Cultic Music in the Ancient Orient and in Ancient

Israel/Palestine Dirk Human

Michaela Geiger/Rainer Kessler (Hg.), Musik, Tanz und Gott Tonspuren durch das Alte
Testament (SBS 207), Katholisches Bibelwerk Stuttgart 2007, 144 S. Sarit Paz, Drums, Wo-
men, and Goddesses. Drumming and Gender in Iron Age II Israel (OBO 232), Academic Press
Fribourg und Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Gttingen 2007, XII + 143 S. Thomas Schipperges
(Hg.), Musik und Bibel. 111 Figuren und Motive, Themen und Texte (Brenreiter Basiswis-
sen), I: Altes Testament; II: Neues Testament, Brenreiter Kassel 2009, zus. 289 S. Dahlia
Shehata, Musiker und ihr vokales Repertoire. Untersuchungen zu Inhalt und Organisation
von Musikerberufen und Liedgattungen in altbabylonischer Zeit (GBAO 3), by Universitts-
verlag Gttingen 2009, 479 S.

Introduction
Music and religion share an intimate relationship since the beginning of civiliza-
tion. Music making, dance and singing as modes of interaction and communica-
tion with the divine world are attested among the cultures alongside the Nile and
in Mesopotamia. Archaeological and iconographic findings, written sources and
other comparative ethnographic analogies have confirmed this relationship in
the Ancient Orient since the 3rd millennium BCE and in the Levant between
1300 BCE and 200 CE. Although musical artifacts and textual evidence are help-
ful to increase knowledge about musical histories and praxes of ancient cultures,
several aspects regarding musical form and presentation, playing techniques,
sounds and melodies, meaning and specific characteristics remain obliterate.
Although ancient Israel had developed its own religious and cultural identity
it was part of the Ancient Orient. Among these different cultures many conver-
gences were shared between the nations of the Levant. The phenomenon and
expression of music in Israel and Palestine had therefore reflected resemblances
with their neighboring environment.
Cultic music belonged to the religious sphere of society and comprised the
musical activities connected to the official cult, revolving around a sanctuary or
temple. These worship and devotional activities involve various people, religious
rituals and musical instruments. To construe an understanding of cultic music in
the Ancient Orient and in Israel one has to interpret related pictorial and icono-
graphical depictions, archaeological artifacts and applicable textual witnesses of
these musical activities.
Several books have appeared recently on aspects of music in the Ancient
Orient and in Israel/Palestine. Interaction between the particularities of these
two worlds becomes evident in the explication of the subject.

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Music, dance and God

In a collection Musik, Tanz und Gott Tonspuren durch das Alte Testament,
edited by M. Geiger/R. Kessler (2007), various aspects of cultic music become
audible from multiple tonalities reflected in the Old Testament and the Ancient
Orient.
Significant insights on cultic music pervade all the contributions. Musical lan-
guage and terminology are even used to interpret different cultic deeds, literary
genres and their theological meaning. Different and multiple sound tracks are
thus identified in the musical play of the Old Testament.
From his examination of different tonalities J. Ebach illustrates with two examples (2 Chron
20:21; Ps 139) that all sound keys are allowed in the Old Testament, from praise to lament.
Although these are two opposing principles, praise nonetheless holds space for lament. The
appropriate way to answer God results from a multi-perspective principle, namely to respond
with many sounds and tonalities, harmonies and dissonances. Every expressible tonality in the
Old Testament is allowed, except those which arise from or lead to violence.
M. Leutzsch contemplates this relationship between violence and God praise further in an
exposition of the Miriam Song (Exod 15). Is Miriams praise song legitimate because of Gods
violent deeds? Should the hymn be criticized or hailed as victory song because of Gods heroic
deeds that brought redemption? Leutzsch has chosen for a perspective in which God is praised
as sole subject of violence by Israelite women, who are again endangered as subjects, to fall
object to the enemy, Egypt.

