Musical culture of ancient Egypt. Egyptian musical instruments Instruments of the ancient Egyptians

Vadim Ivkin

If we look at the tools used by the Egyptian craftsmen (Fig. 3), we will notice that they are not much different from modern ones. However, with the help of these tools, the Egyptians created pyramids and temples, carved magnificent statues and built palaces. Apparently, in addition to tools, the masters of Ancient Egypt had some other little tricks that helped them in their work.

Try to answer the question: how to saw along a long log? How to drill a hole in glass ceramic tiles without a diamond drill? In this article we will tell you how these and some other issues were solved by the Egyptian masters. Findings of archaeologists working in Egypt will help us with this.

One of these finds was made near the ancient city of craftsmen in the town of Deir el-Medina, on the west bank of the Nile near the city of Thebes. There, scientists discovered several thousand clay tablets - ostraca, which describe in detail the life of the city of masters. Another important find was made on the southeastern slope of Mount Sheikh-Abd-el-Kurna, in the tomb of FG No. 100 of the “Ruler of the City” Rehmir, who lived under the pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. On the western wall of the sanctuary of this tomb, archaeologists found an eight-tiered fresco - it depicts all types of work performed by the masters of the temple of the god Amun.

Let's look at a fragment of this fresco (Fig. 1). In its upper part, the worker saws the log lengthwise. There seems to be nothing unusual about this. However, this is not quite true. If the log is short, like in a fresco, then everything was done the same as ours, but if it was necessary to saw a long log... Those who tried to do this will understand me. After some time, the hacksaw begins to jam, and it is inconvenient to hold. So we come to the solution of the first trick of the Egyptian mater. He tied a long log vertically to a low post dug into the ground, and began sawing (Fig. 2). After some time, the hacksaw got stuck between the halves of the log, then the master took a long pole with a load tied at one end and inserted it into the cut. In this case, the end with the load was in the air, and the free end rested on the ground. Under the action of the load, the pole more and more entered the cut and pushed the halves of the log apart. When the master reached the post dug into the ground, the log was untied and turned over.

Next to the first master, the second one sits and grinds a recess in the log (Fig. 1). In order for the recess to turn out to be even, the stone with which it was turned was inserted into a hole in a rectangular bar; as the work progressed, the stone sank lower and lower. Here you have the prototype of a modern planer, only it does not cut a tree, but grinds it. By the way, if you look closely at this image, you will notice that the plane and the log are drawn in section. Here you have the origins of modern drawing. The Egyptians had another tool that can be called the progenitor of the modern planer (see Fig. 3.11).

Below, two craftsmen drill a hole with a bow drill (Fig. 1). One of them, using a special bar, presses the drill to the workpiece, and the second leads the bow back and forth with a rope tied to it. The rope is wrapped around the drill and makes it rotate. With the help of the same drill, holes were drilled in the stone. And here's another little trick. The fact is that the tools in Egypt were made of copper or bronze. The Egyptians learned steel during the Ptolemaic era from the Greeks. The question arises: how, with the help of a copper drill, they managed to drill holes in a stone, even in such a hard one as basalt or diorite. If you carefully examine the copper drill, you can see small quartz sand grains firmly pressed into the copper. Before starting to drill, the Egyptian master poured a hill of fine quartz sand in the place where the hole should have been. Since copper is a rather soft material, grains of sand were pressed into it, forming a very hard coating on the surface, which cut the stone. In this way, the Egyptians obtained what is now called "diamond-coated tools." And then - according to the Russian proverb: "Patience and work will grind everything." Many have heard it, but unlike us, the Egyptians put it into practice. Patience, perseverance in achieving the set goal and a creative approach to business allowed the Egyptians to do things that we still admire to this day. By the way, going back to the drill example: if you need to drill a hole in glass, you can follow the example of the ancient Egyptians. Of course, now you don’t need to build a bow drill, you can use an electric one, but otherwise everything is the same: we take a copper tube and clamp it into the drill chuck; in the place where the hole should be, we pour fine sand (preferably quarry, not river sand, because river sand is round, and quarry sand has sharp edges) and at low speeds we start drilling - it’s impossible at high speeds, because the glass can heat up and crack.

Here is another example of a creative approach to business. For construction, the Egyptians needed large stone blocks. How to get them? After all, the Egyptians did not know explosives. They acted very simply. First, a narrow passage was cut in the rock along the perimeter of the stone block. But how to separate this block from the rest of the rock? Narrow slots were cut out from below under the block, where wooden wedges were driven in. Then the passage around the block was filled with water. From the water, the tree swelled and tore off the stone block from the main rock. There was another method if the stone block was on the edge of the cliff. In this case, narrow slots were also cut out from that side of the block that was free, and then stone or bronze wedges were driven there. Then each of the workers stood in front of one of the wedges, and on command they all beat together, each in his own wedge. Since everything was done at the same time, very soon a crack appeared in this place, and the block was separated from the rock. The effect is achieved only when the blow is applied simultaneously by everyone, in this case the force is evenly distributed along the entire length of the block and tears it off the rock. Moreover, if you hit randomly, the block can split into several parts, and then you have to start all over again.

In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about measuring instruments. Let's start with a plumb line. Anyone who has ever tried to check the verticality of a wall knows that it is not very convenient to do this: either the weight gets in the way, or you can’t look from the side. The Egyptians improved the plumb line (Fig. 3.4). Now the weight does not interfere, and you can look from the side.

But what if you need to check horizontality? The ancient masters were not at a loss here either (Fig. 3.3). With this tool, the bottom edges are in the same plane, and a line is drawn in the middle of the central crossbar. If the thread coincides with the line, then the surface is horizontal, and if not, then the distance between the line and the thread can determine the angle of inclination. By the way, the upper corner of this tool is straight. Here's a square for you at the same time.

And in parting, I would like to quote the advice that has come down to us from Ancient Egypt:

Let not your heart be proud and boast
With your knowledge.
Always seek advice from the wise
so does the unknowing.
For true art has no limits,
And there was not yet a master who in his art
I would reach perfection.
Ptahhotep

The great social significance of music in Egypt is evidenced by numerous bas-reliefs and paintings depicting singers and instrumentalists, starting from the Old Kingdom, 3rd millennium BC. Music accompanied labor processes, mass festivities, religious rites, as well as actions associated with the cult of the gods Osiris, Isis and Thoth; it sounded at solemn processions and during palace entertainments. Since ancient times, the art of cheironomy existed in Egypt, combining choir conducting and "airy" musical writing (in ancient Egyptian - "sing", literally - making music with your hand). Among the images, ensembles of harps are often found. During the period of the New Kingdom (16-11 centuries BC), a Syrian chapel was introduced at the court of the pharaoh along with the local chapel. Military music develops.

According to Diodorus, the Egyptians were not particularly musical connoisseurs. However, this type of art was known to them since ancient times and developed under the guidance of priests - for religious purposes. The images on the monuments testify that already at the end of the era of the Old Kingdom, both percussion and wind and string instruments existed. Percussion instruments were known much earlier.

The oldest percussion instruments were wooden beaters, which beat the beat. Initially, these beaters were just roughly cut pieces of wood, later they acquired nice shape And carved decorations(Fig. 1, a).

Later, drums of various sizes and shapes spread: some - similar to the current dara-buko (Fig. 1, d), which were beaten with a hand or crooked sticks; others were round and oblong, on which the skin was stretched on both sides with the help of laces that wrapped around the drum like a net (Fig. 1, c).

Such a drum, metal cymbals and, most importantly, a round or square tambourine were the usual instruments with which Egyptian dancers accompanied their dance.

The sistra was a special instrument used mainly during worship (Fig. 1, b). It was usually made of bronze and decorated with images of the god Typhon or the goddess Gafora. In its final version, with rich decorations, it appeared no earlier than the era of the New Kingdom.

Of the wind instruments, the Egyptians knew only flutes of various sizes, simple and double, and pipes (Fig. 1, e-g). The former, judging by several well-preserved specimens, were wooden, and the latter metal.

But the stringed instruments of the Egyptians were much more diverse. The harp, lyre, and guitar, together with the flute, made up the Egyptian orchestra, in which the beat was beaten by women, clapping their hands or banging on beaters.

The oldest stringed instrument of the Egyptians was the harp. In the tombs of Memphis, it is presented in its original form, i.e. in the form of a bow, on which several strings are stretched (Fig. 2, a, b).

This form indicates the origin of the harp from a war bow with a buzzing bowstring. Further improvements to this instrument consisted of adding a footrest to the bow (Fig. 2, b), increasing the number of strings, and subsequentlyfrom below, an empty box for resonance began to be attached to the instrument. Often the harps of the royal orchestra were decorated with gilding, embossing, painting.

In such an improved form, the harp is presented in the tombs of Beni Gassan (Fig. 2, e). Despite these improvements and beautiful finishes, the harp was a clumsy and heavy instrument and remained so until the beginning of the New Kingdom.

Since then, large ancient harps partly give way to smaller instruments (Fig. 2, d), and partly improve by adding a resonant language to them (Fig. 2, c).

At the same time, a new kind of harp appeared, formed from the combination of a timpani with a harp with hair strings (Fig. 2, f).

The shape and structure of ordinary harps is also becoming more diverse: in addition to onion-shaped harps, they begin to make triangular harps. different sizes(Fig. 2, g). The number of strings has also increased from six to twenty-two.

The latest time was distinguished by a special variety of stringed instruments. This is evidenced by the paintings on the tombs in Dendera: next to large lyre-shaped harps, they show small new harps made of arched wood with a stand, which were played while standing (Fig. 4, a).

Harps were most often made of wood and sometimes covered with embossed leather. Their decoration was different. Harps intended for temples and the palace orchestra of the pharaohs were distinguished by especially luxurious decoration. Such harps were decorated with gilding, painting and chasing with various symbolic figures (Fig. 3). But the sound of these harps, in all probability, did not correspond to their external splendor, since they did not have the front wooden branch necessary for the fullness of the sound.

The lyre has come into use since the 12th Dynasty. The paintings in the tombs of Beni Hassan depict musicians playing on it, apparently from Asia. Its further improvement refers to the era of the New Kingdom ( rice. 4 ).

