Musical Instruments of Ancient Assyria and Elam
Music in Ancient Assyria
We know that certain songs were accompanied by the flute (*hallhallatu*). In the ancient East, it was considered the sacred instrument par excellence. Despite the lack of documents, the musicologist Fetish reached, after many studies, the hypothesis that their music must have had a diversity of modes and tones, and they had to know your system and tonal color.
String Instruments
The oldest instruments known to the Assyrians are from the time of Assurnasirpal. Nine-stringed harps are played with a drumstick. Another type of harp is the angular harp, with more strings, which was played with both hands. This harp appears in Egyptian culture and is called *nebel*.
Subsequently, the Assyrian representations show two types of harps. The simplest is almost rectangular, and the strings are of equal length but would be different if the thickness or material varied. It has 10 strings that are plucked with the fingers and was worn with a cord around the neck. This instrument is also found in a small version with only five strings. This more elegant version has curved lines and strings of unequal length that are played with a plectrum. There were also intermediate instruments with 7 or 8 strings.
Wind Instruments
Few examples of this type have been found; they were not widely used. Tubes had identical twin flutes. Latinos were called “Saracen” and no data to distinguish whether they had one or two reeds. It is believed that one tube played the melody and the other a pedal note.
The Assyrians mentioned psalms to accompany the songs. Whistles made of baked clay with two holes have also been found. These produced the notes DO-MI-SOL. There were two types of trumpets, one of which had almost no bell. This instrument was used by the Assyrians more for signaling than for music itself.
Percussion Instruments
The Assyrians used percussion instruments extensively. They had drums with metal rings, small cylindrical *timbales*, and larger ones with skin attached with nails. They were tied to the waist to keep the hands free to play.
They also used two models of cymbals: the traditional one, and another that consisted of two hollow cones that were struck at the bases.
Chaldean Period
The Assyrian dynasty of Nineveh fell, and for years Chaldean kings (Nebuchadnezzar II) reigned in Babylon until they were overthrown by the Persians (Cyrus the Great).
At this time, the music continued more or less the same, although we have less documentation. During the Chaldean period, astrology acquired great importance, which was closely related to music theory and mathematics. As a result, the idea of micro-music and macro-music emerged, trying to relate and symbolize proportional lengths of a string, an idea that Pythagoras of Samos would later develop into the famous “Theory of the Spheres”.
Information on the instruments of the time is obtained through the book of Daniel, which cites a number such as the trunk (*Garner*), oboe (*masroquitha*), and lyre (*Gastro*).
Elamite Period
The Elamites flourished from the third millennium BC. Their capital was Susa. Ashurbanipal destroyed Susa and annexed the territory. The Elamites were annexed to the Medes and later the Persians, becoming a satrap. Darius made Susa the capital of the Achaemenid Empire and retained the use of the Elamite language.
Little is known about Elamite music, but we know that, as in Assyria, it was important religiously. Bas-reliefs of musicians and singers are preserved, giving us the idea that they were clustered as a kind of Elamite orchestra.
It is believed that one musician was the musical conductor, another set the pace, and the rest followed him, and there could be ornamental differences in the melody. In the singing group, it is believed that children accompanied with clapping and women did a vibrato in their voices with their hands on their throats.
Instruments
The Elamites used more or less the same instruments as the Assyrians. No instruments with a neck were found.
String Instruments: Like the Assyrians, they had two types of harps: one with a sound body with 10 strings stretched and played with the hands, and the *Nebel*, with more sound holes for greater sound emission, composed of 20 strings. They also had a harp with 13 strings, and from the length of these strings, we know that they encompassed an octave divided into semitones.
Wind Instruments: We only know of the flute (*hallhallatu*).
Percussion Instruments: The Elamites used a small drum tied at the waist and played with their hands. But the Persians used Assyrian-Babylonian instruments. Later, the Greeks and Egyptians were influenced by the Mesopotamians, and then Mesopotamia let itself be influenced by the cultures of the Hellenistic world.