On Drums and Strings and Trumpet Blasts

Die Musikkultur Altisraels/Palstinas: Studien zu archologischen, schriftlichen und

vergleichenden Quellen by Joachim Braun
Review by: Anne Draffkorn Kilmer
Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 122, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2002), pp. 788-796
Published by: American Oriental Society
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 ON DRUMS AND STRINGS AND TRUMPETBLASTS
ANNE DRAFFKORN KILMER
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA,BERKELEY

Joachim Braun's detailed descriptions of all available evidence-archaeological, textual, icon-

ographic-elucidate his readers' understanding and appreciation of the rich and complex musical
life that existed in ancient Israel/Palestine. Braun'scareful and comprehensive account begins in the
Stone Age and proceeds steadily and clearly to the Hellenistic-Roman periods; thus we accompany
the author and his evidence on a very long journey that manages not to be a tedious one because of
Braun's dedication to, experience with, and passion for his task. A perceptive review of past and
present music-historical and music-archaeological research is presented at the outset, together with
the identification of ancient and modern terminology and typology of instruments. Controversial
are discussed,and the author'sviews are cogentlyargued.The book
opinionsand interpretations
concludes with a thought-provoking summary of musical instruments as symbols of cult, state, and
identity together with other symbolic objects typically associated with them.

THIS IMPRESSIVE BOOK'S CHAPTERS are divided into
numbered sections, and the illustrations are numbered
accordingly, e.g., "plate III/2-4" indicates chapter III,
section 2, fourth illustration. ChapterI, the introduction,
traces the history of scholarship on the music of ancient
Israel/Palestineand notes the predominanceof evidence
from the Hebrew Bible up until about the middle of the
twentieth century.This concentrationon biblical sources
led to misperceptions about the music cultures in the
non-Israelitelocal cultures of Israel and to misidentifica-
tion of the names of instruments.It was only toward the
end of the twentiethcenturythatresearchbegan to pay at-
tention to extra-biblicalevidence that, in turn,has helped
to objectify and enrich scholarly discussion, which fully
acknowledges that music was "a power interwovenin all
humanaffairs"(p. 1, afterH. Avenary).Many misconcep-
tions concerning music in the Bible were carriedthrough
Greek and Latin studies, post-biblical Jewish literature
(such as the Mishnah and Talmud), and the European
Middle Ages.
The authorreviews carefully and in detail the growth
of historical studies of ancient Jewish and early Chris-
tian music that, beginning in the seventeenth century,
produced some encyclopedic works that resonated in the
This is a review article of Die MusikkulturAltisraels/Palis-
tinas: Studien zu archiologischen, schriftlichen und verglei-
chenden Quellen. By JOACHIM BRAUN. Orbis Biblicus et
Orientalis, vol. 164. Freiburg: UNIVERSITXTSVERLAG,1999.
Pp. xi + 388, illus. SFr 115.
general musical historical literature up to the twentieth
century.Many treatises, especially from about the eight-
eenth century,included commentarieson the kind of mu-
sic (i.e., nomadic psalms, or folksongs) supposed to have
been typical of ancient easternMediterraneancultures, in
additionto repeatedattemptsto identify biblical names of
instruments.The nineteenthand early twentiethcenturies
saw increasing attention paid to iconographic sources
related to music and dance (such as the Bar Kochba coin
that depicts a string instrument)as well as to comparative
materialsfrom neighboring countries. It was in 1941 that
the biblical kinnor was correctly identified as a lyre, and
shortlythereafter(1950s and 1960s) thatthe excellent and
still valuable studies of Sachs, Sendrey,Bayer, and others
appeared.Increasing attention was paid to the archaeo-
logical record, which has culminated in the riches now
available, e.g., in the latest edition of MGG,where textual
study is combined with archaeology and iconography.
A complete accounting of all available sources-lit-
erature, archaeology, iconography-as well as the com-
paranda (both literary and archaeological) from ancient
Israel/Palestine's neighboring countries is presented in
sections 2 and 3 of the introduction. Section 4 begins
the detailed chronological review of the music-historical
aspects, from the Stone Age to the Hellenistic-Roman
period. Section 5 is devoted to biblical evidence concern-
ing instruments, organology, mythological/theological
aspects, as well as symbolic use of certaininstrumentsin
figurativelanguage. Section 6 begins the detailed discus-
sion of each individual Old Testament instrument: its
textual citations, its varieties or shapes, its materials and

788

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 KILMER: On Drums and Strings and Trumpet Blasts 789

archaeological evidence, its function in cult, military, or as did pierced dentalia shells. More acoustic properties
daily life, and its "ethnicity." Braun's conclusions on can be suggested for many of the carefully craftedpierced
identifying the instrumentsare the following (the tables/ bone or stone finds, some of them in pairs, which sug-
plates provide illustrations): gests a "Gegenschlag-idiophone"function. The latter do,
in fact, exhibit thicker and thinnerpoints which enhance
'asey brosim cypress-woodclappers theirresonance(the effect was testedin 1987). Bull-roarers
halil pipe or doublepipe (of reed,metal, of wood are also found associated with cult objects as
bone) early as 10,000 B.C.and continue in ancient Israel/Pales-
haso.erah long metaltrumpet tine (and Egypt) into later times; they may have been sha-
kinnor lyre manistic tools.
mena'ane im idiophone With the advent of the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4000
mesyltayimselselim cymbal(s) B.C.),evidence for artifactsand music is greatly enriched
nevel, nevel 'asor a particulartype of lyre, sack lyre(?) by finds of well-crafted objects and individual art works
pa amon bell thatareboth naturaland abstract.Bone, ivory, wood, terra-
qeren hayovel ram's horn cotta, and copper objects point the way to an "acoustical-
sofar, sofrot hayovelimgoat's or ram's horn organological revolution" of the fourth millennium. A
tof frame-drum painted terracotta,seated female image (probablya fertil-
Cugav (long)pipe,"allpipes"(perhaps ity figure) holds a containeron her head and underher left
even "organ pipes") arm an object which looks like an hour-glass drum like
the darabukka,having parallels in neighboring cultures.
