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rrma18
The Music of Ancient

Egypt
Jeffrey Pulver
Published online: 28 Jan 2009.
To cite this article: Jeffrey Pulver (1921) The Music of Ancient Egypt,
Proceedings of the Musical Association, 48:1, 29-55, DOI: 10.1093/
jrma/48.1.29
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DECEMBER 13, 1931.
F. GILBERT WEBB, ESQ.,

IN THE CHAIR.
THE MUSIC OF ANCIENT EGYPT,

By JEFFREY PULVER.
WHEN we use the term "Ancient Egypt," a hazy picture of
pyramids forms in the mind and we have a vague notion
that it refers to a culture that reached an exceedingly high
plane a very long time ago. How long ago, it is almost
beyond the everyday mind to grasp. Our ideas of time are,
after all, only relative; and when we speak of " six thousand
years ago " it conveys little more to our minds than would
" two thousand years ago." Five hundred years is a very
long timA; yet if we enquire what was the state of music
at that distance of time back, we should find things in
a very primitive state. A thousand years ago we only find
King Alfred burning cakes, and two thousand years ago we
should see the Romans teaching our barbarous ancestors how
to build roads, to dress themselves decently, and to take
baths. Yet, when Greece was only just beginning to show
her first promise of greatness later, the Twelfth Dynasty of
Egyptian Kings was ruling a cquntry that enjoyed a musical
culture that must seem astonishing to us. We find evidences
of musical activity as far back as the Fourth and Fifth
Dynasties (ca. 4000-3500 B.C.), and the music made then,
and the instruments upon which it was made, could not
have been the result of a sudden inspiration and invention.
A long era of development must have preceded these early
evidences of music—and allowing for the inevitable periods
of decline and decadence, we arrive at a date which is so
remote that we could scarcely realise its meaning.
Egypt has not for long been reckoned with the musical
nations. It was not until James Bruce discovered the harps
represented on the tombs of Thebes that any idea was harboured
that on the Nile there must have flourished a state of music that
would surprise us were we only able to learn all about it.
It could scarcely have been otherwise. A people so poetic
and so intellectual as the Ancient Egyptians, a people who
developed many arts and sciences to a degree that we can
hardly account for to-day, could not have been left uninfluenced
30 The Music of Ancient Egypt.
by music. The cult of philosophy and religion was not the

sole prerogative of the priests, as in so many nations of

antiquity; every degree of Egyptian society was moved by
an optimism and an idealism that provided the best of soils
upon which art could flourish. The stately processions that
were connected with the religious observances, and the high
state of their poetry, must have called forth music fitted for
use with both. The Ancient Egyptian was a lover of his
home and fireside and an admirer of everything beautiful.
The music of such a people must have been a very worthy
servant of their religion and the very soul of their pleasures.
Eminent Egyptologists go very carefully when the question
arises as to whether the culture of the Nile rose with a native
folk, or whether from an Asiatic source. Where such men,
who have made of Egypt their life's study, go carefully,
I shall take great pains not to go at all. My inquiries in this
field show that with the history of the earliest authentic
Kings of Egypt there runs a contemporary story of musical
activity; but where its ultimate source lay it is beyond me
to say; nor is there any evidence at present available that
could throw light on this very obscure question. All we know
is that by the time the Fourth Dynasty of Egyptian Kings
ruled, works were produced that baffle the world to-day.
Wilkinson says aptly: " How far, then, do \fe find the
Egyptians surpassed the Greeks at this early period in the
science of music ? Indeed, long before the lyre was known
in Greece, the Egyptians had attained the highest degree of
perfection in the form of their stringed instruments; on
which no improvement was found necessary, even at a time
when their skill was so great, that Greek sages visited Egypt
to study music, among other sciences, for which it was
renowned."
It is fortunate for us that the Egyptians had a perfect
mania for leaving pictorial representations of everything they
did and of everything they used; it is this circumstance
that we must thnnlr for our having as much proof of their
musical skill as we possess. I have found no trace of a bow
or of a bowed instrument; but pictures of nearly every
species of stringed, plucked instrument, very many wind
instruments, and a good deal of percussion, are very plentiful.
Loret says quite rightly: " There is scarcely a necropolis
in which one does not meet with pictures of musical scenes."
Some examples of the instruments themselves have been
discovered in the tombs, a few in comparatively good condition.
These are of considerable importance to us, for, although
no written information has been found upon the nature of
their harmonic system, a close study of these instruments,
The Music of Ancient Egypt. 31
and particularly of the flutes with finger-holes, may shed

a good deal of light on this interesting question. Self-robbery,

according to Christopher Sympson, is no crime, and so I
unblushingly quote from an article of mine which appeared
in Musical Times (June, 1920), and say: " The harp, the lyre
and the three-stringed lute were in common use from the
earliest periods of Egyptian history, and the pictures of these,
besides the specimens preserved in many European museums,
prove to what a high state of artistic perfection such instru-
ments had attained. In addition to the noble harps copied by
Bruce, the frescoes at Thebes contain many other instruments,
such as wind-instruments with reed-mouthpieces, simple and
double pipes or flutes, and percussion. These would date
from the Nineteenth Dynasty (ca. 1300 B.C.)." [Be it noted
that citations in inverted commas, unless another source be
given, are from the article just named.]
Maspero says that " all classes of society in Egypt were
from an early period imbued with the love of luxury and
with a taste for the beautiful." They were of an easy-going
disposition, fond of banqueting and of anything likely to
provide harmless pleasure. Egyptian literature contains on
every page passages in which the native is instructed to be
happy. " The Lay of the Harper," that wonderful composition
translated by Rawlinson in his "Ancient Egypt," shows fertile
imagination, dignity and depth; and from these circumstances
we can easily gather what sort of music it must have been
that was wedded to such a text. The Egyptian was to rejoice
with music and song, until the day came " which loveth
silence." But while in this noisy world he was enjoined:
" Make thy day happy. Let there be songs, with the music
of the harp before thee . . . Let song and music be before
thy face. And leave behind thee all evil cares." It is
therefore not surprising that everyone, from the King down-
wards, enjoyed music in some form or other. In the palace
of the Pharaoht orchestras were maintained, and it was
not considered at all degrading for members of noble families
to perform in them. Naturally, when we deal with an art
that illumined so long a period, we must expect to find its
social status varying in different eras. But in no Dynasty
was it entirely absent; not even during the reigns that were
mainly occupied with warfare, usurpation, annexation and
conquest. In the so-called " Old Empire " {ca. 4000-3000 B.C.)
there were employed three " superintendents " of the " Royal
singing," two of them having to be vocalists personally.
Of themselves, these " masters of the royal music" were
wont to say that they " daily rejoice the heart of the King
with beautiful songs, and fulfil every wish of the King by
their beautiful singing." Their status at Court was a very

high one, and in their picturesque and poetic language they

were known as " relatives of the King. Under the " New
Empire," there were still active two " Singers to Pharaoh "
and a " Superintendent of the singers to Pharaoh." This
dignitary was the acknowledged head of the musical profession
in Egypt. Not until we reach Tudor times in England do
we find the nobles of this country employing professional
musicians for Chapel and Chamber in the way that the
great ones of Egypt did. The latter maintained singers,
instrumentalists and dancers, who accompanied themselves
on the three-stringed lute. The harp appears to have been
the favourite instrument of the bund singers of Egypt;
indeed, singing was the recognised occupation of the blind.
Wilkinson is of opinion that " it was not customary for the
higher classes in Egypt to learn music for the purpose of
playing in society." I do not know how he reconciles this
statement with the established fact that members of noble
families performed in the orchestras of the King; but
perhaps an exception was made in the case of the King's
music. But Wilkinson is quite right when he says that the
" attention paid to it (music) by the priests regulated the
taste and prevented the introduction of a vitiated style."
Still, the fact remains that although some noble amateurs
did exist to play in the royal bands, the main bulk of the
nation's music was in the hands of the professional musicians,
who constituted a very large community. Customs that we
self-complacently praise in our own history, were already
very much the same in Ancient Egypt. " No banquet was
complete without music; the party was enlivened by the
sound of music; and a band consisting of the harp, lyre,
guitar, tambourine, double and single pipes, and other
instruments, played the favourite airs and songs of the country.
Nor was it deemed unbecoming the dignity of a priest to
admit musicians to his house, or to take pleasure in witnessing
the dance" (Wilkinson). So that it is clear that Cardinal
Wolsey had his Ancient Egyptian prototypes.
The folk-song was developed and almost every calling
had its own peculiar working-songs. Rawlinson gives a
harvest-song in which the oxen are enjoined to thresh corn
for their master and for themselves.
Davies, in " Der El-Gebrawi" (II, PI. VIII), reproduced
a song of the carriers of a kind of sedan-chair, in which they
flatteringly inform their employer that the vehicle is lighter
with him inside than when it is empty. Gangs of workmen—
in those days there were such beings—laboured to the sound
of a solo song, of which all took up the refrain in chorus.
Where the chief means of travel lay on a river, we may with

