duction of a second row of pegs, since we find that these are frequently double, or two to each string*; and a contrivance of this kind might have the effect of giving an additional half note. In playing the harp, some minstrels sat crosslegged on the ground, like Asiatics of the present day, or upon one knee †, whether men or women‡; others preferred a low stool; and many stood, even while performing on ordinary occasions in the houses of private individuals. Before the images of the gods, and in religious ceremonies, it is natural to suppose that the sacred minstrels adopted this posture, out of respect to the deity in whose service they were engaged; and we have abundant evidence from the harpers in Bruce's tomb, who are officiating before AoS, and from several other instances, that this instrument was employed in their form of worship, and to celebrate the praises of the gods. So suitable, indeed, was the harp considered for this purpose, that they represented it in the hands of the deities themselves, as well as the tambourine and the sacred sistrum. It was held in the same consideration by the Jews; and there is reason to believe that in this respect they followed the example of the Egyptians, from whom many of their customs were derived. Harps and psalteries appear from the Scriptures || to have obtained the In the harp given in wood-cut, No. 188. are eight strings and sixteen pegs. + Vide wood-cut, No. 207. Vide wood-cuts, Nos. 185. and 193., and plate 12. § One of the Egyptian deities. 1 Chron. xvi. 5. first rank; and cymbals, trumpets, and cornets * were also designated as part of the sacred band, as in some of the religious ceremonies of Egypt. The Jewish psaltery I am inclined to suppose the same as, or similar to, the four-stringed instrument above described, though Josephus gives it "twelve musical notes."+ In Hebrew, it was called psanterin‡, and probably sometimes nabl, a name from which was borrowed the vaλa of the Greeks; and this last is mentioned in Strabo as one of many instruments known by barbarous appellations. § Athenæus considers the nablum, pandurum, sambuca, magadis, and trigon, not to be new instruments; but yet they may have been brought originally from foreign countries: and he afterwards states, on the authority of Aristoxenus, that the "Phoenicica, pêctis, magadis, trigon, clepsiangus, 1 Chron. xv. 28, &c. +Josephus, Antiq. vii. 12. 3., says, “The viol was of ten strings, played with the bow (perhaps plectrum): the psaltery had twelve musical notes, and was played with the fingers; . . . the cymbals were broad and large instruments of brass." Some of the instruments mentioned in Dan. iii. 15. cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer," are very uncertain; in the Hebrew, they are korna, mushrookítha, kítharus, sabka, psanterín, and sumphonéeh; the third and last of which are evidently Greek names: the Syriac version gives the karno, mushrookítho, kíthoro, kinoro, and tziphunio, the fourth being omitted: the Arabic trumpet, البوق والناي والكيثارة والونج والمزمار والصفارة has flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and pipe;" and the Septuagint “σaλyyos, συριγγος, κιθαρας, σαμβύκης, ψαλτηριου, συμφνωνίας. The trumpet was called in Hebrew, sófer. Job, xxxix. 24. Numb. vii. 20. In Arabic siffer is "to whistle." The initial letter p looks like the Egyptian article. ... “ Και ὁ μὲν τις φησιν κιθαραν Ασιατιν ῥάσσων, ὁ δε τους αυλους βρε κυντικούς καλεί, η φρύγιους των οργάνων ενια βαρβαρως ωνομασται, ναύλα, δε σαμβύκη, η και βαρβιτος, και μαγάδες, και αλλα πλείω. Strabo, lib. 10. scindapsus, and enneachordon (of nine strings) were foreign instruments."* Some light might be thrown on the names of the various harps, lyres, and other musical instruments of Egypt, if those mentioned in the Bible were more accurately defined; but much confusion exists between the cithara or kitarus, the ashúrt, the sambuc, the nabl, and the kinoor: nor can the various kinds of drums, cymbals, or wind instruments of the Jews be more satisfactorily ascertained. The difficulty of identifying them is not No. 210. Triangular instrument. Thebes. No. 211. Another, held under the arm. Dakkeh. Athen. iv. c. 25. The pandurum (ravdovpov) he supposes to have been made from the laurel which grows in the Red Sea; probably Strabo's olive of that coast, the shorai, or shora maritima of the present day. J. Pollux calls it pandoura, and says it was a three-stringed instrument, invented by the Assyrians. Lib. iv. 9. The magadis of Anacreon he supposes to be the same as the psithyra, or ascarum, a stringed instrument of quadrangular form, apparently played like the Arab qanóon, but not resembling it in sound. + So called from having ten strings. surprising, when we observe how many names* the Greeks had for their stringed instruments, and how the harps and lyres represented in the Egyptian sculptures approach each other in principle and form; and we sometimes hesitate whether to ascribe to them a place among the former or the latter. One of these, with nine strings, was carried by the musician, and sometimes held by pressing it between the side and elbow, perhaps supported at the same time by a belt over the shouldert: and another, which stood upon the ground, had eight strings, and was also played by the hand, the minstrel standing. The tassels on the lower limb of the former appear to be merely ornamental; though it is posssible that, since No. 212. An unusual kind of instrument. Alabastron. * Witness those given by J. Pollux, iv. 9. "Twv μev v kovov, είη αν λυρα, κιθαρα, βαρβιτον, το δ' αυτό, και βαρυμιτον, χελυς, ψαλτηριον, τρίγωνα, σαμβύκαι, πηκτίδες, φορμιγγες, φοινιξ, σπαδιξ, λυροφοινικιον, κλεψιαμβος, παριαμβος, ιαμβικη σκινδαψός, επιγονείου, και τα λοιπα.” there are no pegs, they were intended for tightening the chords, in order to alter the key; and in some instances, each chord of a large harp is accompanied by one of these tassels, which terminates a long string, wound round the upper limb of the instrument, as may be seen on that of the Paris Museum. * This harp is of moderate dimensions, and had either twenty-one or twenty-two strings. It is highly interesting, as well from its preservation as from the insight it gives us into the form and principle of these instruments; and if it is far from being the first quality of harp, either in elegance of shape or in the richness of its materials, yet, from the number of its strings, it must have been one of the high No. 213. The harp of the Paris collection. Fig. 2. shows how the chords were fastened. *Wood-cut, No. 213. |