For the instrumentsfrom the Book of Daniel (includ- Section B discusses the earliest-known depictions of
ing Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words): triangular,closed (or "frame-")harps with eight or nine
strings from the excavations at Megiddo, one of the most
qarna- (naturalanimal)horn,or metalhorns importantancient Canaanitesites of ca. 3300-3000 B.C.
manroqita' (whiffle-sounding)pipe, shepherd's These drawings (of animals and humans) were found on
pipe pavement stones from an inner courtyard of a temple.
qaytros smallsymmetricallyre Among nine figures of warriorsand dancers are a frame-
sabka' smallvertically-heldangleharp drum player and a female harpist. The triangularframe-
pesanterin struckharp/psaltery harphas close parallels in the third-millenniumCycladic
sumponyah ensembleperformance(?), or dialectfor culture and may be compared with similar instruments
tympanon;drum(?) from the Caucasus to Siberia. The Megiddo harp appears
kol zeney zemarah all kindsof (foreign?)musicandsong to be the prototype not only for all known triangular
kli (musical)instruments frame-harps but also for later bow-harps that are not
minim "strings" closed or framed. The author inclines toward the belief
that a systematic development of music culturemay have
Pages 57-60 discuss the musical "labels" that precede originated in the Levant. It may also be true that the
the Old Testament Psalms. The history of ancient and music culture developed together with the specialized
modern interpretation of the psalmic rubrics is given priestly cults and professional and individual differenti-
together with an etymological analysis of each term. ation. (For the Megiddo frame-lyre, correct on p. 331 the
Chapter I concludes with discussion of New Testament list of plates II/2B-4a-d, which should be labeled: a)
musical terms under section D. The four instrumentsare Cycladic, b) Megiddo.)
the Greek atOk6C, Kt0dpa, odmiXrtv,and Kup3paXov. Hereafter I shall divide this review after the chapter
ChapterII, on the Stone Age, pulls together all known and sections headings of Braun'sbook. "ChapterIII: The
evidence from the Natufianculture(ca. 12000-8000 B.C.) Bronze Age. Section 1: Dance with Lyre and Percussion
and the Chalcolithic (4000-3200 B.C.). Archaeological Accompaniment." Nomadic rock art from the region
finds from more than a hundredexcavations constitute a stretching from the Negev and Sinai to northernArabia
greatvariety of skeletal remains,artifacts,and depictions. (dating from the Paleolithic up to the Byzantine period
Many of the objects were noise producersor "Schmuck"- and including as well today's Bedouin culture) provides
idiophones such as rattles, clackers, and scrapers that us with depictions of musical instrumentsamidsthunting
could have accompanieddance and song. One of the ear- scenes. Notable are two lyres played by females and one
liest is a female pelvic bone embeddedwith fox teeth that male(?) frame-drummertogether with male line dancers
must have functioned as an ornamentand an idiophone, and a jackal(?), dating to the second millennium B.C.(or

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790 Journal of the American Oriental Society 122.4 (2002)
perhaps earlier, to the third millennium?). These asym-
metrical Canaanite lyres are compared with lyres from
Egypt and Mesopotamia as depicted on pl. III(!)/1-2a-1
(note correction from "II/1-2a-l"). One of the Negev
lyres with a double cross bar is unique; the depiction is
probably inaccurate,perhaps a "correction"made by the
original artist.
The same Negev rock art scene gives us more dancers
who hold rattles,accompaniedby a frame-drumand danc-
ing female(?) lyre players. Therefore, we have evidence
of dance together with rhythm,percussion, and stringed
instrumentsfrom the early second (or third?)millennium.
Braun presents all comparablematerials from Egypt and
Mesopotamia. (On p. 234, correct "II/1-3" to III/1-3 for
the depiction of the Beni-Hasan lyre.)
111/2.This section deals with the long-necked lute that
brought a new technique and new possibilities for musi-
cians. The music revolution may have coincided with the
revolution in writing in the form of the birthof alphabetic
scripts. The lute was introduced into Israel/Palestine in
the first half of the sixteenth century B.C. It is known in
Mesopotamia from about the end of the third millen-
nium, and also in Egypt from the time of the arrivalof the
Hyksos. The Late Bronze Age saw a proliferationof this
innovative instrumentthat persisted up to the Hellenistic
period. The way of holding the lute, with the top of the
long neck pointing upwards and to the left, may have
been an innovation at this time (sixteenth century). Wan-
dering lute minstrels in ancient Canaanite territorymay
be illustratedby the terracottarelief from Dan (p. 84 with
pl. III/2-2 on p. 235), which shows a (masked?) lutenist
in an animated,bent-knees position, dancing or bobbing
with bent elbows and a realistic hand action at the sound
box. Braun suggests that these music and dance scenes
representprofessional performances,probablyconnected
with cultic activities.