Several wooden liras have survived to our time, fully consistent with the images on the monuments. One copy, in excellent condition, is kept in the Berlin Museum.

In addition to the lyre, the Egyptians had stringed instruments similar to the guitar and lute ( rice. 4 ). Several of them have been found in tombs. All these instruments were played with a bone stick

Herodotus described one of the religious rites, accompanied by noisy music:

“When the Egyptians go to the city of Bubastis, they do this. Women and men sail there together, and there are a lot of both on each barge. Some women have rattles in their hands with which they rattle. Other men play flutes all the way. the women and men sing and clap their hands, and when they come to a town they land on the shore and do this: some women go on rattling, as I said, others call the women of that town and taunt them, still others they dance... They do it in every river town...".

Music performed in temples, palaces, workshops, farms, on the battlefields. Music was an integral part of the religious cult in ancient Egypt, so it is not surprising that the gods themselves were personified with music and its manifestation. All major categories of musical instruments (percussion, wind, strings) were available in ancient Egypt.

Percussion instruments included hand drums, rattles, castanets, bells, and sistrum - a very significant rattle used in religious worship and during rituals. The palms of the hands were also used as rhythmic accompaniment.

The category of wind instruments included reed flutes. Stringed instruments consisting of harps, lyres and lutes. For example, the harp is one of the inventions and instruments of Egyptian music - it has come down to us both in a small hand size and in the one we are used to seeing standing on the floor.

Other instruments include the flute, clarinet, cymbals, trumpets, percussion and lute. The lute is the original form that is used in Egyptian music today. The tools were sometimes engraved with the inscription of the owner's name and decorated with images of the gods.

Egyptian music was not dominated by same-sex singers, women could also participate in them. It is worth noting, by the way, that professional musicians had a good income and the most interesting were mostly women. Professional musicians were structured into social levels. Perhaps the highest status was held by temple musicians. Musicians close to a wealthy owner had a very high status, as there is confidence that they were gifted singers. Somewhat lower on the social ladder were musicians who performed as entertainers for evenings and festivals, often in combination with dancers.

The ancient Egyptians did not record their music until the Greco-Roman period, so any attempt to reconstruct the music of the pharaonic era remains speculative today.

The most beloved and revered musical instruments of the ancient Egyptians were the harp (initially arc, and then angular, which is more complex), the flute, with appearance which the ancient Egyptians preferred not to experiment, as well as the lute, which was played using a special plate - the plectra. It was these instruments that performed the “main parts” in the mysteries dedicated to the life and death of the god Osiris - musical and dramatic performances (they consisted of praising hymns and mournful laments), telling about the death and subsequent resurrection of the god of natural forces and afterlife Osiris.

The Musical Culture of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptian texts are the first written and, perhaps, the most important source of our ideas about the music and musicians of that era. This kind of sources are directly adjacent to images of musicians, scenes of music-making and individual instruments - images that are so rich in the tombs of pharaohs and nomarchs; works of small plastic arts; papyri. From them we get an idea of ​​both the tools and the environment in which one or another of them was distributed1. Archaeological data are of great importance. The classification, measurement and detailed examination of the found instruments can also reveal the nature of the music itself. Finally, we have information from ancient Greek and Roman writers who left a description of the life, customs and rituals of the Egyptians.

As evidenced by the analysis of the bas-reliefs of tombs, papyri, etc., music was given a significant place in the daily life of both the nobility and the lower strata of the population of Ancient Egypt. In the tombs of the pharaohs, there are images of harpists, lute players, flute players, singers, who, according to the Egyptians, were supposed to entertain and amuse their master in the other world. One such image is found in the tomb of a person from the era of the 5th dynasty2: two men clapping their hands, accompanying five dancers with their hands raised above their heads; the top row depicts a male instrumental ensemble: flute, clarinet and harp. In front of a flutist and clarinetist, singers showing the rise and fall of the pitch with the help of the so-called cheironomic hand3. It is noteworthy that there are two of them in front of the harpist.
This can probably be explained as follows: the harp is the only instrument depicted there, on which chords can be played. Therefore, to indicate the pitch of several sounds taken simultaneously, two or more "conductors" were needed.
Images similar to the one described are quite common. We even know some musicians by their first names4. Thus, the first musician of Ancient Egypt known to us was Kafu-ankh - "singer, flutist and administrator of musical life at the court of the pharaohs"5 (the end of the 4th - the beginning of the 5th dynasty). Individual musicians already in that distant period earned great fame and respect for their art and skill. Kafu-ankh was honored that Pharaoh Userkaf, the first representative of the 5th dynasty, erected a monument to him next to his pyramid. The names of the flutist Sen-ankh-ver, the harpists Cahifa and Duateneb belong to a later period (the reign of Pepi I or Merenre II). From the 5th dynasty, information has been preserved about a large family of musicians Snefru-nofers, four representatives of which served at the court of the pharaohs.

Egypt was the first country where professional musicians enjoyed special honor and respect. Not a single theatrical performance, the so-called mysteries, in honor of the most revered gods, could do without their participation. Especially magnificent musical accompaniment accompanied the cult of the god Osiris, the patron and judge of the dead, who personified the dying and resurrecting nature. His life, death and resurrection determined the main content of theatrical performances. The main roles were usually played by priests, but sometimes the pharaoh himself took part in them. By the way, music education was part of the compulsory school education in ancient Egypt.

Despite the fact that not a single text of such theatrical performances and cult services has come down to us, there is an opinion that the funeral ritual laid the foundation for the theater with extensive musical accompaniment. It used dialogues between the gods performed by priests.

Time has not preserved the ancient samples of Egyptian music, and perhaps we would not have learned anything about the nature of its sound if it were not for works of other types of art. Wall images in the tombs of the pharaohs, priceless lines of poetic works reveal the most interesting details of the musical life of Ancient Egypt, recreate pictures of the musical life of this country.

The bas-reliefs and murals depict groups of dancers and musicians: harpists, flutists, singers, united into entire orchestras and choirs. Choir singers usually clap their hands, and their singing is accompanied by dancing. Images of musicians allowed researchers to express an opinion about the use of cheironomy, that is, special hand gestures to express rhythm and melody. What was the music about? Probably, these were hymns to the gods and pharaohs, love songs, songs of mourners at funerals. Here, for example, is the wonderful "Song of the Harpist" (XXI century, BC):

Follow your heart's desires

As long as you exist

Perfume your head with myrrh

Dress in the finest fabrics

Anoint yourself with the most wonderful incense

From the sacrifices of the gods.

Multiply your wealth...

Do your deeds on earth

According to your heart,

Until that day of mourning comes to you.

The weary heart does not hear their cries

And scream

Lamentations save no one from the grave.

So celebrate a beautiful day

And don't exhaust yourself.

You see, no one took their possessions with them.

You see, none of those who left did not come back.

Harpist (detail of the painting of the tomb) Thebes. 14th c. BC.

Chapter 1

VARIETY OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Egyptian instruments

The archaeological finds and traditional history of Egyptian music are much more diverse than in any other country. The bas-reliefs of ancient Egyptian temples and tombs depict numerous types and forms of musical instruments, how to play these instruments, tuning techniques, orchestral performances, and much more. In such scenes, the hands of a harpist plucking certain strings and a flutist striking the right chord are clearly visible. Due to the distance between the frets of the lute, the appropriate interval can be calculated. The position of the harpist's fingers on the strings clearly indicates the positions - the Fourth and Fifth, and the Octaves indisputably prove the knowledge of the laws of musical harmony. The conductor controlled the playing of musical instruments with the help of hand movements, which also make it possible to identify certain tones, intervals and functions of sounds.

In addition to numerous bas-reliefs from the walls of temples and burials, distributed throughout Egypt and belonging to different eras, musical instruments themselves were found in large numbers in the tombs. Now these artifacts are kept in museums and private collections around the world. Some of the tools were carefully wrapped in linen (cloth) before being placed in the tomb.

All these finds, together with early written sources and modern musical traditions of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, confirm the authenticity of the history of the music of Ancient Egypt.

ABOUTmain characteristics of egyptian instruments.

1. Depicted musical scenes in ancient egyptian tombs Oh,as well as tools related to the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms(2575-1783 BC), point to the relationship between the harp strings, the well-ordered frets on the fretboard of stringed instruments, as well as the distances between the holes of wind instruments, which confirms the following:

A. "Narrow-stepped scales" was used in ancient history Egypt (more than 5,000 years ago).

b. They played musical instruments and tuned them for both solo and choral performances.

V. They mastered such a technique of playing wind instruments, which allowed them to achieve a gradual increase in sound and the effect of an organ.

2. The ancient Egyptians were famous all over the world for their mastery of the techniques of playing musical instruments. Their skills are confirmed by the statement of Athenaeus, who claimed that both the Greeks and the "barbarians" learned music from the Egyptians.

After the end of the era of the pharaohs, Egypt remained the center of musical art for the Arab/Muslim countries.

3. Decorative elements on ancient Egyptian stringed instruments are of vital importance. Their ends are decorated with heads of neteru (gods and goddesses), animals, people and birds. On many instruments, the image of a swan is often found. For the ancient Egyptians, the swan was a sacred bird in two forms: 1) as having, like a raven, the gift of prediction / foresight; 2) as the owner of extraordinary vocal abilities. The sweetness of his singing, especially on the verge of death, was praised not only by ancient poets, but also by historians, philosophers, and was captured in legends.

4. It should be emphasized that most of the ancient Egyptian tombs were looted, mainly by foreign invaders, and only a few tools survived. It is about these “few” (despite the fact that there are a sufficient number of them compared to other countries) that we have records of. Accordingly, one should not conclude that if some tools were not found in tombs and temples (mostly destroyed), then they did not exist at all in Ancient Egypt. In addition, it should be noted that in some graves there were tools whose images are not on the bas-reliefs of any temples or tombs. For example, these are cylindrical bass drums.

Musicians in Ancient (and Modern) Egypt.

