The Global Economy of Music in the Ancient Near East
John Curtis Franklin
The present exhibit at the Bible Lands Museum bears eloquent witness to the rich body of archeological evidence for music and musicians in the ancient Near East. The inherent artistic value of such material, which includes not only representations but the remains of actual instruments, is often very high in its own right. Yet it is equally precious as a supplement to-and sometimes corrective of-textual evidence, extending the limits of knowledge into areas not well illuminated by scribal tradition. For ancient Israel, where the written sources relating to musical practice in the Bronze and Early Iron ages are relatively meager in comparison to Mesopotamia or even Hittite Anatolia, the archeological finds are especially important. At the same time they do not enjoy the same degree of contextual illumination that comes from contemporary records. In this essay I shall borrow light from the wider ‘Bible Lands' to help bring aspects of early Jewish music into sharper focus. I hope that this will enhance the reader's perception of some of the relics on display.
Allusions to music-making in the Bible, of which there are indeed many, are usually
all too passing. The magnificent exception relates to the official organization of sacred music-making during the United Monarchy, for which we have
abundant detail by any standard, even if its absolute historical accuracy is open to question (I Chron. 6:1-32, and 25:1-31; Josephus AJ 8.94, 176).
Yet it is in precisely this period that early Jewish society-at least the higher tier which is most visible from the biblical narrative-reveals some
of its clearest cultural sympathies with other Near Eastern states. Indeed the matter is put expressly thus when the Israelites are made to importune
Samuel for a king, ‘That
we also may be like all the nations' (1 Sam. 8:20, cf. 5). A king who aspired to be a respected player in the
international scene required a royal apparatus equal to that of his rivals, complete with palace, temple and all the specialized artisans and
functionaries needed to build and staff them. It is of first importance that this debut was managed in collaboration with Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 5),
who gave both materials and labor for construction of the First Temple. The musical dimension of this project emerges most vividly from Josephus,
according to whom Solomon commissioned forty thousands lyres (knr) and harps (nbl) made of precious woods, stones and electrum, so the Levites could
sing the Lord's praises (AJ 8.94, 176, cf. 7.305). All of this makes it imperative to consider the music of early royal Israel and Judah within a
more global economy, since already for two millennia musicians had ranked among the most skilled workers of Near Eastern society, serving in both
sacred and secular contexts as one of the most powerful currencies of cultural exchange.
To what degree one feels justified in applying an equally wide lens to the earlier centuries depends partly on one's view of pre-Davidic social history and its relationship to a larger ‘Canaanite' milieu. It is of course certain that the states of North Syria and the Levant were important interstices in the elite international networks of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Certain too that greater West Semitic deities like ‘Baal' and Astarte (Astaroth) enjoyed considerable currency in Israel and Judah well into the first millennium (e.g. 1 Sam. 7:3-4). It is not surprising then to find musical sympathies between the Pentateuch and documents from other Near Eastern centers; most notable perhaps is the kinnôr, discussed below. Such facts urge one to view Jewish musical tradition, from the earliest times, within a larger musical environment characterized by regular exchange and mutual influence. This need not negate the axiom that all ‘local' traditions are basically unique and independently priceless. Indeed it will enhance our appreciation of the tradition by revealing greater historical depth and cultural breadth than even the Bible would lead us to believe.
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