justice expect a number of boatmen's songs; and, indeed,
some such of a monotonous character with many repetitions
have been found. Love is, I suppose, a universal commodity,
not restricted to any one period, and the love-songs of to-day
had their counterparts—let us hope more original-in character
—in the days of the Pharaohs. Harris Papyrus, No. 500
(British Museum) consists of the " Song of Antuf "—a true
love-song, with harp accompaniment. Naturally, the text
only is preserved, with indications that the harp was employed
to accompany the voice; of the music itself no written sign
has been preserved. Of this more anon. Drums and trumpets
supplied martial music. Thus every happening that could
possibly call for music had it supplied; and supplied in
a quality that must have been excellent if we are to judge
by the instruments that produced it, and by the care expended
upon, and the importance attached to, the study of the art
in the many music-schools that flourished. If we are to
include Dancing in a recital connected with music, we must
notice that it was a favourite pastime, and from the earliest
Pyramid times onwards, " the Egyptian loved to watch men
and women dance, accompanied by pipes, flutes, lyres, guitars
and castanets. The commonest method of beating time was
by clapping the hands, though a small drum or tambourine
was often used. A dancer accompanying herself on the guitar
is shown by Wilkinson" (" Manners and Customs of the
Ancient Egyptians,'' II, 301). Compare this picture of a
dancer performing artistic steps, accompanied by herself upon
the nefer, while an assistant marks the rhythm upon a small,
soft-toned, hand-drum, with that presented by a jazz orgy
of to-day, with its terrible array of percussive noise-producers,
and say how far forward our civilisation and our culture have
taken us. Be it noted in passing that Wilkinson unhappily
uses the word " guitar " invariably when he refers to the nefer.
The character of the ruling houses and the governments
of Egypt varied considerably as one Dynasty succeeded the
other, and many varied influences were brought to bear upon
the art of the country. All of the royal houses were not even
Egyptian by descent, and those that were often enjoyed
foreign influence or suffered under it. Sinai was part o£ the
Empire already in the First Dynasty, and, according to
Professor Petrie, contains Egyptian " monuments down to
the Twentieth Dynasty." During the reign of the Seventh
Dynasty, the Libyans invaded the Nile valley, and in the
Ninth and again in the Fourteenth, the Amu or Asiatics
entered the country. In the latter case, no great influence
either way could be looked for, since the invaders had no
4 Vol.«
higher culture and " had no knowledge to impart" (Petrie,

II, 145-6). Intermarriage of the Kings of the Eighteenth
Dynasty with the princesses of Babylonia, besides the frequent
correspondence that passed between the two kingdoms, drew
the Nile and the country between the two rivers closely
together. In this case we must suppose that each influenced
the other very much. Both enjoyed high culture and
possessed great science. Indeed, some of the Egyptian
instruments of music were of Asiatic origin, improved or
altered in Egypt. I do not think there can be any doubt
that the Egyptian craftsmen improved even the instruments
imported from Mesopotamia. Although quite capable of
fnlHng care of themselves during the palmy Dynasties, in
war, the art of the Egyptians were pre-eminently those of
peace. [A little more on the music of Chaldsea may be read
in an article of mine that appeared in the Monthly .Musical
Record for August, 1914—" Twixt Euphrates and Tigris."]
To begin at the beginning with the history of Egypt's
music. Like that of most ancient nations, the arts of Egypt
commence in the mists of sacred legend. The invention of
music was attributed to the god Tehuti or Thoth, who was
the genius who presided over learning. A good deal of
confusion exists in Egyptian literature on this point, and the
legend varies at different periods. The Temple at Darken
has a picture showing the fire-god Ptah playing on the harp.
At another time Osins was the patron deity of song. " Still,
one deduction may be allowed us ; and that is, if the origin
of Egyptian music was so remotely placed as to be attributed
to the deities, we may take it for granted that the cultivation
of the art was old enough for its beginnings to have
been forgotten." Already during the rule of the Dynasty " 0 "
(Petrie's King Nar-Mer, the Ninth of the Dynasty, B.C. ca. 4800)
are there evidences of art, and on a mace-head of that reign
is to be seen a dance of captives. Where one art existed,
another was bound to come. Menes, the founder of the
First Dynasty, " was the first that brought in a delicate and
sumptuous way of living " (Diodorus Siculus, I. 45, Booth's
translation), and in his reign we find the first authentic record
of Egyptian art (B.C. ca. 4400). The country was thus,
6,300 years ago, in a fit state to cultivate music. Although
this is so, we do not find great artistic activity before the
Fourth Dynasty; the more extended use of metals probably
favouring the progress of the arts. The great period of
Egyptian culture that began in the Fourth Dynasty extended
through the Fifth and Sixth, and at this time we find many
proofs of musical excellence. According to one of the Anastasi
Papyri, in the British Museum, Memphis, so long ago, was
The Music of Ancient EgypL 35
already celebrated as being the best school for female singers,

