Impressions on clay seals reveal that the harp was known
in ancient Persia from about 3000 b.c.e. onward. Th e earliest
harps had an arched shape, but aft er about 1900 b.c.e. angu-
lar versions replaced them. In some angular harps the sound
box was horizontal, in others vertical. Th e instruments had
between 15 and 25 strings probably made of animal sinew.
(Th e early arched harps had far fewer strings.) Some Persian
angular harps were large enough to rest on the ground, and
others were small enough to be carried. Th ere are many de-
pictions of the smaller versions from the rest of the Near East
as well.
Like the harp, the ancient Near Eastern lyre came in two
sizes: small and portable and large and stationary. In some
cuneiform texts the small lyres are called zinar and the large
ones hunzinar. Th e lyre diff ers from the harp in that the lyre’s
sound box is on the bottom and the strings are suspended
from a horizontal bar that passes between the instrument’s
two upright arms. Th ree diff erent lyres were found at Ur, all
on the large side. However, they pale in comparison with the
giant lyres of the Late Bronze Age, which stood taller than the
musicians. Images of these instruments show that they were
played by two people, one at either end or side of the lyre.
Lutes arrived relatively late in the Near East—the fi rst
mention of them comes from around 2000 b.c.e. Having only
a couple of strings, they did not look much like the medieval
European lutes familiar to us, and the instrument remained a
novelty in many areas. For unknown reasons lute players are
oft en shown dancing and even depicted naked, unlike other
musicians in ancient Near Eastern art.
Given the close association between music and religion
in the ancient Near East, it is not surprising that many of the
most important positions held by singers or musicians were
connected with religion. In Sumer the highest-ranking posi-
tion in some cities was that of precentor, the leader of sing-
ing or chanting in religious worship. Musicians and singers
in Mesopotamia formed guilds and sometimes lived in the
temple colleges, though many of these performers were not
full-time temple employees. Over time some musicians began
playing or singing for funerals and magic rites and became
private, rather than public, servants.
Several Mesopotamian gods and goddesses were associ-
ated with music. Ea, god of wisdom and freshwater, was the
patron god of all music, and Ishtar/Inanna (goddess of love
and war), her husband Tammuz/Dumuzi, and the storm god
Ramman were the patrons of singing and pipe playing. Even
the many divinities with no direct links to music all appar-
ently loved it, for most of the important religious rituals re-
quired singing, music, or both.ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
Music was an important art form throughout ancient Asia
and the Pacifi c. People sang, chanted, and played instruments
of various t y pes. In China people were ma k ing music long be-
fore recorded history. In Henan Province archaeologists have
found a fl ute made of a bird bone that dates to 7000 b.c.e.;
other prehistoric instruments may be even older. Music was
a well-developed art form in China during the Zhou Dynasty
(1045–256 b.c.e.). Th e imperial court had its own musicians
and styles of music, while the ordinary people played and sang
folk music. During the Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.e.) the em-
peror created a bureau of imperial music to regulate the mu-
sic played throughout China; this bureau established rules for
court music, military music, and folk music. Although musi-
cians played for emperors, they had low social status. Ancient
Chinese musicians invented a number of instruments to play
music on the Chinese fi ve-note scale. Th e fl ute was one of the
earliest instruments. In the fi rst three millennia b.c.e. fl utes
were usually made of bamboo, which was readily available
and easily worked, allowing common people to make fl utes.
Stringed instruments were widely played in ancient
China. One of the most common was a seven-stringed in-
strument called the qin, or guqin, which resembled a modern
zither and was played by plucking. Th e qin is still played inRelief plaque of harpist from the Old Babylonian Period (ca. 2000–1600
b.c.e.) (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)
766 music and musical instruments: Asia and the Pacific