The Hebrews.
As regards the musical instruments of the Hebrews, we are from biblical records acquainted with the names of many of them; but representations to be trusted are still wanting, and it is chiefly from an examination of the ancient Egyptian and Assyrian instruments that we can conjecture almost to a certainty their construction and capabilities. From various indications, which it would be too circumstantial here to point out, we believe the Hebrews to have possessed the following instruments:
The Harp. There cannot be a doubt that the Hebrews possessed the harp, seeing that it was a common instrument among the Egyptians and Assyrians. But it is uncertain which of the Hebrew names of the stringed instruments occurring in the Bible really designates the harp.
The Dulcimer. Some writers on Hebrew music consider the nebel to have been a kind of dulcimer; others conjecture the same of the psanterin mentioned in the book of Daniel,—a name which appears to be synonymous with the psalterion of the Greeks, and from which also the present oriental dulcimer, santir, may have been derived. Some of the instruments mentioned in the book of Daniel may have been synonymous with some which occur in other parts of the Bible under Hebrew names; the names given in Daniel being Chaldæan. The asor was a ten-stringed instrument played with a plectrum, and is supposed to have borne some resemblance to the nebel.
The Lyre. This instrument is represented on some Hebrew coins generally ascribed to Judas Maccabæus, who lived in the second century before the Christian era. There are several of them in the British museum; some are of silver, and the others of copper. On three of them are lyres with three strings, another has one with five, and another one with six strings. The two sides of the frame appear to have been made of the horns of animals, or they may have been of wood formed in imitation of two horns which originally were used. Lyres thus constructed are still found in Abyssinia. The Hebrew square-shaped lyre of the time of Simon Maccabæus is probably identical with the psalterion. The kinnor, the favourite instrument of king David, was most likely a lyre if not a small triangular harp. The lyre was evidently an universally known and favoured instrument among ancient eastern nations. Being more simple in construction than most other stringed instruments it undoubtedly preceded them in antiquity. The kinnor is mentioned in the Bible as the oldest stringed instrument, and as the invention of Jubal. Even if the name of one particular stringed instrument is here used for stringed instruments in general, which may possibly be the case, it is only reasonable to suppose that the oldest and most universally known stringed instrument would be mentioned as a representative of the whole class rather than any other. Besides, the kinnor was a light and easily portable instrument; king David, according to the Rabbinic records, used to suspend it during the night over his pillow. All its uses mentioned in the Bible are especially applicable to the lyre. And the resemblance of the word kinnor to kithara, kissar, and similar names known to denote the lyre, also tends to confirm the supposition that it refers to this instrument. It is, however, not likely that the instruments of the Hebrews—indeed their music altogether—should have remained entirely unchanged during a period of many centuries. Some modifications were likely to occur even from accidental causes; such, for instance, as the influence of neighbouring nations when the Hebrews came into closer contact with them. Thus may be explained why the accounts of the Hebrew instruments given by Josephus, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, are not in exact accordance with those in the Bible. The lyres at the time of Simon Maccabæus may probably be different from those which were in use about a thousand years earlier, or at the time of David and Solomon when the art of music with the Hebrews was at its zenith.
There appears to be a probability that a Hebrew lyre of the time of Joseph (about 1700 B.C.) is represented on an ancient Egyptian painting discovered in a tomb at Beni Hassan,—which is the name of certain grottoes on the eastern bank of the Nile. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in his “Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,” observes: “If, when we become better acquainted with the interpretation of hieroglyphics, the ‘Strangers’ at Beni Hassan should prove to be the arrival of Jacob’s family in Egypt, we may examine the Jewish lyre drawn by an Egyptian artist. That this event took place about the period when the inmate of the tomb lived is highly probable—at least, if I am correct in considering Osirtasen I. to be the Pharaoh the patron of Joseph; and it remains for us to decide whether the disagreement in the number of persons here introduced—thirty-seven being written over them in hieroglyphics—is a sufficient objection to their identity. It will not be foreign to the present subject to introduce those figures which are curious, if only considered as illustrative of ancient customs at that early period, and which will be looked upon with unbounded interest should they ever be found to refer to the Jews. The first figure is an Egyptian scribe, who presents an account of their arrival to a person seated, the owner of the tomb, and one of the principal officers of the reigning Pharaoh. The next, also an Egyptian, ushers them into his presence; and two advance bringing presents, the wild goat or ibex and the gazelle, the productions of their country. Four men, carrying bows and clubs, follow, leading an ass on which two children are placed in panniers, accompanied by a boy and four women; and, last of all, another ass laden, and two men—one holding a bow and club, the other a lyre, which he plays with a plectrum. All the men have beards, contrary to the custom of the Egyptians, but very general in the East at that period, and noticed as a peculiarity of foreign uncivilized nations throughout their sculptures. The men have sandals, the women a sort of boot reaching to the ankle—both which were worn by many Asiatic people. The lyre is rude, and differs in form from those generally used in Egypt.” In the engraving the lyre-player, another man, and some strange animals from this group, are represented.
The Tamboura. Minnim, machalath, and nebel are usually supposed to be the names of instruments of the lute or guitar kind. Minnim, however, appears more likely to imply stringed instruments in general than any particular instrument.
The Single Pipe. Chalil and nekeb were the names of the Hebrew pipes or flutes.