and the tombs there also contain many representations of excel-
lent instruments. A large number of interesting musical scenes
are depicted in the Pyramid of Gizeh (Tomb 90), including
two harpers, with large bow-shaped, six-stringed instruments,
and three flautists, two playing obliquely and one directly.
Reproductions of these pictures are given in Lepsius
(Denkmaler aus Aegypten, III. 36). It is not surprising that
the Fourth Dynasty should produce such fine works; it was
the Dynasty that made Egypt famous and gave the country
the character it retained long enough for it to have become
a national feature. It was the age of the Pyramid builder ;
the period of activity of the craftsmen who worked so well
that they stood as models for the artists of the Saite period
to follow and imitate. And all these instruments were
producing music 5,500 years ago. " The Fifth Dynasty was
more priestly in character than the preceding ones," and
sacred music received more attention than secular; still,
there are " many pieces of evidence to show the existence
of much secular music." On the tomb of Ptah-hotep,
a grandee who resided at Sakkara, is to be seen a bas-relief
representing a party feasting and playing upon various
instruments. Pictures of the most extraordinary interest are
to be seen reproduced by Lepsius in his wonderful work.
In IIL 52 are given two large bow-shaped harps, played in
a kneeling position, the instruments resting against the
musician's shoulder, and various wind-instruments. Many
more illustrations of Ancient Egyptian musical instruments
can be seen in Lepsius (Pyramid of Sakkara—Tomb 16, III. 61a
—Pyramid of Gizeh—Tomb 2b, III. 74a and 74c). Plate 74a
of Lepsius's Vol. Ill is particularly interesting, since it shows
a group of eight flute-players performing together, " one
standing in a listening attitude as soloist or conductor."
The Sixth Dynasty (ca. 3500—3300 B.C.) produced a much
more widespread art, but the quality declined. Petrie is
right when he says that we see here " the regular effect of
diffusion and cheapening of works which were formerly a rare
luxury." But although the first Kings of the Dynasty were
active and firm, the failure of the line produced a state of
great confusion which lasted quite a long time. It is here
(B.C. ca. 3300), after a decadence as rapid as its rise, that we
see the first great period of Egyptian artistic greatness come
to a close. The Dynasties from Memphis which followed were
not enterprising or original; their work is characterised,
at best, by all the signs of careless imitation.
like the art of most countries, that of Egypt falls
naturally into periods of alternate greatness and decline.
The first era of good work was, as we have seen, from about
B.C. ca. 4400 to 3300 ; and 1,100 years of gradually improving
quality in music is by no means a slight achievement
The second period of Egyptian art falls in the reigns of
the Kings of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties—the
so-called Middle Empire"—an art that was developed directly
out of that of the 'Ancient Empire.' " The ninth King of
the Eleventh Dynasty—Mentuhotep III—was a great lover
of the arts, and the " Song of the Harper," already referred
to, belongs to this reign. It was found on the walls of the
palace of Antef. The Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties are
particularly rich in evidence of musical activity. " These
Theban Dynasties, lightly called the ' Golden Age ' of Egypt,
provide us with works that are perfectly astounding in their
excellence—yet, according to Arthur Evans's discoveries, the
most primitive culture of Greece, as exhibited in the ' Island
Graves,' was more or less contemporaneous with the period
of the Twelfth Egyptian Dynasty. Instruments of music are
common, not only in pictorial representation, but in actual
tangible remains. Under King Amenemhat III, in particular,
the country enjoyed an art and a prosperity difficult to realise
to-day. But Amenemhat III was probably one of the greatest
Kings who ever sat upon the throne of Egypt (B.C. ca. 2300).
It is interesting to note that under the Middle Empire, as
well as in the Ancient, it is generally men who perform,
the women usually dancing or keeping time." To this period
belongs the story of Sa-Nehat. It is too long a tale to
reproduce in its entirety, but we are told that when Sa-Nehat,
a son of Amfimhat I, returned from a dangerous expedition,
" women took their collars, and staves, and sistra,
and sang a song in honour of the King." (The Hieratic text
is given by Lepsius, VI. 104-7 ; the translation by Maspero).
The thing that strikes us is that music was used on occasions
of joy much as it should be used to-day. It was during this
Dynasty that much Asiatic influence was brought to bear
upon Egyptian art; whether for good or otherwise cannot
be said with certainty. But taking all circumstances into
account, I should think that at this period the Egyptian
craftsmen could improve anything that was brought into
the country. In the reign of Usertsen II, a party of Semitic
wanderers arrived, bringing their own musical instruments
with them. Their advent is depicted on the walls of a tomb
at Beni Hassan. These strangers are lighter in colouring than
the Egyptians, " they are distinctly Semitic in features and
they have black beards—a facial ornament that the Egyptians
did not affect. Some writers think this picture represents
the actual arrival of Jacob and his family, and, but for a
discrepancy in their numbers, it could conceivably do so "

(Musical Times, July, 1915). Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson gives
the picture and describes it, together with the lyre that one
of the men is carrying. He says: "If 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 " ; the man bearing the instrument
is near the end of the procession, and he is playing it with
a plectrum. Its shape differs from that of the lyres hitherto
used in Egypt. This instrument can easily be the Kinnor
of the Bible. " There is every reason to believe that it was
this Kithara that David used; at any rate, we find such
lyres, differing in shape and construction, of course, as late
as the Maccabean period, when they are to be found represented
on coins " (Musical Times, 1915). The forms of the instrument
after the Egyptian luthiers had modified it are exhibited in
the specimens preserved in the museums of Berlin and Leyden.
Should this picturesque supposition that the Bern Hassan
strangers were the family of Jacob prove unfounded, we must
fall back on another alternative and see in them Amu,
a Semitic tribe from the East of Egypt, whose home may
have extended as far North as Palestine. In any case the
strangers—who arrived in the sixteenth year of the reign of
Usertsen II (ca. 2366)—were Semitic, and they brought a new
instrument with them, which Egypt improved in the manner
described. Some sort of connection between the Beni Hassan
strangers and the then small tribe of Jews is easily imaginable,
especially as they begged permission to settle permanently
in Egypt. This being the case, the theory that they were
only a diplomatic mission falls to the ground. Moreover,
what would a diplomatic mission want with lyre-playing
musicians and ass-loads of children ? The picture is important,
because it shows that between the civilisations of Egypt and
Mesopotamia there lay another, probably influenced by both,
and capable of teaching both; and history proves that it
certainly did the latter. From the Thirteenth to the
Seventeenth Dynasties, more invasions, peaceful and other-
wise, took place; and there is the same confusion as to the
chronology. But the outstanding feature of the period was
the almost unopposed entry of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings,
who for a time completely changed the direction of Egyptian
thought, before they themselves ended by embracing the
civilisation of the country. No protracted war commenced
their regime—indeed, Manetho says there was not even
a battle—and so the onward march of culture could have
received no great check.
I made mention of written music a little earlier. It seems

a pity that so intellectual a people as the Egyptians should
not have left some sort of musical notation. We may, I think,
take it for granted that had such a nation of scribes as the
Egyptians, as well as their Israelitish guests of the Thirteenth
to the Seventeenth Dynasties, made use of some system of
writing music, we would have discovered traces of it. And since
no written music of any kind has been found, we must in
the interim assume that there was none. Greece without
doubt borrowed her musical system from Egypt—indeed,
there was no other country frequented by the Greeks of
those early days that could have imparted the knowledge—
and with it the tetrachord system came to Europe.
The conservatism of Ancient Egypt did not rest content
under alien rule, and Southern Egypt gradually growing more
and more powerful, arose and drove the Hyksos from the
country. Once more Egyptian Kings ruled over Egypt,
Dr. Budge thinking that the Kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty
were the direct descendants of the Thirteenth. One change
in character is noticeable in the altered treatment meted out
to foreigners ; there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph.
Another change was the purification of art from foreign
influences. The feeling of nationalism became very strong,
the old art was revived, and we are therefore " not surprised
again to find in the catacombs of El-Amama pictorial repre-
sentations of true Egyptian music. Thus we see the departed
master of the house, with his wife, listening to two singers
accompanied by harps and flutes, while a girl beats time
with the native clappers." The tombs contain many
instruments of all sorts, broken of course, but left " in order
that their souls should go hence to wait upon the soul of the
dead man in the next world " (Maspero). Those amateurs
and professionals who used instruments invariably had them
buried with their bodies. In the British Museum may be
seen the mummy of a sacred bard and the pair of small cymbals
that were found with his embalmed body.
The art and culture that was restored in the Seventeenth
Dynasty produced its most wonderful blossoms in the
Eighteenth. Aahmes, or Amasis I, the first of the Dynasty,
a powerful ruler of high mentality, rapidly secured the country
under a firm rule that soon assured it a period of great
prosperity (B.C. ca. 1600). So much so, that when the third
King of the Dynasty (Tahutmes or Thothmes II) succeeded
to the crown, the valley of the Nile was a model for the
world on questions of art. This was the time when the Greeks
acquired the outstanding principles of Egyptian art, and thus,
through them, we may look upon Ancient Egypt, and especially
the Egypt of the Eighteenth Dynasty, as one of the chief

