Music in the Ancient Near East

An interdisciplinary exploration of music in the ancient Near East, this volume examines instruments, performance, and cultural exchange across Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Levant through archaeology, texts, and iconography, highlighting music’s roles in society, ritual, gender, and mobility.

Music in the Ancient Near East brings together a series of innovative studies exploring musical practices across Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant, and beyond. Moving beyond general introductions, this volume presents a rich, interdisciplinary “melange” of archaeological finds, textual evidence, iconography, and experimental approaches to reconstruct the sounds, meanings, and social roles of music in antiquity.

Developed through an unusually collaborative and dialogic process, the contributions examine themes including gender, sexuality, disability, ritual, and cultural exchange. From travelling musicians and shared instrument traditions to new discoveries such as an Iron Age bone whistle, the volume highlights the interconnected musical landscape of the ancient Near East and the dynamic role of music in everyday and sacred life.

Introduction – Heidi Köpp-Junk and Shane M. Thompson

Was the oboe an erotic instrument in ancient Egypt? – Nadja Böckler

‘Playing by Ear:’ An Exploration of Music and Sex/Gender in Ancient Israelite Culture – Theodore W. Burgh

Follow the Songbird: Music and Blindness in Ancient Babylonia – Eric J. Harvey

The Sounds of the Past: An Iron Age Bone Whistle from Tell es-Safi/Gath and Contemporaneous Aerophones – Liora Kolska Horwitz, Ron Kehati, Maria Eniukhina, Shira Albaz, Aren M. Maeir

How To Play Ancient Egyptian Musical Instruments, Based On Texts, Two-Dimensional Depictions And Experimental Archaeology – Heidi Köpp-Junk

Music for the Gods in Ancient Egypt – Reflections on the Origins of Music in Egyptian Temples and Sanctuaries from the Earliest Evidence to the End of Dynasty 6 – Heidi Köpp-Junk

Frame Drums in the Ancient Levant: A Woman’s Instrument – Carol Meyers

‘Have You Not Taken the Drum to Shout in Rejoicing?’ Uses and Forms of Drums in Pharaonic Egypt – John Rogers

How Did Vertical Angular Harps Reach Egypt in Antiquity? – Daniel Sánchez Muñoz

The Motif of the String Player among Animals: From Kurgarru to Orpheus – Thomas Staubli

Music, Mourning, and Coping: Anat’s Grief Resolution for Aqhat – Shane M. Thompson

• Edited by Heidi Köpp-Junk
• Edited by Shane M. Thompson