Shauamunime – the sacred singing

Shauamunime – the sacred singing

In the book “Ancient Egyptian Coffins. Present. Future,” edited by Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson, in a chapter entitled: “A Libyan Singer in the Choir of the Temple of Karnak,” the writer Cynthia May Sheikh Al-Islam notes that during the reign of Osorkon I, a Libyan singer named Shawmunimez sang privately in the temple of Amun with other Libyan singers who were called by the same name. The writer says: “They are believed to have been virgins and daughters of the elite of the Libyan Mashash tribe in particular and were called by the same name as soon as they sang in the temple of Amun. She was often called inside the temple the chanter of Amun.” An examination of the mummy shows that she died in her teens, around the age of 17.

111*200cm
Oil and mixed media on canvas
2024

©C. M. Sheikholeslami, Courtesy Egyptian Museum Cairo