sources of our European civilisation. And as peace became

settled in the land, luxurious living and feasting became
common, " and every occasion was honoured by and with
music on a sumptuous scale. During meals, female singers
and nefer-players, or a chorus of men, accompanied on harps,
or quartets and quintets of various instruments, performed."
Wilkinson tells us that " when hired to attend a party, the
musicians either stood in the centre or at one side of the
festive chamber, and some sat cross-legged on the ground."
He gives (" Manners and Customs," PI. XI) a picture, from
a tomb at Thebes, of such a concert-party. After the battle
of Megiddo, where the enemy attacked " with much music "
(Lepsius, III, 31b), Thothmes III settled down to follow the
arts of peace, and a period of wealth and luxury followed.
Music was not only used at banquets and on all festive
occasions: it was also employed as a means of relaxation
and as a source of consolation. " Thus we see an interesting
picture on the tomb of Rekh-ma-Ra, at Kurna, showing this
eminent official in the act of listening to singing, and to a
performance on instruments.'' Later on, in the same Dynasty,
we find the number of musical instruments increasing ; under
the rule of Akhen-aten (Amenhotep TV), we positively find
a Theban school of music and dancing ; a veritable Egyptian
Royal Academy of Music. Lepsius gives a reproduction of
the picture, and Petrie (History of Egypt, II, 222) prints
a reduced sketch of it. "And such an Academy of Music
existed, approximately, fourteen centuries before the Christian
era opened. There can be no doubt as to the accuracy of
these dates. The reign of Thothmes III isfixedwith certainty,
by astronomical calculation, at March 20th, B.C. 1503 to
February 14th, B.C. 1449 " (Mahler).
The Eighteenth Dynasty was a period of excellent work
and art, and a greater number of instruments are fo be found;
they show fresh design, different size—generally larger—and
new methods of manufacture. And yet this was an era when
the influence of Asia was very strong. " The conquests of
Thothmes III in Western Asia brought Asiatic fashions into
the Egyptian Court. Moreover, the wife of Amen-hotep III
and the mother of Akhen-aten was Syrian, and much of the
new trend can be traced to her influence. Queen Kirgipa
entered Egypt accompanied by 317 women attendants, and
with such an entourage, the spread of Syrian customs must
have been rather rapid at Court." (This information is based
upon the " Zeitschrift ffir Aegyptische Sprache," XVIII, 82).
Instruments are mentioned in a letter (No. XII) from
Dushratta, King of Mitanni, to Akhen-aten; but I cannot
say with absolute certainty that musical instruments were

meant, although it is highly probable that this was the case.

" The influence that Syria exercised upon the Egypt of the
time of Thothmes III must have been as good as it was
powerful, for the state of civilisation in Syria at that period
was quite equal, if not superior, to that of Egypt itself."
Petrie says (History, II, 146) that there was technical work
there " which could teach rather than be taught." Moreover,
as annaU and biographies state, a large number of skilled
craftsmen were taken into Egypt among the captives from
Megiddo. The Syrian influence at that time, then, was very
great. It is noticeable, too—but whether caused by this
influence or not I cannot say—that the cult of music, which
in earlier times belonged to men, now began to extend to
women as well. It is a great pity that the luxury that followed
the successes of the Egyptian arms should have been allowed
to degenerate that powerful kingdom. But so it was; ease
and plenty generally have that effect on nations, and the
glory of the Egyptian Empire, both on the Nile and in their
dependencies, faded; and during the rule of the last of the
Dynasty, the power of the crown crumbled away. How far
the decadence affected the musical art, I cannot say; it
certainly had no immediate effect. The Nineteenth Dynasty
of Ramesside Kings, may not have done much to further art,
or to contribute anything really original to it. But the science
had obtained too great a hold on the people for it to fall
away entirely. Indeed, the instruments increased in size and,
probably, in tone-power, though their actual quality may not
have improved. "A very interesting specimen of harp from
the Temple at Abydos (PI. XX, fig, 3. Egyptian Research
Account, 1902, Caulfield), dating from the time of Seti I
(B.C. 1320) shows a curious and ingenious method of double-
stringing on an almost semicircular body. I should think
this to have been a serious attempt to increase the tone-volume,
and to prove that the interest taken in music was by no means
on the wane." In the reign of the third King of the Dynasty
(Rameses II), the quality of the art certainly did decline,
expecially when compared with the work done under Seti I.
It is clumsy, cheap and careless. Egyptian art in general
seemed to mark time until the close of the Nineteenth Dynasty.
Peace reigned, it is true, and as an inscription on the Temple
of Meremptah (Karnak) says, " by night resounds not the
cry ' stop ' in the mouth of the people ; one goes with singing
' ; but no advance was made. And so, as the Harris
Papyrus says, " the land of Egypt was overthrown. Every
man was his own guide; they had no superiors. From the
abundant years of the past we had come to other times."
No art could flourish in a period of weak government. But if

royalty and society had no time or patience for music-making,

it does not follow that the common people did not continue
to recreate themselves with the music already existing.
The revolution in Stuart England did not prevent an enormous
amount of music being cultivated secularly, and so, I suppose,
it was in Egypt. At any rate, the next King saw such
instruments as are to be described immediately; so that the
art of music cannot be said to have been anything like lost
in the troublous times that marked the close of the Nineteenth
Dynasty. On the contrary, the art of Egypt—such as it was
at the time—was taken and transplanted into Asia by a large
body of erstwhile sojourners in Egypt—the Israelites.
A hundred little incidents show how thoroughly Egyptianised
the latter had become during their four-century-long stay
in the valley of the Nile. During their wanderings in the
desert they frequently show the influence of Egypt peeping
out through the newly re-acquired exterior of the Hebrew.
Sir John Stainer thinks that " the glorious song of Moses was
most probably sung to some simple Egyptian chant, well-known
and popular." " It is only a supposition, of course, and I
do not think it is strengthened by the fact that the text was
extempore ; still, as Moses was initiated in all the lore of the
Egyptian priests, and, as the writer of the Acts of the Apostles
(VII, 22) says, was ' learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians,' he might conceivably have adapted his verses
to a well-known Egyptian air" (Musical Times, 1915).
The Book of Exodus is in the main historical and agrees very
well with the evidence of the monuments; so that we are
not surprised to read: •" Then took Miriam, the prophetess,
the sister of Aaron, a timbrel in her hand ; and all the women
went out after her with timbrels and with dances " (Ex. XV, 20).
The dancing of women shows clearly the influence of the Nile,
and the whole scene is strangely reminiscent of the demonstra-
tion made at the return of Sa-Nehat. " The instrument,
which in the English Bible is generally given as ' timbrel,"
would have been the small Egyptian hand-drum (Hebrew,
Toph), or a species of rectangular tambourine. There will
be no need to go into the truly Egyptian idea of a calf of gold
nor to dwell upon the dancing, singing and cymbal-clashing
crowd that surrounded the imitation Apis. Egyptian thought
largely influenced the Hebrew mind when the fugitives entered
their new home. How can we say to-day to what extent
the music of the Temple service was conducted on Egyptian
lines and how far Egyptian models were retailed to the outside
world by the Israelitish imitators of their erstwhile hosts ?
The first King of the Twentieth Dynasty—Rameses III—
brought about a temporary improvement in things generally,

