CHAPTER II

RECEPTION OF GUESTS—MUSIC—VARIOUS INSTRUMENTS—SACRED MUSIC—DANCE.

IN their entertainments they appear to have omitted nothing which could promote festivity and the amusement of the guests. Music, songs, dancing, buffoonery, feats of agility, or games of chance, were generally introduced; and they welcomed them with all the luxuries which the cellar and the table could afford.

The party, when invited to dinner, met about midday, and they arrived successively in their chariots, in palanquins borne by their servants, or on foot. Sometimes their attendants screened them from the sun by holding up a shield, (as is still done in Southern Africa,) or by some other contrivance; but the chariot of the king, or of a princess, was often furnished with a large parasol; and the flabella borne behind the king, which belonged exclusively to royalty, answered the same purpose. They were composed of feathers, and were not very unlike those carried on state occasions behind the Pope in modern Rome. Parasols or umbrellas were also used in Assyria, Persia, and other Eastern countries.

85.              Fig. 1. An Egyptian gentleman driving up in his curricle to the house. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, are his footmen. 8. The door of the house. 9, 10, 11. The guests assembled within. 12, 13, 14, 15. The musicians. Thebes.

86.              Chariot with Umbrella. Thebes.

              Military chief carried in a sort of palanquin, an attendant bearing a parasol behind him.

87.              Beni Hassan.

When a visitor came in his car, he was attended by a number of servants, some of whom carried a stool, to enable him to alight, and others his writing tablet, or whatever he might want during his stay at the house. In the wood-cut (No. 85) the guests are assembled in a sitting room within, and are enter tained with music during the interval preceding the announcement of dinner; for, like the Greeks, they considered it a want of good breeding to sit down to table immediately on arriving, and, as Bdelycleon, in Aristophanes, recommended his father Philocleon to do, they praised the beauty of the rooms and the furniture, taking care to show particular interest in those objects which were intended for admiration. As usual in all countries, some of the party arrived earlier than others; and the consequence, or affectation of fashion, in the person who now drives up in his curricle, is shown by his coming some time after the rest of the company; one of his footmen runs forward to knock at the door, others, close behind the chariot, are ready to take the reins, and to perform their accustomed duties; and the one holding his sandals in his hand, that he may run with greater ease, illustrates a custom, still common in Egypt, among the Arabs and peasants of the country, who find the power of the foot greater when freed from the encumbrance of a shoe.

To those who arrived from a journey, or who desired it, water was brought for their feet, previous to entering the festive chamber. They also washed their hands before dinner, the water being brought in the same manner as at the present day; and ewers, not unlike those used by the modern Egyptians, are represented, with the basins belonging to them, in the paintings of a Theban tomb. In the houses of the rich they were of gold, or other costly materials. Herodotus mentions the golden foot-pan, in which Amasis and his guests used to wash their feet. The Greeks had the same custom of bringing water to the guests, numerous instances of which we find in Homer; as when Telemachus and the son of Nestor were received at the house of Menelaus, and when Asphalion poured it upon the hands of his master, and the same guests, on another occasion. Virgil also describes the servants bringing water for this purpose, when Æneas was entertained by Dido. Nor was the ceremony thought superfluous, or declined, even though they had previously bathed and been anointed with oil.

88.              Golden ewers and basins in the tomb of Remeses III. Thebes.

It is also probable that, like the Greeks, the Egyptians anointed themselves before they left home; but still it was customary for a servant to attend every guest, as he seated himself, and to anoint his head; which was one of the principal tokens of welcome. The ointment was sweet-scented, and was contained in an alabaster, or in an elegant glass or porcelain vase, some of which have been found in the tombs of Thebes. Servants took the sandals of the guests as they arrived, and either put them by in a convenient place in the house, or held them on their arm while they waited upon them.

89.              A servant anointing a guest. Thebes.

90.              Servants bringing necklaces of flowers. Thebes.

After the ceremony of anointing was over, and, in some cases, at the time of entering the saloon, a lotus flower was presented to each guest, who held it in his hand during the entertainment. Servants then brought necklaces of flowers, composed chiefly of the lotus; a garland was also put round the head, and a single lotus bud, or a full-blown flower, was so attached as to hang over the forehead. Many of them, made up into wreaths and other devices, were suspended upon stands in the room ready for immediate use; and servants were constantly employed to bring other fresh flowers from the garden, in order to supply the guests as their bouquets faded.

The stands that served for holding the flowers and garlands were similar to those of the amphoræ and vases, some of which have been found in the tombs of Thebes; and the same kind of stand was introduced into a lady’s dressing-room, or the bath, for the purpose of holding clothes and other articles of the toilet. They varied in size according to circumstances, some being low and broad at the top, others higher, with a small summit, merely large enough to contain a single cup, or a small bottle. Others, though much smaller than the common stands, were broader in proportion to their height, and answered as small tables, or as the supports of cases containing bottles; and one of these last, preserved in the Berlin Museum, is supposed to have belonged to a medical man, or to the toilet of a Theban lady.

91.              Wooden stand, 8 in. square at the summit, holding a small cup. British Museum

The vases are six in number, varying slightly in form and size; five of alabaster, and the remaining one of serpentine, each standing in its own cell or compartment.

92.              A case containing bottles supported on a stand. Berlin Museum.

The Greeks and Romans had the same custom of presenting guests with flowers or garlands, which were brought in at the beginning of their entertainments, or before the second course They not only adorned their heads, necks, and breasts, like the Egyptians, but often bestrewed the couches on which they lay, and all parts of the room, with flowers; though the head was chiefly regarded, as appears from Horace, Anacreon, Ovid, and other ancient authors. The wine-bowl, too, was crowned with flowers, as at an Egyptian banquet. They also perfumed the apartment with myrrh, frankincense, and other choice odours, which they obtained from Syria; and if the sculptures do not give any direct representation of this practice among the Egyptians, we know it to have been adopted and deemed indispensable among them; and a striking instance is recorded by Plutarch, at the reception of Agesilaus by Tachos. A sumptuous dinner was prepared for the Spartan prince, consisting, as usual, of beef, goose, and other Egyptian dishes: he was crowned with garlands of papyrus, and received with every token of welcome; but when he refused “the sweetmeats, confections, and perfumes,” the Egyptians held him in great contempt, as a person unaccustomed to, and unworthy of, the manners of civilized society.

The Greeks, and other ancient people, usually put on a particular garment at festive meetings, generally of a white colour; but it does not appear to have been customary with the Egyptians to make any great alteration in their attire, though they evidently abstained from dresses of a gloomy hue.

The guests being seated, and having received these tokens of welcome, wine was offered them by the servants. To the ladies it was generally brought in a small vase, which, when emptied into the drinking-cup, was handed to an under servant, or slave, who followed; but to the men it was frequently presented in a one-handled goblet, without being poured into any cup, and sometimes in a large or small vase of gold, silver, or other materials.

93.              Offering wine to a guest. Thebes.

Herodotus and Hellanicus both say that they drank wine out of brass or bronze goblets; and, indeed, the former affirms that this was the only kind of drinking-cup known to the Egyptians; but Joseph had one of silver, and the sculptures represent them of glass, and porcelain, as well as of gold, silver, and bronze. Those who could not afford the more costly kind were satisfied with a cheaper quality, and many were contented with cups of common earthenware; but the wealthy Egyptians used vases of glass, porcelain, and the precious metals, for numerous purposes, both in their houses and in the temples of the gods.

