the necessary pitch of excitement by dancing to the music of

drums; each god has his special hymn, sung to a special beat

of the drums, and accompanied by a special dance. It is while

thus dancing to the drums that the priest or priestess lets

fall the oracular words in a croaking or guttural voice which

the hearers take to be the voice of the god. Hence dancing has

an important place in the education of priests and priestesses;

they are trained in it for months before they may perform

in public. These mouth-pieces of the deity are consulted in

almost every concern of life, and are handsomely paid for their

services[219].

Among the North American Indians with whom the sacred dance acts as the

expression of religious feeling to a greater degree than perhaps among

any other uncultured races with the exception of the aborigines of

Oceania, dancing to the point of unconsciousness is an act of devotion to

the god[220].

This is further illustrated by the ancient Peruvians; among them the

religious dance was “the grand form of religious demonstration.” The very

name of their principal festivals, _Raymi_, means “dance.” Their dances

at these festivals are of such a violent character that the dancers seem

to be out of their senses. “It is noteworthy,” says Réville, “that the

Incas themselves took no part in the violent dances, but had an ‘Incas’

dance of their own, which was grave and measured[221].”

Another example, offered by Skeat, is from a very different centre. In

writing about dances among the Malays, which, as he says, are almost all

religious in their origin, he goes on to tell of one which “began soberly

like the others, but grew to a wild revel until the dancers were, or

pretended to be, possessed by the Spirit of Dancing, _hantu mĕnāri_ as

they called it ...[222].”

Lastly, in Borneo the Kayan medicine-women, in the course of exorcism of

the evil spirit for the cure of disease, whirl round until they fall in a

faint[223].

A modern European example of this type of dance is that performed

among some Russian sectaries; in order to produce a state of religious

exaltation wild, whirling dances, like those of the dancing dervishes,

are executed[224].

These are but a very few examples of many which could be given; but they

are sufficient to answer our purposes.

Before coming to one or two illustrations of the more barbaric form of

this type of dance, one instance may be offered of the ecstatic dance of

the milder kind being performed with an object different from those which

are usually connected with it. Among the Maoris the war-dance, which was

looked upon as a religious act, was often performed on the eve of battle

in order to impart daring and bravery to the warriors; and this dance

often assumed the form of frenzy when accompanied by the beating of drums

and the shouting of the dancers. An eye-witness describes it thus:

The Maoris turned their faces into close imitations of their

demonlike carved images. But the thrust-out tongue, the wild

rolling eyes standing out of the head, the fierce grimaces, and

the quivering hands and fingers, with the accompaniment of the

deep-drawn cries and the stamp of feet, had all the advantages

of living movement to add to the terrifying effect. It is

difficult to efface the deep impression that its massive energy

and furious, almost epileptic, passion makes on the mind, when

produced by hundreds. It surpassed in fury anything that kava

or any other drug or fermented liquor could have given to the

harmonious movements of a mass of warriors[225].

Strictly speaking, this hardly belongs to the category of ecstatic

dances because it is not performed with any idea of communication with

a supernatural power, whether as a means of effecting union with it, or

honouring it, or as a form of supplication to it; nevertheless, it is

worth recording here, if only because it affords an illustration of the

extended use of a rite for purposes with which originally it had nothing

to do.

And now to give, finally, an example or two of the ecstatic dance in its

most extreme and barbaric form. Frazer tells us that

when game was very scarce, certain Basuto tribes which lived

partly by the chase, were wont to assemble and invoke the

spirit of a famous dead chief and other ancestral deities.

At these ceremonies they cut themselves with knives, rolled

in ashes, and uttered piercing cries. They also joined in

religious dances, chanted plaintive airs, and gave vent to loud

lamentations. After spending a whole day and night in wailing

and prayer, they dispersed next morning to scour the country in

search of the game which they confidently expected the ghosts

or gods would send in answer to their intercession[226].

He compares this with the frenzied rites of the Canaanite prophets

of Baal, and refers to another well-known case among the Israelites

themselves (Hos. vii. 14), in which they lacerated their bodies by

way of appealing to the deity on behalf of their corn and vines. The

non-mention of the sacred dance in this passage does not imply that it

did not take place; analogies suggest that it was an indispensable part

of the rite.

Another instructive example is given by Jevons which he takes from Bishop

Caldwell’s “very careful observations in Tinnevelly[227].” He says:

In Tinnevelly evil spirits have no regular priests; but when

it becomes necessary, in consequence of some pressing need,

to resort to the aid of these spirits, some one is chosen,

or offers himself, to be the priest for the occasion, and

is dressed up in the insignia of the spirit. As blood is

the sacrifice to a god, so in the dance with which the evil

spirits, like the tribal god, are worshipped, the dancer in

an ecstasy draws his own blood and drinks that of the victim,

a goat, say, and thus the spirit passes into him, and he has

the power of prophecy. As the sacrifice of the sacred victims

was a solemn mystery to be celebrated by night, and terminated

before sunrise, so the worship of the evil spirits must be

performed by night, and the general opinion is that night is

the appropriate time for their worship[228].

