, 1876-09-16
Ancient Musical Instruments.

posed ruins Of Babylon, found a pipe Of
baked Cay about three inches long,
which, by common agreement OF anti
1utieS. is of Assyran workmanship.
This little object can hardly be less than
2GOO years old, and is probably the most
ancient musical instrument in existence.
1t las two finger holes, and when both
Of .hese are closed, and the mou,hpiece.
is blown into, the note c is produced.
If only one hole is closed, the sound
emitted is T., and if both are open G is
produced. Thus the notes of this in.
strument, which is believed to be the
very oldest yet discovered, produces the
tonic, the third, and the titth-that is,
the intervals of the common chord, the
notes which, sounded together, form
what is termed by musicians the har-
monic triad. Here is at once established
n certain coincidence between our music
and that which must have existed during
the Babylonian captivity--a coincidence
to he sure priori reasoning might go
far to establish, but never SO convinc-
ingly tn non scientific understandings as
does the evidence of this in insignificant
pipe. The least observant student of
the art remains found among the ruined
cities of tile Assyrian and Babyloniar
plains cannot tail to be struck with the
evidence which they afford of strong
and widely y-dffused musical culture
among the kindred races who inhabited
them. The frequent introduction in
mural paintings and bas reliefs of in
struments Of music, the representations
OF concerts and long professions of mu-
sicians, the repeated illusions in the
Bible to the musical habits and skill OF
the people of Babylon, all point to a
singular development of the art Of music,
In the opinion ot Rawlinson the Assyri-
ans were superior in musical ski!l, as
they were in every form OF culture, to
the Egyptians themselves, and the
Assyrio- Babylonian music was, there
is little reason to doubt, an early
and yet highly developed form Of the
Asiatic type Of music-a type which
possesses to this day most extensive and
most characteristic developments among
the changing nations of Asia. II
we are asked for more positive proofs OF
the advance of music among this nation,
we point to the unmistakable evidence
afforded by the constructional compica'
tion OF many of their instruments. We
have from among the ruins of Nineyeh
countless representations of the harp,
with strings varying in number from ten
to twenty y-six-, Of the Tyre, identical in
structure, though not in shape, with the
Tyre of Greece; and of an instrument
differing from any known to modern
musicians. 1t was harp shaped, was
held horizontally, and the strings, six to
ten IN number, were struck by ptectrum
held in the right hand; it has been
called the asor, from its resemblance to
the Hebrew instrument OF that name,
We find frequent representations OF a
gultar-shaped instrument, and Of
double pipe with single mouth-piece,
and finger holes on each pipe. Besides
these, the Assyrians had musical bells,
trumpets, flutes, drums, cymbals and
tambourincs. Almost every one of these
instruments, either in its original torn
or slightly modified, is in use to this
day by some Asiatic or African nation.
The ancient Greeks adopted the Tyre
and thu double pipe; the former is still
used by the Ahyssinians under the name
of kissar Greek kithara.) The double
pipe the present writer hns himself seen
in use by the boatmen Of the Nile. The
guitar Of the Abyssin is probably
identical with the longnccked guitar or
tamboura depicted on both Assyrian and
Egyptian monuments, and still in use all
over the East, and even in Ilindustan.
The ancient Assyrian harp is remarkable
for not having the front pillar which
completes the triangle in the European
harp, and this apparent defect Of CON
struction is characteristic OF every sort
OF harp employed in Asia at this day.
On Assyrian bas.reliets we find represen-
tations OF concerts, in which several OF