Iberian Peninsula to the indus

The Deipnosophists
, 
he recounts a series of dinner conversations, and one guest says: “my fellow-citizen 
Alexander gave a public recital on the harp [
trigonon
], and sent all rome into such 
a state of music-madness that most romans can repeat his tunes.”
the most significant difference between arched and angular harps was their sets 
of strings. since harps survived well in the dry sand of egypt, the amount of strings 
can be counted. extant egyptian arched harps have typically less than 10 strings 
(occasionally as few as 3). on the other hand, extant angular harps typically had 21 
strings and sometimes as many as 29. Harp strings give normally only one pitch. so, 
arched harp could play few pitches, whereas angular harps could play more than 
20. in mesopotamia, angular harps were accepted during a period of 300 years. But 
egypt resisted them for 600 to 200 years while keeping the tradition of arched harps.
the slow acceptance of angular harps implies a reluctance to expand the pitch 
range of harp music. By near eastern standards, egypt was a conservative music 
culture. this observation confirms Plato’s assertion that egyptians “forbade any 
innovations or inventions in music”.
in the Cyclades, 
arched
harps appeared during the mid-third millennium: several 
marble statuettes of musicians were discovered in thera (today, santorini); they are 
contemporaries with the examples known from mesopotamia and the levant. their 
shapes, however, are quite distinct from other arched harps. Although it seems proba-
ble that the technique of musical instruments and that musical practices circulated over 
great distances, the precise means of such a circulation escapes us. it is probable that 
instruments were adapted to local usages and that several types may have coexisted.
looking now towards the east, we observe that from elam, situated across the 
western part of present iran, comes the first image of an arched harp, dated 3200 
BC. it was excavated at Chogha mish. it is a composite of five sealing fragments 
which constituted a large scene. the fragments shared one pictorial element: a jar 
(or a fish),
5
and the whole scene could be reconstructed. the complete scene shows 
1
a. Ancient Egypt, arched harp, tomb 
of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, 
at Saqqara, fifth dynasty, r
eign of 
Pharaoh Niuserre Ini (2380–2320 BC) 
VERIFY DATES [2445–2424 BC] OR 
ELIMINATE?
. After Manniche 1991, 
p. 28.
b. Egypt, vertical angular harp, tomb 
at Memphis, Ptolemaic 
(304–30 BC).
After Manniche 1991, pp. 106–107.
c1. Mesopotamia, arched harp 
(3350–3200 BC). Rashid 1984, fig. 27.
c2. 
Ancient Mesopotami
a, arched 
harp, consecration plaque from 
Khafaja, Iraq (2600 BC), University of 
Chicago, Oriental Institute, A 12417. 
Rashid 1984, fig. 35.
d1. Mesopotamia, vertical angular 
harp, Old Babylonian terracotta 
plaque (
1830–1531 BC DIFFERENT 
DATES IN ESSAY 1894–1595 BC. 
REMOVE????
), Iraq Museum, 
Baghdad, IM 21 359. Rashid 1984, 
fig. 62.
d2. Mesopotamia, horizontal angular 
harp, Old Babylonian terracotta 
plaque, Old Babylonian terracotta 
plaque (1830–1531 BC), Louvre, AO 
12455. Rashid 1984, fig. 71.
e. Elam, arched harp, terracotta 
impression of a stamp seal, Chogha 
Mish (3200 BC). Lawergren 2018.
f1. Elam, vertical angular harp 
from Madaktu, wall relief (646 BC). 
Lawergren 2018.
f2. Elam, horizontal angular harp from 
Susa, terracotta plaque (2000–1500 
BC), Louvre, Sb 6574. Spycket 1992, 
p. 187, fig. 36.
g. BMAC, horizontal angular harp 
on a silver cup from Northern 
Afghanistan. 
For reference, points to 
Joël Suire??????. 
(
REMOVE?????: G. 
Fussman, J. Kellens, H.-P. Francfort 
and X. Tremblay, A¯ryas, Aryens et 
Iraniens en Asie Centrale, Collège de 
France, Paris 2005, fig. 27).
h. Indus Valley Civilization, writing 
sign thought to show an arched harp 
(2600–1900 BC). Flora 1988, p. 215; 
Parpola 1996, fig. 167, no. 180
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Elam
BMAC
Indus
a
c1
c2
e
h
b
d1
f1
d2
f2
g

---

57
56
a dinner entertained by four musicians. Besides the arched harp player, there is a 
drummer, a player of animal horns.
6
The fourth musician holds his right hand on 
the cheek, a posture well known from singers in ancient and modern Near East. In 
a nutshell, the little dinner ensemble looks universal: there is a string, a percussion 
and a wind instrument. T
he ensemble is the first known representation of a union 
of music and feasting. But there seems to be no religious objects on display, but, of 
course, one cannot know if the feast had a hidden religious purpose. At any rate, it 
is no ordinary meal. the presence of music elevates its purpose. 
the angular harps appeared in elam, simultaneously with mesopotamia (ca. 
1900–1600 BC), and there are many examples. 
the oxus civilization, or Bactria-margiana Archaeological Complex (BmAC), a 
Bronze Age civilization in Central Asia, developed around 2200–1800 BC and cov-
ered n
orthern Afghanistan, eastern turkmenistan, Southern uzbekistan, Western 
tajikistan and the upper Amu darya (oxus river). there was also substantial bor-
rowing from iran. 
there were no arched harps in BmAc. the oxus harp is a horizontal angular 
model, similar to horizontal models in mesopotamia (
fig. d2
). it looks like a vertical 
harp turned 90
o
. Both orientations were present already during the old Babylonian 
period, and the strings can easily be counted on the madaktu orchestra shown on an 
Assyrian wall relief in the British museum.
7
this is clearly countable on the madaktu 
orchestra shown on an Assyrian wall relief in the British museum. At the front end 
the strings were tied to the vertical rod and allowed to hang down freely as “tassels” 
in front of the harp (
fig. d2
). however, the oxus harp differs: its tassels cling to the 
front and follow tightly the bottom of the front.
2
Harp players of the royal court of 
Elam (Southwest Iran) – part of an 
Assyrian wall relief from the palace of 
Ashurbanipal II depicting his conquest 
of Elam
Southwest Palace, Kouyunjik, Nineveh, 
Northern Iraq 
660–650 BC
Gypsum alabaster
British Museum, London
trumpets were common in the oxus civilization. these were not used as musi-
cal or signal instruments, but could imitate animal sounds, especially that of deer. 
the hunter used his trumpet to call the female deer during rut. the animal would 
approach and be quickly killed.
in the indus valley, at a time when arched harps were well attested in mesopota-
mia, the situation is less clear during the development of the harappan civilization. 
only one representation is known (
fig. h
). it is on a square seal from 
mohenjo-daro
, 
with an upper and lower part. the former shows a row of three symbols, and the 
latter an image of a zebu animal. the rightmost symbol looks like a pictograph of 
an arched harp with three vertical strings.
however, the writing from the indus civilization has not yet been deciphered, 
and we do not know the pronunciation of the harp symbol, as we do in mesopota-
mia (