Here we have another interesting parallel to the procedure of the priests

of Baal, though, as the Canaanite worship had reached, in comparison, a

higher stage, the parallel does not hold good in all particulars. But we

have the pressing need of the Baal-worshippers, the sacrifice to the god,

the dance round the altar, the dancers in an ecstasy drawing their own

blood, and the spirit of prophecy passing into them[229]; the sacrifice

takes place after sunset. They do not drink the blood of the sacrificial

victim in order to become possessed by the god because this is effected

by means of the ecstatic dance whereby they prophesy; and probably

this points to an advance in religious conception; for the belief that

union is effected by the ecstatic dance is certainly not so crass and

materialistic as that which requires the essence of the deity to pass

into his worshippers by drinking the blood of the sacrificial victim

offered to him, and which is supposed to become identified with the god.

In other respects the parallel is sufficiently striking. In each case it

is clear that the ecstatic dance is an essential part of the ritual.

The pressing needs which this type of sacrifice with its ecstatic

dance are supposed to supply are various, but there is a curious and

instructive similarity in most of the details of the ritual wherever it

is practised, showing that the underlying ideas are generally the same in

every case. Here is one more example. In his book on Serpent-worship in

India Mr C. F. Oldham describes what he saw during the great sacrifice to

_Kailang Nāg_, which was celebrated in the village of the Ravi, and which

had for its object the obtaining of fine weather for the sowing,—this

had been delayed owing to storms. _Kailang_, a demi-god, is supposed to

control the weather. The writer says:

On my arrival I found the people assembled on the open grassy

space in front of the temple. The men and the boys sat

together, the women and the girls being at a little distance.

Soon the music struck up, and some of the men and boys began

to dance in a circle, the _chela_[230] dancing in the centre.

After a time the music became wilder and the dance more

energetic. Some of the men, when tired, sat down, and others

took their places. The _chela_ continued dancing, and he

applied the _sungal_[231] to his own back and shoulders, and

to those of some of the other dancers. Some of the men then

applied another similar scourge to their backs, with great

effect, amid shouts of _Kailang Mahārāi ki jāi_ (“Victory to

the great king Kailang”). Then, all being ready, a victim (a

ram) was led out, and having shown, by shivering, that it was

acceptable to the deity, its head was struck off. The body

was immediately lifted up by several men, and the _chela_,

seizing upon it, drank the blood as it spouted from the neck,

amid renewed shouts of _Kailang Mahārāi ki jāi_. The carcase

was thrown down upon the ground, and the head, with a burning

coal upon it, placed before the threshold of the temple. The

dancing was then renewed, and became more violent, until the

_chela_ gasped out _Kailang āya_ (“Kailang has come”). All then

became silent, and the prophet announced that the sacrifice was

accepted, and that the season would be favourable. This was

received with a storm of shouts of _Kailang Mahārāi ki jāi_,

and the _chela_ sank down upon the ground exhausted. Water was

poured over him, and he was vigorously fanned till he showed

signs of revival. The assembly then began to disperse[232].

These three examples exhibit essentially the same _traits_ and

sufficiently illustrate this type of dance in its extreme form among

peoples of low civilization, so that it is unnecessary to multiply

illustrations. It must, however, be said that this more barbarous form

of the ecstatic dance is not nearly so prevalent as the form previously

mentioned; it seems to be resorted to in times of emergency, and in this

offers a further parallel to the case of the prophets of Baal.

SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS

The ecstatic dance is performed as the outcome of strong religious

emotion; it begins quietly and without any indication of what is to come;

but the intention to increase it gradually to an extravagant pitch is

there from the commencement, and it continues until semi-consciousness,

and even total unconsciousness is reached. The excitement caused by the

dance frequently becomes contagious, so that others join in. The purpose

of this dance is to effect union with a superhuman spirit; the body,

temporarily “emptied” of consciousness, is believed to be entered by the

god or spirit in whose honour the dance takes place. Among peoples of low

culture, among whom belief in the “external soul” is common, there can

be no doubt that the conviction existed that the soul took its departure

from the body for the time being, thus making room for the higher spirit

of the god. While thus inhabiting the body, the god utilized it for his

own purposes. The prime motive of the ecstatic dance was union with the

deity; that being once effected other things might or might not follow.

The ecstatic dance takes, however, a different form, and has a different

purpose under special circumstances. It acts sometimes as a means of

forcing the deity (or, rather, it is believed to do so) to answer prayer;

then during the ecstatic state self-laceration takes place, apparently

with little or no sensation of pain; the loss of consciousness does not

necessarily ensue. Both these forms of the ecstatic dance are met with

among the Israelites. The former was practised by the prophets, and its

contagious character is forcibly illustrated; as a result the spirit

of Jahwe comes upon the performer. The latter is mentioned as a Syrian

rite practised in time of emergency by the prophets of Baal; but the

influence of Syrian, or Canaanite, practice upon the Israelites here

is plainly indicated by the prophet Hosea who tells of how the people

“cut themselves for corn and wine,” thus rebelling against their God.