Musicians in ancient Egypt and modern Egypt (baladi) had and still have a high status. The ancient Egyptian neteru gods themselves were depicted on the walls of temples playing musical instruments. The profession of musician was a clear and practical consequence of the outstanding function played by music in Egyptian society.

The musicians performed their specific roles. Some of their musical titles are: overseer, teacher (instructor), leader of musicians, teacher, musicians of Maat - mistresses of Neteru, musicians of Amun, musicians of the Great Ennead, musicians of Het-Heru (Hator), etc. The position of chironomide (conductor/maestro) is also mentioned in ancient Egyptian literature.

The musical profession included the entire spectrum of temple and other social events. Numerous and well-trained groups of singers and dancers learned and practiced a whole set of rules for performing performances / performances suitable for each specific occasion.

The Egyptian incarnation of the musician was Heru Behdety (Horus), an analogue of the ancient Greek Apollo. Diodorus Siculus wrote this in his book about Heru Behdety and his nine Muses, who are well versed in various arts related to music:

Ausar(Osiris) loved laughter, was crazy about music and dancing; therefore, he was surrounded by many musicians, among whom were 9 girls who could sing and were trained in other arts, they were called Muses; and their leader was believed to beHere Behdety(Apollo), nicknamed Musaget because of this (Apollo Musaget, "Leader of the Muses").

Occasionally, in Egyptian frescoes, musicians were depicted blind or blindfolded - to emphasize the metaphysical aspect of music.

musical orchestra

Musical instruments differ in range, variety and strength of sound, impact force, speed of articulation of a repeated note, and how many notes they can play at the same time. To reproduce all musical sounds, the ancient Egyptians used a wide variety of instruments.

I want to note that the range of musical instruments considered in this book is limited to those whose analogues exist in our time. Some of the instruments of the ancient Egyptians are too different from modern ones to be classified in any way.

In ancient Egypt, musical groups were very numerous and diverse. Small and large ensembles were used for different purposes, which we can trace in the images in Egyptian buildings.

From the ancient Egyptian sculptures it clearly follows that their musicians knew the three main components of the symphony - the harmony of instruments, voices, and voices with instruments. The playing of musical instruments took place under the control of the movements of the conductors' hands. The positions of their hands show a wide range: unison (or consonance), chord, polyphony (polyphony), etc.

The Egyptian orchestra/ensemble consisted mainly of 4 types of instruments:

1. String instruments with open strings, such as zither, lyre, harp, etc.

2. Plucked instruments with strings stretched over the fretboard: tanbur, guitar, oud/lute, etc.

3. Wind instruments like flute, fife/trumpet, etc.

4. Percussion instruments like drums, rattles, bells…

The following chapters will describe in detail the ancient Egyptian instruments according to the above classification.

STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

Ancient Egyptian stringed instruments fall into two main groups:

1. with open strings - lyres, harps, zithers, etc. they are usually tuned by ear to fifths and fourths. Tuning is done by clamping the string (C), raising the other string to the top fifth (G), then returning to the bottom quarter (D), and coming to (A), again rising to the fifth, and so on. This range between fifth and fourth is called the full scale.

2. with strings stretched over the neck - guitars, lutes, etc., their characteristic feature is a clearly defined neck. When playing these instruments, the split method is used. The game is played by clamping the string along the neck at a certain distance (using frets) as follows:

1/2 length for a whole octave

1/3 length for fifth

1/4 length for a quart

There are, however, lyres, zithers, and harps whose strings are clamped, as well as tanburs with open strings.

Lyra

The ancient Egyptian lyre has a bracket-shaped frame, consisting of two curved arcs protruding from the resonator body, and a crossbar connecting them.

The two main types of lyre in ancient Egypt are:

1. asymmetrical shape, with two diverging asymmetrical arcs, beveled crossbar and pickup.

2. symmetrical rectangular shape, with two parallel arcs, crossbars converging at a right angle and a pickup.

In both cases, the sound quality depended on the pickup, which was usually square or trapezoidal in shape.

Many ancient Egyptian lyres had a wonderful sound and had 5, 7, 10 or 18 strings. The lyre was pressed with the elbow to the side and the strings were plucked with fingers or a plectrum (pick). The plector (mediator) itself was made of tortoise shell, ivory or wood and tied to a lyre with a string.

Numerous images of musicians playing the lyre show that modern and ancient techniques are very similar. The lyre was held in an inclined, and sometimes even in a horizontal position, at a distance from the musician. With the right hand, with the help of a plectrum, they run through all the strings at once, and with the fingers of the left they press those strings that are not currently used. The ancient Egyptian lyre had several octaves in its range, thanks to which a unique increase in sound was achieved.

The exposition of the Leiden Museum in Berlin has well-preserved wooden lyres decorated with horse heads. Their shape, design, alternation of short and long strings are reminiscent of those depicted in some ancient Egyptian tombs.

Here are some more examples of found/pictured liras:

1. Bronze statue of Bes, known since the pre-dynastic era (before 3000 BC), striking the strings of the lyre with a plectrum;

2. Symmetrical lyre from a 6th Dynasty tomb (2323-2150 BC, Saqqara) identified by Hans Hickman;

3. Asymmetric lyres from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1783 BC), depicted in the tomb of Beni Hassan;

4. Asymmetric lyre with an inscription referring to Amenhotep I (16th century BC).

5. Symmetric 14-string lyre from the tomb of Kinebu (12th century BC).

Tri-gonon/Tri-Ka-Nun (Zither)

Josephus in his History of the Jews writes that ancient Egyptian temple musicians played an enharmonic triangular instrument (órganon trigonon enarmónion). The word trígonon consists of two syllables: "trí" and "gonon". The term "trí" testifies to the form and character of this unique Egyptian instrument, which:

Made in the shape of a triangle or trapezoid;

All strings are in triplets. Each string in a triplet has a different thickness and they are all tuned together to sound in unison.

The Greek term tri-gonon is closely related to the Egyptian Ka-Nun (triangular, triangular). Trigonon/tri-Ka-Nun in Egypt is known as Ka-Nun, an ancient Egyptian term for the personification/incarnation (Ka) of the whole world (Nun).

Ka-Nun / Eve, according to Josephus, played the most important role in ancient Egypt.

In the 10th century AD. Ka-Nun/Kanun was mentioned by al-Farabi as an instrument with 45 strings or 15 triplets, which was used even in his time.

The country of origin of Ka-Nun has always been Egypt, which still holds the palm for its manufacture. The name of the instrument was first mentioned in one of the tales of "1001 nights" about Ali ibn Bakkari and Shams al Nahari (10th century AD).

The modern kanun is a flat box in the shape of a triangle with strings. Their number varies from 21 to 28 triplets (63 or 84 strings), but the most common kanun is 26 triplets (78 strings). Each triplet is tuned to sound in unison.

The strings are plucked with a tortoiseshell plectrum (pick) attached to a ring, which is worn on the index finger of the left or right hand. The desired note is taken with the right hand, and the left doubles it in the lower octave, with the exception of those passages, for which the string is clamped to change the pitch. The instrument has removable bridges that can be moved under the strings to change their length and, accordingly, the sound. The playing technique on the eve is the same as on the lyre and harp.

Harps

Ancient Egyptian harps varied in shape, size, and number of strings. Usually the frescoes depict harps with 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 20, 21 and 22 strings.

The harp was considered primarily a temple instrument. She was often depicted in the hands of the gods.

There were two main types of harps:

1. small portable (shoulder) harp (small arc). Such shoulder harps can be seen in many museums around the world. Like other similar instruments, the harps had a base that easily moved from side to side, from top to bottom and vice versa. This is a kind of suspension frame for strings, which allows you to quickly tune harps to different frets.

2. large arc (in the shape of a bow) or angular harp. In Egypt, there were several variations of such harps, differing in size and design, depending on whether the string holder was located above or below, as well as on the shape of the resonator - straight or curved. There is no difference between bow and corner harps, as they produced the same sound.

Here are some ancient Egyptian harps depicted in frescoes or found in excavations:

• The Debchen tomb at Giza (c. 2550 BC) shows two arched harps with beautifully drawn bodies.
• Huge harp from a bas-relief in the tomb of Seshemnofer (5th dynasty, c. 2500 BC).
• Arc harp from the tomb of Queen Ti at Saqqara (2400 BC).
• Arc harp from the tomb of Ptah-hotep (2400 BC). The scene shows the 2-hit style of play.
• Depiction of a harp from the bas-relief of the tomb of Nekauchor at Saqqara (2390 BC, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art). The scene depicts a 3-hit style of play.
• The tomb of Idat at Saqqara (2320 BC) depicts five harpers.
• The wife of the late Mereruk is depicted in bas-relief in his tomb playing the harp. She plays on two different strings (polyphonic performance).
• In the tomb of Rekhmir (1420 BC) in Ta-Apet (Thebes), an arc harp is depicted. Artfully drawn string pins are similar to the mouthpieces of modern pipes.
• Image of an arc harp in the tomb of Nakhta in Thebes (15th century BC).
• In the tomb of Ramses III (1194-1163 BC) in Thebes, two musicians are depicted playing huge varieties of arc harp. It is because of them that the burial was called the "Tomb of the Harpers". Here is one of those images

• Ramses III offers a harp to the gods in the scene of sacrifice in the temple of Medinet Abu in Thebes.

Harp playing techniques

The strings on the harp were plucked with fingers or a plectrum (mediator).

The ancient Egyptians were well acquainted with many of the techniques of the game, as can be seen in tomb frescoes throughout the Dynastic period. They depict techniques for playing with both one and two hands.

1. Playing with one hand.

The harp has its own “open” string for each note. The one-handed method is based on the separate way of extracting sounds by pressing the strings at a certain length. In this case, only one hand plucks the string while the other plucks it, producing the sound.

To fix the string in the desired position, the musician pulls and presses the string with the finger of his left hand at a certain distance from the fretboard, thus "shortening" or stopping the length of the vibration of the string itself. Thanks to this, you can get sound in a given key.

The technique of playing with one hand makes it possible to receive an unlimited number of tones.