The Late Bronze Age site of Beth-Shan yielded a small
bronze sculpturein the roundof a naked lutenist wearing
a crown-like headdress and neck, arms, and ankle brace-
lets (the latter not visible on pl. III/2-3b). As to the name
of the lute in ancient Canaan, the best guess is salisim
(related to Heb. selos "three"),because a three-stringed
lute is attested elsewhere. The Old Testament (1 Sam.
18:6) refers to it as a woman's instrumentfor joyful mu-
sic, often found together with drums. The Canaaniteevi-
dence seems to indicate that Canaanwas the place where
it changed from a man's to a woman's instrument.
111/3:"Egyptian and Canaanite Music Divinities and
Musicians." The Amarna period provides evidence for
slave girls trainedin music, dancing, and singing in sec-
ular or temple settings. Canaanite female cultic singers
may have belonged to guilds that foreshadowed those of
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the laterJewish temple musicians. A temple in Beth-Shan
yielded a basalt stele (period of Ramses II) depicting the
goddess CAnattogether with a singer (male or female?)
named Nakht. Braun emphasizes the influence of Egyp-
tian royal ideology (as expressed in such institutional art
as display stelae) associated with the patronage of the
musical arts, especially vocal music-as a status symbol.
Idiophones such as sistra and cymbals were typically
important instruments in the cult of Egypt (especially
that of Hathor) since the third millennium, and found
their way to the middle Sinai and into the Late Bronze
Age cult of ancient Israel/Palestine(especially at Beth-el
and Shikmona). These symbols of the Hathor cult were
maintained in ancient Israel/Palestine well into the Iron
Age (e.g., at Ashkelon) and later. The sistra and cymbals
represent Hathor, goddess of beauty, love, and music.
Bone scrapersknown from the Paleolithic to the present
are associated with totemistic, fertility, and other sha-
manistic practice; it is uncertainwhether they were also
used in musical performance.
111/4:"'Symposia' or Victory Feast Scenes from An-
cient Israel/Palestine."Two often-discussed ivory deco-
rated panels are relevant here. One, from Tell el-Far'a
(south of Gaza, pl. 1/4-1) displays a double pipe and a
nude female dancer, dates to the fourteenthcentury, and
is Egyptian in style. The second, better-known panel
comes from Megiddo and depicts a female lyre player
(pl. III/4-2), who accompanies a procession of naked
and bound war captives led by a hero in a chariot or cart
before the enthroned ruler. The artistic style is local
Canaanite.Braunrecites for the readerthe many differing
interpretationsthat have been made concerning the sym-
bolism of the birds and the identity of the persons in this
scene. The depiction of the instrument, a nine-stringed
asymmetrical lyre that shows no bridge and the strings
attached to the top of the sound box, is either incorrect,
or the viewer must assume a bridge on the other, invisi-
ble, side of the sound box. A replicated lyre was made
in Berkeley following the drawing, but it resulted in an
"impossible" instrumentthat had no resonance because
of the lack of a bridge.The most interestingfeatureof this
Megiddo drawingis the way in which the musician holds
the sound box: under her left arm and against her body,
which is perhapsa Canaaniteinnovation. The same posi-
tion may be seen on a Sennacheribrelief from Nineveh:
threeJudeancaptives from Lachish hold their lyres in this
manner(pl. IV/3-2). These two Egyptianizing/Canaanite-
style scenes reflect the role of music for the elite and the
clergy.
III/5: "Music of the Masses." Idiophones are much in
evidence: clay rattles, sistra, lithophones. Approximately
sixty percent of all clay rattles are spool-shaped (pl. III/
 KILMER: On Drums and Strings and Trumpet Blasts
5-3) and date from the IronAge; the double-pillow rattles
with loop handles date from the Bronze Age. Many of the
clay rattle shapes with loop handles suggest an origin in
dried fruits, as C. Sachs suggested and Braun supports.
The archaeological context for clay rattles is cult and
grave; thus one may assume that they had a cultic func-
tion. Braun does not supportthe suggestion that the rattle
was eventually "degraded"into a child's toy. Clay rattles
diminish in numbertowardsthe end of the Iron Age; they
were eventually replaced by metal cymbals and bells.
The spool-rattle in particular was popular throughout
ancient Israel/Palestineand was mass-produced.The per-
cussion instrument in general served "play," including
dance, trance, and drunkenorgies.
III/6: "Bronze Cymbals." Next to clay rattles these
are found in greatestabundance.Like the rattles,the cym-
bals reveal the continuitybetween Canaaniteand Israelite
culture even into later periods (but not into Babylonian-
Persian times). Never used by women, cymbals played
an important role in the cult, and were an instrument
of the Levites. The word selselim "cymbals" as used in
I Samuel, was later replaced by mesyltayim,perhaps in
an attempt to differentiateCanaanitepractice from First
Temple norms. Braun disagrees with those who argue
that bronze cymbals were at home in secular/popular
folk music. Small and large cymbals ring out with clear
sounds (as restoredexamples still do today). The earliest
large bronze "plate cymbals" come from the Late Bronze
Age (e.g., Ugarit) or the Early Iron Age, and thus predate
similar cymbals from Egypt and Mesopotamia, where
they are attestedonly from the ninth and eighth centuries.
III/7. The Megiddo bone "flute" is the earliest intact
ancient Near Easternwind instrument.Its musical pitches
are described on p. 100. Similar pipes are known from
other ancient Israelite/Palestinian sites from ca. 1200
down to Judean times. Other bone pipes from Neolithic
Europeanand Mediterraneanareas and later are also dis-
cussed. The Megiddo-style bone pipes are an example of
a long organological tradition.