Though in this instance the dance is not mentioned we know from the

parallel case of the prophets of Baal that it was part of the ritual, and

therefore took place; and this quite apart from the analogous practice

elsewhere. It was done with the purpose of forcing the god (in this

case some local Baal) to give good crops. It was, so we may believe, an

emergency rite; the more normal method may have been the dance round

the sacred tree (see above, pp. 96, 99, 103). As to the special form of

dance on these occasions, it is probable, so far as the prophetic dance

was concerned, that it began in quite moderate style, and in single file

formation; as the excitement increased it is obvious that it assumed a

very different form, a whirling round with head thrown back, judging

from analogy. In the case of the wilder, Syrian, form, there is reason

to suppose that it began also quietly, with the “limping” step, and

presently got wilder and wilder, until knives and other sharp instruments

were seized, and self-inflicted wounds caused blood to flow from the

bodies of the performers. The purpose of the “limping” step is believed,

with good reason, to have been to arouse the pity of the god, or else to

imitate him and thus induce him to hear the prayers addressed to him; the

flowing blood may be regarded as having been a means of forcing the god

to answer prayer.

The ecstatic dance, at any rate in its more barbarous form, is unknown

among other Semitic peoples. This holds good also of the Egyptians,

though the present day existence of it, in its less barbarous form, among

the Dancing Dervishes supports the belief of its having been in vogue in

earlier times.

With regard to the Syrians, however, there is the clearest evidence of

its existence in both forms; for we have the story of Wen-Amon, and the

detailed accounts of Heliodorus and Apuleius.

Very full evidence is forthcoming as to the ecstatic dance among the

Greeks; it is, however, not indigenous, and can be shown to have come to

them from the Syrians. It is, in the main, connected with the worship

of Dionysos, in whose honour the Thyiads danced and raved, often until

they became insensible. The god was supposed to be present at the orgies

which took place during his festivals, and those who, by means of

orgiastic dances, lost consciousness, came under his influence and were

“possessed” by him. The instances of this dance among the Greeks, of

which some notable ones are recorded above, show to what an extent it was

in vogue; but we find that, in general, it is the less barbarous form of

the ecstatic dance that was performed among them. The more objectionable

form was rare; it occurred in connexion with the worship of Attis, but

this was not popular among the Greeks. On the other hand, strange to

say, among the Romans, especially during the later period of the Empire

and owing to the influx of alien oriental cults, this form of worship

became prominent. National characteristics undoubtedly had much to do

with this contrast between Greeks and Romans; but it is probable that

the respective purposes of the dance also had something to do with it;

for while the main purpose of the ecstatic dance among the Greeks was to

bring about the union of the god with his worshippers, among the Romans

it appears to have been that of offering their blood. Among the Greeks,

that is to say, it was in the nature of an act of devotion; but among the

Romans it was to induce the goddess of fertility to give abundant crops.

Both forms of this dance appear among uncultured peoples. Its purpose is

“possession” during which the possessed becomes endowed with supernatural

powers; he is able to cure diseases, or to give oracles; or else it is

purely an act of devotion. Among the Maoris it is supposed to have the

effect of imparting courage, so it is performed on the eve of battle.

In its more barbaric form it is supposed to induce the higher powers to

supply wants, as among the Basutos when game is scarce. An interesting

example of the rite is offered by the natives in Tinnevelly in which both

union with a supernatural being, and the power of prophecy is attained

by means of this type of dance; it is true that, among these natives

the actual union with the spirit is effected by offering him blood and

drinking that of the victim sacrificed to the spirit; but the necessary

spiritual condition into which the worshipper must be transported for

this purpose is brought about through the sacred dance. But in this

instance, as invariably among the uncivilized races, there is always some

practical end in view; a material need of some kind arises which, it is

believed, will be supplied by means of this rite.

In comparing this type of dance, as practised among many peoples, with

the three instances of it given in the Old Testament, it will have been

seen that there is a striking similarity both in purpose and performance.

It is noteworthy, however, that among the Hebrews it is the milder type

that is indigenous, and it is essentially an act of devotion; it is

a means of receiving the spirit of Jahwe, and this for the practical

purpose of divining His will and proclaiming it. The rite as practised

by the prophets of Baal is Syrian; and there can be little doubt that

the custom recorded by Hosea was of Syrian origin. So that, as among the

Greeks, the milder form of the ecstatic dance was indigenous, while the

more barbarous form was due to Syrian influence.

Reviewing the subject as a whole, there is no shadow of doubt that Hebrew

and Greek practice here, though it is but a small item of religious

ritual with which we have been concerned, illustrates their religious

superiority over all the other races. But of these two the Hebrews

stand on distinctly higher ground; there is not the remotest reason for

believing that the ecstatic dance among them was ever contaminated by

the licence which often obtained among the Greeks. Among the Hebrews,

moreover, the object of it was purely devotional; and when an oracle

was put forth it was only to declare the will of their God. So that it

is true to say that even in the lower planes of religious thought and

practice the Hebrews showed that they were in the vanguard of religious

evolution.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SACRED DANCE AT VINTAGE, HARVEST, AND OTHER FESTIVALS

I

We are not concerned here with the history and development of the Hebrew

feasts; but a few introductory words regarding them will not be out of

place.

