The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1920-03-31

later on the women became more and
more active in the art. The 'timbret
mentioned would have been the small
Egyptian hand-drum (thc Hebrew
Toph), or species of rectangular
tambourine. In the scene described In
FIX. XXxii., IS. 10. cymbals were also
most probably used, as they were
among the flesh-pots of Egypt to mark
the time for the dancers. With the
Jews they bore the onomatopoeic name
of TziltZelim. and they are mentioned
in Ps. cl The Egyptian Sistrum, too,
was borrowed by the lsraclites. and
was n racquet-shaped frame of bronze,
having transverse bars of metal on
which juggling rings We're strung. The
instrument was used in Egypt as an
adjunct to religious service, principal.
ly that in honor of Isis, and many
passages in the papyri show its uses
(e.g., Berlin Papyrus No. 1925 and
British Museum Papyrus No. 1O1sS).
The Hebrew name for its seems to
have been Menane'im, as mentioned in
III. Sam. vi. 3. Winer and Saal
schultz Ito quote Carl Engel think
they see in this word the Hebrew for
sistrum, and Newman (1S32). connect
ing menane'im with nu'a-shaken.
strengthens the supposition, since the
sistrum was the only instrument of
percussion played by shaking. The
bell was also used by the Israelites.
| and called PamOn; we find it so nam
ed in Elk. xviii. 80, "a, where the i'll
structions are given to sew bells ana
pomegranates to the hem of the High
Priests garment; and this is exactly
| the use to which the small bell was
put in Egypt The Jewish custom OF
!ffixing these bells to the priests
robe, probably survives today i'll tho
bells that adorn the scroll of the Law.
The Trumpet is mentioned i'll EX.
xix, 1G, 10 and xx., Is, hut IN these
places the word shofar would have
been better translated by horn This
was no doubt Il legacy of the days of
the Patriarchal herdsmen. After the
Exodus, straight trumpets were also
| made of metal on the model of those
used by the Egyptians for military pur-
poses. Wrought in silver and increas-
| ed in size. this instrument became the
chatzozeroh depicted on the arch of
Titus, and concerning the shape Of
which no doubt can remain.
1t will be necessary to speak of one
| more Instrument because it was of
| Semitic origin-the Kitharn or Tyre. A
mural painting at Benz Hassan, dating
from the period of Josephs arrival in
| Egypt, shows u party of strangers en-
tcring the country. They are lighter
| in coloring than the natives, their
| features are Semitic, and they wear
| LACK boards; and many authorities
see in these people the family of jacob.
Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson reprOduccs
! the picture in his Manners and Gus
| toms, etc., and says: If the
strangers at Benz Hassan should prove
to be the arrival of jacobs family in
Egypt, we may examine the Jewish
Tyre drawn by an Egyptian artist. :
This instrument was, to my way of
| thinking, the KinnOr of the Bible, and
| there is every reason for believing that
| il was this Kithara that David used /:
Mt all events. we find such Tyres, differ
ing only in shape. as late as the Mnc-
cabean period. when they were rep
resented on coins. The Egyptian vari
| ETY. of the Instrument, as seen from
specimens in the museums of Berlin
and Leydcn, differ from the Tyre
shown ut Benz Hassan; but whether the
Egyptians improved upon the lsrueli-
tic instrument, or whether the He
brews adapted the better points in an
instrument already naturalize1 in
Egypt to their own, l cannot say In
any case, neither form is of purely
Egyptian origin, and if the dwellers
on the Nile did not receive it from
the family of jacob, they must have
had it from some other semitic tribe.
The Greek Kithara was very like these
forms ard was borrowed from one OF