974 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



and viutage; ' it contributed to the pleasure and festivity of the banquet ;2 

 the victors in battle were received on their return with "singing, dan- 

 cing, and timbrels."^ In short, music seems to have been the indispen- 

 sable accompaniment of everj^ public occasion, whether joyous or sad.^ 



But it was in religious worship that music attained its highest 

 development in Israel, and it is to the time of David that the extensive 

 use of music in religious service, both vocal and instrumental, was 

 ascribed. From the 38,000 Levites 4,000 were elected and organized 

 under 288 leaders into a chorus and orchestra to provide for the music 

 of the sanctuary. The 288 classes were separated into 42 divisions 

 under the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, as masters, and the 

 entire chorus and orchestra was under the direction of Asaph, 

 Jeduthun, and Heman." These sanctuary musicians also officiated at 

 the dedication of the temple by Solomon.'^ Under the later idolatrous 

 kings it may be assumed that the music, like the worship of the temple, 

 was often neglected. It is, on the other hand, especially mentioned 

 that the pious kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, gave much attention to the 

 nuisical services of the temple." Jt was employed at the restoration of 

 the temple and the walls of Jerusalem after the return from the exile;" 

 and from post-biblical writings, ei'ipecially Josephus, it is known that it 

 continued to form a prominent fet^ture of Jewish worship. 



The musical instruments mentioned in the Bible may be divided, 

 after the usual classifications, into the following groups: 



(1) Instruments of percussion, which were beaten or shaken to pro- 

 duce sound for the purpose of reguhiting the rhythmic element in 

 music. These instruments were presumably the first used, and are 

 still common among the less cultivated peoples. 



(2) Wind instrumejits. 



(3) String instruments, which were always played with the fingers or 

 with the plectrum, and not, like the modern violin, with a bow. 



Of the instruments mentioned in the Bible, two — the ram's horn and 

 the trumpet — are commanded to be used for sacred purposes.^ These 

 two instruments are also the only ones concerning. whose shape there 

 is absolute certainty. 



Of the trumpet there is a representation extant on the Arch of Titus 

 at Rome, while there is no doubt that the ram's horn which is still used 

 in the synagogue has conserved its antique form.'" 



' Isaiali xvi; 10. 



^Isaiah v, 12; Amos vi, 5; II Samuel xix, 35. 



=* Exodus XV, 21; Judges xi, 34; I Samuel xviii, 6, 



■"Genesis xxxi, 27; Luke xv, 25; II Chronicles xxxv, 25; Matthew ix, 23; Jeremiah 

 ix, 17, 18, and 19. 



"I Chronicles xxiii, 5; xxv, 7. 



611 Chronicles v, 12, 13. 



'II Chronicles xxix, 25; xxxv, 15. 



»Ezra 111, 10, 11; Neheniiah xi, 17, 22; xii, 28. 



^Leviticus xxiii, 24; xxv, 9; Numbers x, 2. 



'"Johann Weiss, Die musikalischen Instrumente in den Heiligen Schriften des 

 Alten Testamentes, Gratz, 1895. 



