1. Ancient Mesopotamian Music
Nineveh, Relief, the Royal Elamite Orchestra, c BCE
Upper-chested harps
Lower-chested harps
Double reed-pipes
Drum

3. Idiophones KRATAL = rattle
URUDU NIG-KAL-GA = large copper or bronze bell

4. KRATEL (?)
Ur, Archaic Seal, c. 2800, Bow-Shaped Harp and Clappers, presently held at University Museum, Philadelphia
I am connecting these clappers with KRATEL because of the sonic similarity to the later terms krotala and crotala.

5. URUDU NIG-KAL-GA
Nineveh, Horse Bell, c. 700 BCE, presently held in the British Museum

6. Babylonia, Incantation Bell, c
Babylonia, Incantation Bell, c. 600 BCE, presently held in the Berlin Museum

7. Babylonian Plaque, Kettle-Drum and Cymbals, c
Babylonian Plaque, Kettle-Drum and Cymbals, c BCE, presently held in the British Museum
LILIS-drum and cymbals

8. Membranophones UB [Akk. “uppu”] = drum
SU UB = drum made from skin, leather
UB-ZABAR = drum made of bronze
BALAG [Akk., Ass. “balaggu”, “balangu”, “palagga”, “pelaggu”] = drum made from two skulls, hourglass drum
BALAG-DI [Akk. “tumbuttu”, “timbputu”] = smaller version of BALAG
DUB = drumhead made of copper

9. A-LA / SU A-LA = giant suspended drum
LILIS = [Akk. “lilissu”] large (stationary) and small (processional) goblet drums
AD-A-PA [Akk. “adapu”]= timbrel with rectangular frame and two skin-heads
su ME-ZE [Akk. “mezu”, “manzu”] = tambourine with one head

10. BALAG-DI
Babylonian Figurine, Hourglass-Shaped Drum, c BCE, presently held in the British Museum
BALAG-DI = small drum made from two skulls

11. A-LA / SU A-LA
Ur-Nammu, Stele, Large Drum, c BCE, presently held in University Museum, Philadelphia
A-LA / SU A-LA = giant suspended drum

12. LILIS
Erech, Tablet Showing a Vase-Shaped Drum, c. 300 BCE, presently held in Brussels Museum
LILIS = large (stationary) or small (processional) vase-shaped drum

13. AD-A-PA
Ur, Royal Cemetery, Plaque, Lyre, Sistrum, and Squre Timbrel, c BCE
Cartoon on a decorative panel on the front of a Sumerian lyre, Ur, c BCE, University Museum, Philadelphia
GIS AL-GAR = lyre played by an ass
AD-A-PA = rectangular timbrel played by a bear
sistrum played by a jackal

14. su ME-ZE
Nippur Figurine, c BCE, Large Timbrel, presently held in the University Museum, Philadelphia, PA
ME-ZE = tambourine with one skin stretched over the head

15. Babylonia, Figurine, Small Tibrel, c
Babylonia, Figurine, Small Tibrel, c BCE, presently held in British Museum
ME-ZE = tambourine with one skin stretched over the head

16. Aerophones TI-GI [Akad. “tigu”, “tegu”] = vertically held reed
KA-GI = mouth reed
IMIN-E TI-GI = “seven note” reed
GI-GID / GI-BU/ GIS-SIR = long reed
GI-DIM = large reed
NA [Akad. “nabu”] = single beating reed (cf. clarinet)
GI-ER-RA / GI-IR-RA = “lament”

17. S[H]EM [Akk. “halhallatu”] = double pipe
GIS HAR-HAR = double pipe made of wood
KITMU [Akk. “katamu”] = reed covered by cap of rush, gourd, wood or horn
PITU = curved single beating reed
DUN-GI GU = “bent pipe”
PULLU / MEKKU / KIZALLU = military trumpets

18. SIM / SI-IM / SI-IM-DA / SI-IM-DU = blowing horn
KARAN = war trumpets

19. TI-GI
Sumeria, Archaic Seal, Vertical Flute, presently held in the Louvre Museum, Paris
TI-GI = vertical flute

20. S[H]EM
Ur, Older Cemetery, Double Reed-Pipes, c BCE, presently held in the University Museum, Philadelphia
S[H]EM = double pipe