There were three agricultural festivals of first importance among the

Israelites:

_Mazzôth_[233], or the feast of Unleavened Bread; this was a spring

feast held when the sickle was first put to the standing corn and the

first-fruits of the new crops were offered (Deut. xvi. 8, 9);

_Shabuôth_, or the feast of Weeks, celebrated seven weeks later at the

conclusion of the harvest (Deut. xvi. 10); called also _Ḳazir_, the feast

of “Harvest” (Exod. xxiii. 16);

_Sukkôth_, or the feast of Tabernacles, the autumn feast, called also

_ha-Asiph_, the feast of “the ingathering,” when “thou gatherest in thy

labours out of the field” (Exod. xxiii. 16).

Since prior to their entry into Canaan the Israelites were nomads, and

therefore did not observe harvest festivals, it is extremely probable

that, in settling down among the Canaanites, they adopted these festivals

from the people of the land, and celebrated them in honour of Jahwe,

their God.

These three great feasts were originally, among the Israelites, of equal

importance, requiring presence at the sanctuary (Exod. xxxiv. 23); but

there are indications that in quite early times the autumn feast of

Tabernacles assumed pre-eminence. It is called “the feast,” or “the feast

of Jahwe[234].” The other feasts were celebrated locally.

From the present point of view it is important to note that each of these

feasts is called _ḥag_: _ḥag ha-Mazzôth_, _ḥag ha-Ḳazir_, _ḥag ha-Asiph_;

that is to say, to each is applied the term which originally denoted what

was the essence of a festival, viz. the sacred dance round the sanctuary;

and the same is true of the minor festivals which were celebrated at the

local sanctuaries.

In view of the fact that the feast was called _ḥag_ because of the

sacred dance characteristic of it, no surprise can be felt at the

non-mention of dancing at these feasts when they are spoken of in the

Old Testament; it was so obvious and customary that any reference to it,

excepting incidental allusions, would have been quite superfluous[235].

Such incidental allusions occur in the Psalms, as we have seen, and a

more specific mention is met with in Judg. xi. 34: “And Jephthah came

to Mizpah unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet

him with timbrels and with dances”; we are not here concerned with

the character of the feast referred to[236]; our point is that it was

celebrated with dancing. Another and fuller illustration occurs in Judg.

xxi. 19 ff., where mention is made of a feast which was held annually at

Shiloh in honour of Jahwe; that it was a vintage feast is implied by the

reference to the vineyards in which the Benjamites hid themselves[237].

At this feast it was the custom for the young girls to come out and

dance: “When the maidens of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances”; and

see verse 23. It is worth noticing how the dancing is mentioned as a

recognized custom. The spot must have been a familiar one as the feast

took place annually: we are reminded of _Abel-meḥolah_, “the field of

dancing” (1 Kings xix. 16), which must clearly have got its name from the

festival dancing which took place there habitually.

We know from the later history and ritual of the Jewish festivals

that they were marked by dances and processional dances of a sacred

character[238]; and the analogy of ritual usage among other peoples

makes it certain that these religious dances at the Jewish feasts, as

practised in post-biblical times, were not innovations, but rather the

traditional ritual which had been handed down from time immemorial. As

Krauss points out, the most primitive kind of dancing, a simple form of

hopping, without rhythmic movement (for which the Talmud uses the word

_ṭaphaz_), was in use in later times both at weddings and during regular

worship[239].

We have already, in another connexion, drawn attention to the daily

procession round the altar, after the sacrifices had been offered, during

the feast of _Sukkôth_ (“Tabernacles”). There was another dancing

ceremony at this feast which must be mentioned, a ceremony of which it

was said that whosoever had not seen it had never seen a real feast[240].

This was the wonderful Torch-dance which took place in the Court of the

women in the Temple on the second day of the feast. A great multitude of

men and women were always present on this occasion to witness the dance

in which only the most prominent among the Israelites took part. While

the dance was going on hymns and psalms were sung[241]. It was because

of the dances and processions at the feast of Tabernacles, during which

palms and branches of trees were carried, similar to the _thyrsus_

carried by the Bacchanalian assemblies of maidens, that Plutarch was

betrayed into the error of regarding this feast as of the same character

as that celebrated in honour of Dionysos among the Greeks; and into his

assertion that the cult of this god was in vogue among the Hebrews[242].

There was, to give another example, a religious dance, though of an

entirely different character, carried out by Jewish maidens both on the

feast-day known as the 15th of Ab, and on the Day of Atonement[243].

That the feast of the 15th of Ab was a religious one is clear from the

evidence given by Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus[244] (1st century A.D.)

to the effect that it was the great day of the year on which wood was

offered for the burning of the sacrifices; the supply offered on this

occasion was supposed to be sufficient to last for the year. The

festival is referred to by Josephus, who calls it the Xulophoria[245].

To mention but one further example, at the feast of _Purim_ there was

a special kind of dance; although this ceased to be of a religious

character, there can be no doubt that originally it was so[246].

