CALL FOR PAPERS EAA 2021. SESSION #152 ANCIENT WEST ASIAN AND EGYPTIAN SOUNDSCAPES IN CONTACT (original) (raw)
The importance of the musical traditions of Ancient Egypt (including here Kush/Meroë and Libyan areas) and West Asia (including Assyria and Babylonia, Anatolia, Iran, the Levant, Arabian Peninsula and southern Caucasus) go far beyond the ‘magnificence’ of their extant instruments (e.g. the Mesopotamian bull-lyres or Tutankhamun’s trumpets). Research demonstrates the importance of these traditions as particularly relevant for understanding cross-cultural influences in the musical traditions of surrounding regions (Franklin 2015; Sánchez Muñoz 2017). Paradoxically, despite their geographical proximity, this previous research has only begun to explore the possible musical interactions between both areas. Moreover, the few works on the topic (Duchesne-Guillemin 1981; von Lieven 2008) still leave many questions unanswered, such as the influences of cross-cultural contact on musical aspects beyond the instruments themselves (e.g. musicians, repertoires, etc.). This archaeomusicological session consequently emerges with the purpose of solving this situation by welcoming papers from (Ethno-)Archaeology and Material Culture Studies (besides Egyptian & Ancient West Asian Philologies or (Ethno)musicology) about any aspect of musical interactions between Egypt and West Asia during Antiquity (late-4th mill. BCE until the change of era). Emphasising multi-disciplinary approaches and methodologies, the session will develop cross-cultural archaeo-musicological study as a specific contribution to wider narratives of understanding relations between both regions. These lines may guide the direction of proposed papers: • West Asian influences on Ancient Egyptian music and vice versa. • The role of regions connecting both continents (e.g. the East Mediterranean) in those contacts. • Ancient West Asian and Egyptian contexts as common receptors of other Eastern and Western ancient musical traditions. Studies regarding other Asiatic and African cultures are also welcome if pertaining to the musical interactions of both continents in Antiquity. The organisers are open to discuss such matters in advance and intend to publish the results of this session.
Related papers
Music was of great importance in ancient Egypt, playing a significant role in ritual contexts, but also at court festivities and in private households. In the following, it will be discussed what is known about music in ancient Egypt, which instruments were used, who the musicians were, how and where the performances took place, and some technical aspects. Apart from the ancient textual, archaeological, and iconographic sources, one part of the article will focus on the possibilities and limits of elucidating ancient Egyptian music on the basis of the lyrics of the songs and the instruments that are preserved, as well as modern practical experiments with replicas of ancient Egyptian instruments.
Music, dance and instruments in Ancient Egypt (English Translation)
The study starts clarifying where and why people learned music. It will then deal with chant that precede any other human instruments, and dance, a body language for music that was performed by professionals sought by broad social categories. After having covered various aspects of the repertory and clothing, we will discuss the function of music. We will see then the first attempt of polyphony, although it cannot be considered as such, as it does not fit the harmonic requisites nowadays. Additionally, the notation assumes a progress we had no idea about, as the chironomes -people speaking about music through body gestures- have not had been studied enough. Finally, we shall identify the main instruments of the Old Kingdom according to their families and will refer to their manufacture and importance.
Musico-cultural amalgamations in the Eastern Mediterranean: a percussive view from the Aegean
The earliest allusions to the performance of tympana (frame drums) in the Aegean are found on Crete: on the well known 8th century BC bronze votive sheet from the Idaean Cave, often referred to as ‘tympanon’ in scholarship, and on two late 7th century BC female terracotta figurines from Praisos. The iconography of both sets of objects demonstrates a multiplicity of musical references from the Assyrian and Neo-Hittite kingdoms of Anatolia to the Cypro-Levantine experiences of drumming. Both Cretan artefacts, however, exploit in an unparalleled manner a visual and notional conflation between a shield and a tympanon, evoking a culture-specific theogonic and initiatory framework for the regenerating and protective qualities of tympanon-playing. Focusing on one of the most striking examples of musico-cultural amalgamation in the Aegean, this paper argues that the process of incorporating foreign musical elements into one’s culture is closely related with internal social negotiations and dynamics, and proposes a shift in the way we qualify musical exchanges.
Beyond the Borders of Egypt: Questions on the origins and offspring of the harp.
Ricardo Eichmann, Dahlia Shehata. Music Beyond Cultural Borders. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the DOT 2017, Studien zur Musikarchäologie XII, pp.89-104 , 2021
The arts of ancient Egypt are often described as unchanging. For the harp, the iconography shows that it was a major instrument of the Egyptian musical culture between the Old Kingdom and the Roman period. This incredible longevity supports the idea of the conservatism of the pharaonic society. Played by men and women, this instrument is used as accompaniment for singing. This paper shows that not only the harp evolved over the course of time and with cultural contact, but also that the player of this instrument, called hesou, was able to adapt his or her repertoire with the introduction of new stringed instruments coming from western Asia. The issue concerning the origin of the harp and its dissemination beyond cultural borders is also discussed in order to draw the attention on the methodological problems that are encountered when one attempts to write the history of an instrument over the long term and to retrace its spread within a geographical space that extends far beyond the frontiers of Egypt.
2021
The relationship between Africa and China remains one of the most important geopolitical and economic partnerships of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Africa-China relation, although relatively recent, has its foundation in previous relations dating back over 500 years ago. It is against this backdrop of longstanding relations that this research is situated as it aims to trace and examine Africa-China musical exchange between 700-1500AD. The main goal of this research is to answer the following questions: (1) Are there any musical exchange between Africa and China between 700 -1500AD? (2) If there are, what are these musical exchanges and how did they manifest? (3) Are these musical exchanges mutual? (4) If there are no musical exchanges during this period, why? (5) Are there any musical exchanges at any other time pre-700AD or post 1500AD? (6) What are some of the impacts of such a musical exchange? This research uses a historical framework in understanding and presenting Africa-Ch...
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