21. SIM / SI-IM / SI-IM-DA / SI-IM-DU
Carchemish Relief, Large Drum and Horn, c BCE, portion presently held in the British Museum
A-LA / SU A-LA-drum
SIM / SI-IM / SI-IM-DA / SI-IM-DU = Horn

22. Chordophones AL = harp GIS ZAG-SAL = cross-string harp
GIS MIRITU = little harp
GIS SABITU = seven-stringed harp
GIS PAN-TAG-GA = bow-shaped harp
LU GIS PAN-TAG-GA = to “hit” or “strike the GIS PAN-TAG-GA
Stringed instruments were especially prominent in Mesopotamian music. We distinguish three basic types -- harps, lyres, and lutes -- although the Sumero-Akkadian documents themselves include a much more extensive terminology.
In the construction, the harps have a different length string for each note, the strings being stretched across a frame, either in the form of an arc or an angle constructed of wood. One side of the frame contains a sound-box. The Sumerian harps are typically large in size (about a meter in height) and could include as many as 30 strings.
The lyres also have a string for each note, but the strings are all roughly the same length, hence must be tuned by differing tension and diameter. Lyres were typically quadrilateral. Sumerian lyres were also large (about a meter square) and could have as many as 15 strings; their sound boxes were commonly in the shape of a bull, and they were elaborately decorated.
The large ritual harps and lyres were played with both hands plucking the strings, whereas the smaller portable instruments associated especially with West Semitic areas (ancient Syria-Palestine) or with Anatolia (ancient Turkey) were usually strummed with a plactrum. The different shapes and sizes were held in different positions -- horizontal as well as vertical.

23. HUL [SI-SA] = upright harp
GIS AL-GAR = lyre
SINNITU = lute
SA-LI-NE-LU = psaltery

24. GIS PAN-TAG-GA
Bismya, Vase, c BCE, presently held in the Istambul Museum
A reproduction of a fragment of the vase appears on the left and a line drawing of the relief on the vase appears on the right. Note the two lower-chested harp players
GIS PAN-TAG-GA = Small Bow-Shaped Harp

25. Ur, Royal Cemetery, Large Bow-Shaped Harp (restored), c
Ur, Royal Cemetery, Large Bow-Shaped Harp (restored), c BCE, presently held in the British Museum

26. Assyria, Relief, Lower-Chested Harps, 883-859 BCE

27. HUL [SI-SA]
Sippur, Figurine, c BCE, Upright Harp, presently in the Istamboul Museum
HUL [SI-SA] = upright harp

28. GIS AL-GAR
Ur, Royal Cemetery, Gold Lyre (restored), c BCE, presently in the Baghdad Museum
GIS AL-GAR = lyre
In the 1920's, the Royal Cemetery of Ur excavations became on of the great technical achievements of Middle Eastern archaeology and now represents one of the most spectacular discoveries in ancient Mesopotamia. Deep within the site lay the tombs of the mid-3rd millennium B.C. kings and queens of the city of Ur, famed in the Bible as the home of Biblical patriarch, Abraham. The tombs date to the period known as Early Dynastic IIIA ( B.C.), a high point in the history of Sumerian culture. The renowned excavator of the cemetery was British archaeologist C.Leonard (later Sir Leonard) Woolley. In all, Woolley uncovered some 1800 burials. He classified 16 as royal based on their distinctive form, their wealth, and the fact that they contained the burials of household servants, male and female, along with clearly high-ranking personages.
As provided by Iraq's first Antiquities Law, established in 1922, the artifacts were divided between the excavators and the host country. They are currently housed in the British Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and the Iraq Museum (Baghdad). "Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur" will feature the unique artifacts from Pu-abi's tomb, which constitute the core of the Museum's holdings from the excavations. It will include her personal jewelry, as well as finds from the tomb chamber and burial pits. Additionally, the exhibit will include some of the more striking and important artifacts from other tombs such as a large wooden lyre with a gold and lapis lazuli bull's head; a silver- covered, boat-shaped lyre with a statuette of a rampant stag;.

29. GREAT LYRE FROM THE "KING'S GRAVE
GREAT LYRE FROM THE "KING'S GRAVE." (Left = 40K Right = 39K) Gold, lapis lazuli, shell, bitumen, and wood. Height of head 35.6 cm, Height of plaque 33 cm.
The plaque and the head are from the bull-headed lyre. The plaque is constructed of shell and lapis lazuli, and depicts four separate scenes. In the first scene, a naked hero is wrestling two bulls. In the second scene, a dog with a dagger in his belt is carrying a table with meat joints, while a lion follows him carrying a cup and a jar. The third scene shows a boar steadying a lyre, while a donkey plays it as a jackal sits at the donkey's feet. The fourth scene shows a mythological creature with a scorpion's taile and a gazelle holding two plated tumblers like those from Lady Pu-abi's tomb. The bull, constructed of copper, and the plaque are well-preserved.

