Music in ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptian have known music since ancient times. Evidence of this is the presence of many scenes engraved on the walls of temples and tombs since the era of the Old Kingdom, which shows musicians and dancers playing or participating in religious ceremonies. Various museums also acquired many musical instruments that the ancient Egyptians used, such as the oud, flute, tambourine and other instruments.

The ancient Egyptian considered music a sacred art, as it was played in the temples when chanting prayers. During religious ceremonies, musical groups were accompanied by dancers and singers to perform an artistic performance expressing the occasion. The goddess Hathor was the goddess of music and dance in ancient Egypt. It was considered the god of the system or Salalah among The instruments used in her worship rituals, as it was believed that this goddess was happy to hear the playing of this god.

The ancient Egyptians knew many musical instruments, including wind instruments, strings, and percussion instruments.

Blow machines

The flute

It is a hollow reed of jungle or wood with open ends, and, on its side, several holes, and the player blows at one end and sounds in the hollow and cuts the sound by placing the fingers of the hands-on the side holes to play different tones. The flute is one of the oldest musical instruments known in Egypt that were used since the beginning of Egyptian history until it appeared In an advanced way in the Old Kingdom, as we find it represented on the walls of the tombs at Saqqara.

The ancient Egyptian knew two types of flute.

A tall type, close to the height of a man, the musician used while standing, and it is a rare type that did not appear much.

The second, more common type is a meter long, and on the side of the holes, ranging in number from two to six, are located far from the side where the performer is blowing, who is always in the sitting position while playing.

Double glottis (ergo)

It was always used in orchestras, and it was a wooden reed with a trumpet used to blow through the mouth. It was always used double because it consisted of two common trumpet flutes that met on the side of the mouth and then gradually separated. There were four holes in each of the two flute reeds, as is clear to us from A rare flute preserved in the Berlin Museum, and this instrument is still used in the Egyptian countryside to this day.

According to the scenes represented on the walls of the tombs, the flute was more common than the flute in the old state, but in the modern state, the flute lost much of its importance, and its use moved to the lower class of society in that era, while the double flute rose to replace it.

In contrast to the flute, which has a soft and calm sound, the double flute sound is very sharp, as it is long and thin, ranging between 5 and 7 cm in length, and the number of holes ranges between three and eight.

Stringed instruments

Fugitive

The first origin of this god was a twisting stick that removes its cover from the middle and remains attached to it on both sides, where a string is used. Then the artist started installing another string and then tried to find a way to strengthen the sound, so he placed the string on a wooden soundbox. In another development of this instrument, the number of strings that became fixed in pegs similar to the keys in modern stringed instruments was increased.

The oldest species of the fugitive is the great fugitive who is about the height of a human being, and his strings were usually made of palm fibre. The number of strings of the fugitive in the old and middle countries reached only four or five strings; then, their number increased to fourteen and even nineteen strings in the era of the modern state.

Small harp (Kanara)

It is a string instrument made of wood that pulls its strings parallel to the soundbox. It appeared for the first time in the era of the Middle Kingdom, and the number of its strings was five or six, and then it reached thirteen strings in the era of the modern state.

The oud

The ancient Egyptians knew two types of the Oud god:

The short-necked oud, which is very similar to the oud currently used in Egypt, consists of a thin-walled sound box with an oval shape, and the neck of this oud is a round bar of wood penetrates the soundbox from the inside and fixes it to the strings. A wooden feather was used to play it, and it was attached to it. Oud with rope.

The long-necked oud: It is a long neck with markings showing where the strings were played, ranging between two and four strings.

Percussion instruments

The ancient Egyptians used many rhythm preservation machines. Perhaps the oldest means of preserving the rhythm is the applause as it appeared in the scenes taken from the tomb “Nakhvtka” in Saqqara, which is currently kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. I found many percussion instruments used by the ancient Egyptians, including clappers, bells and drums.

Deals

Including clap bars, arms and legs, and heads, so in the case of the bars, we find that they are two thin sticks of wood with which the player claps to set the rhythm. Due to the Egyptian artist’s love for taste and beauty, instead of this deity being just two ordinary sticks, he appeared to be carved in the form of either arms, legs, or heads. The heads of different people, birds or animals.

Clapboards are one of the oldest musical instruments used by the ancient Egyptian artist, as they were used in dancing processions since the pre-dynastic era, as they were found in the tombs of the first family, claps in the form of human arms ending with human hands, indicating that the hand is the original in clapping and clapping was made of ivory Or wood, or gold, and in the era of the Old Kingdom, scenes of dancing and playing spread. The orchestras were always accompanied by players carrying claps to set the rhythm.

