The sacred dance

This study surveys ritual dance practices across ancient and uncultured societies, tracing their origins, functions, and varieties. Starting with Old Testament examples, it compares processional, encircling, ecstatic, harvest, victory, marriage, and mourning dances among Israelites, Semites, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Hittites, and diverse nonliterate peoples. It examines terminology and musical accompaniment, interprets psychological and social purposes such as sacred worship, propitiation, initiation, fertility, and communal celebration, and evaluates archaeological, iconographic, epigraphic, literary, and ethnographic evidence. The author emphasizes the rite's ubiquity and complexity while noting uncertainties about prehistoric origins and the multiplicity of motives behind performance.