30. Ur, Royal Cemetery, Boat-Shaped Lyre, c
Ur, Royal Cemetery, Boat-Shaped Lyre, c BCE, presently held in the University Museum, Philadelphia
GIS AL-GAR = lyre

31. Ur, Royal Cemetery, Silver Lyre (with original tuning rods), c
Ur, Royal Cemetery, Silver Lyre (with original tuning rods), c BCE, presently held in the British Museum
GIS AL-GAR = lyre

32. Lagash (Tello), Bas-Relief, Lyre, c
Lagash (Tello), Bas-Relief, Lyre, c BCE, presently held in the Louvre, Paris
GIS AL-GAR = lyre

33. Ur (Sumerian), Mosaic “Standard” of Ur on the side representing “peace”, BCE, presently held in British Museum
Lyre-player with an 11-string lyre. A Singer appears to the Lyre-player’s right. The musical entertainers appear as part of a banquet scene.

34. SINNITU
Susa, Babylonian Boundary Stone, Bas-Relief, Long-Necked Lute, c BCE, presently held in the Louvre Museum, Paris
SINNITU = lute

39. Ras Shamra (Ugarit), (top=obverse, bottom - reverse), Hurrian cult song with notation, c BCE, re-dated in 1999 to 1225 BCE, presently held in National Museum, Damascus
See the vinyl record made by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Richard L. Crocker, and Robert R. Brown, _Sounds from Silence: Recent Discoveries in Ancient Near Eastern Music_ (Berkeley, CA: Bit Enki Publications, 1976.
Another interpretation of this entitled “A zaluzi to the gods” (Hurrian Hymn 6) appears on Ancient Music of the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Greeks, Band 11.
The 15th and 17th campaigns excavating ancient Ugarit were carried out between 1950 and They brought to light three cuneiform fragments that, when joined together, produced a complete tablet, measuring approximately 3 in x 7 1/2 in, and is inscribed on both sides. The cuneiform writing runs from left to right horizontally across the tablet. The first four lines, the words of the song, start on the obverse and are continued around the right edge of the table and on to the reverse. This method of inscribing a tablet is unusual but was, apparently, the common method for these song texts at Ugarit. Only the lyrics, however, are written around the edge to the reverse. After the four lines of lyrics and a double dividing line, six lines of notation are inscribed; these lines do not run on to the reverse, but typically end at or on the right edge. These six lines end at the bottom edge of the obverse. The continuation, the colophon, is inscribed on the reverse, in the usual manner.
The left half of the tablet, excavated in the 15th campaign, is in excellent condition, and is a light, cream-colored clay; the right half, from the 17th campaign, is in very poor condition, is dark brownish-gray in color, and very difficult to read, at times illegible.
30 other hymns in the Hurrian language on baked clay tablets have been unearthed at Ugarit.

40. Ras Shamra (Ugarit), (top=obverse, bottom - reverse), Hurrian cult song with notation, c BCE, presently held in National Museum, Damascus
Transcription of Obverse
In the transcription of the song, the words of the song, in Hurrian, appear at the top in four long lines. Then the double horizontal line is shown with two pairs of small angle wedges inscribed between them; this cuneiform sign may indicate the notation “twice” or “double”.

41. Ras Shamra (Ugarit), (top=obverse, bottom - reverse), Hurrian cult song with notation, c BCE, presently held in National Museum, Damascus
Transcription of Reverse
Below the double lines is the musical notation; after that, on the reverse, is the “colophon” or label to the text.
What is our song from Ugarit about? We know that it is a Hurrian cult hymn concerning the goddess Nikkal, the wife of the moon god, and it is probably addressed to her. But because our knowledge of the Hurrian language is imperfect, it is not possible to provide a proper translation of the song’s lyrics. The meaning of one phrase is quite clear: “Wes[h]al tatib tis[h]iya” means “You [O goddess], love them in [your] heart” and the closing phrase “Wewe hanuku” appears to means something close to “born of you”.