The lyre of an ancient Egyptian musician

The lyre of an ancient Egyptian musician

The ancient Egyptian lyre also known as the benet in ancient Egyptian resembled a bow Often made of precious materials it consisted of a long wooden neck with a curved sounding box attached to which strings were attached It produced musical sounds by plucking the strings It was one of the most popular instruments throughout Pharaonic history The bowed lyre is one of the oldest surviving lyres Lyre players played it alone or with singers and other musicians It evolved in both shape and string count It could be played by holding the lyre horizontally or vertically The clapper or castanet was popular in many rituals and celebrations Musicians in ancient Egypt used it for its construction It was made of ebony rosewood or other hardwoods

It is characterized by its long curved neck and shovel-shaped or angled sounding box Originally the sound box was covered with parchment or animal skin It was initially curved and had no posts Findings in Mesopotamia are rare compared to the numerous lyres found in Egypt Evidence of the lyre dates back to the 5th century BC. Ancient civilizations and the region of southern Mesopotamia bordering the Persian Gulf A lyre from a royal tomb in the Sumerian royal necropolis of Ur In the tomb of Queen Pu'abi these lyres were made of precious materials such as gold silver and lapis lazuli and were intricately decorated Some stone seals depict Sumerian women playing lyres

These instruments which could communicate with the gods and facilitate religious worship and ritual often appeared in priestly paintings decorating tombs in Thebes The earliest evidence of lyres dates back to ancient Egypt around 2500 BC. During the Middle Kingdom the bowed lyre was very popular and various instruments such as chordophones aerophones idiophones and membranophones were often found on the walls of temples and tombs Thus the ancient Egyptians valued music for a long time It was one of the most popular instruments throughout the history of the Pharaohs The sound of the lyre was believed to be that of Hathor the ancient Egyptian goddess of music