638 



HARP H UIPAGUS. 



noblest qualities was his love of learning and science. 

 He caused many Greek and Latin authors to be 

 translated and dispersed throughout his empire, and 

 made his subjects acquainted with the Iliad and the 

 Odyssey. He eight times invaded the Greek em- 

 pire, and, on the refusal of the emperor Nicephorus 

 in 802, to pay tribute, addressed to him a singularly 

 arrogant epistle, and followed it up by an irruption 

 into Greece, which ended in the defeat of Nicephorus, 

 who was obliged to pay an augmented tribute, and 

 agree not to rebuild Heraclea and the other pillaged 

 and dilapidated frontier towns. During these trans- 

 actions, the ruin of the family of the Barmecides ex- 

 emplified the despotic rigour of Haroun's character. 

 Yahia, the head of it, had superintended his educa- 

 tion ; and of his four sons, the eldest was a success- 

 ful general ; the second, the caliph's prime vizier, 

 Gianer; and the third and fourth in dignified sta- 

 tions. The generosity, munificence, and affability of 

 the Barmecides, rendered them the delight of all 

 ranks of people ; and Giaffer was so much in his 

 master's graces, that the caliph, in order to enjoy 

 his company in the presence of his sister Abassa, to 

 whom he was equally attached, formed a marriage 

 between the princess and vizier, but with the capri- 

 cious restriction of their forbearing the privileges of 

 such an union. Passion broke through this unjust 

 prohibition, and the caliph, in his revenge, publicly 

 executed Giaffer, and confiscated the property of the 

 whole family. Haroun attained the summit of 

 worldly power and prosperity, and the French histo- 

 rians mention a splendid embassy which he sent to 

 Charlemagne, which, among other presents, brought 

 a magnificent tent, a water-clock, an elephant, and 

 the keys of the holy sepulchre at Jesusalem, imply- 

 ing a permission for European pilgrims to visit it. 

 Haroun was seized with a mortal distemper, while on 

 the point of marching to put down a rebellion in the 

 provinces beyond the Oxus ; and, retiring to Tous, 

 in Korasan, expired in the forty-seventh year of 

 his age, and twenty-third of his reign. The popular 

 fame of this caliph is evinced by the Arabian Nights' 

 Entertainments, in which Haroun, his wife Zobeide, 

 his vizier Giaffer, and his chief eunuch Mesrour, are 

 frequent and conspicuous characters. 



HARP ; a stringed instrument, consisting of a tri- 

 angular frame, and the chords of which are distended 

 in parallel directions from the upper part to one of 

 its sides. Its scale extends through the common 

 compass, and the strings are tuned by semitonic 

 intervals. It stands erect, and, when used, is placed 

 at the feet of the performer, who produces its tones 

 by the action of the thumb and fingers of both hands 

 on the strings. The ancients had a triangular instru- 

 ment, called trigonum, corresponding somewhat to 

 our harp. Some authors say that it came originally 

 from the Syrians, from whom the Greeks borrowed 

 it. The ancient sambuca is believed by some to cor- 

 respond to the harp. Some writers say that the harp 

 came to us from the nations of the north of Europe, in 

 whose languages they trace its etymology. Papias 

 and Du Cange assert that the harp derives its name 

 from the Arpi, a people of Italy, who invented it ; 

 but Galileo maintains that the Italians received it 

 from the Irish. Whatever may have been its origin, 

 its invention is very ancient. It was known to the 

 Egyptians, as appears from the travels of Bruce and 

 Denon. The four harps of which the latter travel- 

 ler has given drawings, are almost the same in shape 

 as ours. The two first having twenty-one strings, 

 the third eighteen, and the fourth only four. The 

 designs are From the paintings found in the tombs of 

 the kings, in the mountain west of Thebes. The 

 Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Romans appear to 

 have made particular use of this instrument. 



The following cuts represent four several species of 

 harps used by the ancient Hebrews. Fig. 1. repre- 

 sents the ancient Cithra or Harun ; Fig. 2. is the 

 representation of a harp from the medafe of Simon 

 Maccabeus ; Fig. 3. is the Kinnor ; and Fig. 4. the 

 Nablum or Psaltery. 



The ivory harp, with seven strings, belonged to 

 the Greeks, who, however, neglected it. The Ro- 

 mans preserved the use of it a long time in sacrifices. 

 The harp was much played in France in the time of 

 chivalry. The Anglo-Saxons excelled in playing on 

 the harp, which they generally accompanied with the 

 violin and the cornicinus. The ancient Irish, Scots, 

 and Welsh also made much use of this instrument, and 

 the harp figures conspicuously in the arms of Ireland. 

 The Anglo-Normans also were skilful performers on 

 this instrument. Strutt, in his England, Ancient and 

 Modern, has given drawings of the harps used by 

 the people of the north about the ninth century. 

 They are triangular, like ours, but have only ten or 

 twelve strings. In the thirteenth century, the harp 

 had only seventeen strings, as appears from a manu- 

 script of the time, cited and analyzed by Lebeuf 

 (Mem. de V Academic des Inscript., torn, xx, page 

 377). No instrument has received greater improve- 

 ment from modern artists than this. In its present 

 state, while it forms one of the most elegant objects 

 to the eye, it produces some of the most agreeable 

 effects to the ear, of any instrument in practice. 



In the modern harp there are commonly thirty- 

 five strings, but sometimes the number is extended 

 to forty-three. The compass usually extends from 

 double A of the bass clef, to double G in the G clef. 

 The command of this delightful instrument is greatly 

 increased by the addition of seven paddles moved 



