It was composed in 1911–13, commissioned for the Canadian dancer Maud Allan, who was co-author of a scenario set in ancient Egypt.
Debussy came to regret accepting the commission – he found Allan "a detestable woman" – and failed to complete the composition.
[1][2] Khamma is set in Egypt, in the Temple of the Great God Amun-Ra in a town under siege.
A young woman, Khamma, dances in front of the statue of the god to implore his aid for the town.
[1] The writer Jean-Pascal Vachon writes that the work is uneven and austere, with muted orchestral colours and the dominance of the lower register, but is typical of late Debussy, with possible echoes of Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1911) and pre-echoes of his own Jeux (1913) in its textures and rhythmic organisation.