"ChapterIV: The Iron Age. Section 1: Drums in An-
cient Israel/Palestine."One clay fragment (ca. 1000) of a
small cylinder with perforationsin both upper and lower
rims leads to the interpretationthat it is a two-headed
drum,even though the tiny size (only 13 cm high) makes
this doubtful. But there are fifty-five examples of terra-
cotta figurines of women playing round frame-drums.
These are in two groups: A) bell-shaped figures wearing
long dresses and with long loose hair (or wigs?), who
hold the frame-drumtowardthe middle of the chest (cor-
rect the plate ref. on p. 107 from "plate IV/6-8" to plates
IV/1-1-9); B) unclothed or partially clothed women,
some with headdresses, who hold the drum over the left
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791
breast.Type A seems to be from coastal Phoenician areas,
though there are variations of the form from inland sites
and among comparative material from Cyprus and else-
where in the eastern Mediterranean, all discussed in
some detail by Braun. In any case, Braun concludes that
female figures with frame-drums"migrated"from east to
west in the eleventh to tenth centuries. They may have
symbolized (sacred?) fertility and sexuality, as did other
female figures. There are many more type B figures from
ca. the twelfth to fifth centuries. Formerly described as
"female figures with disk in front of the breast," they
have more recently come to be seen as frame-drummers.
An Egyptian origin can be argued for these naked fe-
male frame-drummers;this is supportedby a reference in
an eighteenth-dynastyEgyptian cultic text. For the dara-
bukka-type drum, several terracottafigures are known;
they hold the drum under the left arm and strike it with
the right hand.
Braun concludes with the observation that these in-
strumentswere not used in the official cult. They belong,
rather, to the secular world, but were connected with
praise of divinities. The naked and decoratedfigureswere
probably connected with "sacred prostitution"and per-
haps also with "sacredmarriage."If so, they would have
been in conflict with the official cult of Israel and Judah.
From Jephthah'sdaughterwho bemoans her maidenhood
in the Book of Judges to the post-exilic period where the
young women with drums who dance can representerot-
icism, the image was indeed popular and pervasive; the
image and practice can still be found in contemporary
Yemenite women's dance and song.
IV/2: "The Double Pipe and its Players (Male and Fe-
male)." Our knowledge of aerophonesfor ancient Israel/
Palestine would be incomplete without identifying ex-
actly the kind of pipes that are depicted; neither the few
archaeologicalfinds nor the Old Testamentrecordresolve
the problems. The terracotta figures and iconography
usually show the pipes being played, and therefore the
mouthpieces are not visible. A total of eleven finds reveal
that pipes were played everywhere in ancient Israel/
Palestine during the Iron Age. These pipes belong to a
Canaanite-Egyptiantraditionin which they were cult in-
struments.Terracottafigures, bell-shapedbodies blowing
double pipes (like the clay frame-drummers),seem to be
from a northern Phoenician tradition (probably tenth-
seventh centuries).
From the Negev (Edom) there is a well-preserved and
realistic bust of a male double pipe player. The pipes are
slightly conical, thus to be identified as a type of zamr/
zurna, and in Braun's opinion are the earliest known.
They are furtherdifferentiatedby Braun as type A) from
the central areas of ancient Israel/Palestine, long widely
792 Journal of the American Oriental Society 122.4 (2002)
diverging double pipes each held in the same manner;
type B) from the northwest, narrowly diverging double
pipes; and type c) from the east and south, double pipes
pressed tightly together. It is an educated guess that all
varieties of double pipes were double reed instruments/
oboes.
IV/3. The lyre is known from the beginning of the
second millennium and remains a dominant instrument
through the Iron Age. Our information is derived pri-
marily from archaeology and iconography (with twelve
or more finds). The lyre was centralto the elite and to the
cult. No other chordophonesare attestedin ancient Israel/
Palestine for this period. The Bible and extra-biblical
texts give us the term kinnor. The earliest depiction is
on a pottery bowl from Megiddo, an important Philis-
tine mercantile and cultural center. The unique scene on
the bowl, with animals, fish, scorpion, and lyre player,
has promptedsome scholars to think of 1 Kings 5:5-13,
which describes four men who may have been profes-
sional bards.
A relief from Sennacherib'spalace at Nineveh (pl. IV/
3-2) shows three captive Judean lyre players; the instru-
ments are asymmetrical four-string thin lyres and seem
to be made in a simple mannercomparedwith both older
and later ancient Near Eastern lyres. These instruments
may representan ars nova with respect to musical style.
The lyres on the two large pottery jars from Kuntillet
CAjrudare also discussed and comparedwith instruments
elsewhere; Braunreviews existing opinions on the mean-
ing of the scene and its accompanying inscription.
Among some nine thousandengraved stone seals from
controlled digs in ancient Israel/Palestine,there are about
ten (from the first half of the first millennium) that dis-
play musical activity. The Philistine-Phoenician coastal
style differs from that of the rest of the ancient Israel/
Palestine region. Round-bottom symmetrical (or "U-
shaped") lyres and rectangular lyres are represented,
some with other instrumentsand some in offering scenes
in the cult of the moon god. Duos of lyre andpipes/frame-
drum as well as trios of lyre, pipes and frame-drumare
known (cf. the cult-standfrom eleventh-centuryAshdod,
pl. IV/4-la). Two of the seals discussed are published
here for the first time (pl. IV/3-6 and pl. IV/3-10). The
well-known inscribed seventh-centuryjasper "scaraboid"
(pl. IV/3-12) with a somewhat fanciful lyre (asymmetri-
cal, round-bottomed,with eleven(?) strings), is re-exam-
ined by Braun.He observes that:a) before the Hellenistic
period lyres are not represented as isolated images on
artifacts;b) neither earlier nor later are there any asym-
metrical lyres with roundbottoms; c) there are no known
descriptions of any Iron Age lyre with more than ten
strings; d) no lyres have a central rosette on the sound
box; e) the engraving of the strings is imprecise; f) one
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expects the lyre to be turned the other way toward the
viewer, according to contemporary scenes. Braun ex-
presses his misgivings about the authenticityof this piece
and notes that B. Bayer considered it "a case of forgery."