II

Among the ancient Arabs, being nomads, Harvest and Vintage festivals did

not, of course, exist. But among their descendants a festival of another

kind at which a dance of, at any rate, a quasi-religious character is

performed may be mentioned here; for there can be no doubt that in these

things modern usage represents a custom which has been handed down

through the generations from the distant past. At circumcision festivals

(_Muzzayîn_)[247] they perform what are called _Daḥa_ dances. The young

people gather together, being invited by the fathers of the children to

be circumcised, and perform these dances, during which they sing over and

over again:

We will protect you

From him who cuts (‘_enda-l-Ḳatta_’)

We will protect you.

Cut, oh Cutter!

Yet hurt not [here, in turn, the names of those who are to be

circumcised are uttered],

Cut, oh Cutter!

Beware of the reed (_ʿala-l-Ḳaṣab_),

Oh my darling,

Beware of the reed![248]

Dancing at circumcisions is indispensable among the peasants in

Palestine[249]; it has been observed also in many other parts of the

world, _e.g._ among the Bambaras of Senegambia[250].

In Gen. xxi. 4, where the circumcision of Isaac is recorded, there is

no mention of the circumcision feast and the accompanying dance, which,

judging from later usage, always took place; but in verse 8 it says:

“... And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.”

The Rabbis of later times inferred that just as there was a feast at the

weaning there must also have been a feast at the circumcision, and no

doubt they were right. In _Pirḳe de Rabbi Eliezer_ we read in reference

to this passage (Gen. xxi. 4): “The sages said: A man is bound to make

festivities and a banquet on that day when he has the merit of having

his son circumcised, like Abraham our Father, who circumcised his son,

as it is said...[251].” That dancing formed an indispensable element

at such feasts, as among other peoples who practised this rite, hardly

admits of doubt[252]. In most cases, though not in all, there enters in a

distinctly religious note.

There is also dancing at the festivities attending the performance of

vows[253].

III

Although it is highly probable that at the Harvest and other festivals

of the Babylonians and Assyrians sacred dancing took place, definite

evidence in the way of recorded instances does not seem to be

forthcoming.

Among the Egyptians, however, we know that every temple had both priests

and priestesses attached, among whom were dancers and musicians; and

these played a very important part at all festivals[254]. Apart from

official celebrations in temples, local feasts at which sacred dances

were performed, also took place. Thus, when the Harvest was completed and

the peasants offered the first-fruits, they danced in the presence of the

god of fertility as an act of thanksgiving[255]. There was also a dance

of thanksgiving performed in honour of Ptah for the annual overflowing of

the Nile. In dancing a small piece of wood was often held in each hand,

and these were knocked together in rhythmic time[256].

Mention should also be made of the great “Sed” festival, originally

performed only once in thirty years, but later in every third year.

At this festival the king was deified as Osiris, and the Crown Prince

was appointed, and married to the heiress of the kingdom. At the

enthronization of the deified king the Crown Prince danced before him as

an act of honour to the god; this was also done at another part of the

ceremony by all the men, who were present in great numbers[257].

IV

A good example among the Greeks is that of the sacred dance performed

at the celebration of the _Haloa_, which, according to a scholion to

Lucian[258], was

a feast at Athens containing mysteries of Demeter, and Kore,

and Dionysos on the occasion of the cutting of vines and the

tasting of wine made from them.... The _Haloa_ gets its name,

according to Philochorus, from the fact that people hold sports

at the _threshing-floors_; and he says it is celebrated in

the month Poseidon[259].... The sports held were, of course,

incidental to the business of threshing; but it was these

sports that constituted the actual festival. To this day

the great round threshing-floor that is found in most Greek

villages is the scene of the harvest festival. Near it a booth

(_skēnē_) is to this day erected, and in it the performers

rest, and eat and drink in the intervals of their pantomimic

dancing[260].

In connexion with ritual dances in honour of Demeter, Frazer draws

attention to the remains of “the magnificent marble drapery which once

adorned the colossal statue of Demeter and Persephone in the sanctuary of

the two goddesses at Lycosura, in Arcadia”; on this are carved rows of

semi-human, semi-bestial figures dancing and playing musical instruments;

the bodies of these figures are those of women, but their heads, paws and

feet are those of a horse, a pig, a cat, or a hare, and apparently an

ass[261].

“It is reasonable to suppose,” he says, “that these dancing

figures represent a ritual dance which was actually performed

in the rites of Demeter and Persephone by masked men and women,

who personated the goddesses in their character of beasts[262].”

The story of the two daughters of Eteokles who fell into a well while

dancing in honour of Demeter and Kore, and were turned into cypresses,

probably owes its origin to the desire to account for the reason why

sacred dances were performed under these trees, in which the _numen_ of

one or other of these goddesses was supposed to reside[263]. The story is

given in _Geoponica_, XI. 4:

The cypresses have two names, and they are indeed called

_Charites_ on account of their delectable quality, and

_Cypresses_ on account of their bearing and producing branches

and seeds in such regular order. They were the daughters of

Eteokles; and when dancing in imitation of the goddesses,

they fell into a well; and the earth, commiserating their

misfortune, produced flourishing plants like damsels[264].