The practice of introducing wine at the commencement of an entertainment, or before dinner had been served up, was not peculiar to this people; and the Chinese, to the present day, offer it at their parties to all the guests, as they arrive, in the same manner as the ancient Egyptians. They also drank wine during the repast, perhaps to the health of one another, or of an absent friend, like the Romans; and no doubt the master of the house, or “the ruler of the feast,” recommended a choice wine, and pledged them to the cup.

While dinner was preparing, the party was enlivened by the sound of music; and a band, consisting of the harp, lyre, guitar, tambourine, double and single pipe, flute, and other instruments, played the favourite airs and songs of the country. Nor was it deemed unbecoming the gravity and dignity of a priest to admit musicians into his house, or to take pleasure in witnessing the dance; and, seated with their wives and family in the midst of their friends, the highest functionaries of the sacerdotal order enjoyed the lively scene. In the same manner, at a Greek entertainment, diversions of all kinds were introduced; and Xenophon and Plato inform us that Socrates, the wisest of men, amused his friends with music, jugglers, mimics, buffoons, and whatever could be desired for exciting cheerfulness and mirth.

Though impossible for us now to form any notion of the character or style of Egyptian music, we may be allowed to conjecture that it was studied on scientific principles; and, whatever defects existed in the skill of ordinary performers, who gained their livelihood by playing in public, or for the entertainment of a private party, music was looked upon as an important science, and diligently studied by the priests themselves. According to Diodorus it was not customary to make music part of their education, being deemed useless and even injurious, as tending to render the minds of men effeminate; but this remark can only apply to the custom of studying it as an amusement. Plato, who was well acquainted with the usages of the Egyptians, says that they considered music of the greatest consequence, from its beneficial effects upon the mind of youth; and according to Strabo, the children of the Egyptians were taught letters, the songs appointed by law, and a certain kind of music, established by government.

That the Egyptians were particularly fond of music, is abundantly proved by the paintings in their tombs of the earliest times; and we even find they introduced figures performing on the favourite instruments of the country, among the devices with which they adorned fancy boxes or trinkets. The skill of the Egyptians, in the use of musical instruments, is also noticed by Athenæus, who says that both the Greeks and barbarians were taught by refugees from Egypt, and that the Alexandrians were the most scientific and skilful players on pipes and other instruments.

In the infancy of music, as Dr. Burney observes, “no other instruments were known than those of percussion, and it was, therefore, little more than metrical.” Pipes of various kinds and the flute were afterwards invented; at first very rude, and made of reeds, which grew in the rivers and lakes, and some of these have been found in the Egyptian tombs. To discover, we can scarcely say to invent, such simple instruments, required a very slight effort. But it was long before music and musical instruments attained to any degree of excellence; and the simple instruments of early times being in time succeeded by others of a more complicated kind, the many-stringed harp, lyre, and other instruments, added to the power and variety of musical sounds.

To contrive a method of obtaining perfect melody from a smaller number of strings, by shortening them on a neck during the performance, like our modern violin, was, unquestionably, a more difficult task than could be accomplished in the infancy of music, and great advances must have been already made in the science before this could be attained, or before the idea would suggest itself to the mind. With this principle, however, the Egyptians were well acquainted; and the sculptures unquestionably prove it, in the frequent use of the three-stringed guitar.

A harp or lyre, having a number of strings, imitating various sounds, and disposed in the order of notes, might be invented even in an early stage of the art; but a people who had not attentively studied the nature of musical sounds would necessarily remain ignorant of the method of procuring the same tones from a limited number of strings; nor are our means simplified till they become perfectly understood. It is, then, evident, not only from the great fondness for music evinced by the early Egyptians, but from the nature of the very instruments they used, that the art was studied with great attention, and that they extended the same minute and serious investigation to this as to othersciences.

The fabulous account of its origin, mentioned by Diodorus, shows music to have been sanctioned, and even cultivated, by the priests themselves, who invariably pretended to have derived from the gods the knowledge of the sciences they encouraged. Hermes or Mercury was, therefore, reputed to be the first discoverer of the harmony and principle of voices or sounds, and the inventor of the lyre.

94.              Harps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the Pyramids.

From his limiting the number of its chords to three, the historian evidently confounds the lyre with the Egyptian guitar; yet this traditional story serves to attest the remote antiquity of stringed instruments, and proves the great respect paid to music by the Egyptian priests, who thought it not unworthy of a deity to be its patron and inventor.

It is sufficiently evident, from the sculptures of the ancient Egyptians, that their hired musicians were acquainted with the triple symphony: the harmony of instruments; of voices; and of voices and instruments. Their band was variously composed, consisting either of two harps, with the single pipe and flute; of the harp and double pipe, frequently with the addition of the guitar; of a fourteen-stringed harp, a guitar, lyre, double pipe, and tambourine; of two harps, sometimes of different sizes, one of seven, the other of four, strings; of two harps of eight chords, and a seven-stringed lyre; of the guitar and the square or oblong tambourine; of the lyre, harp, guitar, double pipe, and a sort of harp with four strings, which was held upon the shoulder; of the harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square tambourine; of the harp, two guitars, and the double pipe; of the harp, two flutes, and a guitar; of two harps and a flute; of a seventeen-stringed lyre, the double-pipe, and a harp of fourteen chords; of the harp, and two guitars; or of two seven-stringed harps and an instrument held in the hand, not unlike an eastern fan, to which were probably attached small bells, or pieces of metal that emitted a jingling sound when shaken, like the crescent crowned bells of our modern bands. There were many other combinations of these various instruments; and in the Bacchic festival of Ptolemy Philadelphus, described by Athenæus, more than 600 musicians were employed in the chorus, among whom were 300 performers on the cithara.

95.              The harp and double pipe. Thebes.

96.              The harp, guitar, and double pipe. Thebes.

97.              Harp and a smaller one of four chords. Thebes.

98.              Harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square tambourine. Thebes.

99.              Men and women singing to the harp, lyre, and double pipe. Thebes.

100.              Harp and two guitars. Thebes.

101.              Two guitars, a harp, and double pipe, and a woman beating time with her hands. Thebes.

102.              The flute, two harps, and men singing Thebes.

103.              Two harps, and another instrument, which perhaps emitted a jingling sound. a and b show how the strings were wound round the pegs. Beni Hassan.

Sometimes the harp was played alone, or as an accompaniment to the voice; and a band of seven or more choristers frequently sang to it a favourite air, beating time with their hands between each stanza. They also sang to other instruments, as the lyre, guitar, or double pipe; or to several of them played together, as the flute and one or more harps; or to these last with a lyre, or a guitar. It was not unusual for one man or one woman to perform a solo; and a chorus of many persons occasionally sang at a private assembly without any instrument, two or three beating time at intervals with the hand. Sometimes the band of choristers consisted of more than twenty persons, only two of whom responded by clapping their hands; and in one instance I have seen a female represented holding what was perhaps another kind of jingling instrument.

The custom of beating time by clapping the hands between the stanzas is still usual in Egypt.

104.              An unusual kind of instrument Thebes.

On some occasions women beat the tambourine and darabooka drum, without the addition of any other instrument; dancing or singing to the sound; and bearing palm branches or green twigs in their hands, they proceeded to the tomb of a deceased friend, accompanied by this species of music. The same custom may still be traced in the Friday visit to the cemetery, and in some other funeral ceremonies among the Moslem peasants of modern Egypt.