There are many artifacts depicting this technique. They clearly show how the clamped string bends. Examples:

• On the bas-relief of one of the Theban tombs (New Kingdom, 1520 BC), the harpist pinches the desired string with the fingers of one hand, and plucks it with the other hand. You can clearly see how this string bends.

• In the tomb of Idate (2320 BC), two of the five harpists depicted use only their right hand to play, while with their left they simply pinch the string.

2. Playing with two hands.

The technique of playing with two hands is that the musician can pluck the strings with all the fingers of both hands at will at the same time, or one after the other, achieving polyphony or choral sound. "Unnecessary" strings are muted with the palm of the other hand.

Comprehensive possibilities of ancient Egyptian harps.

The great variety of harps of Ancient Egypt shows the richness of their musical possibilities.

1. Harps with 4 to 22 strings were able to play a wide range of notes in some octaves. The ratio between the shortest and longest is from 1:3 to 1:4 (i.e. from one to two octaves). A varied number of tones and octaves were extracted precisely with the help of the technique of playing with one hand.

2. Musical intervals of four and five steps, as well as the octave, were the most common in ancient Egypt. Kurt Sachs found that out of seventeen harpists, with great realism and detail depicted in ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs, seven play a quarter chord, five a fifth chord, and another five an octave.

3. The ratio of the length of the shortest string of the ancient Egyptian harp to the longest is 2:3. Since this interval is divided between five strings, it provides a range of sounds from semitones to tones. For a ten-string harp, this gives a small semitone interval.

4. The harp found in the tomb of Ramses III had 13 strings. Of which one, the longest, sounded in the lowest tone of the tetrachord (Proslambanomenos), and the remaining 12 reproduced all the tones, semitones, quarter tones of the diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic scales in the range of one octave.

The sound of this thirteen-stringed harp reproduces four tetrachords: hypaton, meson, synemmenon and diezeugnenon, ending with proslambanomenos

5. The most common and common harp in ancient Egypt was a seven-stringed harp. According to the research of Kurt Sachs, the Egyptians tuned their harps to the diatonic interval.

6. An ancient Egyptian harp with 20 strings reproduces a pentatonic scale of four octaves. The 21-string harp has the same order of intervals, but with an additional tonality in the upper register.

Tanbur (necked string instrument)

The tanbur/tambur is a stringed plucked instrument with a pronounced neck against which the string is pressed before being struck.

The tanbur has several other names - tambur, nabla, etc. In this book, we will use the name tanbur as a generalization for all stringed instruments with a long neck. Among the most famous are the lute and the guitar.

Tools like the tanbur are often found in ancient Egyptian painting, on bas-reliefs, sculptures, sarcophagi, scarabs, and also as decor for vases and boxes.

In ancient Egypt, musicians with tanburs always led religious processions. And now tanbur (already better known by the Arabic name "oud") is widely used in orchestras, home productions, films and folk music concerts.

The ancient Egyptians had an infinite number of tanbur-type instruments, differing in a number of ways:

A. According to the shape of the body. The body of the tanbur could be oval, or with side bends, like a modern guitar or violin. There were also pear-shaped or tortoiseshell-shaped, with a flat or rounded back.

B. By the number of strings and tuning. Found instruments usually have 2 to 5 tuning screws with tassels hanging from them. The tuning pegs were most often in the shape of the letter T and located on the front or side of the neck. The instruments found in the tombs are often found without strings and tuning screws.

The ancient Egyptian tanburs had 2,3,4,5 or 6 strings made of sinew, silk or horsehair. All strings were of different thickness. If they were the same, each string would require a separate peg. And the more the thickness varies from string to string, the fewer pegs are needed. Thus, each tuning screw controls several different strings, which allows you to achieve sound in unison.

Tanbur-type instruments were played with a plectrum or a bow.

B. Along the length of the neck. For some instruments, the neck could be long, like a guitar, and short, like a lute or oud. The length of the short neck was equal to the length of the resonator body. The length of the long neck was 47 inches or 120 cm, like the instrument from the tomb of Harmosis.

G. By frets. Musicians, pressing the string in the right place to the neck, shorten the length of its vibration and, thus, receive sounds of different intensity. Many instruments have frets for this.

Since the frets somewhat limit the performer's capabilities, especially gifted musicians did without them, which made it possible for the fingers to slide freely along the entire fretboard.

Frets on ancient Greek instruments:

1. easy to change, just move the fret strip to the right place;

2. the strings were long enough and placed high above the fingerboard so that they could be easily moved with little effort;

3. Large intervals were marked with stripes to outline the general parameters. In addition to them, there were also movable frets that divided the octave into smaller steps - 10.17, 22 or more.

An example of a breakdown into such modes (from the tomb of Nakht-Amun, Thebes, 14th century BC).

4. in some cases were located only in the upper part of the neck, and sometimes reached the very body of the instrument.

Two-string tanbur

Two strings are enough to produce a large number of sounds. For example, if they are tuned to a quarter chord, then you can extract a seven-step scale (heptachord), consisting of two connected tetrachords B, c, d, e; E, f, g, a. And if these strings sound in a quintchord, then we get an octave of two disjoint (separated) tetrachords.

It is this instrument that proves that the ancient Egyptians found ways to expand the sound range, as well as increase the musical performance of two-stringed instruments in the most simple and effective ways.

Tanburs with two strings and marked frets are depicted in scenes of music-making on the frescoes of Theban tombs of the 14-15th century BC.

Three-stringed tanbur

The three-string tanbur was one of the most widely used musical instruments in ancient Egypt.

He tuned to sound in the quarter chord, fifth chord and octave. When tuned in a quarter chord, the tanbur reached a range of 2 octaves.

A similar three-stringed tanbur was found in the tomb of Harmosis.

One of the popular varieties of tanbur was a banjo-like instrument - te-buni.

Four-string tanbur

An ancient Egyptian obelisk dating from 1500 BC depicts a tanbur with four pegs.

Such instruments had four strings of the same thickness and were tuned to sound in a quarter chord, which gave a range of one or two octaves.

Four strings with different thicknesses, varying 6, 8, 9, 12 (tuned in unison), give a full octave, quart, fifth and half octave.

Such tanbur is still popular in Egypt.

Short neck lute (modern oud)

The ancient Egyptians had a type of lute with a short neck, a strong pear-shaped body and a wide neck. The number of strings he had varied from two to six. Two such lutes found in tombs at Thebes (dated to the 16th century BC) were 35 cm long and 48.5 cm long. The smaller one had 2 (possibly 3) strings, while the larger one had 4.

The most popular lutes had four strings. In addition to the frets, this instrument had a 17 interval frame. Today it is known in Arab and Islamic countries as oud.

In addition to the above tools, here are a few more examples:

1. Statuette of a musician playing a short-necked lute (New Kingdom, c. 3500 BC, in the Cairo Museum).

2. Statuette of a lute player made of baked clay (19th-20th dynasty).

Egyptian guitars

The Egyptian guitar consists of two parts: a long neck and a hollow oval body. Images of guitars have been found in numerous tombs from different eras.

Four similar jagged-edged instruments (dated to the Middle Kingdom, c. 2000 BC) were found in the Karara region. There are also guitars in the Heidelberg Museum, in the Cairo Museum, in the Museum of Art in New York, and the smallest one is kept in the Moek collection. They all have three to six strings.

The bodies of these guitars are made from a single piece of wood, only the neck of the largest is lengthened with additional inserts. All instruments have numerous frets.

The modern word "guitar" comes from the ancient name of cithara. It was the body of the cithara that became the prototype of the shape of the guitar that we know today.

Examples of the variety of tanburs:

1. Tanbur with seven frets is depicted on the wall of one of the tombs ancient kingdom(c. 4500 BC). The musician could play eight different intervals on each string. The spaces between the frets are painted in different colors.

2. A guitar with an elongated neck and a carved enlarged resonator is depicted in the tomb of Pahekmen (18th Dynasty, 16th century BC).

3. A tanbur-like instrument with a 25-inch (62 cm) neck was found in an 18th Dynasty Theban tomb. The body is made from tortoise shell.

4. Huge, 120 cm long, tanbur was found in the tomb of Harmosis (Der el-Bahri, 16th century BC). The instrument with an almond-shaped resonator is made of wood. Three strings are fixed in the lower part of the body with special clamps.

5. Two tanbur players are depicted on a wall in the tomb of Rekhmir (1420 BC, Thebes).

6. A procession of musicians playing the tanbur is depicted in the Temple at Luxor (during the reign of Tutankhamun, 1350 BC).

7. In the scene of music-making from the tomb of Nebamun (15th century BC), two types of guitars are depicted: with an almond-shaped and a round resonator. The body of the latter seems to be made of tortoiseshell. Both instruments have fingerboards. One clearly shows 8 frets, the other has 17 frets.

8. In the Theban tomb No. 52, a tanbur with a long neck is depicted (approximately 15th century BC). The instrument has 9 frets marked with stripes. Measurements of the visible distance between the frets (where the musician's hand does not cover) gives the following intervals in Egyptian commas: 6–5–15–9–12. The measured intervals are consistent with the Egyptian musical comma.

Bowed instruments (kamanga, rababa)

There are several varieties of bowed instruments, but all of them have loose strings that can be played with a bow or fingers. Bowed instruments had 1, 2, 3 or 4 strings. The most common were 2 or 4 strings.

The strings, like the bows, were made from horsehair. In general, horses played a leading role in the musical life of both ancient and modern Egypt. Some ancient Egyptian musical instruments are decorated with horse figurines. Horsehair - plentiful and available to all - was used for musical instruments.

Both in antiquity and now on bowed instruments, no matter how small they are, the Egyptians play with the body resting on the floor or thigh, and not under the chin. This method allows you to better control the instrument and rotate it around the axis to achieve the desired pitch and duration of the sounds.

In many ancient Egyptian burials, this particular style of playing bowed instruments is depicted. In the tomb of Rekhmir (15th century BC, Thebes), a musician plays with a bow. A similar image was found in another tomb, in which the musician rests the instrument on his thigh.

Bowed instruments were called kamanga. They had a rectangular or triangular body and a rounded back.The shape and arrangement of the kamanga is the same as that of a modern violin.