It is unnecessary to give further examples; generally speaking, among

the Greeks dancing at festivals, so far as their religious character is

concerned, was performed in honour of some deity. A magical purpose is

sometimes to be discerned, though rarely[265]; the ecstatic dance seems

sometimes to have had this object, and this, as one would expect, is

only the case in the earliest period of Greek religion[266]. We have

dealt in Chap. VII. with the ecstatic dance and its objects.

V

As illustrating this type of dance among the Romans we may instance the

festival of the _Ambarvalia_; this festival was not celebrated on a

fixed date, but varied according to the state of the crops. The duties

at the festival were carried out by _Fratres Arvales_, “the Brethren

of the Ploughed Fields.” With solemn prayers, addressed primarily to

Mars[267] to keep away all harm from the crops, these Brethren led round

in formal procession the victims destined for sacrifice to Mars as the

god of vegetation, viz. a pig, a ram, and a bull. The Arval Brothers

had a special three-step dance (_tripudium_) which they performed in

honour of Mars and the Lares; it was repeated three times, and during

its performance they sang a hymn of praise to the god[268]. A minute

account of their three days’ festival is given in the _Acta_ of the year

218 (Elagabalus, _CIL_, VI. 2104)[269]; the dance, which took place on

the second, and most important, day is described as follows: “... Then

the priests, shut up in the temple, girding up their togas, took the

song-books and, marking the time, danced the three step singing thus

...[270].” Again, at the festival of the _Lupercalia_, held in February,

when the sacrificial feast was ended, the _Luperci_, crowned and

anointed, and, but for an apron of goatskin, entirely naked, ran round

the Palatine Hill with thongs cut from the skin of the sacrificed goats

in their hands[271]. The feast was held in honour of Faunus (the Greek

Pan), who was worshipped under the name of Lupercus, in a grotto in the

Palatine Mount called the Lupercal. The running round of the _Luperci_

with the goats’ thongs had a purificatory object[272] (see p. 101).

The dances of the _Salii_ may be appropriately mentioned here. Their

sacred processions took place in March and October, and continued for

over three weeks[273]. Headed by trumpeters and dressed in full battle

apparel they marched through the city; at all the altars and temples

they halted, and, under the conduct of two leaders, solemnly danced

the war-dance in three measures in honour of Mars, singing at the same

time[274]. The _Salii_, however, also performed dances in honour of

Saturn, the Roman god of sowing;

“as the Romans,” says Frazer, “sowed the corn both in spring

and autumn, and as down to the present time in Europe

superstitious rustics are wont to dance and leap high in the

spring for the purpose of making the crops grow high, we

may conjecture that the leaps and dancing performed by the

_Salii_, the priests of the old Italian god of vegetation,

were similarly supposed to quicken the growth of the corn by

homoeopathic or imitative magic[275].”

It was not in Rome alone that this type of dancing was performed;

similar colleges of dancing priests are known to have existed

in many towns of ancient Italy, and everywhere, we may

conjecture, they were supposed to contribute to the fertility

of the earth by their leaps and dances[276].

This magical purpose of the sacred dance will come before us again.

VI

A few examples of this type of the sacred dance among uncultured peoples

may now be given[277].

The sowing festival among the Kayans of Central Borneo, who are

essentially an agricultural people and of a primitive type, is very

elaborate; but we are only concerned with that part of it at which the

sacred dancing takes place. The following is taken from an eye-witness’

account:

The first to appear on the scene were some men wearing wooden

masks and helmets and so thickly wrapt in banana leaves that

they looked like moving masses of green foliage. They danced

silently, keeping time to the beat of the gongs. They were

followed by other figures, some of whom executed war-dances;

but the weight of their leafy envelope was such that they soon

grew tired, and though they leaped high, they uttered none

of the wild war-whoops which usually accompany these martial

exercises. When darkness fell the dances ceased and were

replaced by a little drama representing a boar brought to bay

by a pack of hounds.... Later in the evening eight disguised

girls danced, one behind the other, with slow steps and waving

arms, to the glimmering light of torches and the strains of a

sort of jew’s harp[278].

Nieuwenhuis, who witnessed this, insists strongly on the religious

character of all the festivals observed by these people. There can

be little doubt that the dancing masked men represent the spirits of

fertility; the high leaps are a magical rite to make the crops grow high;

and the row of dancing girls waving their arms is probably in imitation

of the field of healthy stalks swaying in the wind, and thus also an act

of imitative magic. It is another form of the rite which is practised by

the Kai of New Guinea who swing to and fro on reeds suspended from the

branches of trees in order to promote the growth of the crops[279].

Among the Malays most of the dances seem to be for the purpose of

amusement; but that some of them, at any rate, were originally of a

religious character is evident from what Skeat says on the subject:

... All these dances, I was told, were symbolical; one of

agriculture, with the tilling of the soil, the sowing of the

seed, the reaping and winnowing of the grain, might easily have

been guessed by the dancers’ movements[280].

Such dances, as is well known, are always, in some stage of their

development, connected with the worship of some god of vegetation[281].

Skeat says that

the religious origin of almost all Malay dances is still to be

seen in the performance of such ritualistic observances as the

burning of incense, the scattering of rice, and the invocation

of the Dance-Spirit according to set forms, the spirit being

exorcised (or “escorted homewards” as it is called) at the end

of the performance[282].

