If we accept the notion that belly dance is a type of dance that uses the whole body comprehensively it then becomes quite hard to determine which of the dances that are referred to in ancient writings, drawings and other visual artifacts are actual belly dance. Occasionally either text or drawings give us a clue. 

Around 1500 B.C the Egyptian civilization expanded and become more sophisticated and was influenced by foreign countries such as Syria, Palestine, Nubia, the Sudan, Ethiopia and they brought in the Bayaderes, who were the elegant temple dancers of India. An ancient text describes, "the lines flow softly and pleasantly; nowhere do they bend sharply or break; and even where the mood is impetuous and impassioned, the movement remains close."

IN many ancient art works are featured symbols of spirals, waves, circles and other patterns suggesting the natural moves of belly dance. 

But other than this there are numerous references to dance but it is left up to us to guess exactly what the dance that was executed. 

The following is an actual description of dance though the label "belly dance" may not be viable.

The acrobatic dances and pair dances of ancient Egypt were described by a young man of Syracuse, who visited Memphis at the end of the fourth century B.C. He wrote the following letter describing the entertainment provided at a private banquet. Irena Lexova provides the following translation from the German version by Fritz Wegge: 

"Suddenly they disappeared and in their place came forward a group of dancers who jumped about in all directions, gathered together again, climbed one on top of the other with an incredible dexterity, mounting on the shoulders and the heads, forming pyramids, reaching to the ceiling of the hall, then descended suddenly one after the other to perform new jumps and admirable 'saltomortales'. Being in constant motion, now they danced on their hands, now they gathered in pairs, one turning his head down between the legs of his mate, then they lifted themselves mutually and returned to the original position, each of them alternatively being lifted and upon falling lifted his partner up."

Perhaps one of the oldest records of a dance contract can be found in the archives of Greek papyri purchased by Cornell University. The following contract, recorded in koine (the Greek used in the Hellenistic period), dates back to 206 A.D.:

"To Isadora, castanet dancer from Artemisia of the village of Philadelphia. I wish to engage you with two other castanet dancers to perform at the festival at my house for six days beginning with the 24th of the month of Payni [May 26-June 24] according to the old calendar, you receive as pay 36 drachmas for each day and for the entire period four artabas of barley and 20 pairs of bread loaves and whatsoever garments or gold ornaments you may bring down, we will guard these safely; and we will furnish you with two donkeys when you come down to us and a like number when you go back to the city. Year 14 of Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax and Marcus Aurelius Antonius Pius, Augusti, and Publicus Septimus Geta Caesar Augustus, Payni 16."

The Hindu god Shiva, known as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, is portrayed as a many-armed being balanced on one leg. Actual dance forms appear to have been in place in India around 6000 B.C.1 In studying the First Dynasty of Egypt, (around 3000 B.C.), archaeologists have found relief's showing a kind of dance or body language, and as culture in Egypt advanced, paintings were made showing musicians and dancers.

The Polish Archeological Mission headed by Dr. Karl Brifmesoles discovered a pharaohnic tomb in the area of Sakara south of Cairo. The tomb belongs to the Pharaohnic minister Prif Neb Af of the sixth dynasty, which ruled Egypt 4000 years ago.

One of the beautiful paintings depicts 3 lines of musicians playing harps; behind each two is a group of dancers

The legend of the dance in ancient Egypt was introduced by Pygmies, who rotated their pelvis to ease childbirth, and it was known as Hazz el-Wist . Wall paintings in the tombs of nobles in Luxor depict dancers lightly clothed in a series of different steps and movements. Dancing women, rotating their hips, attended festivals worshipping Hathor and Bastet, the goddesses of fertility. By the time Harun ar-Rashid, the Abbasside caliph (786-809AD) from Baghdad, introduced el-raqs el-sharqi to audiences of his court, the female pelvic dance had turned into a non-religious rite. 

An interesting legend has come to us about the birth of the kings of the Fifth Dynasty and a group of wandering street dancers. The story tells how the god Ra was about to become the father of triplets. The mother was Ruditdidit , the wife of Rausir, a priest of Ra. Rausir did not know that the father of the children was his beloved Ra. When Ruditdidit felt labor pains, Ra sent four goddesses and the god Khnumu to help her. In order to arrive unrecognized, the goddesses transformed themselves into street musicians and dancers. The god assumed the role of their porter. When the group arrived, they were informed that the lady of the house was suffering the pangs of childbirt. They replied, "let us in, for lo, we are skilled in midwifery." As payment for their services they are offered corn. The goddesses, wishing to make their presence known, cause it to rain so that they might have an excuse to return later to fetch their corn. They left precious treasures in the corn so that it comes
to the attention of all. 

As dance must have been such a common and universal activity it is actually quite hard to pin down a coherent picture of it and therefore the somewhat naive notion that it must have happened in all sorts of situations from religious trance dance to casual street entertainment, generally what people would do when celebrating in addition to lots of ritualized dance, may be hard to prove either way. So none of this may help us very much but one thing that might is the that there is an overwhelming body of circumstantial evidence that Goddesses came before the Gods. Given that Dance is so basic and natural I would guess that plenty of dancing must have taken place but in what form God (or Goddess) only knows! 

I will look at this in the next chapter.