and considerable musical remains are to be found. " The large

and elaborate harps first announced by Pocock and Norden,
and subsequently copied by Bruce from the Theban tomb,
belong to this reign (ca. 1230 B.C.). Their beauty and elegance
were so great that Brace's veracity was doubted; and it
was not until Captains Irby and Mangles, accompanied by
the eminent Belzoni, visited Thebes and found Bruce's name
' scratched over the very harp ' that any credence was given
to the discovery. The sketch was originally made for Burney.
Wilkinson reproduced the pictures of these two harps; one,
a finely ornamented instrument with ten strings, considerably
over man's height, and decorated with a head at the bottom
of the sound-case, and the other still larger, with twenty-six
visible pegs." Of these harps, Bruce himself says : " In three
following panels were painted in fresco, three harps, which
merited the utmost attention Whether we consider
the elegance of these instruments in their form, and the detail
of their parts, or confine ourselves to the reflection that
necessarily follows, to how great perfection music must have
arrived, before an artist could have produced so complete an
instrument." The succeeding Kings of the Dynasty did not
maintain the standard that Rameses III sought to set up,
and soon the failing power of the rulers made the entry of
conquering Ethiopian Dynasties possible; and with their
arrival art came to a standstill. " By the middle of the
Eighth Century Egypt was broken up, and subsequently
re-organised by the Assyrians. But the struggle between
Ethiopia and Assyria for the dominion of Egypt was ended
by influence from outside. Psamtek I, opening the Twenty-
sixth Dynasty, crushed the petty local rulers, and with the
help of foragn mercenaries (chiefly Greek) and of loyal
Egyptians, once more welded the country into one solid
empire. And here begins the fourth and last period of musical
activity. The advent of so many Greek auxiliaries resulted
in the formation of a large and important Greek colony;
but it is an open question whether they influenced Egyptian
art very much. More probably the land of the Pharaohs was
still able to teach them more than it learned from them."
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty was not one in which art was
pursued along the old lines of development. The continuity
of the chain was broken and a considerable period had elapsed
since the last artistic era. It was rather an era of antiquarian
revival, and the art of the period was of a high standard,
only wanting, as Sayce writes, originality " to make it
successful. As it was, the art of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
was careful and good, and under its rule Egypt enjoyed for
the last time a St. Luke's summer of renown." The last ruler
to foster true native art before the arrival of the conquering
Persians, was Amasis II (Aahmes-si-neit), and it was in this
reign that the Greeks acquired another music-lesson in
Egypt. What follows after the close of the reign of Aahmes II
—the alternation of feeble Egyptian Kings and Persians—
is like the smoking last flicker of a candle. " The native
spirit was broken the nation with a history that numbered
thousands of years, and the country that had shed the light
of civilisation abroad, when those round about were steeped
in barbarism and ignorance, now sank into a darkness which
obscured and eventually swallowed up the glory and majesty
of the Pharaohs and their land " (Budge). The artists and
musicians of the Ptolemaic period still copied the ancient art,
but in character neither were any longer purely Egyptian,
and with Amasis II our consideration of Ancient Egyptian
music must ccme to a close (B.C. ca. 550).
As far as sacred music is concerned, I gather that a large
number of singing-women were employed in the temples, and
that Chanters, with and without instrumental accompaniment,
conducted certain parts of the religious services. Sacred and
secular music seem to have been kept distinct, and a retain
series of seven sacred tones or vowels were employed for
religious music. These appear to have been used exclusively
by the priestly clan, and I have not discovered anything
more detailed of their nature. Whether they were forms of
vocalisation or modes pure and simple, I cannot say. The
fact remains that something of the kind was used. Wilkinson
thinks that " at the religious ceremonies and processions,
where music was introduced, there is reason to believe the
attendance of ordinary performers was not permitted, but
that musicians attached to the priestly order, and organised
for this special purpose, were alone employed; who were
considered to belong exclusively to the service of the temple
" The ordinary musical adjuncts to the service were
supplied by women. Probably at some period, every woman
in the country, whether married or single, rich or poor, served
for a time in the temple as singing-women, thus securing the
honour of serving for a time in what was considered the harem
of the god. The title was " qemat en Amen "—singer of Amen
—or whatever other deity they happened to sing before.
In the Papyrus of Ani, one of the singing-women of Amen
was Tutu the wife of Ani. In the service she rattled the
sistrum to drive away the evil spirits who might disturb the
service. At other times the singers used cymbals and
tambourines, as well as harps, pipes and nefers. How far
the wording of the Psalms that were to be sung BetxiUxUim
(i.e., with cymbals) was influenced by Egyptian customs,

I would not care to say; but the parallel remains. In the
" Song of the Harper " we have the lines: " The singing-
women their forms are standing before Ra." The wife
of the Pharaoh in the Dynasties from the Thirteenth to the
Twenty-second was invariably attached to the temple as
musician. A mural painting of ca. 1300 B.C. shows a female
performer on the double-pipe, officiating at a festival in
honour of Ptah. In a hymn to the Nile-god (Translation,
" Records of the Past," X, 37), there is: " The hymn is
addressed to thee with the harp : It is played with a (skilful)
hand to thee:" At Karnak is the information that the temple
had to contain " a glorious harp to praise the beauty of the
god in all his names in his procession." Of the Forty-two
priestly books from Thoth's hand, two are the " Books of the
Singer." As late as the Twenty-second Dynasty, musicians
were necessary at the festivals. " The principal monument
of this reign (Uarsarkon II, Dynasty 22, ca. 87c;—851) is the
great pylon of red granite, of which the blocks were found
at Bubastis. The whole doorway is 35 feet high and 31 feet
through. Both sides were covered with sculptures repre-
senting the sed heb festival in his twenty-second year. The
procession of priests and officials which led up to the festival,
the musicians and dancers and ceremonies before the shrines
of gods were portrayed " (Petrie, History III, 249). Music
was given a very important place in the funerary rites.
In a wall-drawing at El Rab (belonging to the reign of
Amenhotep I, Dynasty XVIII, B.C. 1562-1541), the wife
of the deceased is shown walking backwards before the chorus,
giving them the time for their song. Wilkinson says that
when " a n individual died they sang a doleful dirge
this was frequently done to the tune and measure of a
plaintive, though not inharmonious, air (Diodorus Siculus,
II, 72, 91). Sometimes the tambourine was introduced.
While the body was in the hands of the embahners the
same plaintive dirge was sung." This is based upon the
information of Diodorus and may reflect the customs apper-
taining to comparatively late times. I am not inclined to
think that the funerary music of earlier times was so doleful.
The true Egyptian view of death did not permit of pessimism
or of undue sorrow. Wiedemann, translating the song of the
harper at a funeral, gives it as: " Pour perfumed oil
upon your head, clothe your limbs in soft linen, anoint your-
selves with sweet perfume, decorate yourselves as well as
you can ; celebrate the joyous day in happiness, and do not
rest; for none dedicated to death can return." The singer
exhorts the mourners to joy and optimism, and generally
behaves as a musical consoler. The story of Sa-Nehat,

already alluded to, also says : " They shall follow thy
funeral, and visit the tomb on the day of burial, which shall
be in a gilded case, the head painted with blue, a canopy
of cypress wood above thee, and oxen shall draw thee, the
singers going before thee, and they shall dance the funeral-
dance." At Beni Hassan, a painted scene shows a harper,
hand-dappers, singers, sistrum-players, chanting in honour
of the dead. Capart gives an illustration (Plate XXXTV) of
a bas-relief on the tomb of Patenemhat (contemporary with
the Eighteenth Dynasty), original in the museum of Leyden,
showing a funeral scene; on the left side sits the deceased
in the company of several members of his family. The priest
officiates. Four musicians chant and play as is usual on such
occasions. They are a harper, playing on an eight-stringed
instrument with a large resonance-chamber, two flautists
playing obliquely, and a performer on the nefer, using a
plectrum. All are men.
We must be in the fashion and add our quota of speculation
to that offered by most writers on Ancient Egypt in respect
of the harmonic system of the people. We had better mnlrf>
up our minds at once to accept resignedly the fact that nothing
definite is known of it at all, and that what we can learn from
a consideration of the instruments is all that we are likely
to know on the matter. But one or two theories may be
advanced which I do not think will be thought to rest on
too flimsy foundations. It is obvious that a flute with finger-
holes to produce the different notes would help us considerably
in deciding the nature of the scale used. But even in the
absence of such important proof, we should have to take for
granted that some sort of system was maintained, or we
could not reconcile the fact that so many flutes played
ensemble. Several wind-instruments, each with a different
series of natural notes, could not be used simultaneously by
so cultured a people as the Egyptians. Moreover, wind and
strings were so often employed together, that some system
of tuning must have obtained. We cannot imagine so
mathematically-minded a race, and one so scientific in all
other respects, not having the principles of harmony. The
nature of this harmony, whatever it was, need not detract
from our admiration of the country's art. The fact that some
sort of harmony according to rule was practised is sufficient
to cause us to accept the music of Ancient Egypt as an art.
Can we for a moment suppose that so well-schooled and
artistic a people would use instruments of different categories
ensembk and yet play in unison ? I think not. Loret thinks
that the flautist of Ancient Egypt pierced the holes in his
instrument to produce a certain air, and that a different flute