The Double Pipe. Probably the mishrokitha mentioned in Daniel. The mishrokitha is represented in the drawings of our histories of music as a small organ, consisting of seven pipes placed in a box with a mouthpiece for blowing. But the shape of the pipes and of the box as well as the row of keys for the fingers exhibited in the representation of the mishrokitha have too much of the European type not to suggest that they are probably a product of the imagination. Respecting the illustrations of Hebrew instruments which usually accompany historical treatises on music and commentaries on the Bible, it ought to be borne in mind that most of them are merely the offspring of conjectures founded on some obscure hints in the Bible, or vague accounts by the Rabbins.
The Syrinx or Pandean Pipe. Probably the ugab, which in the English authorized version of the Bible is rendered “organ.”
The Bagpipe. The word sumphonia, which occurs in the book of Daniel, is, by Forkel and others, supposed to denote a bagpipe. It is remarkable that at the present day the bagpipe is called by the Italian peasantry Zampogna. Another Hebrew instrument, the magrepha, generally described as an organ, was more likely only a kind of bagpipe. The magrepha is not mentioned in the Bible but is described in the Talmud. In tract Erachin it is recorded to have been a powerful organ which stood in the temple at Jerusalem, and consisted of a case or wind-chest, with ten holes, containing ten pipes. Each pipe was capable of emitting ten different sounds, by means of finger-holes or some similar contrivance: thus one hundred different sounds could be produced on this instrument. Further, the magrepha is said to have been provided with two pairs of bellows and with ten keys, by means of which it was played with the fingers. Its tone was, according to the Rabbinic accounts, so loud that it could be heard at an incredibly long distance from the temple. Authorities so widely differ that we must leave it uncertain whether the much-lauded magrepha was a bagpipe, an organ, or a kettle-drum. Of the real nature of the Hebrew bagpipe perhaps some idea may be formed from a syrinx with bellows, which has been found represented on one of the ancient terra-cottas excavated in Tarsus, Asia-minor, some years since, and here engraved. These remains are believed to be about 2000 years old, judging from the figures upon them, and from some coins struck about 200 years B.C. having been found embedded with them. We have therefore before us, probably, the oldest representation of a bagpipe hitherto discovered.
The Trumpet. Three kinds are mentioned in the Bible, viz. the keren, the shophar, and the chatzozerah. The first two were more or less curved and might properly be considered as horns. Most commentators are of opinion that the keren—made of ram’s horn—was almost identical with the shophar, the only difference being that the latter was more curved than the former. The shophar is especially remarkable as being the only Hebrew musical instrument which has been preserved to the present day in the religious services of the Jews. It is still blown in the synagogue, as in time of old, at the Jewish new-year’s festival, according to the command of Moses (Numb. xxix. I). The chatzozerah was a straight trumpet, about two feet in length, and was sometimes made of silver. Two of these straight trumpets are shown in the famous triumphal procession after the fall of Jerusalem on the arch of Titus, engraved on the next page.
The Drum. There can be no doubt that the Hebrews had several kinds of drums. We know, however, only of the toph, which appears to have been a tambourine or a small hand-drum like the Egyptian darabouka. In the English version of the Bible the word is rendered timbrel or tabret. This instrument was especially used in processions on occasions of rejoicing, and also frequently by females. We find it in the hands of Miriam, when she was celebrating with the Israelitish women in songs of joy the destruction of Pharaoh’s host; and in the hands of Jephtha’s daughter, when she went out to welcome her father. There exists at the present day in the East a small hand-drum called doff, diff, or adufe—a name which appears to be synonymous with the Hebrew toph.
The Sistrum. Winer, Saalfchütz, and several other commentators are of opinion that the menaaneim, mentioned in 2 Sam. vi. 5, denotes the sistrum. In the English Bible the original is translated cymbals.
Cymbals. The tzeltzclim, metzilloth, and metzilthaim, appear to have been cymbals or similar metallic instruments of percussion, differing in shape and sound.
Bells. The little bells on the vestments of the high-priest were called phaamon. Small golden bells were attached to the lower part of the robes of the high-priest in his sacred ministrations. The Jews have, at the present day, in their synagogues small bells fastened to the rolls of the Law containing the Pentateuch: a kind of ornamentation which is supposed to have been in use from time immemorial.
Besides the names of Hebrew instruments already given there occur several others in the Old Testament, upon the real meaning of which much diversity of opinion prevails. Jobel is by some commentators classed with the trumpets, but it is by others believed to designate a loud and cheerful blast of the trumpet, used on particular occasions. If Jobel (from which jubilare is supposed to be derived) is identical with the name Jubal, the inventor of musical instruments, it would appear that the Hebrews appreciated pre-eminently the exhilarating power of music. Shalisbim is supposed to denote a triangle. Nechiloth, gittith, and machalath, which occur in the headings of some psalms, are also by commentators supposed to be musical instruments. Nechiloth is said to have been a flute, and gittith and machalath to have been stringed instruments, and machol a kind of flute. Again, others maintain that the words denote peculiar modes of performance or certain favourite melodies to which the psalms were directed to be sung, or chanted. According to the records of the Rabbins, the Hebrews in the time of David and Solomon possessed thirty-six different musical instruments. In the Bible only about half that number are mentioned.
Most nations of antiquity ascribed the invention of their musical instruments to their gods, or to certain superhuman beings. The Hebrews attributed it to man; Jubal is mentioned in Genesis as “the father of all such as handle the harp and organ” (i.e., performers on stringed instruments and wind instruments). As instruments of percussion are almost invariably in use long before people are led to construct stringed and wind instruments it might perhaps be surmised that Jubal was not regarded as the inventor of all the Hebrew instruments, but rather as the first professional cultivator of instrumental music.