The claps were among the musical instruments used in the rituals of the goddess Hathor, the goddess of music. Accordingly, we find that after the claps, the head of this goddess was decorated with the ears of a cow topped with a naos.

The sistrum

The idea of ​​making a tool that gives a resonant sound did not please the joy and joy in the souls, whether it is a children’s game or a god used in various occasions and celebrations of the current era. Still, its origins go back to a distinct innovation implemented by the ancient Egyptians to comfort the soul and enter ecstasy when hearing different tones and musical waves. Among those magical musical instruments invented by the ancient Egyptians, which played an important role with its multiplicity of uses since its manufacture until now, it was the system or known as “the sistrum”, which is one of the most important musical instruments that the idol Hathor was devoted to his goddess of love, beauty and music … etc. This deity was used in ancient Egypt for entertaining children and newborns. It remained in this way until priestesses were keen to insert them into the priestly domain in ancient Egyptian temples by holding them with salsal and shaking them to give a resonant musical sound that pleased the gods in line with ancient Egyptian beliefs and continued The use of the sistrum in this way until Christianity entered Egypt, as the Copts used some instruments with a twist to announce the celebration of their various religious rituals. During mass ceremonies, the sistrum was one of the most important of these instruments. Still, its basic role for which it was made has not disappeared yet, as it has been used as a musical toy for children until our present age, and in front of us is one of the examples of two right Sikhs dating back to the age of the ancient Egyptian civilization, which is made of a bundle of a stick with braided tulips. It is tied with a spiral rope, and the stick ends at its ends with a hollow ball covered with the same rope inside it with elements that give a resonant sound when it vibrates, as for the hand of the sist, we find it designed in the form of a spiral conch for easy grasping. By looking at the left sist, we find a model that shows the development of ​​making a musical sistrum. It became made of plastic material, with different coloured dyes added to it to give an aesthetic appearance and attract the child. Its design did not stop at this point. Still, it was manufactured with other materials, methods, and shapes that retained its function as a musical instrument used by some musicians in their pieces and melodies…

And that the ancient Egyptians were the ones who created the function of the “maestro” who directs the band with his hands. They also created the “Takht” music and collective singing (choral) accompanied by a musical group, in addition to being the first to practice “expressive dance”, indicating that the Egyptians were the ones who gave the Scots “Bag music”, and they are now famous for “bag music”, as they give

Greece “Canara” musical instrument.

Singing, music and dancing are an essential part of Egyptian culture. It was a life function and a religious value, especially since the characteristics of the arts reflect the natures of the people. The ancient Egyptians were the first to be rich in flowers of all kinds, gardens, spinning, love, temples, palaces, homes, and during work alongside religious songs and Worldly.

Most of the historical historians mentioned this, including Diodor the Sicilian who visited Egypt and wrote, “The gods of Egypt are fond of music and find pleasure in hearing it … and they invented the three-stringed guitar,” while Plato pointed out that “the musician in Egypt was not free but rather has Egyptian laws and music. The finest musician in the world, a model that expresses beauty and goodness. “In his book Geography, Strabone clarified that” music occupied an important place in the thinking of Egyptians … and received great attention from the Egyptian people. “

Women in ancient Egypt were skilled players and played all musical instruments as if the music was related to them. Fasim Bint “means the guitarist,” Khanit “meaning the composer, and” Shamait “, meaning the chanter.

The pharaonic music is the first of the hymns and the liturgy in the Egyptian churches. It is the only extension from which we can draw the Pharaonic melodies and the seven-scale musical scale, indicating that the pentagonal scale was used in ancient Egypt. Still, as of the Middle Kingdom, the seventh scale and the Pharaonic scale were used.

And that ancient musical instruments are the second source for obtaining information about Pharaonic music through the length of the instrument and its size about the body, the length and number of the strings, the material for making the instrument and the size of the soundbox in stringed instruments, the number of openings and the size of its breadth. In contrast, the third and final source for obtaining information on Pharaonic music is detailed dancing and singing scenes in ancient Egypt.

And that through the scenes of dancing in ancient Egypt, a lot of information was deduced. By looking at the feet and knowing the length of the step, the speed of the rhythm was identified. If the foot rose from the ground and reached a resemblance to a jump, this indicates that the rhythm was speeded up. When looking at the position of hands and arms, if She was next to the body, the dance rhythm was slow and raised by the height of the arms. At the same time, the singing scenes depend on studying the movement of the singers’ lips, whether narrow or wide. The head position was fixed or tilted forward, which gives information about the musical pitch and melodic space.v