The Egyptians were zealous in building and in adorning what they built with records, and the climate has preserved what they wrought as nowhere else in the world. Accordingly, in extant delineations on the monuments, as well as in papyri and in many actual objects, we have abundant data for reconstructing the actual life of the people. The use of music is thus profusely set before us, so that it is better known than in any other ancient land. But, unfortunately, we have not yet recovered any ancient Egyptian treatise on the subject. Neither is there any trace of a musical notation.
We have only disputed evidence as to the recognized types of
scale, though from extant instruments it is inferred that melodies
were mostly diatonic. That there was some practical use of
harmony follows from the depiction of groups of performers acting
in concert, and from the size of the larger harps and lyres.
Singing and dancing were accompanied by hand-clapping to
mark the rhythm.
The historic importance of this extensive musical activity is evident,
for in the 7th century B.C., Egypt was opened to the Greeks, and intercourse
with the north and west rapidly increased, until ultimately Egypt
became one of the chief centres of Greek culture. Nearly all the important
Greek works on musical theory were written in Egypt, and none of
them intimates that Egyptian views differed radically from the Greek.
Hence we conclude that the Greek ideas of music were largely supplied
or suggested by Egyptian usage or speculation. If this be so, the genesis
of the mediæval system of Europe is to be traced to Egypt as well as to
the Greeks.
Egyptian instruments were numerous and varied. Apparently
they were developed for tonal results, without excessive attention
to outward ornamentation, though some of the harps were very
rich. They were regularly used in interesting combinations, implying
attention to concerted effects.
Stringed instruments were evidently favorites. Most conspicuous are
the harps, in three varieties—the small, shaped like a bow and carried
horizontally on the shoulder, the medium, also bow-shaped, but held
upright by a seated player, and the large, loop-shaped, with a massive
body, often sumptuously decorated with color and carving, played from a
standing posture. All these lack the upright pillar beyond the strings,
and must have been rather grave in pitch and unstable in tune. The
number of strings varies from three to twenty or more. Next in importance
are the lyres, having a resonance-box below, a U-shaped frame with
a cross-bar above, whence five to many strings were stretched downward;
these were held horizontally under the arm or set upright on a table or
pedestal, and were played with a plectrum or the finger-tips. Less important
are the lutes, known in the Old Kingdom only from a hieroglyphic