IV/4: "Musicians and Dancers of the Philistine and
Phoenician Coastal Areas." Sargon's campaign of 712
B.C. against the kingdom of the remnants of the Sea
Peoples brought the collapse of their power and a de-
cline of Philistine (Peleset) culture in general. The cults
and cultic representations in these coastal areas were
Canaanite-Egyptian, Mycenaean, and Assyrian. The
temples employed musicians and performers. Pertinent
archaeological finds from Ashdod are especially note-
worthy: the famous "cult-stand"(pl. IV/4-la), the figure
of a lyre player (pl. IV/4-2), and the stamp seal with a
seated lyre player (pl. IV/3-5). Many Iron Age musical
artifacts come from these areas.
Braundiscusses the "cult-stand"at length, pointing out
that there was no archaeological cultic context for it, that
the figures could be secular musicians, and that it could
have been a standfrom an elite household (p. 134). Braun
prefers, however, the theory that the Cybele cult was
common to the Philistines, and thatit is thereforepossible
that the musicians on the stand depict forerunners of
Cybele priests-effeminate male musicians who accom-
pany orgiastic rites using double pipes, lyres, cymbals,
and frame-drums.One of the five is separately rendered
as a double-pipe lead player, larger and taller (as part of
the stand and not as a sculpted figure in a niche). To fur-
ther the argumentthat the musician stand is connected to
cult, Braun advances the fact that the Ashdod terracotta
lyre player was excavated in a temple or temple area.
A stand from Tel Qasile (pl. IV/4-3) depicts dancing
men in a row clasping hands, a row-dance scene known
from many places and periods up to the present. The
influence of Phoenician culture is felt most strongly in
the north and reaches to Cyprus. As it moves south, it is
either "Canaanized,""Egyptianized,"or "Judaized."
The differences between Phoenician and Philistine
cultureinfluence are not always clear. As to the evidence
for the orchestra, usually called Phoenician, it would be
more appropriateto call it "Canaanite-Israelite-Philistine-
Phoenician" or "Eastern-Mediterranean/Levantine."
IV/5: "Horns and Conch Shell Horns." Even though
the sofar and the silver trumpet (hasoserah) are men-
tioned most often in the Old Testament (and are gener-
ally considered to be priestly instruments), they are
completely lacking in the archaeological evidence be-
fore the Hellenistic period. We know actual horns only
from Egypt (Tutankhamun'strumpet), from Mari wall
paintings, from Carchemish reliefs, from bronze fig-
ures from Anatolia, and from an alabaster relief from
Nineveh.
 KILMER: On Drums and Strings and Trumpet Blasts
Conch shell horns (Tritonshorner)areknown in ancient
Israel/Palestine;twelve samples are of the type Charonia
tritonis nodifera (Mediterraneantype), with cut-off apex
(pl. IV/5-lab and IV/5-2) for a finger hole. These were
used for the community and in the cult, and derive from
Philistine/Phoeniciancult influence. Braunconcludes that
conch shell horns were in use in ancient Israel/Palestine
for nearly a thousandyears, that they were multipurpose,
and that it is impossible to limit them to a particulareth-
nic group.
IV/6: "The 'Mystery' of the Absence of Information
for the 'Babylonian-Persian' Periods (586-333 B.c.)."
Braun considers this a "non-chapter"because of the lack
of archaeological evidence, even though the written evi-
dence (in the Second Temple period) is relatively rich.
The biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah provide us
with much informationon the musical life of Judahafter
the Babylonian exile: "priests"blow "long metal horns";
"temple servants" play "cymbals" and lyres; male and
female temple singers perform praise songs. (Some of
the singers seem to belong to a lower social ranktogether
with slaves.) All together they form "grandiose"orches-
tras and choirs of hundredswho accompany great occa-
sions, such as temple-building, with trumpets, cymbals,
lyres, and songs. This information implies a greatfloruit
of music for this period. Post-biblical Jewish literature
expands on this topic by signaling the exact numbers of
different types of instrumentsin the ensemble. Thus it is
surprising that we have almost no archaeological finds
for about a three-hundred-yearperiod; there is no cor-
roborating evidence for the biblical information on the
Babylonian-Persianperiods.
While the archaeological finds for earlier and later pe-
riods are rich, the handful of finds that may be from the
Babylonian-Persianperiod are of uncertain date: bells,
bone pipes, and seashell trumpets. A Samaritancoin de-
picts a lyre, and a single ceramic figure holds a frame-
drum, but these do not provide important evidence for
this period. Explanations for this lack of archaeological
data range from the influence of "iconoclastic tenden-
cies" to the shortness of the period itself; but no expla-
nations are easy or convincing.
An additional strange fact is the total absence of the
lute between the Late Bronze Age and the Hellenistic
period. Moreover, there is no term in the Old Testament
for the lute. Braun concludes that the evidence from
Ezra and Nehemiah is not at all reliable.
