Dance of the seven veils

Salome asking for the head of John the Baptist after her Dance of the Seven Veils.

In several notable works of Western culture, the Dance of the Seven Veils (usually described as danced by Salome) is one of the elaborations on the biblical tale of the execution of John the Baptist. Details enriching the story in later Christian mythology include providing a name for the dance, and describing the purpose of the dance as being to inflame King Herod with incestuous desire so that he would treat John as she wished.

Biblical account

According to ten verses of Matthew 14, John was imprisoned for criticizing King Herod Antipas' marriage to Herodias, the former wife of Antipas' "brother" Herod Philip I. Herod offered his niece a reward of her choice for performing a dance on his birthday. Herodias persuaded her daughter to ask for John the Baptist's head on a platter. Against his better judgment, Antipas reluctantly acceded to her request.

Account by Flavius Josephus

The historian Josephus lists the stepdaughter's name as Salome, but makes no mention of a dance.^[1]

Possible origin in myths

The Dance of the Seven Veils is also thought to have originated with the myth of the goddess Ishtar and the god Tammuz of Assyrian and Babylonian lore. In this myth, Ishtar decides to visit her sister, Ereshkigal, in the underworld. When Ishtar approaches the gates of the underworld, the gatekeeper lets Ishtar pass through the seven gates, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar has to shed an article of clothing. When she finally passes the seventh gate, she is naked. In a rage, Ishtar throws herself at Ereshkigal, goddess of the underworld; but Ereshkigal orders her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her. After Ishtar descends to the underworld, all sexual activity ceases on earth. Papsukkal, the messenger-god, reports the situation to Ea, king of the gods. Ea creates a eunuch called Asu-shu-namir and sends him to Ereshkigal, telling him to invoke "the name of the great gods" against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal, having promised to grant Asu-shu-namir's wish, is enraged when she hears the demand, but she has to give him the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkles Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then Ishtar passes back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and is fully clothed as she exits the last gate. Her release is, however, granted only under the condition that she find someone to replace her in the underworld. Tammuz, Ishtar's husband, has been making merry while she has been dead, and so the goddess sends Tammuz to Ereshkigal.

Cultural references

The Oscar Wilde play Salomé, and Strauss' opera adaptation, both feature the dance of the seven veils. The dance remains unnamed except in the acting notes, but Salome's sexual fascination with John seems to motivate the request—though Herodias is portrayed as pleased. The most famous music for the "Dance of the Seven Veils" comes from near the climax of the opera. The visual content of that scene (about seven minutes in length with standard tempi) has varied greatly depending on the aesthetic notions of the stage director, choreographer, and soprano, and on the choreographic skills and body shape of that singer.

Brigid Bazlen as Salomé in the biblical epic King of Kings (1961).

In the 1961 film King of Kings, Salomé, portrayed by Brigid Bazlen, performs a similar dance;^[2] her voluptuous seduction of a drunken lascivious Herod Antipas remains highly praised and is now widely regarded as Bazlen's best performance.^[3][4]

The climax to the Tom Robbins novel Skinny Legs and All features the mysterious belly-dancer Salome performing an hours-long version of the Dance of the Seven Veils. As each of her veils drops, the main character comes to an epiphany about life.

On the American TV program Ace of Cakes, Charm City Cakes owner Duff Goldman performs a "Dance of the Seven Veils", slowly removing 7 veils to display a cake his bakery made for a variety show called "Glitterama."^[5]

Sinéad O'Connor refers to the dance in her song, "Mandinka", on her album The Lion and the Cobra: "I'm dancing the seven veils/ Want you to pick up my scarf/ See how the black moon fades/ Soon I can give you my heart"

The band Xandria has released an album titled Salomé - The Seventh Veil, which includes a song titled "Salome".

U2 released a song called Salomé as a B-Side to their single Even Better Than The Real Thing. The dance is referenced in the song's chorus - "Shake it, shake it, shake it, Salomé". The song was a prominent project during the early stages of recording for Achtung Baby, but was later relegated to a B-Side after the band decided they were not satisfied with the lyrics.

Singer/songwriter Liz Phair also released a song named "Dance of the Seven Veils" on her 1993 album Exile in Guyville.

The character Lisa in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window remarks that she'll have to move "into an apartment across the way and do the dance of the seven veils every hour" if she's to keep her boyfriend sensually entertained, and not peeping at a ballet-dancer in the opposite apartment.

References