105.              Women beating tambourines, and the darabooka drum (fig. 1). Thebes.

If it was not customary for the higher classes of Egyptians to learn music for the purpose of playing in society, and if few amateur performers could be found among persons of rank, still some general knowledge of the art must have been acquired by a people so alive to its charms; and the attention paid to it by the priests regulated the taste, and prevented the introduction of a vitiated style. Those who played at the houses of the rich, as well as the ambulant musicians of the streets, were of the lower classes, and made this employment the means of obtaining their livelihood; and in many instances both the minstrels and the choristers were blind.

It was not so necessary an accomplishment for the higher classes of Egyptians as of the Greeks, who, as Cicero says, “considered the arts of singing and playing upon musical instruments a very principal part of learning; whence it is related of Epaminondas, who, in my judgment, was the first of all the Greeks, that he played very well upon the flute. And, some time before, Themistocles, upon refusing the harp at an entertainment, passed for an uninstructed and ill-bred person. Hence Greece became celebrated for skilful musicians; and as all persons there learned music, those who attained to no proficiency in it were thought uneducated and unaccomplished.” Cornelius Nepos also states that Epaminondas “played the harp and flute, and perfectly understood the art of dancing, with other liberal sciences,” which, “though trivial things in the opinion of the Romans, were reckoned highly commendable in Greece.”

The Israelites also delighted in music and the dance; and persons of rank deemed them a necessary part of their education. Like the Egyptians with whom they had so long resided, the Jews carefully distinguished sacred from profane music. They introduced it at public and private rejoicings, at funerals, and in religious services; but the character of the airs, like the words of their songs, varied according to the occasion; and they had canticles of mirth, of praise, of thanksgiving, and of lamentation. Some were epithalamia, or songs composed to celebrate marriages; others to commemorate a victory, or the accession of a prince; to return thanks to the Deity, or to celebrate his praises; to lament a general calamity, or a private affliction; and others, again, were peculiar to their festive meetings. On these occasions they introduced the harp, lute, tabret, and various instruments, together with songs and dancing, and the guests were entertained nearly in the same manner as at an Egyptian feast. In the temple, and in the religious ceremonies, the Jews had female as well as male performers, who were generally daughters of the Levites, as the Pallaces of Thebes were either of the royal family, or the daughters of priests; and these musicians were attached exclusively to the service of religion. David was not only remarkable for his taste and skill in music, but took a delight in introducing it on every occasion. “And seeing that the Levites were numerous, and no longer employed as formerly in carrying the boards, veils, and vessels of the tabernacle, its abode being fixed at Jerusalem, he appointed a great part of them to sing and play on instruments, at the religious festivals.” Solomon, again, at the dedication of the temple, employed “120 priests, to sound with trumpets;” and Josephus pretends that no less than 200,000 musicians were present at that ceremony, besides the same number of singers, who were Levites.

106.              Egyptian harper and blind choristers. Tel el Amarna.

The method adopted by the Egyptian priests, for preserving their melodies, has not been ascertained; but if their system of notation resembled that of the Greeks, which was by disposing the letters of the alphabet in different ways, it must have been cumbrous and imperfect.

When hired to attend at a private entertainment, the musicians either stood in the centre, or at one side, of the festive chamber, and some sat cross-legged on the ground, like the Turks and other Eastern people of the present day. They were usually accompanied on these occasions by dancers, either men or women, sometimes both; whose art consisted in assuming all the graceful or ludicrous gestures, which could obtain the applause, or tend to the amusement, of the assembled guests. For music and dancing were considered as essential at their entertainments, as among the Greeks; but it is by no means certain that these diversions counteracted the effect of wine, as Plutarch imagines; a sprightly air is more likely to have invited another glass; and sobriety at a feast was not one of the objects of the lively Egyptians.

Some of their songs, it is true, bore a plaintive character, but not so the generality of those introduced at their festive meetings. That called Maneros is said by Herodotus to be the same as the Linus of the Greeks, “which was known in Phœnicia, Cyprus, and other places;” and was peculiarly adapted to mournful occasions. Plutarch, however, asserts that it was suited to festivities and the pleasures of the table, and that, “amidst the diversions of a sociable party, the Egyptians made the room resound with the song of Maneros.” We may, therefore, conclude that the Egyptians had two songs, bearing a name resembling Maneros, which have been confounded together by Greek writers; and that one of these bore a lugubrious, the other a lively, character.

The airs and words were of course made to suit the occasion, either of rejoicing and festivity, of solemnity, or of lamentation; and all their agricultural and other occupations had, as at the present day, their appropriate songs.

At the religious ceremonies and processions, certain musicians attached to the priestly order, and organised for this special purpose, were employed; who were considered to belong exclusively to the service of the temple, as each military band of their army to its respective corps.

When an individual died, it was usual for the women to issue forth from the house, and throwing dust and mud upon their heads, to utter cries of lamentation as they wandered through the streets of the town, or amidst the cottages of the village. They sang a doleful dirge in token of their grief; they, by turns, expressed their regret for the loss of their relative or friend, and their praises of his virtues; and this was frequently done to the time and measure of a plaintive, though not inharmonious, air. Sometimes the tambourine was introduced, and the “mournful song” was accompanied by its monotonous sound. On these occasions, the services of hired performers were uncalled for; though during the period of seventy days, while the body was in the hands of the embalmers, mourners were employed, who sang the same plaintive dirge to the memory of the deceased; a custom prevalent also among the Jews, when preparing for a funeral.

At their musical soirées, men or women played the harp, lyre, guitar, and the single or double pipe, but the flute appears to have been confined to men; and the tambourine and darabooka drum were generally appropriated to the other sex.

The darabooka drum is rarely met with in the paintings of Thebes, being only used on certain occasions, and chiefly, as at the present day, by the peasant women, and the boatmen of the Nile. It was evidently the same as the modern one, which is made of parchment, strained and glued over a funnel-shaped case of pottery, which is a hollow cylinder, with a truncated cone attached to it. It is beaten with the hand, and when relaxed, the parchment is braced by exposing it a few moments to the sun, or the warmth of a fire. It is generally supported by a band round the neck of the performer, who, with the fingers of the right hand, plays the air, and with the left grasps the lower edge of the head, in order to beat the bass, as in the tambourine; which we find from the sculptures was played in the same manner by the ancient Egyptians.

107.              The darabooka of modern Egypt.

They had also cymbals, and cylindrical maces (crotala, or clappers), two of which were struck together, and probably emitted a sharp metallic sound. The cymbals were of mixed metal, apparently brass, or a compound of brass and silver, and of a form exactly resembling those of modern times, though smaller, being only seven, or five inches and a half in diameter. The handle was also of brass, bound with leather, string, or any similar substance, and being inserted in a small hole at the summit, was secured by bending back the two ends. The same kind of instrument is used by the modern inhabitants of the country; and from them have been borrowed the very small cymbals played with the finger and thumb, which supply the place of castanets in the almeh dance. These were the origin of the Spanish castanet, having been introduced into that country by the Moors, and afterwards altered in form, and made of chestnut (castaña) and other wood instead of metal.

108.              Egyptian cymbals, 5½ inches in diameter. British Museum.

The cymbals of modern Egypt are chiefly used by the attendants of shekhs’ tombs, who travel through the country at certain periods of the year, to exact charitable donations from the credulous, or the devout, among the Moslems, by the promise of some blessing from the indulgent saint. Drums and some other noisy instruments, which are used at marriages and on other occasions, accompany the cymbals, but these last are more peculiarly appropriated to the service of the shekhs, and the external ceremonies of religion, as among the ancient Egyptians; and a female, whose coffin contained a pair of cymbals, was described in the hieroglyphics of the exterior as the minstrel of a deity.