"ChapterV: The Hellenistic-Roman Periods. Section
1: ApotropaicBells." The Book of Exodus provides a de-
tailed description of Aaron's skirt bottom, which was to
be decorated with alternatingpomegranates and golden
bells. The tinkling of the bells was to protect him from
death as he entered and exited the holiest inner sanctuary
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793
of the tabernacle. Josephus tells us that "the pomegran-
ates mean lightning flash, the sound of the bells thunder."
Bells sewn on (priestly) garments are attested archaeo-
logically from Syria in the fifteenth century,and up until
the Roman period in Egypt and Palestine. The first Jew-
ish iconographical attestationfor bells is not found until
Byzantine times, in a synagogue mosaic at Sepphoris of
the early fifth century A.D. Bells were in common use as
apotropaic, prophylactic good-luck symbols, in utilitar-
ian use, e.g., on horse harnesses and on grazing animals,
as charms and amulets used by people (attested in Neo-
Assyrian reliefs and other iconography), and on altars.
The fifth-century Megiddo bells resemble the ninth-
century Assyrian bells. Many bells are found in graves,
especially from the Hellenistic period. Only Plutarch
mentions the use of bells in the orgiastic Dionysus cult.
Many of the bells from ancient Israel/Palestine show
Philistine or Phoenician cult influence, and some were
imported from Egypt. All are of bronze with iron clap-
pers. In Jewish traditionbells were associated with magic
and gematria until the Middle Ages.
V/2: "IdumaeanMusic and Jewish Temple Trumpets."
A wall painting from the Hellenistic site of Maresha
showed trumpeters amid horsemen and animals at the
time of its discovery in 1902. Though these are no longer
visible, they had been sketched and photographed.The
Idumaeans'culturewas eclectic, with Near Eastern,Greek,
Etruscan,Egyptian, and Jewish elements. Mareshaitself
was built on the Greek model and was an outpost of Hel-
lenization; it has left us many attestationsof its cultural
importance in the realms of architecture,theater, repre-
sentational arts, and especially music.
Hellenistic Idumaean music culture resulted from a
long tradition with Iron Age roots, but reached its high-
point in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods of the
thirdto first centuries B.C.Altogether, the finds comprise
horns, rattles, double reed pipes, lutes, harps (after a mil-
lennium of absence), cymbals, and castanets. In general,
Idumaeandepictions of musical instrumentsshow "rev-
olutionary"changes in musical life resulting partly from
Greek influence, but also from a new autochthonousan-
cient Israelite/Palestinianmusic culture.A Sidonian elite
may have prevailed in the arts, where music and hunting
scenes come together with "aristocratically"clad men.
We have archaeological remains of long trumpets of
hammeredmetal that exemplify the iconographythat ap-
pears on the archof Titus in Rome, which shows two long
trumpetsthat may representeither the Jewish hasoserot or
the Roman tuba sacrum. The synagogue in Sepphoris
(early fifth century A.D., pi. V/2-4), excavated and pub-
lished as recently as 1996, depicts two aerophones with
hasoserot written above them; they are described by the
excavators (Weiss and Netzer) as trumpets "depicted as
794 Journal of the American Oriental Society 122.4 (2002)
slightly curved tubes that widen gently at one end." But,
as Braun points out, trumpetsare never slightly curved;
they are either straightor extremely curved. Nor are they
ever decorated with two regularly spaced rings, as are
those depicted. Braunconcludes that, even though the in-
tentionof the iconographywas to show trumpets/hasoserot,
the artisterroneouslydepicted instrumentsthatlook more
like sofar-horns.
Braunconcludes Section 2 with the observation that it
is in this Hellenistic period that new forms of music ap-
pear, that the lute reappears,that trumpetsounds are for
the first time associated with the hunt, and that the aero-
phone-chordophone ensemble is first used for funerary
music in ancient Israel/Palestine.
V/3: "Nabataean-SafaiticMusic." In Braun'sopinion,
music from these areas has until now been ignored. This
is unfortunate because this peripheral music culture
helps us to understandthe syncretistic natureof the Hel-
lenistic-Roman music world. The Nabataeans (an Arab
people with northernArabianties) settled the small area
around Petra toward the end of the fourth century B.C.
They soon became the target of an expedition by supe-
rior Roman forces. The Nabataeans positioned them-
selves along the incense and other trade routes. This,
combined with their intellectual acuity, led to prosperity
as witnessed in their rich and unique art, architecture,
and ceramic industry.As to their music, we know that it
not only existed in daily life, but that it was also an
importantelement at the elite symposia and in the cult.
A variety of instrumentsis attested (from texts such as
Strabo):cymbals, hand drums, bells, song and dance ac-
companied by lyres and double pipes. The combination/
ensemble of pipes and strings had been at home in an-
cient Israel/Palestine since the ninth century B.c. and
was still alive in Nabataean times. The use of two-
stringed instrumentswith double pipes in a trio for litur-
gical music as attested in the terracottarelief from Petra
(pl. V/3-1) seems to be unique.
The same relief (pl. V/3-1) shows us two different
lyre-types. One is a long Greek-Alexandrian type of
symmetrical lyre with five or six strings, the second a
short Seleucid type with four to six strings (perhapsbass
and treble registers, respectively). Supporting evidence
for this being a liturgical scene may be found in a Qum-
ran thanksgiving hymn that describes a kinnor and a
nevel (lyre types) and a halil (reed pipe) being played
together.