Bowed instruments with two strings are called small kamanga or ra-ba-ba - in Egyptian it means the Double Soul (ba-ba) of the Creator (Ra). This duality (ba-ba) was symbolized by two strings.

Rababa is a stringed instrument with a long neck, without frets, which is played with a bow or by plucking the strings with the fingers. It has a short, narrow, bowl-shaped body.

The production of the rabbaba is inexpensive, since both the strings and the bow are made from horsehair. And the resonating body itself is carved from coconut or wood.

I make the bow of rabab and kamanga from a flexible, slightly curved rod and horsehair.

Egyptian storytellers performed with bowed instruments (such as rababa and kamanga), because they sound more like a human voice than other instruments.

Chapter 3

WIND INSTRUMENTS

Ancient Egyptian wind instruments are divided into the following types:

1. instruments in which air vibrates in a hollow body (air flow is cut against a face), such as a regular flute, a single pipe, conventional pipes organ, etc.

2. Instruments in which the reed causes vibration, such as the clarinet, bass clarinet, reed pipe organ, etc.

3. Instruments with double reeds that cause vibration, such as double trumpet and oboe.

4. Instruments in which elastic membranes cause a jet of air to vibrate (lips on the mouthpiece), such as trumpet, trombone, and tuba.

Most pipes have equidistant finger holes. The reproduction of various musical scales and notes depends on the size of the holes, the strength of breathing, the movement of the fingers, and some other techniques, which will be discussed later.

Magic Nai (longitudinal flute)

Nai were made from cane, which grows in abundance along the banks of irrigation canals in the Nile Valley. It is thanks to this simple plant that the Egyptians (in ancient times and today) reproduce an incredible range of tones. No other instrument has such an ethereal sound, the sweetest sound of it, the vibrato that takes the heart.

Egyptian nai differ from ordinary flutes in two main ways:

1. Nai are made exclusively from reeds, while flutes are made from wood and metal.

2. Nayahs are played by blowing air in through the open end. The flute has one end closed, and air is blown in through the side valve.

The differences between the nai and the pipe lie in the number and location of the holes, as well as the length of the instrument itself.

Sounds are extracted from the Egyptian nai by blowing air with slightly parted lips into the very edge of the hole and pushing it further along the tube. By opening and closing the holes, the musician changes the final length of the air jet, which provides the required sound height. The resulting sounds merge into a melody - smooth and abrupt, lively and dreary, staccato and legato, gently pulsating and cascading.

The Egyptian nay (longitudinal flute) has changed slightly over time. Today it remains the most popular instrument in Egypt.

The length of the nai was from 14.8 inches to 26.8 inches (37.5 - 68 cm). The manufacturing principles, structure, hole sizes of modern longitudinal flutes are the same as in Ancient Egypt:

1. always cut only from the top of the cane;

2. Nai consists of nine segments/couplings

3. Each nai has six holes on the top and one hole on the back. The position of the fingers and holes is shown in the picture.

The Egyptian flute is a type of upright flute. She has great musical potential. Due to the ability to change the angle of air blowing, the musician is able to add expression to melodies.

The flutist can hold the flute either perfectly straight or at a slight angle to the left or right. Musicians achieved an infinite number of semitones simply by increasing or decreasing the strength of the blown air flow.

When changing the force of blowing, the sound could change an octave higher or lower. Blowing out air with a very great strength, the musician even reached three octaves.

Playing the flute required a certain amount of skill. In order to achieve the desired tone, the flutist had to control, coordinate and skillfully handle his breathing, lip tension, tongue, lip and head movements, and the work of the fingers in opening and closing holes in various combinations.

Since one nai of a certain length could play a limited number of notes, the Egyptians used seven nai lengths to change the pitch by increasing or decreasing the pitch. Seven nai of different lengths in one orchestra complemented each other so much that they made it possible to achieve a complete scale in the range of several octaves.

There are seven basic sizes: 26.8, 23.6, 21.3, 20.1, 17.5, 15.9 and 14.8 inches (68, 60, 54, 51, 44.5, 40.5 and 37.5 cm).

Since the Middle Kingdom (20th century BC), ancient Egyptian flutes found in the temple of Armant III give intervals (according to S. Sachs) of 248 cents (11 Egyptian comms), 316 cents (14 Egyptian comms), 182 cents ( 4 Egyptian kommas), which adds up to a total range of fifths of 702 cents (31 Egyptian commas).

Measurements of the distance between the holes of the nai showed that the Egyptians knew some steps of the scale with an interval of less than ¼ tone (i.e. 2 Egyptian musical commas).

Such instruments are scattered in museums and private collections around the world. Here are some examples of finds:

• a slate palette (3200 BC, Oxford Museum) depicts a group of animals, among which one can see a jackal playing the nai.
• the tomb of Nencheftk, Saqqara (15th century BC, Cairo Museum), which depicts a flutist.
• Nai of various lengths from Saqqara.
• Bas-relief from the tomb of Nekauchor at Saqqara (2390 BC).
• Images in Theban burials of the 18th Dynasty.

The Egyptian nai was related to the theme of rebirth/reincarnation. The flute retains its mystical meaning to this day. Today, the most famous of them is called Nai Dervishes, because the dervishes sing and dance to her accompaniment during their mysteries.

transverse flute

The ancient Egyptians were familiar with the transverse flute, which is held perpendicular to the floor and blown into it from the side.

The use of transverse flutes has been recorded in Egyptian bas-reliefs since the 4th Dynasty (2575-2465 BC), for example, in this image from a tomb in the Giza Valley.

These instruments had absolutely wonderful mouthpieces that were used to spread the breath and also act as an aerodynamic chamber.

Several bronze transverse flutes are now kept in the Naples Museum. Similar tools are still found in southern Egypt near Meroe (Sudan).

Pan flute (pan flute)

A panflute is a set or bundle of pipes of various lengths, usually seven in number, each of which is a normal upright flute. The lower ends of the tubes are closed, there are no holes for the fingers. And they are all connected like a raft. The top ends form a straight horizontal line so that the musician's mouth can move along it depending on which note needs to be played.

Many panflute-shaped vessels with sacred oils and cosmetics have been found. They are dated to the period of the New Kingdom, which indicates their widespread use at that time.

Relatively few of these instruments have been found. A well-preserved Pan flute was discovered in the Sebek temple in Faiyum. Another such flute is illustrated in Flinders Petrie's "Everyday Items".

Single reed pipe (clarinet)

A variety of pipes (pipes) were made from reeds, which grew in large numbers along irrigation canals.

The Egyptian single pipe has a reed membrane that vibrates when air is blown in. Air passes through a “beak” (nozzle) made of wood or ivory and is “cut off” on a sharp ledge in the tube itself.

The ancient Egyptian flute is not inferior to the nai and the flute. It was a straight pipe without a thickening on the mouthpiece. A reed pipe differs from a flute in length, the number of holes and other design features.

Two Egyptian pipes are known, 9 and 15 inches (23 and 38 cm) long, and several more from 7 to 15 inches (18-38 cm) long.

Reed pipes had equidistant distances between finger holes. Usually they had three or four holes, 14 of these pipes are now kept in the Leiden Museum. To play the musical scale, the performer had to control his breathing, the work of his fingers and use special playing techniques.

In Egyptian instruments, the ratios between the finger holes give the following intervals:

• Leiden Museum - 12:9:8:7:6 duodecime;
• Turin and Berlin - 12:11:10:9:8 duodecim;
• Turin - 14:12:11:10:9:8:7 quarterdecim;
• Turin - 11:10:9:8:7:6 undecim.

double pipe

A large number of ancient Egyptian reed and double pipes were found in tombs and are now kept in museums around the world. The double pipes were varied in size, some had only one hole, others had two, but they were so close to each other that the musician could blow both at the same time. The mouthpiece consisted of a thin tube, closed at the top. The musician covers this tube with his tongue, which causes the air to vibrate in his mouth.

In a double pipe, the tubes can be either the same length or different. They are blown at the same time, which ensures the sound is in unison. It happens that one tube has finger holes, while the other does not. Sometimes, if only an accompaniment in the form of a monotonous hum is required from the flute, the holes were covered with wax. Sometimes the Egyptians inserted pegs or tubes into the holes to control the sequence of intervals or the style of the performance.

Since the arrangements of the finger holes (and therefore the tones) do not match exactly, certain effects are produced, as well as higher and harsher tones than other musical instruments. The fact of using this method of monotonous playing (humming) is confirmed by the following finds: a peculiar arrangement of fingers when playing the flute, depicted on frescoes; modern practices; detection of flutes with wax-filled holes (except one).

A flute with many holes was used to play melodies, and with holes filled with wax for accompaniment, similar in tone to the sounds of bagpipes. Thus, the double pipe makes it possible to play in an octave range, in an alternating way, in a duet, i.e. simultaneously perform two melodies, rhythmically similar or different.

In Egypt, the Sufi order (like the dervishes) still uses double pipes.

Description of the types of double pipes in ancient and modern Egypt:

a) Double clarinet is a generic name for instruments consisting of two tubes of the same length, fastened together. Made from cane. Double clarinets are depicted in the frescoes in the tomb of Nencheftk (5th Dynasty, 2700 BC), where you can see that they consist of two reeds of the same length. They are very similar to the zummarah, an instrument widely used in modern Egypt and used to perform folk music.

Ancient and modern double clarinets were made and are made to this day from two reeds glued and tied along the entire length and having holes (4, 5 or 6 pieces) located symmetrically and at an equal distance from each other. If necessary, the musician closes two holes on both tubes with one finger and, since the thickness of the reed is not the same everywhere, he receives a sound of different heights, similar to the vibration of the lower register of an organ, the so-called unda maris (sea wave).

Like a glassblower, the musician breathes only through the nose, and constantly exhales a stream of air through the mouth. Different force of exhalation allows to modify the timbre and pitch, and the sound is emitted with constant force and shrillness.

The Egyptian double clarinet was of two types, depending on the type of mouthpiece:

1. zummarah - it has a cut on the bottom of the mouthpiece. This type of clarinet allows you to hit high notes by holding it horizontally and blowing from above.