Miriams song is for M. Geiger part of a ritual dance by women which empha-
sizes a transition situation for the people of Israel. This dance is a musical ex-
pression to honor God. It is further a way of communication with the divine.
Therefore, this song becomes a starting point and literary key to interpret similar
Old Testament texts where women are dancing and singing. These texts (Jdg
11:34; 21:1923; 1 Sam 18:67; Jer 31:26, 13) build a sound track throughout
the Old Testament to create hope or serve other functions.
Any musical portrayal is incomplete without a depiction of David playing the
harp. R. Kessler provides an image sketch of this musical Leitfigur. Kessler illus-
trates how this musical character sketch varies in different Old Testament parts.
In the Samuel narratives motifs such as the singing king, accompanying musi-
cian and music therapeut grew gradually together in one composition and ex-
isted separately before they were drawn into one image (2 Sam 2223). Davids
musical portrayal is both reduced and enlarged in the Book of Psalms. On the
one hand, he remains a singer of religious songs, while on the other hand, psalm
headings extend Davids role as one of intercessor in different life situations. In
Chronicles Davids musical image comprises the organizer of temple music, in-
ventor of musical instruments and poet of the Psalms collection. Ultimately, the
process of canonization has ascribed all the abovementioned musical functions
comprehensively to David musicus.
With the divine perspective in the communication process as point of departure G. Baumann
poses the question whether Yahweh is a musical God or not. She argues with the scientific

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musical distinction between the terms receptive and productive musicality in mind. Divine
reaction to the manifold musical presentations to God in the Old Testament is minimal. In
some instances there is even critique uttered against music (Am 5:23; 8:10). Nonetheless, the
divine receptive musicality is evident when an overwhelming cultic musical presentation is
followed by the occupation of the temple by Gods presence and glory (2 Chron 5:1214).
His productive musicality is attested in the Yahweh-composed Song of Moses (Deut 32).
These indications of musicality attribute cultural competencies to God by adherents, subjects
and text interpreters.

The connection or interrelationship between cultic music in the Ancient Orient

and the Old Testament is apparent when F. Hartenstein illustrates convergences
between these two spheres.
Music is inconceivable without sound. Through the sounds produced by the human voice, or
by natural and human made objects, musical instruments, the power of music is effectuated in
various contexts, inter alia the religious cult. Hartenstein argues that musical instruments were
from its ancient beginnings media of religious communication. Ps 57 serves as an example to
illustrate this in the Israelite cult.

Cultic music was regarded as communicative events in Israel and in the Ancient
Orient. It mediated the invisible, and carried, for example, Gods praises to the
areas of the historical world and to the borders of the cosmos. Ps 57 reflects a
reciprocal communication structure between the singing subject (I) and the mu-
sical instruments on the one hand and Gods glory on the other hand. The prais-
ing singer and the instruments evoke the glory of God and reflect it simulta-
neously. This communication of musical instruments thus exposes a double
direction, it is directed to God, but is also reflected from God. The petitioner
personifies a reflection of Gods glory which resounds in the playing of the in-
struments. In this way musical instruments mediate contact with the divine.
The contrast between noise and silence is significant. Silence indicates the absence of vitality
and closeness to death, while noise signals liveliness and the capability to praise. Similarly the
act of dancing expresses joy of life in contrast to immobility and the lack of movement. Textual
and image witnesses from the Ancient Orient, like in Israel, confirm the double direction of
communication events mediated by musical instruments in the cult. Mesopotamia had an ex-
tensive and sophisticated music culture since the third millennium BCE. Although the classi-
fication and identification of musical instruments in the Sumerian-Akkadian cultures remain a
difficult challenge, the terracotta figures, archaeological artifacts and iconographic material are
helpful to reconstruct aspects of cultic music.
Hartenstein affirms the mediatory function of some instruments which established divine
contact in the cult. Both a kind of kettle drum (lilis / lilissu) and the harp (balag / balaggu) are
examples.
The kettle drum (lillisu) was not only a musical instrument, but also a holy cultic object
which was venerated as a divinity. Late ritual texts attested how it was manufactured, and
accompanied by songs and offerings. Like divine statues they even underwent a mouth-wash-
ing ceremony to guarantee its communication competencies.
The balag (balaggu) or harp was similarly a divinized musical instrument, which was perso-
nified and venerated with offerings. It was regarded as a deity and functioned as guardian of
the kal priests. In addition, the balag was a term indicating cultic song compositions contain-
ing lament texts. Lamenting priests have sung these songs under accompaniment of harps and
hand drums to move the hearts of the deities. This double function of the balag clarifies the

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double function of the musical instrument as medium of divine contact in two directions: to
the god and from the god.