The cylindrical maces, or clappers, were also admitted among the instruments used on solemn occasions; and they frequently formed part of the military band, or regulated the dance. They varied slightly in form; and some were of wood, or of shells; others of brass, or some sonorous metal, having a straight handle, surmounted by a head, or other ornamental device. Sometimes the handle was slightly curved, and double, with two heads at the upper extremity; but in all cases the performer held one in each hand; and the sound depended on their size, and the material of which they were made. When of wood they corresponded to the crotala of the Greeks, a supposed invention of the Sicilians; and reported to have been used for frightening away the fabulous birds of Stymphalus; and the paintings of the Etruscans show they were adopted by them, as by the Egyptians, in the dance. They were probably the same as the round-headed pegs, resembling large nails, seen in the hands of some dancing figures in the paintings of Herculaneum; and Herodotus describes the crotala played as an accompaniment to the flute by the votaries of the Egyptian Diana, on their way to her temple at Bubastis.

Though the Egyptians were fond of buffoonery and gesticulation, they do not seem to have had any public show which can be said to resemble a theatre. The stage is allowed to have been purely a Greek invention; and to dramatic entertainments, which were originally of two kinds, comedy and tragedy, were added the ancient Italian pantomime. The Egyptian common people had certain jocose songs, accompanied with mimic and extravagant gestures, containing appropriate and laughable remarks on the bystanders; extempore sallies of wit, like the Fescennine verses of ancient Italy, which were also peculiar to the country people. Their object was to provoke a retort from him they addressed, or to supply one if unanswered; a custom still continued by the modern Egyptians; who have adopted the high foolscaps of palm leaves, frequently with tassels, or foxes’ tails attached to them, and the alternate verse, or couplets, of two performers, who dance and sing in recitative to the monotonous sound of a hand-drum. They also went, like strolling players, from village to village, and danced in the streets to amuse passers by; and often took up a position by the steps of some grand mansion, where if they could only spy some children or nursery maids at a window, they performed their parts with redoubled energy, and holding up their hands towards them made complimentary remarks in their songs, with the same keen longing for bakshish as their descendants.

109.              Fig. 1, striking the clappers; fig. 2, clapping his hands; fig. 3, dancing; fig. 4, snapping her fingers. Thebes.

110.              Egyptian Buffoons. Thebes.

Some of these buffoons were foreigners, generally blacks from Africa, whose scanty dress, made of a piece of bull’s hide, added not a little to their grotesque appearance; purposely increased by a small addition resembling a tail. (Woodcut 111.) They also had tags, like beads, suspended from their elbows; which were often put on by Egyptian performers on festive occasions; as they are still by the people of Ethiopia and Kordofan in their dances; and they are shown by the vases to have been adopted by the Greeks in bacchanalian and other ceremonies. The tail was also given to Greek fauns.

111.              Men dancing in the street to the sound of the drum Thebes.

In their military bands some of the instruments differed from those of ordinary musicians, but the sculptures have not recorded all the various kinds used in the Egyptian army. The principal ones appear to have been the trumpet and drum: the former used to marshal the troops, summon them to the charge, and direct them in their evolutions; the latter to regulate and enliven their march.

The trumpet, like that of the Israelites, was about one foot and a half long, of very simple form, apparently of brass; and when sounded, it was held with both hands, and either used singly, or as part of the military band, with the drum and other instruments.

112.              A military band. Thebes.

The trumpet was particularly, though not exclusively, appropriated to martial purposes. It was straight, like the Roman tuba, or our common trumpet, and was used in Egypt at the earliest times. In Greece it was also known before the Trojan war; it was reputed to have been the invention of Minerva, or of Tyrrhenus, a son of Hercules; and in later times it was generally adopted, both as a martial instrument, and by the ambulant musicians of the streets. In some parts of Egypt a prejudice existed against the trumpet; and the people of Busiris and Lycopolis would never use it, because the sound resembled the braying of an ass, which, being the emblem of Typhon, gave them very unpleasant sensations, by reminding them of the Evil Being. The same kind of notion prevents the Moslems using bells, which, if they do not actually bring bad spirits into the house, keep away good ones; and many seem to think that dogs are also in league with the powers of darkness.

113.              The trumpet. Thebes.

The Israelites had trumpets for warlike, as well as sacred purposes, for festivals and rejoicings; and the office of sounding them was not only honourable, but was committed solely to the priests. Some were of silver, which were suited to all occasions; others were animals’ horns (like the original cornu of the Romans), and these are stated to have been employed at the siege of Jericho. The Greeks had six kinds of trumpets; the Romans four,—the tuba, cornu, buccina, and lituus, and, in ancient times, the concha, so called from having been originally a shell—which were the only instruments employed by them for military purposes, and in this they differed from the Greeks and Egyptians.

The only drum represented in the sculptures is a long drum, very similar to one of the tomtoms of India. It was about two feet or two feet and a half in length, and was beaten with the hand, like the Roman tympanum. The case was of wood or copper, covered at either end with parchment or leather, braced by cords extending diagonally over the exterior of the cylinder, and when played, it was slung by a band round the neck of the drummer, who during the march carried it in a vertical position at his back. Like the trumpet, it was chiefly employed in the army; and the evidence of the sculptures is confirmed by Clement of Alexandria, who says the drum was used by the Egyptians in going to war. It was also common at the earliest period of which we have any account from the sculptures of Thebes, or about the sixteenth century before our era.

114.              The drum. Thebes.

115.              Mode of slinging the drum behind them, when on a march.

When a body of troops marched to the beat of drum, the drummer was often stationed in the centre or the rear, and sometimes immediately behind the standard bearers; the trumpeter’s post being generally at the head of the regiment, except when summoning them to form or advance to the charge; but the drummers were not always alone, or confined to the rear and centre; and when forming part of the band, they marched in the van, or, with the other musicians, were drawn up on one side while the troops defiled.

Besides the long drum, the Egyptians had another, not very unlike our own, both in form and size, which was much broader in proportion to its length than the tomtom just mentioned, being two feet and a half high, and two feet broad. It was beaten with two wooden sticks; but as there is no representation of the mode of using it, we are unable to decide whether it was suspended horizontally and struck at both ends, as the drum of the same kind still used at Cairo, or at one end only, like our own; though, from the curve of the sticks, I am inclined to think it was slung and beaten as the tamboor of modern Egypt. Sometimes the sticks were straight, and consisted of two parts, the handle and a thin round rod, at whose end a small knob projected, for the purpose of fastening the leather pad with which the drum was struck; they were about a foot in length, and, judging from the form of the handle of one in the Berlin Museum, we may conclude they belonged, like those above mentioned, to a drum beaten at both ends. Each extremity of the drum was covered with red leather, braced with catgut strings passing through small holes in its broad margin, and extending in direct lines over the copper body, which, from its convexity, was similar in shape to a cask.

116.              Drum-stick. Berlin Museum.

In order to tighten the strings, and thereby to brace the drum, a piece of catgut extended round each end, near the edge of the leather; and crossing the strings at right angles, and being twisted round each separately, braced them all in proportion as it was drawn tight: but this was only done when the leather and the strings had become relaxed by constant use; and as this piece of catgut was applied to either end, they had the means of doubling the power of tension on every string.

