Digging Up the Bible: Musical Instruments

DIGGING UP THE BIBLE
Important Archeological Finds that help Us Understand Scripture
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2017
 

Dancer from Dan
(14^th-13^th century BC)

Musical Instruments of Israel and the Ancient Near East

 

Archaeologists are gradually recovering the physical remains of musical life in ancient Israel. At this point they have found more than three hundred examples, including actual instruments and representations of musical scenes.

 

 

The "Dancer from Dan" kicks up his heels while accompanying himself on the lute. The unique clay plaque, about four and a half inches tall, comes from a once sizable Canaanite settlement at Tel Dan (also called Laish in the Bible). The purpose of the plaque is a mystery. Avraham Biran, the archaeologist who discovered the piece speculates that it may depict a dance not unlike the one David performed before the Ark of the Covenant when he moved it to Jerusalem: "As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal...saw King David dancing and celebrating" (1 Chr 15:29). The tile may have belonged to a guild of dancers or, more likely, was a simple household decoration.

 

The Bible mentions a variety of musical instruments, and archaeologists have unearthed many examples of them in the Holy Land: "David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets" (1 Chr 13:8). Some Hebrew terms for these instruments are onomatopoeic in that they approximate the sound a given instrument makes.

 

Harpists and their music have a long history in the Ancient Near East: "Jubal [son of Lamach] was the father of all who play the harp" (Gen 4:21).

 

 

The earliest known illustration of a stringed instrument is this engraving on a stone pavement from Meggido, dating 3500-3200 B.C. and depicting a man with a harp-like instrument. The harp was a favorite musical instrument of King David:

One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp." ...23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play.... David was playing the harp, as he usually did. (1 Sam 16:18, 23; 18:10)

An ivory carving, also from Meggido (c. 1450 B.C.) depicts a lyre similar to what David may have used:

 

 

It is like one on the wall of Zeserkaresonb's tomb (c. 1420-1411 B.C.) in Egypt, but with eight strings versus seven:

 

 

That lyre contrasts one with a vertical orientation, like those other Egyptian art depicts. Here is a stone carving of a harpist from the tomb chapel of General Paatenemheb (1333-1307 B.C.):

 

 

The following Egyptian painting of a harpist is from the tomb of Tutankhamun (c. 1390-1295 B.C.):

 

 

There is a lyre (also with a vertical orientation) on an Israelite coin from the Bar Kokhba era (133 A.D.):

 

 

No other ancient musical instrument exhibits this variety of positional use.

 

Timbrel (or tambourine)

 

Unlike instruments that produce different notes, the main requirement to play the timbrel or tambourine is a sense of rhythm: "Miriam...took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing" (Exod 15:20). This pottery figurine holding a frame-drum is an 8th century B.C. find from a dig south of Haifa.

 

 

Although perhaps an accident of crafting, the drum in this pottery is unusual as the beating hand seems to be striking it from the inner side. Unlike modern near eastern tambourines, the ancient frame-drum did not have metal discs mounted into the frame.

 

 

 

Cymbal

 

These 14th century B.C. "bronze cymbals," similar to those in 1 Chr 15:19, were in a bowl in the lower city of Hazor.

 

 

The musician would slip a small piece of iron wire (also found) through the hole and around his finger. Cymbals, known from the middle of the third millennium onward, have appeared at many sites in Israel. They feature prominently in Ps 150: "Praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals" (v. 5).

 

Trumpet (shofar)

 

The most common instrument (124x) was the ram's (or metal) horn, and musicians used it to summon troops for war as a well as to signal the beginning of the High Holidays:

The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets.... When you go into battle... Also at...your appointed feasts...you are to sound the trumpets.... They will be a memorial for you before your God. (Num 10:8-10)

While no longer part of military preparation for the Israeli Defense Forces, the trumpet still calls people to worship. Metal construction ("gold or silver" 2 Kgs 12:13) may have allowed some shofars to endure the ravages of time, but none has appeared in archaeological discoveries, perhaps the casualty of war. Hence, pictures of shofars and their use are all modem:

 

 

Unlike many other ancient instruments, the shofar is still in use within Judaism.

 

There were at least two additional instruments to these four common in worship services:

All the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly.... (1 Kgs 1:40)

David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. (2 Sam 6:5)

Flute (or pipe)

 

The only example of an ancient flute is in an Egyptian tomb painting from the pyramid of Imry at Khafre (2400 B.C.).

 

 

This is typical of flutes at this time, a single pipe with optional holes spaced along the length and not multiple pipes of varying fixed lengths:

 

 

The flute was an important instrument in Israel. David composed Ps 5, according to the superscription, "for flutes."

 

Sistrum

 

Rattles like this one are common, with several specimens in the archaeological record:

 

 

Their average height is four inches, and each contains one or more small circlets. They came into use during the 2nd millennium B.C., appearing first in temple contexts, then as tomb accessories, and finally as children's toys. In the 9th century B.C., metal balls began to replace clay balls.

 

Another translation of the Hebrew term is "castanets" (2 Sam 6:5 NAS), a version of which appears in Egyptian tomb art:

 

 

The similarity of the two versions is probably the clicking sound they both make.

 

The administration in ancient Babylon also had a variety of musical instruments and employed them in official political situations:

As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up (Dan 3:5).

Significance for Biblical Studies: These ancient musical instruments are mostly string and percussive, but they include some brass and woodwinds as well. Music served to make both worship services and political statements more engaging than solely verbal pronouncements.

 

Most ancient instruments were simpler than many modern ones (e.g., piano) which require great ability to play, but God still expected proficiency ("play skillfully" Ps 33:3) and was able to use the older instruments to enhance His people's worship, equipping them accordingly:

David...set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.... All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD....all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD. (1 Chr 25:1-7)

The biblical author equates music with the spiritual gift of prophecy. Not all music achieves that level of edification, but it has the potential: Soli Deo Gloria.

 

*****************

The Oldest Written Song: A Hymn to Nikkal

Hurrian music notation (c. 2000 B.C.) on a Ugaritic cuneiform tablet (c. 1400 B.C.)

 

    

For a pdf go here.