From different Ancient Oriental deity lists it is evident that the loud noise cre-
ated by musical instruments forms an essential characteristic and signifies a de-
finite intensified expression of life. Very loud sounds carry the festive joy into a
cosmic or superhuman dimension to proclaim Gods glory. These sounds sup-
port and evoke communication with the divine and render cosmic resonance
space to the festive joy.
Musically educated participants in Mesopotamian cults included nar / nru
and gala / kal-(priestly) groups. In the neo-Assyrian period these were highly
educated experts. The guardian deity for music was Enki / Ea, who was also
responsible for Wisdom. It thus seems that wisdom was a prerequisite for divine
contact, which was mediated through instruments, played by educated people.
In the Second Temple period of the Israelite history the priestly musicians could
be regarded as being in a similar position.
Hartenstein convincingly illustrates how the sounds of the horn (shofar) and
the song (shir) fulfill a mediatory function in the communication between Israel
and their God. Especially late post-exilic texts of the OT indicate musical instru-
ments as media of divine contact. The same reciprocal function of instruments
applies as in the Ancient Orient: in proclaiming the glory of the divine there is a
double movement, first towards God and then from God (Ps 81; 150; 2 Chron
5:1114). Very loud sounds of aerophones (horn, trumpet), the accumulative
sounds of instrument groups (and singing) or loud festive noises, all mediate
contact with and create communication between cultic participants and God.
In this way cultic music of the Israelite religion renders itself as part of the An-
cient Oriental musical traditions.

Musicians and their vocal repertoire

The Ancient Orient had cultivated the socio-cultural space in which ancient
Israel lived and operated. A reciprocal influence of the musical cultures between
Israel and other parts of the region is known. Mesopotamia treasured a rich
heritage of music professions, activities and repertoires.
Musiker und ihr vokales Repertoire by D. Shehata illustrates in a very spe-
cialized way how musicians and their repertoire of the Old Babylonian period
possessed highly specialized and organized forms of musical activities. Musi-
cians performed in various professions and priestly groups at a temple or in a
palace. Multiple song repertoires existed.
Information is drawn from everyday documents, lexical lists, literary texts and
catalogues for the period ending after the Ur-III dynasty of king Ur-Namma up
to the first dynasty of Babylon under king Hammurabi, thus the first half of the
second millennium BCE. This epoch change brought a conflation of different

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traditions and music cultures, in which first the Sumerian and then the Akkadian
cultures functioned prominently.
A portrayal of musicians and their repertoire in old Babylonian cities like Ur,
Larsa, Kutalla, Isin, etc. exposes that cultic music was part of the socio-cultural
musical activities. Religious celebrations like festivals and other worship activ-
ities involved inter alia singing, dancing, lamenting and shouting. These activities
were often accompanied in the cult by instruments and musicians. Information
on the composition of an ensemble, how a song was performed or accompanied
by other activities, the tonal or structural course of songs or in what tone a song
was performed can be reconstructed form transmitted song categories, technical
terms or glossary remarks.
Although Sumerian and Akkadian songs disclose no indication of their historical context (Sitz
im Leben) or presentation form there was an active use of songs in the cult, especially hymns.
Some hymns, dedicated to Ur-III kings, even originated in the cult to celebrate certain festi-
vals. Sir3-praise songs indicated a cultic function and found expression in examples like the
hero song, song of the hearts joy, song of the precious and exit song.
Lamenting played an important role in the cult till the first millennium BCE. There were the
liturgical balag and er2-prayers, both expressions of the lament by the gala, a professional
performer in an area of cultic music. The gala was probably a person of ambiguous gender,
whose strong relationship with goddesses and women provided this person with a significant
cultic role. Er2-lament prayers, reflected similar language, content and structure and dealt with
aspects of destruction and lost.
The lyrics of cultic songs amount to praise and lament. Gods were praised in lyrical and
narrative texts for what they had done or for their characteristics. The lament sometimes func-
tioned as intercession. A special group of Innana-Dumuzi songs were connected to cultic events
related to fertility and procreation. Especially the Akkadian tradition reflects many laments.
The prayer of an unknown righteous man pleads to his god for deliverance from suffering.
Often the lyrics of a song revealed the praxis of its presentation. In a hymn for Istar its
participants are mentioned, namely gala priests and women choirs. In addition, the song also
records offering rituals, processions and the cause or occasion of the songs presentation.