117.              Fig. 1. The drum. 2. shows how the strings were braced. 3. The sticks. Found at Thebes.

Besides the ordinary forms of Egyptian instruments, several were constructed according to a particular taste or accidental caprice. Some were of the most simple kind, others of very costly materials, and many were richly ornamented with brilliant colours and fancy figures; particularly the harps and lyres. The harps varied greatly in form, size, and the number of their strings; they are represented in the ancient paintings with four, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fourteen, seventeen, twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two chords: that in the Paris collection appears also to have had twenty-one; and the head of another I found at Thebes was made for seventeen strings. They were frequently very large, even exceeding the height of a man, tastefully painted with the lotus and other flowers, or with fancy devices; and those of the royal minstrels were fitted up in the most splendid manner, adorned with the head or bust of the monarch himself: like those in Bruce’s tomb at Thebes.

118.              Harpers painted in the tomb of Remeses III.,

118 a.              Known as Bruce’s, or the Harper’s tomb. Thebes.

119.              Head of a harp brought by me from Thebes, and now in the British Museum.

120.              A richly painted harp on a stand, a man beating time with his hands, and a player on the guitar.

The oldest harps found in the sculptures are in a tomb, near the pyramids of Geezeh, upwards of four thousand years old. They are more rude in shape than those usually represented; and though it is impossible to ascertain the precise number of their chords, they do not appear to have exceeded seven or eight, and are fastened in a different manner from ordinary Egyptian harps. These date long before the Shepherd invasion, and the fact of the Egyptians being already sufficiently advanced to combine the harmony of various instruments with the voice shows they were not indebted for music to that Asiatic race. The combination of harps and lyres of great compass with the flute, single and double pipes, guitars, and tambourines, prove the proficiency to which they had arrived; and even in the reign of Amosis, the first king of the 18th dynasty, about 1570 B.C., nine hundred years before Terpander’s time, the ordinary musicians of Egypt used harps of fourteen, and lyres of seventeen strings.

The Greeks were indebted to Asia for their stringed instruments, and even for the cithara (κιθὰρα), which was originally styled “Asiatic,” and was introduced from Lesbos. It had only seven chords, till Timotheus of Miletus added four others, about 400 B.C.; and Terpander, who lived 200 years after Homer, was the first to lay down any laws for this instrument, some time before they were devised for the flute or pipe. The harp, indeed, seems always to have been unknown to the Greeks.

The strings of Egyptian harps were of catgut, as of the lyres still used in Nubia. Some harps stood on the ground while played, having an even, broad, base; others were placed on a stool, or raised upon a stand, or limb, attached to the lower part. Men and women often used harps of the same compass, and even the smallest, of four strings, were played by men; but the largest were mostly appropriated to the latter, who stood during the performance. These large harps had a flat base, so as to stand without support, like those in Bruce’s tomb; and a lighter kind was also squared for the same purpose, but, when played, was frequently inclined towards the performer, who supported the instrument in the most convenient position. Many harps were of wood, covered with bull’s hide, or with leather, sometimes of a green or red colour, and painted with various devices, vestiges of which may be traced in that of the Paris collection; and small ones were sometimes made, like many Greek lyres, of tortoise shell. (Woodcuts 96, 97.)

121.              Minstrel standing, while playing the harp. Dendera.

122.              Harp raised on a stand, or support. Thebes.

The Egyptians had no means of shortening the harp strings during the performance, by any contrivance resembling our modern pedals, so as to introduce occasional sharps and flats; they could, therefore, only play in one key, until they tuned the instrument afresh, by turning the pegs. Indeed it was not more necessary in their harp than in the lyre, since the former was always combined with other instruments, except when used as a mere accompaniment to the voice. But they seem occasionally to have supplied this deficiency by a double set of pegs; and their great skill in music during so many centuries would necessarily suggest some means of obtaining half notes.

The Egyptian harps have another imperfection, for which it is not easy to account,—the absence of a pole, and consequently of a support to the bar, or upper limb, in which the pegs were fixed; and it is difficult to conceive how, without it, the chords could have been properly tightened, or the bar sufficiently strong to resist the effect of their tension; particularly in those of triangular form. The pole is not only wanting in those of the paintings, but in all that have been found in the tombs; and even in that of the Paris Collection, which, having twenty-one strings, was one of the highest power they had, since they are seldom represented on the monuments with more than two octaves. This last, however, may hold an intermediate place between a harp and the many triangular stringed instruments of the Egyptians.

The harp was thought to be especially suited for the service of religion; and it was used on many occasions to celebrate the praises of the gods. It was even represented in the hands of the deities themselves, as well as the tambourine and the sacred sistrum.

123.              Harp of the Paris Collection.

The Egyptian lyre was not less varied in form, and the number of its chords, than the harp, and they ornamented it in many ways, as their taste suggested; some with the head of an animal carved in wood, as the horse, ibex, or gazelle; while others were of more simple shape.

Mercury has always obtained the credit of its invention, both among the Egyptians and the Greeks; and Apollodorus gravely explains how it came into his head: “The Nile,” he says, “after having overflowed the whole land of Egypt, returned once more within its banks, leaving on the shore a great number of dead animals of various kinds, and among the rest a tortoise. Its flesh was quite dried up by the hot Egyptian sun, so that nothing remained within the shell but nerves and cartilages; and these, being braced and contracted by the heat, had become sonorous. Mercury, walking by the river side, happened to strike his foot against this shell, and was so pleased with the sound produced, that the idea of a lyre presented itself to his imagination. He therefore constructed the instrument in the form of a tortoise, and strung it with the sinews of dead animals.”

124.              Lyre ornamented with the head of an animal. Thebes.

Many Egyptian lyres were of considerable power, having 5, 7, 10, and 18 strings. They were usually supported between the elbow and the side; and the mode of playing them was with the hand, or sometimes with the plectrum, which was made of bone, ivory, or wood, and was often attached to one limb of the lyre by a string.

The Greeks also adopted both methods, but more generally used the plectrum; and in the frescoes of Herculaneum are lyres of 3, 6, 9, and 11 strings played with it; of 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 with the hands; and of 9 and 11 strings played with the plectrum and fingers at the same time.

The strings were fastened at the upper end to a cross bar connecting the two limbs or sides, and at the lower end they were attached to a raised ledge or hollow sounding board, about the centre of the body of the instrument, which was entirely of wood. In the Berlin and Leyden museums are lyres of this kind, which, with the exception of the strings, are perfectly preserved. That in the former collection has the two limbs terminating in horses’ heads; and in form and principle, and in the alternate long and short chords, resembles some of those represented in the paintings; though the board to which the strings are fastened is nearer the bottom of the instrument, and the number of chords is 13 instead of 10.

125.              Lyres played with and without the plectrum. Thebes.

126.              Lyre in the Berlin Museum.

We have thus an opportunity of comparing real Egyptian lyres with those represented at Thebes in the reign of Amunoph, and other kings, who reigned more than three thousand years ago.

The body of the Berlin lyre is about ten inches high, and fourteen and a half broad, and the total height of the instrument is two feet. That of Leyden is smaller, and less ornamented; but it is equally well preserved, and highly interesting from a hieratic inscription written in ink upon the front. It had no extra sounding board; its hollow body sufficiently answered this purpose; and the strings passed over a moveable bridge, and were secured at the bottom by a small metal ring or staple. Both these lyres were entirely of wood; and one of the limbs, like many represented in the paintings, was longer than the opposite one, so that the instrument might be tuned by sliding the strings upwards along the bar, as well as round it, which was the usual method, and is continued to the present day in the Kisírka of modern Nubia.

