Belly dancing was originally from Ancient Babylon in southern Iraq. Adnanite Arabs introduced belly dancing and drumming. Belly dancing was passed on from generation to generation. The drum beats people hear today are the same beats that the Arab tribal men used. Before the arrival of Islam the tribes in Arabia used to gather women in private gatherings or special occasions and perform the belly-dancing, while men from the tribe perform on the drum. Men used to have large feasts of food and wine and watch women while they were dancing. After the Arrival of Islam, belly dancing was banned due to religious reasons (unless the wife performs for her husband which is acceptable). During the Ummayd and the Abbasid dynasties in Iraq, belly dancing was promoted as a trade by rich people. They used local poor women and, later on, slaves from other parts of the world, especially Persia, India and North Africa and had the local Arab women teach them how to perform the belly dance. During the time of the Abbasid and the Fatimid dynasties, the Arabs settled in Egypt and passed on the belly dance. Since that time, the Egyptians adopted the dance and it was passed on through generations. Egyptians have been known for having good belly dancers. There is also some evidence that belly dancing is a reworking of movements traditionally utilized to demonstrate or ease childbirth. There are numerous oral historical references, backed by commentary in The Dancer of Shamahka. This particularly relates to a sub-set of dance movements found in modern raqs sharqi.[1].