was required for each melody. Humbly I submit that this

theory is close to being absurd. Does Loret overlook the
fact that the pictures show us severalflautistsplaying together?
Does he wish us to suppose that each was playing a different
air simultaneously ? Wilkinson is emphatic on the point
that the Egyptians " diligently studied " this " important
science," and if they studied it diligently, surely something
more than the mere barbarous playing of whatever sounds
the instruments produced was arrived at. I think we must
look for the Egyptian scale in the music of Greece. Athanaeus
tells us that the Greeks were taught many things by refugees
from Egypt; Diodorus says that the poets and musicians
of Greece visited Egypt for the purpose of improvement (I, 96).
Moreover, in later times, large colonies of Greeks were settled
in Egypt, members of which were continually returning to
their native land. Shall we be far wrong, then, if we suppose
that the scale based on the usual tetrachords was originated
on the banks of the Nile ? I had come to this point in my
speculations when I suddenly came across a note of the
Rev. F. W. Galpin's, in the 1914 edition of Stainer's
" Music of the Bible," which helps to strengthen my
supposition that the tetrachord system was known and used
in Ancient Egypt and bequeathed to us by that romantically
interesting country. Mr. Galpin writes: "An Egyptian
double-pipe of slender reeds was discovered by Professor
Flinders Petrie, in 1890, amongst the relics of the tomb of
Lady Maket (ca. 1100 B.C.), and is now deposited in the
Royal Museum at Berlin, having been purchased for £73."
The writer goes on to say that the notes produced by one
of the pipes are: Ef>, G (slightly flat), A[>, Bj> (slightly flat),
andQ>; and by the other: E|j, F, G and Afr. Let me repeat:
F-|>, F, G and Aj>—a tetrachord such as we use as the basis
of our present-day major scale. Can we not, in the light
of this discovery, say with tolerable certainty that the system
used in Ancient Egypt was based upon the same scales as
our own music of to-day ? Always pre-supposing the accuracy
of the musician who played on these pipes. I should give
much for an early opportunity of checking this information
for myself; but I have always felt that the proof would have
to come from the flutes and pipes. Every nation that came
into contact with the Egypt of the" palmy days used and
uses that system. The weird modes of the Near and Far East
came from a different source. We are, therefore, in a position
to say that the musical system of the Western world, like
many other arts and sciences, comes from Egypt, and that
the musicians of the Ancient Empire were the direct musical
forerunners of the musicians of to-day. That they used

a notation is difficult to imagine. In all the thousands- of

representations of concerts and other music-makings, we never
see a musician with a papyrus roll or reading. The Ancient
Egyptians, like the Israelites, must have possessed traditional
melodies to which their instrumentalists improvised a
harmonised accompaniment. Instrumental music, pure and
simple, must have consisted of such melodies or of popular
dance-tunes, just as the earliest instrumental music of Europe
did.
A few words on the instruments used during the period
of which I have treated, and I shall have done. Without
doubt the most important instrument was the-harp. Naumann,
whatever be the shortcomings of his History, has a few correct
things to say on this subject: " It possesses," says he,
" a twofold interest, in that it is of undoubted Egyptian
origin, and also because it is indissolubly connected with the
rise and decadence of Egyptian civilisation. This latter is
so striking that a mere glance at the different constructions,
shapes, number of strings and methods of playing the
instrument will indicate the most important periods of
Egyptian history." I have not the time necessary to describe
all flie different forms of harp found in Egypt. They are
tocr many, and need illustrations to facilitate description.
But the works of Wilkinson, Champollion, Rosellini and
Lepsius, contain all the pictures necessary, and they are all
easily accessible. Commencing as a simple bow-shaped
support for a very small number of strings, the sire of the
instrument, the cubic contents of the body and the number
of strings increased as one period of progress followed the
other. The oldest harps of Egypt are to be found sculptured
on tombs near the Pyramids of Gizeh, between 3,000 and
4,000 years old. I think we shall not exaggerate if we say
that the harp, as an instrument of sound-production, was
used in Egypt no less than 6,000 years ago. A bas-relief
in the tomb of Ptah-hotep, Fifth Dynasty, shows a harper
playing kneeling; in the Assyrian basement of the British
Museum is a painted relief from the tomb of Ur-ari-en Ptah
(early Sixth Dynasty, Memphis, ca. 3300 B.C.), which also
interests us. In the Old Empire, the number of strings
varied from four to seven or eight. Wilkinson tells us that
the strings were of catgut, and that some found in a tomb
over 3,000 years old were still sufficiently well-preserved to
emit a musical sound. A specimen of these strings is in the
British Museum. As, in later times, the size of the sound-
chamber became increased, the length of the strings followed
suit and the volume of tone produced must, in the Middle
and later eras, have been very considerable. The triangular

form of the instrument is found only after the Hyksos dominion

and was thus undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. Loret thinks
that here we have the Kinnor of the Bible and supports his
belief by saying that the Egyptian name for the instrument
was a corruption of the Semitic name—Kinnaanasur.
Between ourselves, I think the latter name smacks more of
Assyrian than of Egyptian. The Egyptian name for the
ordinary harp was ben or ben.t or ta ben. A couple of
Eighteenth Dynasty hand-harps are preserved in the British
Museum, but none of the larger instruments seem to have
escaped destruction. The harp was played successively
sitting, kneeling and standing, and the highest point of its
development was reached in the Nineteenth Dynasty, when
the musician stood with the harp resting against his shoulder
and played with both hands, as is the fashion to-day. The
pictures—especially those of Rosellini (II, 95)—show that
the strings were not merely swept, but plucked individually
with the fingers. The ornamentation of the instrument was
often most elaborate and artistic, painting, sculpture and
inlaying all helping to make of the harp of the Middle and
New Empires a thing of veritable beauty. The annals of
Thothmes III mention a great harp inlaid with silver and
gold and precious stones (Birch, " Records of the Past,"
II, 20). Very early in its history, even the hand-harp was
provided with a base on which it could be rested on the
ground or on a stool; some specimens illustrated by Wilkinson
have a kind of limb attached to serve as a stand. The most
peculiar feature of all the Egyptian harps is the absence of
the front pillar; and Engel argues from this circumstance
that the tension of the strings could not have been very great.
But I do not think this argument need be justified. The curve
of the bow in the earlier patterns was not very great, and
thus great tension could have been borne. In the case of the
later and larger instruments, where the peg-box stood almost
at right-angles to the resonance-chamber, I submit that
scientific construction and a careful consideration of the
principles of leverage overcame the difficulties provided by
the absence of the front pillar. I have a vague recollection
that this was once the subject of a bitter letter-war, and
think Dr. Grattan-Flood was one of the disputants. However,
the learned doctor is one of those who think as I do on the
tension question. Very late in Egyptian history the harp
passed from the hands of men to those of women, and at
that period, too, its decadence set in. The latter circumstance
was brought about by the general state of decadence and the
unsettled state of the country in the period of conquest and

re-conquest, and not to the inferior playing of the ladies.
A harp with a string for each note must have been an
early invention, but the idea of having fewer strings and
producing the same large number of notes by shortening
each string by finger-stopping was clearly the result of much
thought and the introduction of a fingerboard. Gevaert tells
us that the Graeco-Roman antiquity did not use instruments
capable of finger-stopping for other than scientific purposes—
such as the Monochord; and the existence of the nefer in
Egypt must therefore be taken as conclusive proof of the
antiquity of the musical science there. The nefer had from
one to three or four strings, an oval body of wood, or covered
with leather, some with sound-holes and some without, with
a long, flat neck and fingerboard. A bridge does not seem
to have been used, but the strings were fastened to
" a triangular piece of wood or ivory, which raised them to
a sufficient height" (Wilkinson). The length of the neck
was from two to three times that of the body, and the whole
instrument was often as much as four feet long, the length
of the body being about twice its width. Both men and
women played it, the latter using it as an accompanying
instrument in the dance, when they wore it slung round their
neck like the Spanish guitar. This instrument seems to be
the forerunner of the lute. It must clearly have been tuneable,
for we see specimens of which the fingerboards are fretted.
A fresco and a terra-cotta vase in the British Museum show
the instrument with the frets plainly marked on the whole
length of the fingerboard. This argues a clearly-defined scale
and the possibility of melody and technique. The nefer was
invariably played with a plectrum, which was attached to
the instrument by a length of string to prevent its being lost.
It is not to be found so early as the harp, but, considering
the high state of development its construction and manner
of performance needed, this is not surprising. The usual
works of reference contain illustrations of it. The word
" nefer " means good, pleasant, or beautiful, and many of
the older school of workers thought that the hieroglyph derived
its name from the instrument. Others, with sufficient evidence
to back them up, see in the hieroglyph the heart, windpipe
and lips. It is quite possible that the shape of the hieroglyph
suggested the instrument. There are many reasons for the
decision that the hieroglyph was not named by the instrument,
but to give them now would take up too much time and
belongs rather to a consideration of the Ancient Egyptian
language. Nefers and nefer-players were favourite subjects
for the ornamentation of spoon-handles in Ancient Egypt,
» Vol.M
much as we use the Apostles to-day. There sometimes appears

