drama and theater: Egypt cent find in northwest Botswana has pushed this date back some 30,000 years There, archaeologists discovered a kind of cave that was carved into the rock by ancient Bushmen The cave, along with the surrounding rock face, is a remarkable artistic achievement, for it depicts a python, reflecting the ancient Bushmen’s creation myth that said that humans descended from pythons and that stream and riverbeds were made as the python crawled around in search of water The cave, then, was a religious site, but the distinction between religious observance and theater among ancient Africans was no doubt one that they would not have recognized Archaeologists speculate that as people visited the cave, the shaman would have retired into a secret chamber, where he could see the visitors He then could have spoken to people, making it seem as though the words came from the mouth of the python Two small shafts would have allowed the shaman to disappear Thus, if archaeologists are correct, the cave took on elements of performance and theater, giving visitors a visual representation of the culture’s creation myth Numerous sacred sites such as this can be found throughout Africa While their primary purpose was religious, the enactment of that religion was distinctly a form of theater Seasonal festivals, too, were an occasion for theatrical and ritualistic performance Ancient Africans’ lives were dependent on the cycles and changes of the natural world Again, because religion imbued every aspect of their lives, ancient Africans would have seen the arrival of a harvest as an important event, a sign that the gods favored them The modern Christmas-season festival called Kwanzaa has its roots in these types of ancient celebrations Kwanzaa, contrary to widespread belief, is not a replacement for Christmas but rather a harvest festival The rituals of renewal that surround Kwanzaa have their roots in ancient African harvest celebrations EGYPT BY 329 Bronze figure of Isis and Horus, from North Saqqara, Egypt, Late Period, after 600 b.c.e.; Egyptian dramas often focused on the gods and were more like morality plays; two feature Isis and Horus, respectively (© The Trustees of the British Museum) EMILY JANE O’DELL Whether ancient Egypt even had a distinct dramatic form and style has been debated for many years Egypt provides nothing in any way comparable to the archaeological and textual evidence we possess for the drama and theater of the Greeks There are no known theatrical structures or play scripts written with the sole intention of secular entertainment In fact, there are no dramatic scripts at all, unless one considers certain religious rituals and religious texts as blueprints for religious drama Neither the literature nor the tomb reliefs of ancient Egypt make any reference to the acting or theatrical profession Since it was customary to inscribe the title or profession of a tomb’s owner, the lack of evidence for an acting profession is notable and supports its nonexistence Ancient Egypt did, however, have a rich oral tradition, and many of the myths and much of the literature were passed down orally from generation to generation We not know exactly how these performances and recitations of texts were organized, but it is probable that they involved a dramatic street performance of sorts One Egyptian story in particular, “The Contendings of Horus and Seth,” thought to have been written during the New Kingdom (1550–1070 b.c.e.), reads very much like a play because of its quick changes from scene to scene and because the many different characters speak to each other in a way that is highly reminiscent of play dialogue The question of ancient Egyptian drama’s existence is complicated by how we define drama Drama can take many different forms, and theatrical styles are determined and shaped by the culture, ritual, religion, language, and ceremonies from which they emerge Thus it can be very difficult to say what constituted or did not constitute drama in one culture or another For example, some scholars focus on religious ritual as performance Ancient Egyptian culture was heavily steeped in religious ritual; mythology and religious beliefs