ideas influenced Oriental peoples there were various forms of the viol, or "violin," but wholly different in shape and appearance from our instrument of that name. For example, the Egyptian viol was given a name which is supposed to be Persian, kemangeh, believed to signify a bow instrument. This was about a yard long, the sounding body was a part of a cocoanut, with a fourth part of the nut cut off, and the rest hollowed out and covered with the skin of a fish. Upon this rested the bridge, while the neck of the stick was of ebony, inlaid with ivory, and of a cylindrical form. The cords consisted of about sixty horse-hairs attached to a ring, just below the sounding body, where they were lengthened with a piece of lamb's gut (not cat-gut), attached to a peg. The bow, about the same length as the instrument, is made of wood, and strung with horse-hairs. The Arabs also have a stringed instrument something like a dulcimer. The cords of this instrument are also of lamb's gut, three strands to each string, and altogether twenty-four treble cords. The strings are shorter at one side of the instrument than at the other, something like the strings of a modern piano. This instrument the player puts upon his knees or lap, he sitting squat upon the floor and playing the instrument with two plectra, one plectrum upon the forefinger of each hand. The plectra were thin pieces of buffalo's horn and held on the finger by a ring or thimble. Besides these the Arabs have a kind of guitar or mandolin. These instruments have seven double strings (two strands to and they, too, are of lamb's gut and not cat-gut. cord of the lowest string is that which corresponds to the highest cord in European guitars. Next comes one of a fifth above, then the seventh, second, fourth, sixth, and third. In this case the plectrum is a slip of the vulture or some other bird's feather. The instrument is held against the breast and played not unlike a modern mandolin or guitar with us. each string), The double 322. Wind Instruments.-There are various kinds of wind instruments common among Orientals-one resembles the modern flute, another is similar to a clarinet. Some of the pipes are made to produce musical sounds by blowing through a very small aperture of the lips, pressed against the orifice of the tube, so that the wind is thrown within the tube, with more or less force, producing sounds an octave higher or lower at the will of the performer. The boatmen of the Nile have a kind of double reed pipe. One of the reeds is much longer than the other, and serves as a continuous bass. These pipes produce harsh sounds resembling the sounds of a bag-pipe. There is also rarely heard a sort of bag-pipe, the bag being made of goat's skin. Whether this is an Oriental idea or borrowed is an open question. Possibly the "organ" of the patriarchal era was the bag-pipe.1 323. Of Percussion.-Of the musical instruments which are beaten with sticks there are a great many. The tambourine is played sometimes with the hand and sometimes with something attached to the fingers. The kettle-drum may have a parchment face, and is usually beaten with two slender sticks. The performer may carry it suspended from a string around his neck or, if large, it may be placed upon the floor. Besides these there are cymbals, castinets of copper, of brass, plates or bars of metal of different lengths, to produce sounds of different pitch. The Occidentals are familiar with the musical sounds of the Chinese and Japanese gongs. 324. Songs.-Lane found that the popular songs of the peasants in Egypt were sung with a distinct enunciation and a quavering voice. Here are some specimens: "O ye beauties! fear God, And have mercy on the lover for the sake of God. The Lord hath decreed it against me." 'Every night long my moaning ceaseth not For a solitary gazelle that hath taken away my soul. I vow that, if my beloved come, I will do deeds that 'An'tar did not." 1 See Gen. 4: 21; Job 21: 12; 30: 31; Ps. 150:4 "A lover says to the dove, 'Lend me your wings for a day.' The dove replied, 'Thy affair is vain': I said, 'Some other day That I may soar through the sky, and see the face of the beloved : I shall obtain love enough for a year, and will return, O dove, in a day."'" "The night! The night!" &c. Dr. A. A. Bonar and R. M. McCheyne 1 tell of many years ago, when crossing the desert, the drivers being weary, proposed to camp for the night. The dragomen desired to go further. Upon this the young Arabs proceeded without a murmur, and in order to cheer the way commenced their native dance and song. One of them, advancing a little before the rest, began the song, dancing forward as he repeated the words; when the rest, following him in regular order, joined in the chorus, keeping time by simultaneous clapping of hands. They sang several Arab songs in this way, responding to one another, and dancing along the firm sand of the seashore in the clear, beautiful moonlight. The travelers remark: "The response, the dance, and the clapping of hands brought many parts of the Word of God to our minds. We remember the song of Miriam at the Red Sea, when the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances, and Miriam answered them, that is, Miriam sang responsively to them."2 In the song of David before Saul, and of the women of Israel after David's victory over Goliath, the women answered one another as they played and said: "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." 3 The Psalmist also exclaimed, "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph." In another Psalm he exclaims, "Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together," that is, as in a full choir. See also the responsive form of Psalm 136. 325. The Viol.-Lieutenant Lynch also, in his expedition, notes the sad and solemn tone of the music produced by an Arab bard singing sadly to the sound of his rebabeh, a kind Narrative of Mission to the Jews, p. 61 (Dr. A. A. Bonar and Robt. M. McCheyne). 2 Ex. 15:20, 21. 1 Sam. 16:23; 18:6, 7; compare 2 Kings 3: 15 and Is. 5: 12. of one string viol, and he adds, "the music, although more varied in character and modulation, was essentially the same in its prevailing sadness, . . . the sound of tabret, and harp, of sackbut and psaltery, the flute, the viol, and the instrument of two strings are heard no more in the land; the 'rebabeh,' with its sighing one string, befits the wilderness and the wandering people who dwell therein. . . . Not even the Emir, although he threw all the mirth he could command into his voice, and touched the string with quite elastic fingers, striking out notes and half notes with musical precision, his dark eyes flashing and his white teeth glistening, and his body swaying to and fro, nodding his head to the music of his minstrelsy, as if to triumph over the bard, though he won applause with every verse, he could not change the tone; there was the same sad minor running through the song. These low complaining tones lingered in our ears long after the sounds had ceased and the Arabs were gathered in sleep around the smoldering watchfires."5 Lynch's Expedition, p. 244. XXIX. ORIENTAL WRITING. ORIENTAL writing is in contrast, and almost opposite, to the manner prevailing with us. Arabic writing runs from the right hand to the left, and most of the people of Western Asia, write after a similar manner. In Eastern Asia the lines in writing and printing are often vertical rather than horizontal. The signature and seal are usually at the beginning, and not at the end, as with us. The date of a communication or document is commonly at the end, not at the beginning. 326. Public Scribes.-Moslems will not have printed copies of the Koran. They deem it a desecration of the name of God to have it passed under the press. They regard printing as introducing and perpetuating errors. Hence the Moslems employ scribes to copy their sacred book. Public writers of letters and documents are a necessity among a people where so many are illiterate. The scribes are found near the mosques and courts, as Jewish scribes frequented the temple courts and the synagogues in earlier days. Literary men, says Mr. Haddad, now often write themselves, or have a copyist rewrite documents in a better form. Such copyists or scribes are around government offices, the markets, and the courts. 327. Samaritan Law.-The Samaritans also have a written copy of their sacred book of the law of Moses, which they guard jealously. Many years ago, Dr. Post was allowed to enter the sanctuary at Nablus, and to see the three sacred copies. The most sacred of the three, however, was then exhibited unwillingly and hesitatingly, for fear of the jealous feeling of the sect. Even the faithful among the Samaritans were not allowed to look upon it except once a year, and then only in the hands of their high priest. The Moslems are not allowed to touch the Koran with unwashed hands. In 225 15 |