Illustration V/3-3, an inscribed stone from Transjor-
dan, is but one of nearly 15,000 such inscriptions (occa-
sionally illustrated) dated to the late Hellenistic to early
Byzantine periods. In pl. V/3-3 a nude female plays a
double pipe while a male dances. This scene has been
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associated with ecstatics or prophets. The depicted dou-
ble pipe may be associated with the Arabic clarinet, the
arghul. The inscription gives us the earliest secular at-
testation of the word zmr(t) as "double pipe." Moreover,
among Nabataean-Safaiticpersonalnames is found zmro,
which, in Braun'sopinion, shouldbe the name of a profes-
sional piper.Anotherdrawingon stone, pl. V/3-4, dates to
the same period and shows two nude(?) female lyre play-
ers. The long lyres resemble the Ethiopianbagana.
V/4: "Folk Musicians." This section discusses the
instruments of traditional folk musicians as opposed to
"modern professional" musicians in the syncretistic
setting of Hellenistic Israel/Palestine and its cultural
Golden Age. The new musical cultures are the Idumaic,
the Nabataean-Safaitic and the Samaritan. Older cultic
ceremonies are reborn as the Dionysian, the Judaic-
Christian, and the early Islamic. Music is found in new
social functions and in different expressions. Aside from
the bells that continue to be popular, single or double
reed pipes are prominent. Archaeological remains of a
bone aulos have been found on Mount Zion (pl. V/4-1);
its sophisticated manufacture is revealed by its bronze
overlay with its "extremely sophisticated manufactur-
ing technique" around the opening. This sample, taken
together with several other small fragments from other
sites, indicates that bronze-coveredauloi were quite pop-
ular in ancient Israel/Palestine. Whereas many other
auloi (some bronze) were also found, some have close
parallels among Greek artifacts, which indicates a close
contact between the Jewish communities of Greek
towns and Hellenistic Judea. It is for this period that one
can document semi-professional and amateurmusicians
who would later be called klezmorim,or folk musicians.
In the transitional period to Roman-Byzantine times,
a new instrument, the zurna, a type of oboe, appears.
The zurna was held both vertically and horizontally and
is associated with Pan figures and with bucolic scenes.
The syrinx appearsas well; this Greek word perhaps de-
rives from a Semitic (Hebrew) root srq "to pipe," and is
associated with the Dionysus cult and with Pan (thus
"pan-pipes"as a name for the syrinx). The syrinx became
the municipal symbol on coins from Paneas (Caesarea
Philippi) by the second half of the second century A.D.
Pipes like these may have been able to produce micro-
tones (intervals smaller than half-steps) in their upper
registers. The numberof pipes ranges from five to eight
(Greek and Roman) to ten or more (Ptolemaic Egypt and
ancient Israel/Palestine).
Surprisingperhaps is the appearanceof the organ on
clay lamps together with small cymbals (pl. V/4-11 and
pl. V/6-9). The Hebrew term for the organ, mdgrepd, is
found in the second-centuryMishnah.Variousidiophones,
 KILMER: On Drums and Strings and Trumpet Blasts
played by females, are depicted on terracottasin scenes
that could be cultic or secular. The instrumentsinclude
rattles, cymbals, and castanets(?).
In this period of "profound cultural change," it is
surprisingto note the paucity of chordophones.The lyre
becomes "antiquated"and dies out. The lute enjoyed a
reappearancein this period of borrowing and new influ-
ences, but it had changed from the ancient long-necked
lute into the short-necked and pear-shaped instrument
that we know as the Arabic al Cud (whence English
"lute"). One rare terracotta, from Idumaic Maresha,
shows Pan (or a Satyr) playing an Idumaic lute (with
plectrum) in connection with the Dionysus cult (pl. V/4-
16). The association of nude lutenists with sensuality
and pagan occasions is what led the orthodox rabbis and
early church fathers to oppose music in religious ser-
vices. The reappearanceof the small angle harp, after its
eclipse in the fourth century B.C., occurs together with
the reappearanceof the lute in some areas.
V/5: "The Cult of Dionysus." This worship thrived in
the ancient Israelite/Palestiniancrossroads between Af-
rica, Asia, and Europe. The cult center was Beth Shean
(ancient Scythopolis/Nysa), which had the largest am-
phitheaterin the Near East. An altar relief there depicts
Dionysus, horned Pans, thyrsus and a syrinx with seven
pipes. More important than the altar, however, is the
Zouede mosaic in the museum of Ismailia, which was on
the floor of a dining room (triclinium). The mosaic de-
picts a musical procession (thiasos) of Dionysus, many
musical instruments, a single-piece drone horn (elymos)
played by a male centaur, and a female centaur playing
a six-string lyre of an earlier Egyptian type. The team of
centaurs drawing the chariot is led by a small Eros. In
addition, a satyr rides an ass, and a dancing satyr shakes
cymbals, while another satyr blows a conch trumpet. A
disrobedmaenadrings two bells in the mannerof a Span-
ish dancer with castanets. Another Pan plays cymbals.
The procession ends with a dancing bacchante swinging
a tympanon. (Ptolemaic texts describe just such Diony-
sian processions.)
In short, the Via Maris of ancient Israel/Palestine was
rightfully acclaimed for its musicians as well as for its
writers and philosophers, and for its international cul-
tural and artistic activities.
