Mazaher is one of the rare ensembles in which women play a leading role and are connected to a most ancient tradition practiced in several countries in the region. The musicians of Mazaher: Um Sameh, Um Hassan, Nour El Sabah are among the last remaining Zar practitioners in Egypt. The music presented by Mazaher is inspired by three different styles of the Zar music in Egypt: the Egyptian or Upper Egyptian Zar, Abul Gheit Zar and the Tamboura or African Zar. Zar is a community healing ritual of singing, polyrhythmic drumming and dancing whose tradition is carried mainly by women (men have the second roles) and whose main participants are women. It’s distinctively different from other Egyptian music traditions. A featured instrument in the Zar ritual in Egypt is the tamboura, the six-string lyre, which, like the Zar practice itself, exists in various forms in a an area stretching across East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. Although this sacred instrument is pictured on the walls of tombs and temples of the Ancient Egypt. Other instruments are the Mangour, a leather belt sewn with many goat hooves and various percussion instruments. Contact:pether.ajabu@gmail.com