2. mashurah - it has a cut on the top of the reed pipe. The instrument is held slightly downward to play low notes.

Examples of finds and images of reed clarinets:

• The double clarinet is depicted in the scenes of music-making on the frescoes of the era of the Old Kingdom (4th Dynasty).
• Double clarinet from the tomb of Nekauhor (Saqqara, 5th Dynasty)
• A clarinetist depicted in a fresco in the Imeri tomb (Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty). His posture, playing technique and the number of holes are clearly distinguishable.
• A 12-inch (31 cm) clarinet from the New Kingdom era is kept in the Cairo Museum.

b) Double oboe is a common name for instruments that consist of two reed pipes connected so that their ends diverge in different directions. Each tube has a vibrating reed, which ensures polyphonic sound.

Many detailed images of this instrument have been preserved in ancient Egyptian tombs.

Surviving oboes dating from the Old Kingdom have been found in tombs. Their length varies from 8 to 24 inches (20-60 cm). Number of holes from 3 to 11.

Modern oboists, like their ancestors, assemble a whole instrumental orchestra to satisfy all the requirements of the repertoire.

Examples of discovered oboes and their images:

• An arrow quiver-shaped case found in a tomb near Deir el-Bakhit contained six reed trumpets (three double oboes). It also contained fragments of the mouthpiece - straw lining. In order to meet all the requirements of the reproduced musical work, some holes were filled with wax. Bits of wax have even been found in holes.

A wall painting in an 18th Dynasty tomb depicts a double oboe whose dark brown pipes are connected by a reed mouthpiece.

c) Argul is a double oboe with parallel pipes of different lengths tied together. One of them is much longer than the other. The shorter one conveys the melody, the longer one adds bass. Argul gives the music intensity and mystery. On a long tube, there are either no holes at all, or there are much fewer of them than on a short one.

Bass tubes could be several yards/meters long and could be extended with additional segments if needed. These inserts determined the size of the tool (small, medium or large), as well as the number of holes (five, six or seven).

d) Other instruments. The way of playing the double oboe is very similar to playing the bagpipe, whose prototype dates back to the times of Ancient Egypt.

The Egyptians also invented and used the organ (hydraulic and pneumatic).

Double Horns/Pipes

Horns/trumpets have been known in Egypt since ancient times.

In general, Egyptian bugles are always paired. With two horns: one was blown at dawn, the other at sunset.

Egyptian trumpets were straight, similar to ancient Roman tubas. In general, in ancient Egypt, there were many varieties of pipes. 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) long, they were made of copper and bronze, had a mouthpiece and an extension at the lower end in the form of a bell.

The horn or trumpet were not "military" instruments. Their sounds were associated with rebirth - the transition from one state to another (from one stage to another). As such, they were used in the following cases:

• At a funeral, to "revive" (resurrect) the deceased. They were considered an indispensable attribute of Osiris, the embodiment of resurrection.
• To mark the beginning of a new day (at sunset) and the departure of the night (at dawn). Two different bugles for two different but complementary activities. Used for ritual purposes in temples.
• To celebrate the rebirth, like meeting the New Year.

Finds and images of pipes:

• A trumpeter in a fresco from the tomb of Kagemni (c. 2300 BC).

• Depiction in the Tomb of Nebamon (1400 BC) of a trumpeter leading a funeral procession.
• Silver and gold (or bronze) trumpets from Tutankhamun's tomb (1361-1352 BC, Cairo Museum). The pipes were found lying separately from each other. The length of the silver trumpet is 22.5 inches (57.1 cm), the bronze one is only 19.5 inches (49.5 cm). Both have bells at the ends. The ratio of the lengths of these pipes is 8:9 - Perfect Harmony.

• A trumpeter in a New Year procession on a fresco in the Temple of Luxor (the era of Tutankhamun's reign, 1361-1352 BC).

Chapter 4

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

Percussion instruments are divided into membranophones and idiophones, i.e. depending on whether or not a leather or parchment membrane is required for sound production.

Membranophones

a) Drums.

In ancient Egypt, there were a large number of drums of different sizes, shapes and functional purposes. They could have a leather membrane on one side or both. They hit them with a mallet (stick), fingers or palm branches.

We know three main types of ancient Egyptian drums:

1. Cylindrical. Picturesque representations of drums of this type are unknown. However, several real drums have been found in tombs from different eras. One of them, which is now in the Berlin Museum, is 46 cm high and 61 cm in girth. Like others like it, this drum has stiffening ribs (cords) that can be tightened or loosened at will.

Such a drum was beaten with two slightly curved sticks. The Egyptians also used straight, soft-tipped sticks. The Berlin Museum has several such specimens.

2. Small hand drum - oblong, cylindrical, 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) long, with a parchment membrane on both sides. The drummer could beat with his hands, fingers, and knuckles on both the top and bottom.

3. Stand-alone drum, which is small type. Two types are known. One, floor, is called tabla or darabukka (in the form of a goblet). Its length is from 1.5 to 2 feet (46-60 cm). Drums of another type are made of wood, with mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell overlays, for rigidity around the perimeter they are finished with fish skins. The bottom of the drum is open, 15 inches (38 cm) high.

Drummers in Egypt, playing with their bare hands, knuckles, or just their fingers, achieved perfection in technique, variety of timbres, and complexity of rhythms. A virtuoso player on the tabla (darbukka), as well as on the tambourine, had to master a whole repertoire of rhythmic melodies.

The drummer strikes the main (heavy) strokes to the center of the membrane and the frame, while the auxiliary (light) strikes fall on the area near the rim. By differentiating sounds in this way, the drummer can synchronize the rhythm.

b) Tambourines (tambourines).

The tambourine (rikk or tar) is a musical instrument approximately 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter, with a fish or goat skin stretched over a frame. Ten pairs of small cymbals are inserted into holes symmetrically cut along the circumference of the hoop. The tambourine is held in the left hand with the thumb so that the other four fingers can beat the rhythm along the frame. The right hand is beaten in the center and edges of the membrane. In this way, a light and heavy drum beat is beaten off and, as a result, the rhythm is synchronized.

Duff, like tar, is a type of tambourine. It has a larger diameter - approximately 12 inches (25 cm) - and a narrower rim. It is not suitable for playing synchronized rhythm.

Examples of ancient Egyptian membranophones:

• Fresco fragment from the Sun Temple of Ne-user-ra at Abusir (2700 BC), showing the top of a large drum.
• A well-preserved ancient cylindrical drum dating back 4,000 years was found in the tomb of Beni Hassan. It is 65 cm long, 29 cm wide, braided with leather straps that could be loosened or tightened as desired.
• The temple in Luxor depicts drummers accompanying the procession on the occasion of the New Year.
• A well-preserved drum from the 18th Dynasty, similar in size to the drum from the tomb of Beni Hasan, but cast in bronze.
• Square drum from a fresco in the tomb of Rekhmir (first half of the 15th century BC).
• Several drums with leather straps, kept in museums around the world (Louvre, New York Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art).
• Small frame drums (tars) of the New Kingdom. Most of them are round, but some have concave rims.

Idiophones

a) Impact sticks.

Percussion sticks are a type of ratchet. Their image was found on ancient Egyptian vases around the third millennium BC. They are two sticks that the musician holds in one or both hands and strikes them against each other.

Images of musicians with percussion sticks at harvest festivities can be found on the walls of many burials. In a tomb from 2700 BC you can see scenes from the life of farmers, in which they knock with sticks against each other in a characteristic ritual dance that accompanies fertility rites.

There are similar images in the tomb of Neferirtenef in Saqqara (the era of the Old Kingdom).

We know from the frescoes that the chopsticks were also used during the harvesting and processing of grapes. We know of four such images. On each of them, two musicians kneel in front of each other and hold wooden sticks in their hands. In a bas-relief from the tomb of Mereruk in Saqqara (Old Kingdom), two Egyptians tap their chopsticks to set the rhythm, while vintners crush grapes with their feet.

b) Ratchets.

In ancient Egypt, rattles were used for any occasion. Often they were used to streamline a dance or performance of a piece of music. They may vary slightly in shape. They were made of wood, bone, shells, elephant tusks and copper (or other "voicing" metal). Some were with a straight handle, decorated with a knob or some other decor. In others, the handle was slightly curved and doubled, and the upper part was already crowned with two knobs. The knob was in the shape of the head of a person, animal or bird - a falcon, a bearded man, a gazelle, a cow, a lotus. Many rattles were crowned with the head of Hathor.

Hundreds of such rattles have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. Their sound depended on the size and material from which they were made.

A few examples:

• An ivory ratchet dating from the 1st or 2nd Dynasty.
• A pair of bone rattles in the shape of human hands from the 18th Dynasty.
• Two bone rattles kept in the Cairo Museum.
• Straight bone rattles in the form of hands.

c) Sistrum or Sistra.

The ancient Egyptian sistrum was predominantly a sacred instrument and was intended for use in temples.

It usually consisted of 3 or 4 crossbars, had a height of 20, 40 or 47 cm and was made of bronze and copper. It was sometimes inlaid with silver, covered with gold, or decorated with ornaments. The sistrum was held upright and shaken to make the rings move back and forth along the bars. The crossbars themselves were shaped like a snake body or their ends were simply bent to securely fix them.

Playing the sistrum was such a great privilege that only the queen and those noble ladies who bore the title of the Gentlemen of Amun and were dedicated to the service of God were honored with it.

Throughout the centuries-old history of Egypt, the sistrum was depicted on frescoes and bas-reliefs. Numerous sistrums found are now kept in museums.

d) Cymbals.

Egyptian cymbals were made of copper or an alloy of silver and copper. Their diameter varied from 5.5 to 7 inches (14-18 cm), and the shape completely coincided with the shape of modern cymbals, up to a disc-shaped depression in the center.

Many cymbals have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and are now kept in museums around the world. All specimens found (for example, those exhibited at the New York Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art) are 5 and 7 inches (12 and 18 cm) in diameter.

e) Castanets.

Small paired cymbals worn on the tip of the finger were also commonly used in ancient Egypt. In more recent times, Egyptian migrants brought them to Spain, where they were called castanets because they were made from chestnut wood (castaña).

