The portraits of Faiyum | Rafael Pérez Arroyo, Hymn to the Seven Hathor

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• published: 02 Sep 2009
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"Faces from the Past" The portraits of Faiyum (Egypt - I th BC - II th AD) Music: Hymn to the Seven Hathor (from 'Music in the Age of the Pyramids') composed, arranged and conducted by Rafael Pérez Arroyo Arroyo's Hathor Ensemble Music in the Age of the Pyramids represents the first try of a reconstruction of the music of Ancient Egypt. After ten years of research carried out by the Spanish musicologist Rafael Pérez Arroyo, with the collaboration of Syra Bonet, the Centro de Estudios Egipcios has published a scientific works on the music, musicians, iconography, dance and musical instruments of Ancient Egypt. The result of this research work is a book and a record entitled 'Music in the Age of Pyramids': the music is performed by Arroyo's Hathor Ensemble. The realization of the music by Arroyo was based on study of the metric structure of hymns which survive in writing, on discussion of music theory from heiroglyphics, sonic descriptions by ancient authors, and ancient iconography. Arroyo has also tried to decode the hand gestures (the same source used for Biblical music), and discovered three basic modes for Ancient Egyptian music. More info: http://www.rafaelperezarroyo.com/eng/librosdiscos.htm *** Faiyum (Arabic: الفيوم‎) is a city in Middle Egypt and the capital of the Faiyum Governorate. It is 130 Km southwest of Cairo and occupies part of the ancient site of Crocodilopolis. Its name in English is also spelled as Fayum, Fayoum, Al Fayyum or El Faiyūm. It was formerly named Madīnet el Faiyūm. The name Faiyum may also refer to the Faiyum Oasis, although it is commonly used by Egyptians today to refer to the city. The modern name of the city comes from Coptic 'efiom/peiom' (whence the proper name 'payoum'), meaning 'the Sea' or 'the Lake', which in turn comes from late Egyptian 'pA y-m' of the same meaning, a reference to the nearby Lake Moeris. Faiyum is the source of some famous death masks or mummy portraits painted during the greek-roman occupation of the area. The Egyptians continued their practice of burying their dead, despite the Roman preference for cremation. While under the control of the Roman Empire, Egyptian death masks were painted on wood in a pigmented wax technique called encaustic: the Faiyum mummy portraits represent this technique. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits In italian language: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritratti_del_Fayoum