A definite picture on musical performances and singing in the cult during the old
Babylonian period evades full clarity. There is evidence that songs were either
sung secco or with instrumental accompaniment. The function and context of the
singing also determined the size and composition of an ensemble or choir.
Laments were expressed by an individual like the gala or in a responsorial man-
ner by a choir.
There are categories of songs (e. g. kirigu, kisu, saba) that indicate accompany-
ing instruments or cultic activities while performing the song. Liturgical activi-
ties, which involve the participation of musical instruments, are also evident in
the kirigu and kisu song categories. Change between solo and choir singing, or
between tone and modes of singing is reflected in the song category gisgigal/
mehru(m). Musical performances, participants, the role of instruments and other
modes of events during the stages of a festival can be construed from different
song categories. The content of rituals and temple services is richly attested from
Sippar.

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 In sum, a picture of musicians and their musical repertoire in the Old Babylo-
nian period in Mesopotamia reveals a very sophisticated and structured musical
system in Mesopotamia in the beginning of the second millennium BCE.

Drums, women and goddesses

Drums, Women, and Goddesses. Drumming and Gender in Iron Age II Israel
by S. Paz affirms that the study of musical artifacts from archaeological, histor-
iographical and ethnographic data is not only for the sake of pure musical aspects
or interest, but it appreciates the significance of music as a reflection of a certain
social reality or means to define gender boundaries in the Israelite society.
A comprehensive understanding of musical activity thus includes the artistic-
musical-iconographic aspects of the instruments and their depiction, but also the
socio-cultural aspects of ancient music.
This book is concerned with drum-related artifacts from Eretz-Israel, the set-
tings in which they appear, the composition of the ensemble, identity of the
musicians and the nature of the events.
The chronological framework is confined to the Iron Age II period, which can be subdivided
into Iron Age IIA (1000925 BCE), Iron Age IIB (925732 BCE), and Iron Age IIC (732586
BCE). This timeframe extends from the beginning of the monarchical period up to the Baby-
lonian exile of Judah. Indications in the OT suggest that there was a musical tradition with
official status in Israel at least from the 7th century BCE. This tradition played a role in the cult
and included the drum hand-drum or frame-drum. Several texts attest to a tradition where
women play the drum alone, often while singing and dancing (Ex 15:2021; Jdg 11:34; 1 Sam
18:6; Ps 68:26; Jer 31:3). The tradition entails a variety of genres and represents different peri-
ods in the biblical history of Israel during the Iron Age II period.

Drums have not been found in Eretz-Israel. The only finding which includes
hand drums as part of an ensemble is the Stand of the musicians from Ashdod,
also called the Canaanite Orchestra. This stand features a drummer, lyre player
and two players of double-reeded flutes. They are seemingly all male, performed
in religious ceremonies and were permanently employed at the temple.
There is an obvious dichotomy between the women drummers tradition and the male Canaa-
nite Orchestra tradition. The drum was basically a womens instrument according to OT
depictions, the (for a time) official fertility cult and the domestic fertility cult. This reality is
contrasted by the all male Canaanite Orchestra.
Both OT and archaeological material affirm that drumming in the Miriams victory song
tradition belongs to a female strand of popular (folk) tradition, which was officially approved
by the male lite. This happened outside the cult, in contrast to the cultic performance and
function of the Canaanite Orchestra and similar ensembles in the OT. Thus, according to the
official cult the drummer tradition was male.

For Paz the differences between these two drummer traditions reflect the social
differences between male and female, public and domestic spheres, official and
unofficial cult. There was a decline in the womans public status. She was gradu-
ally excluded from the official cult. Drumming thus reflected a social reality on

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various levels: in the cult, in the domestic sphere, and in public. Public perfor-
mances of women drummers had smeared the gender boundaries between men
and women on different levels. In this way women have achieved higher status
and affirmed a degree of power. Hereby they also made a public statement and
presented the ability for social change. The absence of a goddess in the public
sphere of the Yahweh community led to the extensive use of figurines in the
private domains of the fertility and household cults. This practice tended to
compensate for the loss of the goddess in the public cult. Therefore the concen-
tration of women in the private sphere satisfied unfulfilled needs in society.
Women drummer figurines therefore express more than a musical tradition.
They represent the social reality and tension between official and popular ideol-
ogies, lifestyles and the interests of women in the Iron Age Israel.