One other example may be given, this time from Africa, of the dance

being a propitiatory act, and accompanied by prayer; it takes place at

moon festivals. The Hottentots (they are moon-worshippers) perform long

nightly dances in honour of the moon, both at the appearance of the new

moon and at full moon. After numberless strange contortions of the body

which characterise these dances, and excruciating yells, the worshippers

fling themselves to the ground; then they suddenly spring up, stamp about

with their feet, and gaze up at the moon, crying: “Hail, see that we have

honey, and that our flocks get plenty of food, and give us much milk!”

Then the dancing, accompanied by the clapping of hands, continues. This

goes on through the whole night with short pauses. According to some

authorities the name Hottentot is derived from the noise made by their

feet during these nightly sacred dances at the moon festivals[283].

Examples could be multiplied to almost any extent; those given are

typical and they will suffice for present purposes.

SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS

A brief enumeration of the chief festivals among the Israelites is called

for in the present connexion because they were agricultural feasts;

and, as has already been pointed out incidentally, one of the purposes

of the sacred dance was to ensure good crops. All that we learn as to

the character of these festivals in the Old Testament emphasizes the

element of rejoicing during their celebration; and this applies with

special force to the feast of Tabernacles. The dancing which took place

at these feasts would, therefore, seem to have been purely expressions

of joy. But there are reasons for believing that other elements entered

in as well. Expressions of thanksgiving to a god are at the same time a

means of honouring him; and this, we may feel certain, figured largely

at the Israelite feasts; they were thankful to Jahwe for the fruits of

the field, and they were joyful for plenty; so that when grateful joy

expressed itself in the dance it constituted an act of honouring, and

therefore of worshipping, the national God. The rare explicit mention of

these dances during the feasts in the Old Testament is easily accounted

for.

But the cultural stage of the bulk of the Israelite people, at the very

least up to the time of the Exile, can be proved by many indications in

the Old Testament to have been no higher than other races; the extremely

significant fact recorded by one of the prophets that, on occasion,

the most barbarous form of the ecstatic dance, with its self-inflicted

lacerations and blood-flowing, was practised by the people for the

purpose of ensuring good crops, offers ample justification for the belief

that one of the objects of the sacred dance at the spring festival was

likewise to ensure good crops. The rite was a world-wide one, which is in

itself presumptive evidence that it was practised by the Israelites.

The importance of the sacred dance during the Jewish feasts of later

times, for the existence of which the evidence is ample, must be regarded

as the observance of traditional custom.

The ancient Arabs did not cultivate the soil and therefore did not

celebrate festivals of this kind. Among some modern Arabs dancing takes

place at circumcision festivals, and it is accompanied by song; there are

grounds for believing that the Israelites did the same. The dance in this

case must be regarded as having been performed in honour of the newly

initiated, who, by circumcision, were admitted into the community of the

tribe[284].

Among the Egyptians both national and local Harvest festivals were

celebrated; during these the sacred dance played an important part. We

may take it that, as among the Israelites, the purpose of these dances

was to express joyful gratitude to the god of fertility. The “Sed”

festival was another occasion on which a sacred dance was performed; the

deified king was honoured in this way.

The _Haloa_ among the Greeks seems to have been at once a Harvest and

Vintage festival; the dancing which took place during this feast must

have been in honour of the god of fertility. In Greek villages at the

present day the harvest festival takes place round the threshing-floor,

and there is much dancing, but its old significance has now, of course,

disappeared.

There is evidence that dances were performed in honour of the fertility

goddess Demeter and Persephone; the dancers personated these goddesses in

their character of beasts,—horses, pigs, etc.; while we have here a dance

in honour of these divinities, it is possible that it also partook of the

nature of imitative magic, it being a means of ensuring productivity.

An interesting case of framing a reason for the sacred dance under trees,

the real reason being presumably forgotten, is that of the two daughters

of Eteokles who were turned into cypresses; these were trees under which

sacred dances were performed. Festival dances among the Greeks were often

doubtless expressions of mirth and joy, but this did not prevent their

being performed in honour of some deity; it was precisely similar among

the Israelites to whom the exhortation was constantly given: “Ye shall

rejoice before Jahwe your God,” in connexion with the feasts (Lev. xxiii.

40, etc.). A magic-religious purpose is at times to be discerned in these

Greek festival dances.

Among the Romans a notable instance of this type of sacred dance is

that performed by “the Brethren of the Ploughed Fields”; they circled

round the victims for sacrifice to Mars. A similar rite was carried out

by the _Luperci_ in honour of the god Faunus (the Greek Pan); it had a

purificatory purpose. The dances of the _Salii_ were performed in honour

of Mars; they also danced in honour of Saturn, the Roman god of sowing;

their high leaps during the latter of these were believed to have the

effect of making the corn grow high.

Among the uncultured races the Kayans of Central Borneo danced at their

festivals with a purpose similar to that of the Romans; their high leaps

were a magical rite to make the crops grow in height. A like result was

believed by the Kai of New Guinea to be effected by swinging to and

fro on reeds suspended from the branches of trees. The Malays perform

imitative dances which at one time were believed to make the crops grow.