another form of the nefer which may have suggested the

Tamboura still in use in Egypt. Its back was vaulted and
the body longer and larger, while the neck was relatively
shorter tfian was the case in the nefer. Miss Kathleen
Schlesinger is probably right when she advanced the theory,
in her exceedingly valuable work on instruments, that the
Tamboura suggested the Pandora. Rosellini (II, XCV, [i])
and Champollion (II, CLVII) give a picture of a three-stringed
specimen of this instrument, showing three pegs and the
attached plectrum. Whether this was the old Egyptian Nabla
(Hebrew, Nebet) I cannot say with certainty.
The Lyre, or Kithara, although not of Egyptian origin,
was very popular. We have already seen it in the hands of
the Amu who came to Egypt in the reign of Usertsen II
(B.C. 2678). Undoubtedly of Semitic origin, we find it first
on a tomb of the Twelfth Dynasty in the hands of a person
whose type and costume shows that he is perhaps a Syrian.
Above all, it is after the wars in Asia that wefindthe instrument
depicted (Loret). As in the case of most instalments of this
class, the original number of strings was small, but was
gradually increased until in the Eighteenth Dynasty (Amasis)
we find lyres with seventeen strings. The Amu lyre, as shown
in the clear reproduction in Ebers' "Aegypten und die Bucher
Moses," had but eight. The characteristic feature of the
Egyptian kithara was the bar to which the upper ends of
the strings were attached. This bar sloped generally, and in
such specimens the tuning was probably managed by sliding
the strings up and down the bar until the required tension
was attained. It was played, like the English Cittern, with
the plectrum, as well as with lie fingers. Two fine specimens
are preserved, one in Berlin and the other at Leyden. The
former is about two feet high, with body measurements of
ten inches by fourteen and a half. The Leyden instrument
is smaller and less ornamented. Both have a hollow sound-box
as body, made from one piece of wood. There are also traces
of a sort of guitar, whose body has incurved sides ; but here
again the instrument was most probably of extra-Egyptian
origin. A picture of such an instrument (Hittite) is given
on Plate III of the 1914 edition of Stainer's " Music of the
Bible." I am sorry that the time at my disposal will not
allow me to go farther into the'history of this instrument.
Of the wind-instruments, by far the most popular was
the flute, which without doubt originated in Egypt. It is
found in the earliest representations of instruments, but made
only of reeds, with similar mouthpieces. Later they were
made of wood and eventually of bronze. It seems to me that
The Mttsic of Ancient Egypt. 51
the reed-pipes belonged to the common people, while the

wooden ones served the more serious musicians. The latter

instrument was no doubt developed from a flute made of
a bone, since the Egyptian name for it—seba—meant the
same as tibia. Different species were blown directly, probably
with a reed, and across the open end of the pipe, thus showing
that Egyptologists were very careless in their musical nomen-
clature, calling all pipes " flutes." The number of finger-holes
varied. Two found at Beni Hassan, by Garstang, gave the
natural series E, F, G and Bfr, and F, F#, A# (?) and C.
The pipes, says Garstang, were played without trouble by an
Arab flute-player at Beni Hassan. Loret says they were
difficult to play and required " habitude." The pipes in the
Berlin Museum, and the notes they produce, have already
been mentioned. I am afraid time will not permit me to go
into greater detail. Double-pipes also were used, probably
harmonising. Loret thinks one played the melody while the
other supplied a pedal note. The two pipes were often united
by a common mouthpiece. The trumpet was the only other
wind-instrument of importance, and that was confined to
military use for the summoning of troops. I have never seen
any representations of it used in any other way. A prejudice,
as Wilkinson says, seems to have existed against its use;
certainly it is never included in any of the pictures of musical
scenes. Loret mentions a specimen in the Louvre that gives
the series : D, D, A, D, F#, A, C, D, from the violin D string
note upwards, the highest note being three octaves above the
open D string. I give this information on Loret's responsibility,
and I do not even know the date of this exceedingly super-
soprano instrument.
The percussion was similar to that of all ancient nations,
differing only in shape, and it need not detain us for long.
Drums of various sizes and material were used for different
purposes, sometimes beaten with sticks or leather tabs,
and sometimes with the open hand or finger-tips. The bodies
were made of copper, covered with skins braced with catgut
strings. Often the case was made of wood, and, as in the
case of the Darabooka drum, of earthenware. The latter
variety is still in existence in practically the same form as
in ancient times. All the works on Egypt give illustrations
of the different forms of drum. The Egyptian tambourine
generally took the form of an oblong tray with incurved sides.
Others were round or square. As a face-view of them is
the one generally given, we can form no accurate idea of
their exact construction. " They were all beaten by the hand,
and used as an accompaniment men and women played
the tambourine, but it was more generally appropriated to
the latter " (Wilkinson). The metal cymbals used in Egypt

were almost identical in shape with those used to-day, their
size varying from five to seven inches. They appear to have
been made of an alloy very like brass, sometimes with an
admixture of silver. A form of clapper or castanets was used,
being formed of two pieces of wood or ivory, often elaborately
carved, connected by a cord. They varied from about four
inches in length to over seventeen inches. Bronze bells of
various sizes have been discovered, the smallest having been
used in Egypt on the garments of the priests. This custom
was continued by the Jews, and the bells which ornament
the silver crowns on the Scrolls of the Law to-day, are doubtless
survivals of the bells on the hem of the High Priest's robe.
There remains only that exclusive Egyptian instrument, the
Sistrum. Although hardly to be considered a true musical
instrument, it was so common and takes a place in so many
musical scenes that it should be included here. It was a
racquet-shaped frame, generally of bronze, supporting bars
and rings of metal, and jingled by shaking (i>. also my article
in Musical Times for July, 1915). The handle was often of
faience, and ornamented with heads of Isis, Nephthys, or cats.
Its principal use seems to have been either to draw the
attention of the diety to the worshippers' service or to attract
the attention of the congregation to certain parts of the
service. Almost every prayer is opened with the words:
" Behold the excellent sistrum-bearer." In the British
Museum Papyrus No. 10,188, we find the significant sentence :
" Come thou in peace to thy temple—lo, the excellent sistrum-
bearer approacheth to thy house, with his instrument of
music on his arm." The colophon to the same manuscript
reads: " This litany compiled by the priest of the temple
of Het he being the sistrum-bearer of Amen-Ra."
In pictures and sculptures we usually see women shaking the
instrument. It was used until very late, and so common an
object was it that it took a place in architectural design and
is frequently to be seen as an adornment to the capitals of
columns. Although I thought it necessary to mention the
wind and percussive instruments of Ancient Egypt, it is really
the string-class which forms the most important, interesting
and valuable group; it is the group that proves more
conclusively than any other one thing how high was the
musical culture of the Nile.
The ground I have gone over covers, roughly, 4,000 years
" The first period of musical greatness covered a thousand
years, and was separated from the second by about 400 years
of darkness. The second period lasted approximately half
a millenium, and was followed by the third after an interval
of 900 years. This' New Empire ' revival of' Middle Empire '
art occupied about 570 years. The last flicker, under
Araasis II, lasted only about 50 years, being but a short
interval of prosperity between two eras of conquest."
The conclusions we arrive at are that Egypt in the most
ancient times enjoyed the high musical culture proved by
their instruments ; that they possessed a system of harmony
we can only suppose, with the chances strongly in favour of
the supposition; that music was used for every occasion
much as it is to-day; and that, since the nation was so
intellectual, we cannot suppose that it used music for so long
a time without developing some method and system.
Everything points to the present-day system of Western
music having originated in the land of the Pharaohs 5,000
to 6,000 years ago.
DISCUSSION.
THE CHAIRMAN : Our first duty is to pass a vote of thanks
to our lecturer for summing up 4,000 years in three-quarters
of an hour. The subject is a fascinating one, and especially
so, perhaps, because the materials are so limited and elusive.
But the conclusions drawn by Mr. Pulver are, I think,
admittedly rational. If we consider the climate of Egypt
and the conditions under which the people of the country
lived, we may well suppose that their music would be soft
and persuasive. Also that there must have been in it a certain
amount of system and method. Their harps were so large
that the formation of chords was inevitable, and with chords
there must have been some progressions—if only for the sake
of contrast and to suggest emotional phases. It is certainly
very extraordinary that no system of notation has been
discovered. And from the fact that there is nothing depicted
in the way of writing, it is probable that whatever was done
was handed down from father to son and perpetuated, as it
could easily be, by a particular class of priests or by some
particular body of men. One of the great advantages of this
Association is that the Proceedings are published, and that
we can read at our leisure Papers which suggest so much
and which supply us with a mass of information unobtainable
elsewhere. I do not know whether there is any Egyptologist
present, whether there is anyone amongst us who can give
further information, or suggest ideas which may lead to
further discoveries. If so, now is the opportunity. Any idea
put forward may stimulate other ideas and may inspire
someone to institute further research.
Dr. FROGGATT : I would like just to say something with