127.              Lyre of the Leyden Collection. Fig. 2 shows the lower end.

In Greece the lyre had at first only four chords, till the additional three were introduced by Amphion, who seems to have borrowed his knowledge of music from Lydia; and was, as usual, reputed to have been taught by Mercury. Terpander (670 B.C.) added several more notes; and the lyres represented at Herculaneum have 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 chords.

Numerous other instruments, resembling harps or lyres in principle, were common in Egypt, which varied so much in form, compass, and sound, that they were considered quite distinct from them, and had each its own name. They have been found in the tombs, or are represented in the paintings of Thebes and other places. Those of a triangular shape were held under the arm while played, and, like the rest, were used as an accompaniment to the voice; they were mostly light, but when of any weight were suspended by a band over the shoulder of the performer.

128.              Triangular instrument. Thebes.

129.              Another, held under the arm. Dakkeh.

The strings were of catgut, as in the harps; and those of woodcut 130, fig. 1, were so well preserved that, when found at Thebes, in 1823, they sounded on being touched, though buried two or three thousand years. It was an instrument of great compass, having twenty strings wound round a rod at the lower end, which was probably turned in order to tighten them; and the frame was of wood, covered with leather, on which could be traced a few hieroglyphics. That in fig. 2, given by Professor Rosellini, has the peculiarity of being tuned by pegs; but its ten strings are fastened to a rod in the centre of its sounding-board, as in other instruments.

130.              Fig. 1 found at Thebes in 1823.

Another, which may be called a standing-lyre, was of great height. It consisted of a round body, probably of wood and metal, in the form of a vase, from which two upright limbs rose, supporting the transverse bar to which the upper ends of its eight strings were fastened; and the minstrel sang to it, as he touched the chords with his two hands.

A still more jingling instrument was used as an accompaniment to the lyre. It consisted of several bars, probably of wire, attached to a frame, or some sounding body; which were struck by a rod held in both hands by the performer. (Woodcut 132.)

More common was a light instrument of four strings, which was carried on the shoulder while played, and was mostly used by women, who chanted to it as the Jews did “to the sound of the (nabl) viol” (Amos 6:5). Some of these have been found in the tombs of Thebes, and the most perfect one is that in the British Museum, which is 41 inches long, the neck 22, and the breadth of the body 4 inches. Its exact form, the pegs, the rod to which the chords were fastened, and even the parchment covering its wooden body and serving as a sounding-board still remain, and all it wants are the four strings. The mode of fastening the strings to the rod is not quite evident, and they seem to have passed through the parchment to the rod lying beneath it, which has notches at intervals to receive them. It is of hard wood, apparently acacia; and sufficient remains of one of the strings to show they were of catgut.

131.              A standing lyre. Tel el Amarna.

132.              An instrument played as an accompaniment to the lyre. Tel el Amarna.

133.              A light kind of instrument borne on the shoulder. Thebes.

134.              Instrument differing from the harp, lyre, and guitar. British Museum.

Similar in principle to this was a small instrument of five chords, having a hollow wooden body, over which was stretched a covering of parchment, or of thin wood; and the strings extended in the same manner from a rod in the centre, to the pegs at the end of the neck.

135.              The instrument restored.

Three have been found in the tombs; one of which is in the Berlin, and two in the British Museum; the former with the five pegs entire, and the body composed of three pieces of sycamore wood. Their whole length is 2 feet, the neck about 1 foot 3 inches, in the under side of which are the five pegs, placed in a direct line, one after the other. At the opposite end of the body are two holes for fastening the rod that secured the strings.

136.              Figs. 1. 3. Instruments in the British Museum.

              Fig. 2. In the Berlin Museum.

Besides harps and lyres, the Egyptians had a sort of guitar with three chords, which have been strangely supposed to correspond to the three seasons of the Egyptian year: and here again Thoth or Mercury has received the credit of the invention; for the instrument having only three strings, and yet equalling the power of those of great compass, was considered by the Egyptians worthy of the God; whose intervention on this and similar occasions is, in fact, only an allegorical mode of expressing the intellectual gifts communicated from the Divinity to man.

The guitar consisted of two parts: a long flat neck, or handle, and a hollow oval body, either wholly of wood, or covered with parchment, having the upper surface perforated with holes to allow the sound to escape. Over this body, and the whole length of the handle, were stretched three strings of catgut, secured at the upper extremity either by the same number of pegs, or by passing through an aperture in the handle; they were then bound round it, and tied in a knot. It does not appear to have had any bridge, but the chords were fastened at the lower end to a triangular piece of wood or ivory, which raised them to a sufficient height; and they were sometimes elevated at the upper extremity of the handle by means of a small crossbar, immediately below each of the apertures where the strings were passed through and tightened. This answered the same purpose as the depressed end of our modern guitar; and, indeed, since the neck was in a straight line with the body of the instrument, some contrivance of the kind was absolutely required.

137.              Female playing the guitar. Thebes.

The length of the handle was from twice, to thrice, that of the body; and the whole instrument measured about 4 feet, the breadth of the body being equal to half its length. It was struck with the plectrum, which was attached by a string to the neck, and the performers usually stood as they played. It was considered equally suited to men or women; and some danced while they touched its strings, supporting it on the right arm. It was sometimes slung by a band round the neck, like the modern Spanish guitar, to which it also corresponded in being an accompaniment to the voice, though this did not prevent its being part of a band with other instruments.

138.              Dancing while playing the guitar. Thebes.

139.              Supported by a strap. Thebes.

It is from an ancient instrument of this kind, sometimes called kithára (κιθάρα), that the modern name guitar (chitarra) has been derived; though the cithara of the Greeks and Romans, in early times, at least, was a lyre. The Egyptian guitar may be called a lute, but it does not appear to correspond to the three-stringed lyre of Greece.

An instrument of an oval form, with a circular or cylindrical handle, was found at Thebes, not altogether unlike the guitar; but, owing to the imperfect state of its preservation, nothing could be ascertained respecting the pegs, or the mode of tightening the chords. The wooden body was faced with leather, the handle extending down it to the lower end, and part of the string remained which attached the plectrum. Three small holes indicated the place where the chords were secured, and two others, a short distance above, appear to have been intended for fastening some kind of bridge.

140.              An instrument like the guitar found at Thebes.

Wire strings were not used by the Egyptians in any of their instruments, catgut being alone employed, and the twang of this in the warlike bow doubtless led to its adoption in the peaceful lyre, owing to the accidental discovery of its musical sound; for men hunted animals, and killed each other, with the bow and arrow, long before they recited verses, or indulged in music. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Arabs, a nation of hunters, were the inventors of the monochordium, an instrument of the most imperfect kind (except when the skill of a Paganini is employed to command its tones); for, with all the accumulated practice of ages, the modern Cairenes have not succeeded in making their one-stringed rahab a tolerable accompaniment to the voice. No doubt the instrument was very ancient; for, being used by the reciters of poems, it evidently belonged to the early bards, the first musicians of every country; and the wild Montenegrins still sing their primitive war and love songs to the sound of the one-stringed gûsla, handed down to them from the “wizards” of the ancient Slavonians.

If we are surprised at the number of stringed instruments of the Egyptians (and many more are of course unknown to us), and if we wonder what sort of tones, and what variety of sounds, could be obtained from them, what shall we think of those mentioned by the Greeks, who seem to have adopted every one they could obtain from other countries? Some, as the phorminx, barbiton, and other lyres, are known; the first of which, according to Clemens, was not very different from the cithara; but the bare recital of the names of the rest is bewildering.

