Ancient Egyptian Tiunboiiriiu's (1, a) and Tabrct-dium.
2, circular)
pinjr hands. (V ish Museum.)
such as was afterwards imitated and somewhat improved upon by the Tomi)le organ before alluded to — the mar/rfphtih of the 'I'almud. Sec Ei,i-tk.
III. Instruments of Percussion and A f/it a tion.—l. The most ancient pulsatile instrument mentioned in the O. T. is the m, tapli, consisting of a narrow circle or hoop of wood or metal covered with a tightened skin, and struck with the hand. The Sept. renders the word by Ti'inravov, a drum. The " timbrel" of our own ver- sion is prcfprablc, .is there can be no doubt that the in- strument intended was of the same nature and form as the timbrel or tambourine still in use in Oriental coun-
men (as in the bringing up of the ark, 1 Chron. xiii, 8 ; in worship, 1 Sam. x, 5; Psa. cxlix, 3; cl, 4), although
1 this is by no means certain. It frequently occurs on the Egyptian monuments (Wilkin.-on, Anc. Egypt, ii, 240). There were three kinds, dift'trlng. no doubt, in sound as
' well as form : one was circular, another sipiare or oblong, and the third consisted of two squares separated by a bar. They were all beaten by the hand, and often used as an accompaniment to the harp and other instruments. The im]>erfcct manner of representation does not allow us to see whether the Egyptian tambourine had the
I same movable j)ieces of metal let into the wooden frame which we find in the tambourines of the present day. Their presence may, however, be inferred Irom the man- ner in which the tamliourlne is lield up after being struck: and we know that the (;reek instruments were furnished with balls of metal attached by short thongs to the circular rim (Wilkinson, , I »«>«/ AV^/)/. ii. 314). At mournings for the <ie.ad the tambourine was some- times introduced among the I'gyplians.and the "mourn- ful song" was accom])anied by its monotonous sound. This is still a custom of the ICast. and probably existed among the Jews. See MotitNiNc;.
'Vhatoph wasthusan instrument of the(/r»m kind; and it is highly probable that, as other varieties of the drum,
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS V
some of them much resembling the drums of modem times, were in use among both the Assyrians and Egyp- tians, they were also introduced among the Hebrews. If so, they must be included under the general name of toph. The ancient Egyptians had a long drum, very similar to the tomtom of India. It was about two feet or two feet and a half in length, and was beaten with the hand. The case was of wood or copper, covered at both ends with parchment or leather, and braced with eords extended diagonally over the exterior of the cyl- inder (figs. 1, 2). it was used chiefly in war. There
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
'=^^
Drums.
1. Ancient E^vptian (Thebes); 2. Carried on back during march (Roael- lini) ; 3. Modern tarabika (^Deacript. de I'Egi/ple) ; 4. Ancient Egyptian, with sticlis (Willtinson).
was another larger drum, less unlike our own : it was about two feet and a half long by about two feet broad, and was shaped much like a sugar-cask (fig. 4). It was formed of copper, and covered at the ends with red leather, braced by catgut strings passing through small holes in its broad margin. This kind of drum was beaten with sticks. It does not appear on the monuments, but an actual specimen was found in the excavations made by D'Athanasi in 18-23, and is now in the museum at Paris. Another species of drum is represented in the Egyptian paintings, and is of the same kind which is still in use in Egypt and Arabia under the name of the tarahuka drum. It is made of parchment stretched over the top of a funnel-shaped case of metal, wood, or pottery. It is beaten with the hand, and when relaxed the parchment is braced by exposing it for a few moments to the sun or the warmth of a fire (flg. 3, above). This kind of drum claims par- ticular attention from its being supposed to be repre- sented on one of the coins ascribed to Simon Macca- baeus (fig. 5 of the second cut under No. 3, below). When closely examined, this instrument will appear to be the same in principle with our kettle-drum, which, indeed, has been confessedly derived from the East, where other instruments on the same principle are not wanting. One of them (fig. 4 of the second cut under No. 3, below) is just the same as the instrument we have derived from it; others are smaller in various degrees, are of different forms, and are tapped lightly with the fingers. Such drum-tabrets were not unknown to the ancient Egyp- tians (fig. 3 of the cut next but one preceding). The rabbins speak obscurely of a sort of drum, or magrephah, which may have been of this kind. It stood, they say, in the Temple court, and was used to call the priests to prayer, the Levites to singing, and leprous persons to their purification. They venture to add that its sound could be heard from Jerusalem to Jericho (Buxtorf, Lex. Rabbin, s. v. n3"i-i5^). See Tabrkt.
2. 'fi'QV'^jjjaamSn. This name nowhere occurs but with reference to the small golden appendages to the robe of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii, 33 ; xxxix, 25),