These tiny cymbals, 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) in diameter, were played by striking the middle finger with the thumb. Castanets, called crotala, were always used in pairs, accompanying them in the dance. In this context, the word "castanets" is used to refer to a ratchet whose striking surfaces were recessed for greater resonance.

Egyptian castanets were usually of two forms: 1) similar in shape to a small wooden shoe, cut in half lengthwise, with a cone-shaped part in the form of a handle; 2) similar to modern Spanish castanets, but not so flat, more similar in shape to the chestnut, after which they were named.

Numerous ancient Egyptian castanets found in tombs are now kept in museums and private collections.

The religious meaning of castanets is confirmed by the discovery of images on the walls of the temple in Luxor, which depict four musicians with castanets leading the procession on the occasion of the Apet (New Year) holiday.

f) Bells (bells).

Ancient Egyptian bells found in tombs were carefully wrapped in cloth. Now they are mostly kept in the Cairo Museum. Egyptologists have studied their sound and have come to the conclusion that they have a fairly wide range and variation in tone. They vary in weight to allow different musical ratios: 9:8 for a whole note, 3:2 for a fifth, and so on.

Bells were mainly made of bronze, less often of silver or gold. Their form could be different. For example, in the form of a jagged cup of a flower.

Numerous finds of molds for bells confirm that foundry was widespread in ancient Egypt. On these forms, a hole for pouring molten metal is clearly visible.

Chemical analysis of the metal from which the bells are made gave the following results: 82.4% copper, 16.4% tin, 1.2% lead.

Bells in Egypt had ritual and practical significance. They were often used by priestesses during ceremonies in temples. Bells were an indispensable attribute at the festivities dedicated to Osiris.

Bells are used to ward off evil spirits. They are hung over the door so that they do not warn with their ringing that someone is entering the house, but to scare away the demons hiding under the threshold.

Examples of finds and images of bells:

• Animals with bells on a vase from the Predynastic period;
• 15 bells in the British Museum;
• Small bells dating back to the New Kingdom period (now in the Cairo Museum);
• Scenes on the inner walls of the Temple of Hathor in Dendera depicting priests hung with ornaments in the form of bells, which are sewn on clothes, bracelets and sandals. And again there is a feeling that these tiny bells play the role of amulets to scare away evil spirits and protect priests in the presence of the gods.
• Some museums exhibit necklaces with bell-shaped pendants.

g) Xylophone or glockenspiel.

In frescoes, this ancient Egyptian instrument is often paired with a lyre. It consists of metal slats or wooden plates arranged according to a certain order of intervals. It represents a certain kind of cymbals. Or, more likely, an orchestrion.

Parts of the body (hands, fingers, thighs, legs, etc.)

Even in ancient Egypt, hand clapping and foot stomping have become finely graduated, dynamic and diverse means of self-expression, and thus acquired a special meaning, turning into a high art in the musical field.

Clapping, stamping feet and snapping fingers in Egypt were rhythmic beats, simple or complex, with varying tonal nuances and dynamically balanced.

The clapping groups of musicians could be made up of men and women, or separate all-female or all-male groups. As a rule, there were two patterns for such a game: for example, 12 claps for one group and 8 claps for the second. Claps set the main shock rhythm until both groups reached the desired dynamics and frequency of claps.

Rhythmically clapping women participating in the festival of Sed are depicted on the walls of the tomb of Kheruef in Thebes (18th Dynasty, 15th century BC).

This form of music-making was considered divine in nature. This tradition is believed to date back to the reign of Unas and is described in the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BC). One passage describes the Muses celebrating the successful rebirth and ascension of Unas to the Upper Realm.

The double gates of heaven have opened... The souls of Butoh dance for you, they applaud you, they unravel their braids for you, they slap their thighs for you. They tell you, Osiris: "You left, you returned, you slept, you woke up, you returned to earth, you came to life."

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (CONCERT, PERFORMANCE)

Merit's conducting hand

Merit is the name of the ancient Egyptian netert (goddess), who was the embodiment (personification) of music. Her main function was to restore cosmic order through the gestures of her hands and, thus, she was a celestial conductor who controlled the notes and the conduct of musical performances.

This understanding of the role of the hand in ancient Egypt led Plato to give the following definition of music, as " the art of managing singers in choral singing". The Greeks attributed their culture of gestures to ancient Egyptian musical practices.

Merit's hand has become a universal symbol of action. With regards to music, it is with the help of fingers that they control the sounds extracted from musical instruments. The position of the fingers determines the pitch. Thus, fingers become the most logical way to express, record and control musical sound.

For the ancient Egyptians, notes, scale, strings and melodies were interconnected, and, therefore, expressed by some kind of one finger - asba (pl. asabi). In Egypt of antiquity and today, the traditional method of "moving the finger" was the only way to distinguish between keys. In the early years of Islamic rule (after 640 AD), the Arab countries still used this Egyptian "finger flick". A few centuries later, they found another way to determine the tonality - maqam (maqam).

The walls of ancient Egyptian tombs and temples depict a series of choreographic, rhythmic and melodic hand movements that correspond to the movements of conductors/gesticulators (chironomids). Different intonations are expressed by certain positions of the hands and fingers (the index finger is opposite the thumb, the hand is extended forward, etc.), leading to complete agreement between the sound intervals of the ancient Egyptian musical system and hand gestures.

The conductor/gesturist played the main role in the orchestra and, with the help of a series of gestures, set the tone and intervals on which the entire performance was built. A study on this topic is presented in the work of H. Hickmann "The Art of Gesticulation in Ancient Egypt."

Symphonic and polyphonic variations are depicted in scenes of music-making on the ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs of the Old Kingdom (4500 years ago), in which the conductor controlled the whole ensemble with the help of hand movements. One or more conductors were depicted to indicate the type of performance.

To achieve different tonality, the following methods were used:

1. two conductors show the same gestures so that the musicians play in unison

2. conductors show different gestures to make the musicians play the chord.

Examples:

a) in the tomb of Ty (Saqqara, the era of the Old Kingdom) there is an image of two conductors (chironomides), directing different gestures with one instrument - a harp, so that the musician reproduces two different sounds, i.e. polyphony (polyphony).

The image of two gesticulators indicates a double tone - sequential or simultaneous.

c) musicians playing a chord in different keys are depicted in the tomb of Nencheftk in Saqqara (5th Dynasty). Three conductors give three different gesture signals to the musicians.

Another bas-relief with polyphonic reproduction in three keys was found on the wall of the tomb of Nekauhor in Saqqara (5th Dynasty).

Recorded sounds.

The ancient Egyptians were a highly pedantic people and documented every aspect of their civilization in writing. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that they recorded, along with the sounds of speech, the sounds of music. For them, the sound of music and speech were sides of the same coin. Written symbols (letters) are sound pictures (displays), i.e. each spoken letter has its own vibration (tonality) just like the musical alphabet.

The ancient Egyptian language is ideal for writing musical notes because its symbols (letters) can be arranged in any order and thus their sequence can be changed like a scale - from top to bottom, right to left and vice versa.

Plato in his "Laws" pointed out that the ancient Egyptians were able to transpose the melody into notes:

… sounds and melodies are harmonious and pleasant. The Egyptians recorded them in detail and immortalized them on the walls of temples.

All early Greek and Roman authors confirmed that there were two main types of writing in ancient Egypt: hieroglyphs (sacred writing) and abbreviated forms of hieroglyphs, characterized by the absence of pictures (something similar to shorthand). Western scientific circles have arbitrarily divided their writing into two types of writing - hieratic and demotic.

Together with the ancient Egyptian musical alphabet, the notation of notes came to Greece a long time ago. Western scholarly circles acknowledge that the Greeks used a system of denoting non-Greek origins. Some called it "an archaic language." Others considered it "a mutilated foreign language". The Greeks used the same letters and sequence of symbols in the alphabet that were and still are in Egypt to write melodies. Greek notes repeated the ancient Egyptian alphabet: A B G D H W Z H T Y K L M N. The number of characters and their order in this alphabet are not similar to the Greek or Arabic alphabet. The Baladi Egyptians are well acquainted with this exclusively Egyptian alphabet. By the way, the ancient Egyptian writings called "Ptolemy" use the same sequence of characters in the alphabet as in the works of John of Damascus.

François Joseph Fethi, an experienced musicologist, discovered that the roots of the Greek designation of notes lie in the demotic (common) form of ancient Egyptian writing. Here is what he writes in his "Biographie Universelle des Musiciens et Bibliographie Générale de la Musique":

I do not have the slightest doubt that such a system of notation for notes (used in modern Greek church music) belongs to the ancient Egyptians. Supporting my theory is the close resemblance of this system of notation, erroneously attributed to John of Damascus, to ancient Egyptian demotic writing.…

in long and detailed analysis Feti points out the similarity between the symbols used by the Greeks to indicate the duration of notes, and the same signs of ancient Egyptian demotic writing. As a result, he comes to the following conclusion:

After a careful analysis of the system of notation used in music by the Greek Church, and after comparing its features with those in the demotic writing of the Egyptians, can we still doubt that the invention of these notations should be attributed to the ancient Egyptians, and not to St. John of Damascus?

The analysis of Feti and the conclusions drawn on its basis unambiguously prove that the ancient Greeks borrowed the notation system from the Egyptians.

Another musicologist, Charles Bourney, noted that a review of existing notation systems proves that the ancients used more than 120 (or rather 125) different symbols to represent sounds. And if we also take into account the number of variations of tempos and keys, we get more than 1600 musical symbols. A large number of these symbols, consisting mainly of dashes, hooks, squiggles, straight and sharp angles, and other simple figures arranged in different orders, Burney called "mutilated foreign language." Feti, on the other hand, found out that they are just letters of the ancient Egyptian demotic script.

Studying the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic writing, one can easily find their great similarity with modern designations musical flags, keys, notes, legato signs, points, arcs, which is as follows:

• Dots, dashes, ><, b, p, овалов.
• Various sizes and colors of circles and their sections, i.e. ½ and ¼ circles, as well as arcs.
• Lines (vertical and horizontal), crosses, diagonal dashes, hooks.
• Combinations of all of the above characters.

