A good illustration of the way in which similar forms of worship are in vogue among different peoples where there can be no question of borrowing is afforded by the worship of the Pleiades. This was practised by the ancient Peruvians[122], though whether dancing was performed in their honour (which was highly probable) we are not told; but the aborigines of Australia “sing and dance to gain the favour of the Pleiades” (whom they call Mormodellick), they are worshipped as the givers of rain[123]. The Blackfeet Indians of North America likewise worship the Pleiades;
at the general meeting of the nation there is a dance of warriors, which is supposed to represent the dance of the seven young men who are identified with the Pleiades. For the Indians say that the seven stars of the constellation were seven brothers, who guarded by night the field of sacred seed and danced round it to keep themselves awake during the long hours of darkness[124].
Frazer has collected many instances of the worship of this constellation in lands widely separated; in most cases there is no mention of dancing in its honour, but it is difficult to believe that this did not take place during the celebration of the Festivals held at its appearance[125].
Finally, one or two examples of the sacred dance in the continent of Africa may be offered. Speaking of the religion of the African aborigines generally, Schneider says that a living faith in a beneficent god of some kind is one of its characteristics. He is worshipped, on the one hand, from fear; but on the other, as a mark of gratitude; and one of the chief ways whereby this gratitude is shown is by songs and dances accompanied by music[126]. Again, the Kaffirs perform ceremonious dances on all sacred occasions; their mimic dances, performed with a view to prepare for hunting or war, have also a serious side[127]. The same is true of the Namaquas; among these when anyone embraces Christianity it is said that “he has given up dancing[128].” The Masai worship the god Engai whom they conceive as embodied in the sky, or at all events as dwelling there; he, too, is worshipped with songs and dances[129].
Examples could, of course, be multiplied to any extent; those given are, however, quite sufficient for our purpose; and, as will have been noticed, they represent, apart from Europe, all the continents.
SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS
The sacred dance among the Israelites was performed in honour of Jahwe, their national God; and it is evident that the processional form of dance was a normal mode in the ritual of worship. Although the evidence as to the existence of this rite among the Syrians and Arabs is scanty, yet its prevalence is sufficiently attested by the mention on an inscription of Baal-Marqôd, “the lord of dancing”; this name may well point to the belief among the Phoenicians that its divine bearer was the originator of the sacred dance; so that in performing it his worshippers did it in imitation of him, and therefore in his honour. Dances performed by the Bedouin Arabs of the Syrian Desert in honour of exalted personages may quite reasonably be regarded as an adaptation of the earlier religious rite of dancing in honour of a god or spirit.
Religious processions which were common in the worship of Assyrians and Babylonians must be regarded as a form of sacred dance in the extended use of the term. In connexion with the well-known joyful character of the religious festivals among the Semites it is worth remembering that the Assyrian word rakâdu means both “to rejoice” and “to dance”; where there was rejoicing, whether of a secular or religious kind, there was dancing; from which we may assume that at Assyrian religious festivals the sacred dance had its place. Direct evidence of the processional dance among the Assyrians is offered by an inscription found in the palace of Asshurbanipal. Some inscriptions found in Cyprus may possibly reflect Babylonian and Assyrian usage, but the dance represented on these is of a less formal character than the processional dance.
Two inscriptions, one from Boghazkeui, the other from Cyprus, bear unmistakable evidence of the religious processional dance among the Hittites.