The apocryphalBook of Maccabees (9:39) reflects the
Dionysian theme of the triumphalprocession in the de-
scription of a procession in the wedding of a Nabatean
noble family. Similar descriptions are related to Jewish
Palestinian wedding processions, whose traditions were
preservedby the Talmud(firstto second centuries). Song,
dance, and musical instruments appear in all these pro-
cessions. As to the Zouede mosiac, Braun is inclined
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795
toward a pre-Byzantinedate from the thirdto fourth cen-
turies on the basis of the musical instruments(pan-pipes,
lyres with plectrums) and iconography.
Another floor mosaic, from Sepphoris, is a fine reflec-
tion of mixed Roman, Jewish, and Christianpopulation,
though this mosaic is more "pastoral"than Zouede's and
has more Seleucid elements (e.g., a drinking contest).
Five of its six scenes depict musicians playing the aulos,
double aulos, and tympanum. Greek and Roman paral-
lels suggest that this mosaic was created by a foreign
artist. One of its panels contains a realistic portraitof a
woman (the house owner?) known as "the Mona Lisa of
the Galilee."
The harp and the lute make a reappearance in this
period after having disappeared for nearly a thousand
years. The lute is attested on a terracottafrom Idumaic
Maresha, a cult center of Cybele (pl. V/4-20), played by
Pan or a satyr, thus with Dionysian connections. This
suggests a loosening of the conservative characterof the
Dionysian cult. It is difficult to distinguish regional ele-
ments or socio-ethnic groups within this heterogeneous
culture. Especially in Sepphoris we see Roman, Jewish,
and Christian elements in Jewish contexts. Syncretism
was widespread (e.g., some Egyptian Jews were named
Dionysus).
Ancient authors frequently mention the musical in-
struments used in the Jewish cults: small trumpets and
the cithara, like those of the Greeks. Plutarch mentions
the priestly garments with many small bells sewn on,
and the beating of drums. Tacitus mentions psalms ac-
companied by tibia and cymbals. Philo reports rituals
with meals and hymns sung by a double chorus, danc-
ing, and wine consumption by males and females. The
two mosaics discussed in this section have their origins
in the Dionysus cult, yet they are used in two different
worlds and display the cultural variety attested for this
period.
V/6: "SamaritanMusical Instruments."According to
the Old Testament, Samaritansshould not have had any
musical instruments(Hos. 9:1 and Isa. 24:8). But archae-
ological finds do provideevidence of musical instruments
in Samaritan areas. The earliest evidence is on fourth-
century B.C. coins (pl. IV/6-la-b; pl. V/6-1) that depict
lyres played by seated female figures. But the coins may
be of foreign origin. (The reviewer notes the discus-
sion of apparentcuneiform signs on two of these Samari-
tan coins: see A. Lemaire and F Joannes, "Premieres
monnaies avec signes cundiformes:Samarie.IV6mes. av.
n.e.," N.A.B.U. 1994/95; and J. Galst, "Cuneiform in
Nummis," The Celator [July 1997]: 36f.)
Five centuries later there appears the next evidence
for the use of the shofar; it has become a cultic symbol
796 Journal of the American Oriental Society 122.4 (2002)
on Judean and Samaritan lamps and on mosaic floors,
together with other symbols (e.g., the menorah) and the
trumpet. It is often difficult to determine if the mosaics
belong to a Jewish or a Samaritanbuilding.
Other instrumentssuch as the aulos and the lyre also
appearin a Samaritansetting, though rarely.A terracotta
lyre player appearsto be a temple servant or a guild mu-
sician. Some third-to fourth-centurySamaritanoil lamps
unusually depict the Hellenistic-Roman organ (probably
the small table organ), an instrumentinvented in Alex-
andria. They are always accompanied by crotala. This
symbolic pair, organ and crotala, is attestedfrom second-
century Carthaginian lamps. The organ was the quint-
essential Christian instrument and symbol, just as the
menorahfilled that role in the Old Testament.Whetheror
not the Samaritanliturgy used the organ remains an open
question.
A mosaic fromHamadepicts a women'smusical ensem-
ble playing the pneumatic (table) organ, forked cymbals,
double aulos, lyre, bells, and two percussion instruments
made of water-filled shells. It is in the Samaritansphere
that advancedaerophonesand diverse instrumentsabound
and were innovative. Sophisticated musicians must have
been at work.
V/7: "Musical Instrumentsas Symbols of Cult, State,
and Identity."This section summarizes the evidence on
coins and in literaturefor the music associated with the
ancient Israelite/Palestinian cultures, as well as with
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Greek and Roman cultures, and traces the innovations
made over time.
V/8: "The Shofar."Here Braun sums up the evidence
for the shofar as a "symbol of faith and national identity"
from Old Testament times forward, and describes the
other symbolic objects associated with it: the menorah,
the incense pan, the palm frond, and citrus fruit. We are
also given detailed information from a variety of early
and later texts about the decoration, the construction,
and the sound of the shofar, the manner of playing it,
acceptable and unacceptable features of it, and in what
kinds of buildings and on what objects the depictions are
found. The differences between Samaritan and Jewish
shofar types are discussed, as are the known terms for
different types of blasts: the "long tone" (teqicah), the
"quaveringtremolo" (terucah),and the "brokentones" or
"alarmblasts" (sevarim).
This section and the book conclude with a Roman
stone inscription found near the Jerusalem temple wall
that suggests that a specific place at or near the wall was
"apparentlyset aside for the ritual sounding of the sho-
far, literally, 'at the house of the blowing/sounding' (le-
bet hateqi ah)" (pl. V/8-27).
This extremely useful, detailed, and comprehensive
study is, in the opinion of the reviewer, a very valuable
major contributionto the history of music and to music
archaeology in the ancient Near East.