There were the nablum, sambuca, pandurum, magadis, trigon (one of the three-cornered instruments) Phœnicica, pêctis, scindapsus, enneachordon (“of nine strings”), the square shaped psithyra or ascarum, heptagona (septangles) psaltery, spadix, pariambus, clepsiambus, jambyce, epigoneum, and many more; and even most Jewish instruments are uncertain, as the kitharus or harp, “the ten stringed” ashûr, the triangular sambukê, or sabka, the nabl or viol, the kinnóor or lyre of six or nine strings, and the psanterin or psaltery. And though the last is said to have had twelve notes, and to have been played with the fingers, and the ashur, or ten stringed viol, to have been played with the bow (or rather plectrum), we have no definite idea of their appearance; so that the Egyptian paintings give by far the best insight into the instruments used in those early times.

The flute was of great antiquity; for in a tomb near the Great Pyramid, built more than four thousand years ago, is a concert of vocal and instrumental music, where two harps, a pipe, a flute, and several voices are introduced.

In Greece it was at first very simple, “with few holes,” which were limited to four, until Diodorus of Thebes, in Bœotia, added others, and made a lateral opening for the mouth. It was originally of reed; afterwards of bone or ivory, and covered with bronze. But even this improved instrument was very small; and I have seen part of one, measuring 5½ inches in length and ½ an inch in diameter, broken off at the fifth hole; the first of the five holes being distant only 1¼ inch from that of the mouth.

The Egyptian flute was of great length; for, reaching the ground when the performer was seated, it could not be less than 2 feet 3 inches; and some were so long that, when playing, he was obliged to extend his arms below his waist, to touch the holes. Those who played it generally sat on the ground; and in every instance I have met with they are men.

              Flute-player. The flute is of great length.

141.              Thebes.

It was made of reed, of wood, of bone, or of ivory; and from the word sêbi, written over the instrument in the hieroglyphics, which is the same as its Coptic name, we may suppose it was originally the leg-bone of some animal. The Latin tibia has the same meaning; and flutes are said to have been made in Bœotia of those hollow bones. The Egyptians probably had several kinds of flutes, some suited to mournful, others to festive, occasions, like the Greeks; and it is evident they used them both at banquets and religious ceremonies. But no Egyptian deity is represented playing the flute; and the gods and goddesses may have felt the same aversion to it as Minerva, when she perceived “the deformed appearance of her mouth,”—an allegory signifying, according to Aristotle, that it “interfered with mental reflection,” and had most immoral effects, which in these ignorant days we are unable to perceive.

The pipe was of equal antiquity with the flute, and belonged also to male performers; but, as it is seldom represented at concerts, and all those discovered are of common reed, it appears not to have been in great repute. In most countries it has been the instrument of the peasantry; but if the pipe “made of the straw of barley” was the invention of Osiris, it does not speak well for the musical talents of that deity. It was a straight tube, without any increase at the mouthpiece, and when played was held with both hands. Its length did not exceed a foot and a half: two in the British Museum are 9 and 15 inches long, and those in the Collection at Leyden vary from 7 to 15 inches. Some have three, others four, holes, as is the case with fourteen of those at Leyden; and one at the British Museum had a small mouthpiece of reed or thick straw, inserted into the hollow of the pipe, the upper end so compressed as to leave a very small aperture for the admission of the breath.

142.              Reed pipes, of Mr. Salt’s Collection, now in the British Museum.

The double pipe was quite as common in Egypt, as in Greece. It consisted of two tubes, one played by the right, the other by the left hand, the latter giving a deep sound for the base, the right a sharp tone for the tenor. The double zummára of the modern Egyptians is a rude imitation of it, but its piping harshness and monotonous drone exclude it even from their imperfect bands; and it is only used by the boatmen of the Nile, and by the peasants, who seem to think it a suitable accompaniment to the tedious camel’s pace. Fortunately this national instrument delights its admirers out of doors, like the bagpipes of the Abbruzzi and other countries, which, at a little distance, it so much resembles.

143.              Woman dancing; while playing the double pipe. Thebes.

The double, like the single pipe, was at first of reed, and afterwards of wood and other materials; and it was introduced both on solemn and festive occasions among the Egyptians, as among the Greeks. Men, but more frequently women, performed upon it, occasionally dancing as they played; and, from its repeated occurrence in the sculptures of Thebes, it was evidently preferred to the single pipe.

The tambourine was a favourite instrument in religious ceremonies and at private banquets. It was played by men and women, but more usually by the latter, who often danced and sang to its sound; and it was used as an accompaniment to other instruments. It was of three kinds; one circular, like our own; another square or oblong; and the third consisted of two squares, separated by a bar; all of which were beaten by the hand; but there is no appearance of balls, or moveable pieces of metal attached to the frame, as in the Greek and modern tambourine. The taph, “timbrel,” or “tabret” of the Jews was the same instrument, and was of very early use among them, as well as the harp, even before they “went down into Egypt;” and the Jewish, like the Egyptian, women, danced to its sound.

Nearly all their instruments were admitted by the Egyptians into their sacred music, as the harp, lyre, flute, double pipe, tambourine, cymbals, and guitar; and neither the trumpet, drum, nor clappers, were excluded from the religious processions in which the military were engaged. The harp, lyre, and tambourine performed a part in the services of the temple; and two goddesses in the frieze at Dendera are represented playing the harp and tambourine, in honour of Athor, the Egyptian Venus. The priests, bearing sacred emblems, often walked in procession to the sound of the flute; and, excepting those of Osiris at Abydus, the sacred rites of an Egyptian deity did not forbid the introduction of the harp and flute, or the voice of singers The harp, indeed, was considered particularly suited to religious purposes; the title “minstrels of Amun” applied to some harpers, and the two performers before the god in the tomb of Remeses III., show the honour in which it was held; and it was played either alone, or in combination with other instruments. The minstrel often chanted as he touched its strings; and the harp, guitar, and two flutes joined in a sacred air, while the high priest offered incense to the deity. The crotala, or clappers, were also used with the flute during pilgrimages and processions to the shrine of a god, accompanied by choristers who chanted hymns in his honour.

144.              Sacred musicians, and a priest offering incense. Leyden Museum.

The Jews, in like manner, regarded music as indispensable for religious rites; their favourite instruments were the harp, lute or psaltery, and ten-stringed ashur, the tabret, trum et, cornet, cymbals, and others; and many “singing men and singing women” attended in the processions to the Jewish sanctuary.

The sistrum was the sacred instrument par excellence, and belonged as peculiarly to the service of the temple, as the small tinkling bell to that of a Roman Catholic chapel. Some pretend it was used to frighten away Typhon, and the rattling noise of its moveable bars was sometimes increased by the addition of several loose rings. It had generally three, rarely four, bars; and the whole instrument was from 8 to 16 or 18 inches in length, entirely of brass or bronze. It was sometimes inlaid with silver, or gilt, or otherwise ornamented; and, being held upright, was shaken, the rings moving to and fro upon the bars. These last were frequently made to imitate the sacred asp, or were simply bent at each end to secure them. Plutarch mentions a cat with a human face on the top of the instrument, and at the upper part of the handle, beneath the bars, the face of Isis on one side, and of Nepthys on the other.