Thus, it was easy to adhere to the system of ancient Egyptian symbols, as it was consistent with their language.

Rhythmic sync.

According to Plato (Phileb 18-b,c,d), the ancient Egyptians identified three elements, representing an ordered flow of sound (constant pitch, noise and silence). These three categories allow you to determine the duration of each sound, as well as the rest time (pause) between successive sounds.

Music, like language, is read in a general pattern, and not in separate parts, i.e. we read words, not letters. Understanding music/words/phrases depends on sensation and memory; for we must not only feel the sounds at the moment when they are played by the instrument, but also remember those that sounded before, in order to be able to compare them with each other. It is the length of time separating one key from another that is the organizing factor for listening, feeling and understanding music or spoken words/phrases.

The emotional effect of music largely depends on the rhythm. Rhythm is essentially a flow: the rise and fall of the intensity of a sound. Rhythm takes many forms. The main saturation and individuality of the sound depends on its rhythm. It can be a contrast of strong and weak impulses, different duration and intensity of notes, low and high tones, lento and engraving. The combination of all these parameters gives the rhythm its special character.

Maintaining a certain rhythm was and still is very important, since the poetic and musical connection between ancient and modern Egypt remains inseparable. Therefore, any deviation from the given rhythm not only destroys the beauty of the verse, but even changes the very meaning of the words of which it consists. Mispronunciation of vowels gives a completely different sound and, accordingly, changes the whole word.

Beating the beat in music is very important, because if the musician (not the drummer) falls out of timing, the music stops, and the human ear seems to be distracted and tuned in to other sounds. Rhythm is like a constant pulse. It acts as a yardstick by which we can determine the duration of notes and the rest between them. Rhythm can be set in the following ways:

1. Musicians learn to keep time with the help of onomatopoeic syllables. Due to the similarity of syllables of speech and musical notes, this method is considered the most natural.

Singing to accompaniment is carried out according to the same scheme and is performed in two ways: a) with the help of certain syllables corresponding to the duration of the note or the pause between them; b) by counting to yourself.

As a rule, two sizes of syllables were used: long and short, i.e. the long vowel ratio was 2:1. These two basic elements were used in numerous variations for different ways of counting - depending on the number of beats and pauses per unit of time.

2. Tapping the foot on the floor, as a way of beating the rhythm, can be seen on ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs.

3. In many images of musical performances in ancient Egypt, the musicians are given the beat by clapping their hands.

4. The Egyptians used and still use various types of drums - tabla, tar, rikki, as well as timpani for beating the rhythm.

5. Usually the Egyptians used a combination of two methods of setting the rhythm - audible and silent.

• The ancient Egyptians had various ways to give a silent signal: a raised shoulder, turning the palm down or up, straightening or clenching the fingers. It was possible to fold the thumb and forefinger into a ring, while the other hand was applied to the ear or placed on the knee with the palm up or down. The thumb was either raised up or pressed against the index finger.

Rhythm could be set with both the right and left hand, and in some cases with both hands.

The fingers also alternated. For a two-beat rhythm, quarters were indicated by raising the little finger first, then the ring, middle and index fingers in succession.

• The audible way of beating time was reproduced by clapping palm on palm or on the thighs with one or both hands.

The tomb of Amenemhet at Ta-Apet (Thebes, 1500 BC) depicts a conductor standing in front of the performers and setting the rhythm by tapping his heel on the floor and snapping the fingers of both hands.

Mood and Tone

We all know that music can make us both happy and sad. The emotional power of some works is such that we experience a whole range of feelings - unbridled joy, rapture, exaltation, religious awe, love, playfulness, reflection, seriousness, sadness, longing, patriotism, sorrow, passion, serenity, calmness, joy, despair, melancholy , excitement and more.

Thus, in a piece of music, it was necessary to follow certain criteria in order to achieve the desired result. And it was the ancient Egyptians who were the first to realize this fact and began to put it into practice.

In the 4th century BC. Plato argued that the Ideal State should be built on the basis of music - a well-established system based on the theory of musical ethos, i.e. on the theory of the psychophysiological impact of music on the state and the individual. These ideas, as Plato himself says in his Dialogues, were borrowed from ancient Egypt. He, in fact, in his work directly indicates that the Greeks considered the ancient Egyptians the only creators of the Ideal Laws, which dominate, among other things, over music. Thus, the following can be summed up:

1. Only in Egypt were the laws of sound governing melodies and pieces of music.

2. Only in Egypt were there well-elaborated standards for melodies and keys, regulating when, where and on what occasion a particular musical performance is held.

3. Only in Egypt did they practice the application of the Laws to music, dance, poetry, etc.

Adaptation and translation - Dolzhenko S.N.

How were the masterpieces of Egyptian culture created: pyramids and temples, stone colossi and sculptures?

Many questions still remain unanswered.

One of these mysteries is how the ancient masters worked. It is interesting that the tools that the Egyptians worked with practically unchanged "survived" to this day.

How did the Egyptian craftsmen achieve such amazing results with ordinary tools? How did they manage to carve statues from diorite, which is second only to diamond in hardness? How did they manage to put together the most beautiful pyramids from multi-ton blocks, which, in addition to their almost absolute mathematical form, also have a strictly defined orientation in space. Let's take a closer look at these tools and try to understand the secret of the Egyptian masters.

Hacksaw. Its form has not changed much. In Egypt, tools were made of copper and its alloy with tin - bronze. The Egyptians did not know it, it came to Egypt from Greece, and it was widely used only in the Ptolemaic era.

Plane. It is not very similar to the modern one, but thanks to such an unusual shape, this tool combined the functions of three tools at once: a planer, a cycle and an ax. As a planer, they took it with two hands, like an ordinary planer, however, they had to pull on themselves. If we slightly change the angle of the blade in relation to the surface to be treated, then the same tool worked like a scraper, scraping a thin layer from the surface. And if you take it by the long handle, then they could cut or chop something.

Drill. The Egyptians can rightly be called the discoverers of the diamond tool. When an Egyptian master had to drill something very hard, he poured a layer of wet fine quartz sand in place of the future hole. After that, the master began to drill. The tool was copper, but hard quartz sand was pressed into the surface of the copper rod, and an abrasive coating was obtained, as on modern diamond tools.

One of the secrets of the Egyptian masters is their attitude to work. They approached the work creatively, showed ingenuity and ingenuity, and this is possible only if you are not indifferent to your work.

The Egyptians believed in the existence of an earthly and heavenly Egypt. Everything that is in earthly Egypt is a reflection of what is in heavenly Egypt. The Egyptian master, before starting work, tried to capture the heavenly image in order to embody it in the material. It is no coincidence that in various precision measuring instruments there is a symbol of the heart - ib, since the human heart is the most accurate instrument that is sensitive to any falseness and disharmony. The Egyptian master, performing any work, listened, first of all, to the voice of his heart. And, perhaps, that is why the Egyptian masters turned out such beautiful things that have not been able to be repeated so far.

It is rather difficult to talk about the musical culture of Ancient Egypt, because unlike other art forms, music leaves almost no traces in history. But scientists were able to draw conclusions from instruments and texts, bas-reliefs and various images, which featured musicians, singers, performers, instruments. But we will never know the real meaning of the music of Ancient Egypt.
The harp and flute are themselves ancient musical instruments. In the beginning, everything was based on the singer. He sang the song, and the musicians accompanied him. But during the reign of the XVIII dynasty, orchestras began to appear. One fresco depicted a blind musician. Girls danced around him, playing the harp, flute and lute at the same time. In addition to melody, rhythm played an important role. In this regard, the music was accompanied by clapping. When vocal music was performed, percussion instruments were not used. There is one funny papyrus that dates back to the period of the XVIII dynasty. It depicts the stage of an orchestra performance. In it, the donkey plays the harp, the lion plays the lyre and sings at the same time, the crocodile plays the lute, and the monkey plays the double flute.
Women musicians only accompanied during the dances. They could either dance and play musical instruments at the same time, or just play while other women dance to their music. The harp and an instrument similar to the modern guitar were considered feminine. During the dance, the women beat the rhythm with an instrument, which consisted of two palm-shaped planks made of ivory. This is a prototype of the Spanish castanets.

When sacred music was performed, the main instrument was the sistrum. This is a ceremonial musical instrument that was an attribute of the goddess Hathor. The sistrum consisted of a metal plate shaped like an oblong horseshoe. A handle was attached to the narrower part of the instrument. On the sides of the horseshoe, small holes were made through which metal rods were threaded. They were of different sizes, and the ends were bent with a hook. The mallets were beaten on the bars, or the whole instrument was shaken to set the bars in motion. some sistra had metal rings, which were put on three on each rod. this instrument was used in ceremonies, one way or another connected with the goddess Hathor, religious processions, as well as during divine services. There are legends that say that the harmonious and mysterious sound of the sistra had magical properties. He gave love, inspiration, happiness, returned hope and joy, healed the soul and body, awakened a person to life. The tambourine was used as a percussion instrument. With this instrument, the images show the god Bes dancing around a newborn baby.
Also Egyptian were such spiritual instruments as the flute and trumpets. The flutes were a little less than a meter long, but had different sizes, and were also simple and double. The earliest flute found by scientists belongs to the period of the 4th dynasty. But the first double flutes appeared only during the XII dynasty. Only during the reign of the 18th dynasty do trumpets appear. They were used only in the army. Fighting silver pipes were found in the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amon.

The most ancient stringed instrument was the harp. During the period of the Old Kingdom, it was played by female musicians who accompanied the male singer. And during the period of the New Kingdom, small harps began to appear that could be carried, as well as medium harps with a stand. at the same time, large harps appeared, on which a floral or geometric ornament was applied, it had carved heads decorated with gilding. Often present in the images, the lute and lyre are foreign instruments. The lyre appeared during the reign of the XII dynasty. One of the frescoes depicts a gypsy-looking musician playing the lyre. However, it was not as common as the lute. During the New Kingdom, the lute was often played by dancing girls.