regard to the flutes discovered by Mr. Flinders Petrie, of which
there is a most interesting description in The Musical Times
for the year 1890—in the October and December numbers.
I think Mr. Blaikley assisted in the examination of these
flutes, and as, of course, they are more or less of a perishable
nature—Mr. Petrie gives the date as about 1600 years B.C.—
facsimiles were made: and experiments were made on the
original flutes and on the facsimiles. The results were in
every case identical, so that the later experiments were made
on the facsimiles alone. Each of these flutes measured over
17 inches ; one measured 17J inches; the other 17 J inches,
with the reeds. One flute, which had only three holes, gave
a tetrachord extending over a diminished 4th, from F# to Bfr.
The other, with four holes, gave a minor 6th. With a
clarinet reed, the pitch was lowered, but was not lowered
to the same degree throughout the scale. One might say
there was a variation between the augmented and major 2nd.
For instance, FJ (without the reed), with the reed, became EJ>.
The F# was in the first space in the treble clef and the EJ>
was in the first line—as far as I can recollect. In the case
of a harp with nineteen or twenty strings, it is almost impossible
to avoid the conclusion that there must have been some kind
of harmony: and yet I do not know. One would think that
in all those ages—I will not say of musical progression, but
at any rate of musical culture—there must have been some-
thing like a notation. But no trace of it has yet been
discovered, and it seems to me it would be more likely that
notation would come before the invention of harmony.
Mr. PULVEH: The date assigned to the pair of flutes
I mentioned is B.C. 1100.
THE CHAIRMAN : And it might be 1600 B.C. The difference
between the two dates is, speaking relatively, a trifle.
Mr. PULVER : The difference in pitch is probably due to
additions to the reed. Also I do not know whether you
noticed, when you read the article, or our Chairman, when
he heard the flutes, that two of the notes are slightly flat.
That may be due to the inequalities of the bore, or due to the
ring. As far as harmony is concerned, because there is no
direct evidence of it, this need not preclude the fact that
harmony existed. The whole science may have been handed
down from father to son. If there was traditional harmonisa-
tion it would be quite easy.
THE CHAIRMAN : It should be remembered that it is quite
possible for unharmonised music to suggest definite ideas.
You can see that this is so in the ancient system of Southern
India. This system had seventy-two different scales, on which
were founded about a thousand " Ragas " or modes. These

were grouped and used for different and recognised passions

and phases of emotion, jealousy, anger, love. So that if you
played in that Raga, or had a passage in that particular mode,
you knew that the composer meant to represent that particular
emotion. And they had certain modes used only for morning,
afternoon and evening scenes. So that it is quite possible to have
considerable definiteness of meaning without harmony. More-
over they had and have a most elaborate system of rhythms and
accents. It is difficult for us to think apart from key-notes,
but they did not have them and consequently had in a sense
greater emotional freedom. The great distinction between
Western and Oriental music is that we think from the middle
of one note to another and they think between. Their aim
was and is to get as many gradations and subtleties of tone
between certain points. We think from the middle of one
note to the middle of another, and we say, if we do not get
to the middle, that we are flat or sharp. They get from one
note to another as slowly as they can, and study to insert
a number of ornamentations between each. The national
instrument, the Vina, lends itself to such delicate progressions.
They often sound out of tune to us, but not to them. On the
contrary, they look upon our music as being crude and child-
like. It is not improbable that ancient Egyptian music was
not unlike that of ancient India.
Mr. J. PERCY BAKER : With regard to the flutes that have
been mentioned, we had them shown at a meeting of our
Association in November, 1890. Dr. Southgate read a Paper
on them and also on the nature of the Ancient Egyptian scale.*
We then heard the replica flutes played. From his study of
these instruments and of the subject of the Egyptian music
generally, Dr. Southgate arrived at the conclusion that they
had a scale which was not very far away from our present
European system. The conclusion that Dr. Southgate arrived
at supports Mr. Pulver's conjecture that there was probably
a great deal in common between our two systems; and that
our modern music is directly descended from the Egyptian.
The Proceedings then terminated, with a vote of h k
to Mr. Pulver.
• See Proceedings for Session xvii—1890-91, pp. 13 and 191.

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The Music of Ancient

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F. GILBERT WEBB, ESQ.,

THE MUSIC OF ANCIENT EGYPT,

by music. The cult of philosophy and religion was not the

sole prerogative of the priests, as in so many nations of

and particularly of the flutes with finger-holes, may shed

a good deal of light on this interesting question. Self-robbery,

their beautiful singing." Their status at Court was a very

high one, and in their picturesque and poetic language they

Where the chief means of travel lay on a river, we may with

higher culture and " had no knowledge to impart" (Petrie,

already celebrated as being the best school for female singers,

discrepancy in their numbers, it could conceivably do so "

I made mention of written music a little earlier. It seems

the Egypt of the Eighteenth Dynasty, as one of the chief

sources of our European civilisation. And as peace became

say with absolute certainty that musical instruments were

meant, although it is highly probable that this was the case.

No art could flourish in a period of weak government. But if

royalty and society had no time or patience for music-making,

brought about a temporary improvement in things generally,

and considerable musical remains are to be found. " The large

(i.e., with cymbals) was influenced by Egyptian customs,

behaves as a musical consoler. The story of Sa-Nehat,

instrument to produce a certain air, and that a different flute

was required for each melody. Humbly I submit that this

forerunners of the musicians of to-day. That they used

a notation is difficult to imagine. In all the thousands- of

and later eras, have been very considerable. The triangular

form of the instrument is found only after the Hyksos dominion

unsettled state of the country in the period of conquest and

much as we use the Apostles to-day. There sometimes appears

another form of the nefer which may have suggested the

the reed-pipes belonged to the common people, while the

wooden ones served the more serious musicians. The latter

the latter " (Wilkinson). The metal cymbals used in Egypt

Dr. FROGGATT : I would like just to say something with

were founded about a thousand " Ragas " or modes. These

were grouped and used for different and recognised passions

• See Proceedings for Session xvii—1890-91, pp. 13 and 191.

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