Music and the Bible

Several aspects of Israels musical traditions left footprints in the Bible. This
cultic book provides material for a musical reception history (Wirkungsgeschich-
te) through different epochs. Musik und Bibel, Band I: Altes Testament, edited
by Th. Schipperges illustrates how the Old Testament serves as source for such a
musical reception history.
This volume comprises 56 concise, two-page portraits of well-known Old
Testament figures, motives, themes and texts, which are all captured in musical
compositions of some kind. Portraits offer an integrated and coherent picture of
musical and biblical information.
A birds eye view on a selected portrait serves as illustration. An eclectic ex-
ample is Psalms of David. Here the author concisely provides information on the
cultic collection of Psalms, which played an important role in Jewish and Chris-
tian traditions. Some psalm headings contain musical indications regarding in-
struments, melodies and ways of presentation. Different literary genres of the
Psalms give expression to the variety of moods and songs. This portrait illus-
trates the connection between the Israelite cult, Old Testament texts and their
contextual musical interpretation.
Similarly Musik und Bibel, Band II: Neues Testament forms the second part
of this musical reception history. Several songs, compositions, figures and
themes also confirm the important connection of women to worship. The roles
of Mary (Ave Maria), Salome, Mary Magdalene, and the composition of Stabat
Mater contribute to the importance of feminine dimensions connected to this
musical Wirkungsgeschichte. Both volumes of Musik und Bibel provide an or-
ientation to aspects of cultic music connected to the OT and the NT. The in-
fluence of the musical stimuli, provided by these texts, extends far beyond the
pages of these cultic canons. Through time and space the cultic music of Israel
and the Christian faith assumed different forms and interpretations.

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A final tone
From this review it is evident that cultic music in the Ancient Orient provided a
socio-cultural space for the cultic music of Israel. Mesopotamia, for example,
treasured a rich heritage of music professions, activities and repertoires. Already
in the second millennium BCE cultic music was a specialized, sophisticated, and
well structured phenomenon in Mesopotamia during the Old Babylonian peri-
od. Resemblances have shown that a reciprocal relationship between the music
cultures of the Ancient Near East must have existed.
In the Iron Age II period musical artifacts from archaeological, historiogra-
phical and ethnographic data in Israel illustrates that archaeological findings are
not only useful to understand pure musical aspects, but artifacts showcase the
significance of music as a reflection of a certain social reality. A reflection on the
women drummer tradition of this period portrays how tensions between various
ideologies existed and how gender boundaries in the Israelite society were de-
fined.
A large part of the Israelite heritage of cultic music is captured in the Old and
New Testaments. These scriptures of the Jewish and Christian canons have also
stimulated a musical Wirkungsgeschichte from ancient times till today. Their
tones resound in the multiple compositions of on-living musicians.

Spiritualisierung oder Metaphorisierung?

Zur Erforschung der Transformation von Kultbegriffen
in den Psalmen Friedhelm Hartenstein

Martin Ravndal Hauge, Between Sheol and Temple. Motif Structure and Function in the
I-Psalms (JSOT.SS 178), Academic Press Sheffield 1995, 314 S. Frank-Lothar Hossfeld, Die
Metaphorisierung der Beziehung Israels zum Land im Frhjudentum und im Christentum:
Ferdinand Hahn/Frank-Lothar Hossfeld/Hans Jorissen/Angelika Neuwirth (Hg.), Zion
Ort der Begegnung, Festschrift fr Laurentius Klein zur Vollendung des 65. Lebensjahrs (BBB
90), Athenum Bodenheim 1993, 1933. Kathrin Liess, Der Weg des Lebens. Psalm 16 und
das Lebens- und Todesverstndnis der Individualpsalmen (FAT II/5), Mohr Siebeck Tbingen
2004, XI + 504 S. Christiane Radebach-Huonker, Opferterminologie im Psalter (FAT II/44),
Mohr Siebeck Tbingen 2010, IX + 276 S. Erich Zenger, Der Psalter als Buch. Beobachtun-
gen zu seiner Entstehung, Komposition und Funktion: Erich Zenger (Hg.), Der Psalter in
Judentum und Christentum, FS Norbert Lohfink (HBS 18), Herder Freiburg 1998, 157.

Weitere Literatur:
Jan Assmann, gypten. Theologie und Frmmigkeit einer frhen Hochkultur (UT 366),
Kohlhammer Stuttgart 1984, 287 S. Friedhelm Hartenstein, Das Angesicht JHWHs. Studien
zu seinem hfischen und kultischen Bedeutungshintergrund in den Psalmen und in Exodus

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