Ancient Egypt Music: Discovering Magical Instruments

There are many stories and novels that scientists have announced about ancient Egypt music as music and singing had a high status among the ancient Egyptians, and there were many musical instruments that they played and enjoyed singing on and there are also many romantic and popular songs that were discovered in the Pharaonic era, and we will learn about them through our article with you today, so follow us.

Musical instruments of the Pharaohs

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There are many musical instruments that the ancient Egyptians played the most prominent of which are the following:

• The musical instrument of the junq

One of the most prominent types of ancient Egypt music is the junq instrument or the harp or cymbal as it was called in the past, which is one of the oldest and most common stringed instruments It is a wooden box that amplifies the sound and vertical strings come out of it that connect to the wooden leg at its ends.

It was made in different sizes, some of which are placed directly on the ground some of which are fixed on a base, and some of which are curved and reach the length of the person playing it or a little more, which is why it is played standing up. The player used his hands on two different strings to obtain two concurrent notes, which are (the decision and the answer).

The wood of the junq is made of ebony and decorated with gold, which is one of the most important ancient Egyptian metals and precious stones The strings of the junq range from 9 to 19 strings, and it has pegs that are responsible for fixing the strings They are like keys in modern instruments and are colored white.

• The Pharaonic musical instrument (the sesame instrument)

The musical instrument is a wooden instrument of Asian origin, known in modern Egypt as the sesame instrument The number of its strings is about 5 strings parallel between the sound box and the wooden frame and is closed vertically or horizontally during playing, The name of the kanara in colloquial Egyptian was (Kenar) and it was transferred by the Hebrews and called (Kenor) and then the Arabs transferred it and called it Kinara.

The number of strings of the kanara increased to become 13 strings, and five kanaras were found and placed in a number of famous museums in the world, three of which were placed in the Berlin Museum, one in the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands, and one in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

• The Pharaonic musical instrument Tanbur

One of the most important types of ancient Egypt music is the Tanbur instrument, which is a wooden box with an oval shape from which a short or long note comes out, and it resembles the oud instrument It was carried on the chest or placed horizontally or vertically like the Rababa and has 3 or 4 strings.

• Pharaonic musical instrument Rababa

The Rababa is one of the most prominent types of ancient Egypt music that was made from tree wood and goat or gazelle skin This instrument consists of a single string, which may be from a horse’s tail or a bow string.

• Pharaonic musical instrument Mezmar

The Mezmar is a reed perforated with different lengths There is also the double flute, which is two flutes that meet at the mouth and move apart the further away they are from it, It is considered one of the most important ancient Egypt music.

• Pharaonic musical instrument Trumpet (Trumpet)

One of the most important ancient Egypt music instruments is the trumpet, which is a metal instrument that reaches more than half a meter in length and was used in the past for military purposes.

• Pharaonic musical instrument Nay

The Nay is one of the most famous ancient Nasr music instruments and may be double.

• Pharaonic Music Organ

The organ is one of the most famous musical instruments in ancient Egypt. It is a set of short and long pipes that work by applying water pressure to the air Scientists have discovered that the first water organ appeared in the city of Alexandria during the Ptolemaic era around 170 BC It was invented by a person named (Aktsippus).

Percussion Instruments in Ancient Egypt

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As we mentioned some of the musical instruments of ancient Egypt, we will get to know together some of the percussion instruments in ancient Egyptian civilization Here are the most prominent of them:

• Drum

It is a cylinder made of wood or metal and is provided with a large piece of leather The drums are beaten with different size and shape beaters.

• Tambourine

There are two types of tambourines, one made of wood and another rectangular type There are also many engravings, pictures and artifacts that depict its ancient appearance.

• Cymbals

Cymbals were made of copper in ancient times and resembled a small gear They are sheets of yellow copper with a small diameter and are held with a handle when used.

• The drums

They are small drums with a very high resonance.

• The cymbals (strom)

It is a metal in the shape of a horseshoe with some fine rods that make a resonance when moved, and women used them during religious playing.

• The cups

They are metal tools that resemble cups and are struck against each other to make sounds.

• The cymbals (shats)

This instrument is made of wood and is a very small instrument, It is also used recently for children and is called the shats.

The musical scale in ancient Egypt

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The ancient Egyptians linked music to the movement of celestial bodies as in astronomy in ancient Egypt and they believed that the rhythm of ancient Egypt music was one aspect of the rhythm of the universe, so they sought to discover the relationship between the balance of planets and stars and musical melodies, as a hieroglyphic symbol was placed for each note of the seven-note musical scale, which is part of the ancient Egyptian language and resembles the symbol of the corresponding planet, for this reason the symbol of the planet became the same as the symbols of the Nasrid seven-note musical scale.

The ancient Egyptians did not limit themselves to this evidence only, but they saw that all the ancient Egyptian sciences and sacred arts such as medicine, architecture, music and sculpture in ancient Egypt were connected to each other and were driven by one law and one calculation Therefore, they confirmed that these sciences were the domain of the clergy according to the system of government in ancient Egyptian civilization and that their first place was the funerary temples, but music seeped into civil life and was Everyone practices it, but it remained disciplined in its rules through the high priest Amun, who punished anyone who deviated from these rules, as in the ancient Egyptian religion.

In the beginning the Egyptian musical scale was a pentatonic scale as it came from an astronomical origin, and they believed that there was a great symmetry between the five spheres and the musical scale.

It was changed in the era of the modern state from a pentatonic musical scale to a heptatonic scale and they added two notes to it to become a heptatonic scale and it consisted of seven symbols which are the symbols of the seven planets.