Last May, I was invited to present my
research into the musicological collection in the Egypt Centre as part of the
first Wonderful
Things conference. I focussed on two exciting objects within the
collection, a faience “Bes-bell” (WK44) and a mysterious item that has been
described as a “faience whistle” (W247).
The Bes-bell, which came
to the Egypt Centre from Woking College in 2012, is unusual in that it is
made from faience rather than the usual bronze (fig. 1). There are only a few
examples of these faience bells surviving today, making the Swansea example, on
display in the Games and Music case in the House of Life, a rare and precious
example of the musical past. These bells are incredibly small; our one is just
4cm tall. The fact that this bell was made of faience rather than bronze would
indicate that it was some form of votive item (Elwart & Emerit 2019, 319–22).
Acoustically its shape, even with the lip of the bell, which is now missing,
would limit the loudness and sustain of the sound rung out. This would support the
idea that this specific example was not for “musical” use, but rather as a
protective sound—perhaps similar to bikers’ “gremlin
bells”.
Fig. 1: Faience Bes-bell (WK44) |
The second object, the “whistle” (fig.
2), is, to my knowledge, rather unique.
Fig. 2: A mysterious “whistle” (W247) |
W247 was part of the William MacGregor
collection, sold by Sotheby’s in 1922 as pottery (lot 1798), and bought by “Cousins”
on behalf of Sir Henry Wellcome for four pounds, fifteen shillings (Hardwick
2011). It was part of a miscellaneous lot, which was summarily described in the
sale catalogue as “a quantity of fragments in silver, pottery, wood, stone, and
earthenware”. Not too promising! In fact, the lot was dominated by faience
beads. However, after buying the lot, it was identified in the Wellcome archives
(fig. 3) as “one (?) whistle, made up of alternate white and blue pottery rings
on tube. 3¾" long (in two pieces)”.
Fig. 3: Wellcome slip for W247 |
The whistle then came to Swansea in 1971,
receiving its current accession number W247, and is today a favourite of
visitors, where until recently it was on display. A few months ago, the fragile
state of this unique object led to the decision to have it sent to Cardiff
for conservation, which is currently ongoing.
Fig. 4: “mouthpiece” (W247) |
While there are typologies of musical instruments in ancient Egypt, W247 does not fit in any of them (Anderson 1976; Hickmann 1949). In fact, while there are many different forms of wind-based musical instrument in ancient Egypt, our mysterious “whistle” doesn’t bear a resemblance to any of them. W247 is, in fact, a complicated object. It comprises a copper-based tube, with decorative rings in alternating colour, which seem to be attached to the tube with some form of gesso. At one end is a “mouthpiece” (fig. 4) that would not be simple to play (if any wind instrument players are reading this, please get in touch with your thoughts!). Interestingly, this mouthpiece seems to have a piece of wooden material gummed inside—the purpose of this is unknown at the moment (fig. 5).
Fig. 5: View inside “mouthpiece” showing wooden material (W247) |
Throughout its modern history, the
decorative rings have been variously described as pottery, faience, and glass. However,
it was only when scrutinising the object, earlier this year, that Ken and I realised
two things. The first was that the white rings are made of bone or ivory. The
second was that the blue rings are not faience but lapis lazuli (Aston, Harrell
& Shaw 2000, 39–40), a material unattested on any musical instrument in
ancient Egypt (fig. 6). Furthermore, searches for convincing parallels in the
ancient Near East are so far rather fruitless (I would love to hear if a reader
knows of any similar examples!). It may be the case that W247 isn’t Egyptian,
but perhaps Mesopotamian—an avenue of ongoing research.
Fig. 6: Lapis lazuli ring (W247) |
Musicology and the broader study of
sound (its forms, contexts, and meanings) in ancient Egypt is a growing subject
of study (Elwart & Emerit 2019; Köpp-Junk 2018; von Lieven 2016). While the
theory of this discipline is a hot topic of discussion, there is still a need
to make more of the source data, the objects themselves, available for
research. Therefore, the opportunity to study objects such as W247 (fig. 7),
and the mysteries around them, makes working on the musical material in the Egypt
Centre so exciting. As part of this work, W247, along with the rest of the
musicological collection at Swansea, will be fully published in the near future,
including information gleaned from the conservation work being carried out at
Cardiff University. This conservation provides an opportunity to take a closer
look at the materials in this object. What is the small piece of wood in the
mouthpiece (remains of a reed? stopper? detritus?)? Can the binding agent
between the tube and the decorative rings tell us more about how this object
was made? Why is it decorated with lapis lazuli, and can we find the origin of
the material? But more importantly, this work will make the future of this
unimposing, but invaluable, object secure for years to come.
Fig. 7: Views of W247 |
I am grateful to Ken for allowing me to
work on the collection and to present at the Wonderful Things conference
earlier this year. The dates for the second Egypt Centre conference have been
announced: 23–24 May 2020. This conference is sure to build on the strengths of
the first, and bring more material currently held in the Egypt Centre to light
both for research and the enjoyment of all!
Bibliography:
Anderson,
R. D. (1976) Catalogue of Egyptian antiquities in the British Museum III:
musical instruments. London: Trustees of the British Museum.
Aston,
B. G., J. A. Harrell, and I. Shaw (2000) ‘Stone’. In Ancient Egyptian
materials and technology, ed. P. T. Nicholson and G. J. Shaw. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 5–77.
Elwart,
D. and S. Emerit (2019) ‘Sound studies and visual studies applied to ancient
Egyptian sources’. In Sounding sensory profiles in the ancient Near East,
ed. A. Schellenberg and T. Krüger. Ancient Near East Monographs 25. Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature. 315–334.
Hardwick,
T. (2011) ‘Five Months before Tut: Purchasers and Prices at the MacGregor Sale,
1922’. Journal of the History of Collections 23, 1: 1–14.
Hickmann,
H. (1949) Instruments de musique. Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes
du Musée du Caire. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut français d’archéologie
orientale.
Köpp-Junk,
H. (2018) ‘Sound of Silence? Neueste Ergebnisse aus der Musikarchäologie’. In Pérégrinations
avec Erhart Graefe: Festschrift zu seinem 75. Geburtstag, ed. A. I. Blöbaum,
M. Eaton-Krauss and A. Wüthrich. Ägypten und Altes Testament 87. Münster:
Zaphon. 267–283.
Sotheby,
Wilkinson & Hodge (1922) Catalogue of the MacGregor Collection of
Egyptian Antiquities. London: Davy.
von
Lieven, A. (2016) ‘Sounds of power: the concept of sound in ancient Egyptian
religion’. In Religion für die Sinne / Religion for the senses, ed. P.
Reichling and M. Strothmann. Artificium 58. Oberhausen: Athena. 25–35.
Have you asked a specialist on Greek auloi? They were also played in Hellenistic Egypt.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Alexandra von Lieven
Many thanks for your message Alexandra. I'll pass it on to John!
ReplyDeleteWind instruments such as clarinet oboe etc. are played through a reed. Is it possible that the piece of wood had an influence on the type of note that the player was trying to achieve?
ReplyDelete