145.              Fig. 1. The sistrum of four bars. Thebes.

146.              Fig. 2. Of unusual form. Thebes.

The British Museum possesses an excellent specimen of the sistrum, well preserved, and of the best period of Egyptian art. It is 1 foot 4 inches high, and had three moveable bars, which have been unfortunately lost. On the upper part are represented the goddess Pasht, or Bubastis, the sacred vulture, and other emblems; and on the side below is the figure of a female, holding in each hand one of these instruments.

The handle is cylindrical, and surmounted by the double face of Athor, wearing an “asp-formed crown,” on whose summit appears to have been the cat, now scarcely traced in the remains of its feet. It is entirely of bronze; the handle, which is hollow, and closed by a moveable cover of the same metal, is supposed to have held something appertaining to the sistrum; and the lead, still remaining within the head, is a portion of that used in soldering it.

Two others, in the same collection, are highly preserved, but of a late time, and another is of still more recent date; they have four bars, and are of very small size.

147.              Sistra in the British Museum.

148.              Rude model of a sistrum in the Berlin Museum.

One of the Berlin sistra is 8, the other 9 inches in height: the former has four bars, and on the upper or circular part lies a cat, crowned with the disc or sun. The other has three bars: the handle is composed of a figure, supposed to be of Typhon, surmounted by the heads of Athor; and on the summit are the horns, globe, and feathers of the same goddess. They are both destitute of rings; but the rude Egyptian model of another, in the same collection, has three rings upon its single bar, agreeing in this respect, if not in the number of the bars, with those represented in the sculptures. They are not of early date.

149.              Sistra in the Berlin Museum.

150.              Sistra in the Berlin Museum.

It was so great a privilege to hold the sacred sistrum in the temple, that it was given to queens, and to those noble ladies who had the distinguished title of “women of Amun,” and were devoted to the service of the deity; and the Jews seem, in like manner, to have intrusted the principal sacred offices held by women to the daughters of priests, and of persons of rank.

The χνουη, an instrument said by Eustathius to have been used by the Greeks, at sacrifices, to assemble the congregation, was reputed to have been of Egyptian origin; but it has not been met with in the sculptures. It was a species of trumpet, of a round shape, and was said to have been the invention of Osiris.

The dance consisted mostly of a succession of figures, in which the performers endeavoured to exhibit a great variety of gesture: men and women danced at the same time, or in separate parties, but the latter were generally preferred, from their superior grace and elegance. Some danced to slow airs, adapted to the style of their movement: the attitudes they assumed frequently partook of a grace not unworthy of the Greeks; and others preferred a lively step, regulated by an appropriate tune. Men sometimes danced with great spirit, bounding from the ground more in the manner of Europeans than of an Eastern people: on which occasions the music was not always composed of many instruments, but consisted only of crotala or maces, a man clapping his hands, and a woman snapping her fingers to the time.

151.              Different attitudes during the dance. Thebes.

Graceful attitudes and gesticulation were the general style of their dance; but, as in other countries, the taste of the performance varied according to the rank of the person by whom they were employed, or their own skill; and the dance at the house of a priest differed from that among the uncouth peasantry, or the lower classes of townsmen.

It was not customary for the upper orders of Egyptians to indulge in this amusement, either in public or private assemblies, and none appear to have practised it but the lower ranks of society, and those who gained their livelihood by attending festive meetings. The Greeks, however, though they employed women who professed music and dancing, to entertain the guests, looked upon the dance as a recreation in which all classes might indulge, and an accomplishment becoming a gentleman; and it was also a Jewish custom for young ladies to dance at private entertainments, as it still is at Damascus and other Eastern towns.

The Romans, on the contrary, were far from considering it worthy of a man of rank, or of a sensible person; and Cicero says, “No man who is sober dances, unless he is out of his mind, either when alone, or in any decent society; for dancing is the companion of wanton conviviality, dissoluteness, and luxury.” Nor did the Greeks indulge in it to excess; and effeminate dances, or extraordinary gesticulation, were deemed indecent in men of character and wisdom. Indeed, Herodotus tells a story of Hippoclides, the Athenian, who had been preferred before all the nobles of Greece, as a husband for the daughter of Clisthenes, king of Argos, having been rejected on account of his extravagant gestures in the dance.

152.              The pirouette, and other Egyptian steps. Beni Hassan.

153.              Figure dances. Upper and Lower Egypt.

Of all the Greeks, the Ionians were most noted for their fondness of this art; and, from the wanton and indecent tendency of their songs and gestures, dances of a voluptuous character (like those of the modern Alméhs of the East) were styled by the Romans “Ionic movements.” Moderate dancing was even deemed worthy of the gods themselves. Jupiter, “the father of gods and men,” is represented dancing in the midst of the other deities; and Apollo is not only introduced by Homer thus engaged, but received the title of ορχηστης, “the dancer,” from his supposed excellence in the art.

Grace in posture and movement was the chief object of those employed at the assemblies of the rich Egyptians; and the ridiculous gestures of the buffoon were permitted there, so long as they did not transgress the rules of decency and moderation. Music was always indispensable, whether at the festive meetings of the rich or poor; and they danced to the sound of the harp, lyre, guitar, pipe, tambourine, and other instruments, and, in the streets, even to the drum.

Many of their postures resembled those of the modern ballet, and the pirouette delighted an Egyptian party four thousand years ago.

The dresses of the female dancers were light, and of the finest texture, showing, by their transparent quality, the forms and movement of the limbs: they generally consisted of a loose flowing robe, reaching to the ankles, occasionally fastened tight at the waist; and round the hips was a small narrow girdle, adorned with beads, or ornaments of various colours. Sometimes the dancing figures appear to have been perfectly naked; but this is from the outline of the transparent robe having been effaced; and, like the Greeks, they represented the contour of the figure as if seen through the dress.

Slaves were taught dancing as well as music; and in the houses of the rich, besides their other occupations, that of dancing to entertain the family, or a party of friends, was required of them; and free Egyptians also gained a livelihood by their performances.

Some danced by pairs, holding each other’s hands; others went through a succession of steps alone; and sometimes a man performed a solo to the sound of music, or the clapping of hands.

154.              Men dancing alone. Thebes.

155.              Men dancing a solo to the sound of the hand. Tomb near the Pyramids.

The dances of the lower orders generally had a tendency towards a species of pantomime; and the rude peasantry were more delighted with ludicrous and extravagant dexterity, than with gestures which displayed elegance and grace.

Besides the pirouette and the steps above mentioned, a favourite figure dance was universally adopted throughout the country, in which the two partners, who were usually men, advanced towards each other, or stood face to face upon one leg, and, having performed a series of movements, retired again in opposite directions, continuing to hold by one hand, and concluding by turning each other round.

In another they struck the ground with the heel, standing on one foot, changing, perhaps, alternately from the right to the left; which is not very unlike a step of the present day.

The Egyptians also danced at the temples in honour of the gods, and in some processions, as they approached the precincts of the sacred courts; and though this custom may at first sight appear inconsistent with the gravity of religion, we may recollect with what feelings David himself danced before the ark, and that the Jews considered it part of their religious duties to approach the Deity with the dance, with tabret, and with harp. Their mode of worshipping the golden calf also consisted of songs and dancing; and this was immediately derived from the ceremonies of the Egyptians.

D.              The palace-temple of Remeses the Great, generally called the Memnonium, at Thebes, during the inundation.

E.              The two Colossi of Thebes before the temple built by Amunoph III., with the ruins of Luxor in the distance, during the inundation.