Finally, the Hottentots dance in honour of the moon in belief that this

will have the effect of prevailing upon their deity, the moon, to supply

them and their flocks with sustenance.

We have no indications in the Old Testament that the sacred dances at

the Israelite feasts had any other purpose than that of rejoicing before

their God, and this was, of course, in the nature of honouring Him. But

the possibility of the existence of imitative magic in connexion with

them at some period of their history cannot be altogether excluded;

this is suggested not only because the idea is so widespread, but also

because even in much later times among the Jews we have an example of

an imitative magical rite during a feast in the Temple. At the Feast

of Tabernacles it was the custom for water to be drawn ceremonially by

the priests from the fountain of Siloam; this was brought through the

water-gate, when a long-drawn-out trumpet blast was sounded, into the

Temple, where it was poured out upon the altar during the further blowing

of trumpets; the rite was performed daily on the seven days of the Feast.

That this was a piece of imitative magic for the purpose of ensuring a

sufficient rainfall would suggest itself spontaneously; but we have the

definite statement to this effect given by the Rabbis, for the object

of the rite is explained by the words: “The Holy One, Blessed be He!

said, Pour out water before me at the Feast, in order that the rains

of the year may be blessed to you[285].” This clear evidence among the

Jews for the existence of a magical rite to obtain rain is sufficient

justification for believing that their forefathers may have performed

dances at Harvest Festivals for the purpose of ensuring good crops.

CHAPTER IX

DANCES IN CELEBRATION OF VICTORY

I

It is a natural and obvious thing that there should be expressions of

joy on the occasion of victory; and, as dancing was one of the ways

whereby joy was expressed, it is equally natural that this should have

been performed on such occasions. Furthermore, when we find that in the

records of these celebrations it is the women who do the dancing, this is

only what is to be expected since it is done in honour of the victorious

warriors. This is all in the natural order of things; and, so far as the

Old Testament is concerned, it would seem that the simple recording of

the fact that the celebration of a victory was one of the occasions on

which dancing was performed is all that is required. However, this custom

is widespread, and has been, and still is, in vogue among peoples in very

different stages of culture; and in discussing a widespread custom, such

as this, it is always possible that one may discern in the performance

of it among less cultured races elements which suggest that originally

there was something more in it than appears upon the surface. In other

words, the possibility must be reckoned with that the custom as recorded

in the Old Testament was in reality the survival of something which was

believed to have a decisive effect in bringing about victory. The dance

of the Israelite women on these occasions had a threefold purpose; it was

a means of expressing joy; it was also the way in which the victorious

warriors were honoured; and, most important, it was an act of praise and

thanksgiving to Jahwe; so that this type of dance was emphatically a

religious one. If, as we hope to offer some grounds for believing, this

type of dance was, in its origin, a means of effecting victory by magic,

it will be an interesting illustration of magic being, as Mr Marett

says, “part and parcel of the ‘god-stuff’ out of which religion fashions

itself[286].”

In passing, it may be said that, in spite of the fact that the absence

of the able-bodied men would make the women the natural performers in

these kind of dances, this public appearance of oriental women witnesses

to a very different condition of society from that with which we are

familiar as obtaining in the East in later centuries; in other words,

the Israelites were in some respects in a less advanced cultural stage

than we are sometimes apt to suppose. Not that they were conscious of any

other objects in this type of dance than those mentioned; we only mean

that at this time immemorial custom, however different the reasons given

for its existence, was more likely to be tenaciously held to than when

radical changes in religious belief and social and moral conditions had

taken place.

The type of dancing with which we are just now concerned has nothing to

do with the war-dance, the primary aim of which

seems to be the development of physical excitement, and

consequently courage, in the dancing warriors; secondarily, as

magical ideas attach themselves, the aim of frightening the

enemy by a demonstration of violence is added[287].

In the Old Testament there is no mention of the war-dance. But there

was a solemn preparation for war, for it must be remembered that among

the Israelites, as among other Semites, there was a religious element

connected with the act of warfare. Warriors “consecrated” themselves

before entering upon it (Isa. xiii. 3); the phrase for declaring war or

entering upon a state of warfare is to “sanctify, or consecrate, war”

(Mic. iii. 5, Jer. vi. 4); and battle was prepared for by sacrifice (1

Sam. xiii. 9, 10); moreover, after the battle the spoil, or part of it,

was consecrated to Jahwe (1 Sam. xv. 21, 2 Sam. viii. 11, 1 Chron. xviii.

11).

The Israelites, thus, entered battle under the protection of Jahwe; the

religious element, therefore, was strongly emphasized.

We proceed now to enumerate the instances in the Old Testament of dancing

in celebration of victory.

In Exod. xv. 20, 21 a dance with song accompanied by musical instruments

is performed by women in celebration of victory:

And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel

(_tôph_) in her hand; and all the women went out after her with

timbrels and with dances. And Miriam chanted[288] to them,

Sing to Jahwe, for He is greatly exalted,

The horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea.