Dancing for Hathor: Women in Ancient Egypt

by Carolyn Graves-Brown

The fragmentary evidence allows us only tantalising glimpses of the sophisticated and complex society of the ancient Egyptians, but the Greek historian Herodotus believed that the Egyptians had 'reversed the ordinary practices of mankind' in treating their women better than any of the other civilizations of the ancient world. Carolyn Graves-Brown draws on funerary remains, tomb paintings, architecture and textual evidence to explore all aspects of women in Egypt from goddesses and queens to women as the 'vessels of creation'. Perhaps surprisingly the most common career for women, after housewife and mother, was the priesthood, where women served deities, notably Hathor, with music and dance. Many would come to the temples of Hathor to have their dreams interpreted, or to seek divine inspiration. This is a wide ranging and revealing account told with authority and verve.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Africa, Egyptology, Ancient History, Adult

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2010

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a fairly thorough and professional examination of the lives of women in ancient Egypt, what makes this book stand out is that the author engages with debate within the Egyptological community and assesses the antiquarians of the 19th century and the archaeologists of the 20th century, to explain why certain theories that used to be in vogue are now considered debunked. In particular, it was excellent to see the author explain in considerable depth just why the Heiress Theory was abandoned 30 years ago (despite, frustratingly, some poorly researched popular histories still repeating it today), and some of the persistent myths surrounding Hatshepsut. Weirdly, the author does have some odd stances too; for example, her ideas about Ahhotep to name just one.

Dancing for Hathor is well-written and accurate for the most part, but if I were going to recommend just one book about the lives of ancient Egyptian women, it'd still be Joyce Tyldesley’s Daughters of Isis.

7 out of 10

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It's an academic Egyptology book which explores the role of women in Ancient Egypt by highlighting their role in religion mirrored by worship of the goddess Hathor. Women in Egypt enjoyed a high status compared to more male-dominated (backward haha!) civilisations and communities of the time, and since, actually. This was part due to the elevated role of the goddesses in their lives, who were responsible for many high aspects of living/life/belief including creation, childbirth, merriment, healing, truth and law and also beauty. Egyptians saw the value of these things - mainly the domain of women - and elevated them because of it, which is logic lost on all male-dominated cultures.

Written in language suitable for a lay-person with some background knowledge of Ancient Egyptian culture and history, this work is an interesting read but also an educational and approachable look at her topic and Carolyn Graves-Brown, I think, has written a fascinating book devoid of dry academia-style prose to create a readable and gripping book! I couldn't put it down and was quite sad to finish it!

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched yet concise history of women in ancient Egypt.
Handily segregated into easy to access chapters including, birth, death, religion, motherhood, sexuality, art, women's work etc all aspects of female life is explored.
In some instances it's surprising the rights women DID have as opposed to other countries at the time so in some ways the Egyptians as regards women were quite forward thinking yet in others women were highly repressed and did hard, manual labour and some theoretical aspects of ancient life resonates with some ways of life today.
Fresh, told in an easy and understandable manner making this an acceptable read for those who are not experts.
Fascinating and very enjoyable.

[Mia Jönsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information for women throughout the history of Egypt.

[DAJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book discusses the flawed past theories that overstated the high status of women in Egypt; the changes in women's status through Egyptian history; the stages of their lives; and their occupations. Only after that does it get to the glamorous subjects, goddesses and queens. The religious aspects of sexuality and fertility receive their own chapter and are a running theme throughout the book, because they heavily affected, but sometimes contrasted with, beliefs about what women in real life were "supposed" to be like. And all that, without feeling too cursory, in only 172 pages of body text. Larger books on the same topic may be more comprehensive, but this one does an impressive job of covering the essentials.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads like an exhaustive summary of evidence pertaining to women's in Ancient Egypt through to the Ptolemaic period. I don't have enough knowledge to judge how controversial this is, and while I found it interesting, it was also a little ... well ... exhausting....

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely amazing book if you're looking to learn the roles of women in ancient Egypt. This book covers everything from the poorest peasants to the female kings like Hatshepsut. Absolutely recommend!

[Patrick Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I'd read this book five years ago!

[maria]

💀

[Meltha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the kind of book you pick up for plot, but more to page through and find information that's itching at the back of your brain. Virginia Woolf once talked about the idea that women's lives were often swallowed up by history, and this helps to put that right a bit. I would start out looking for one particular fact or bit of info and would often find myself reading an entire section or chapter just because this was really interesting. Also, the quip about Egyptologists assuming female dancers were automatically prostitutes saying more about the scientists than the women was quite the "oh, SNAP!" moment.

[Tes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really adds no in depth analysis to the field : basically all of her theories or suppositions end with but we have no real proof, or no evidence that this is so... Even the experts she quotes disagree on the translations of just about everything. I was disappointed.

[Ralitsa Mitova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чудесен и обусловен научен труд, чиито основен акцент бива върху положението, вярата, светогледът и мястото на жените в Древен Египет.