[Figure] THEFlip side SOCIO -CULTURAL VALUE AND FUNCTION OF MUSIC Cover Image Source [?] ContactOn Details musical instruments and their performances Address Sulenstraße 10a, 81477 München Emailin Mesopotamia [email protected] of the 3rd millennium BCE from an archaeological,Telephone number iconographical +49 175 4706760 and philological perspective Evelyn E. R. Kutzer 0 Cover Image Lapis lazuli cylinder seal found against the right arm of Puabi in PG 800B in the Royal Cemetery of Ur Source https://www.penn.museum/ 1 The Socio-Cultural Value and Function of Music On musical instruments and their performances in Mesopotamia of the 3rd millennium BCE from an archaeological, iconographical and philological perspective Evelyn E. R. Kutzer Student Number s1756192 1st Specialization Archaeology of the Near East 2nd Specialization Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology Course Master thesis archaeology Course Code 4ARX-01910ARCH Supervisors Dr. Düring Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology Munich, 21st of September 2017 Final Version 2 TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER I Introduction 7–8 I. 1. Research problems, questions and methods 9–10 I. 1. 1. Corpus of data 11 I. 1. 2. Organization of the study 12–13 CHAPTER II Previous Research, the Classification of Instruments & Background Knowledge II. 1. An overview of previous work in music archaeology, philology, and theory 14–16 II. 2. Classification systems of musical instruments – then and now 17 II. 2. 1. The perception and definition of “music” 17–18 II. 2. 2. Culture-emerging vs. scholar-imposed classification schemes 18–20 II. 3. The 3rd millennium BCE in Mesopotamia II. 3. 1. An introduction into the region, the people and the time frame 21–24 II. 3. 2. Stages of religious development 24–25 II. 3. 2. An introduction into the Sumerian literary corpus 26 II. 3. 3. A chronological overview of Sumerian literature 27–28 II. 4. The Hornbostel-Sachs system 29–32 CHAPTER III The Ancient Mesopotamian Instrumentarium 33 III. 1. Aerophones 33–34 III. 2. Chordophones III. 2. 1. Harps 35–36 III. 2. 2. Lyres 37–42 III. 2. 3. Lutes 42–44 3 III. 3. Membranophones III. 3. 1. Large cylindrical frame drums 45 III. 3. 2. Small frame drums 46 III. 4. Idiophones III. 4. 1. Clappers 47–48 III. 4. 2. Cymbals 48 III. 4. 3. Sistrum 48–49 III. 4. 4. Rattles 49 III. 4. 5. Singing gestures, hand clapping and dancing 49–50 CHAPTER IV Terminology of Ancient Mesopotamian Musical Instruments 51 IV. 1. The gala and nar musician 51–53 IV. 2. Adab 53 IV. 3. Ala 54–55 IV. 4. Alĝar 55 IV. 5. Balaĝ 55–57 IV. 6. Gisug 57 IV. 7. Gudi 57 IV. 8. Lilis 58 IV. 9. Meze 58 IV. 10. Miritum 58 IV. 11. Šem 59 IV. 12. Tigi 60–61 IV. 13. Ub 61–62 IV. 14. Zami 62 IV. 15. Zamzam 62 IV. 16. Concluding remarks 63–64 4 CHAPTER V Contexts of Musical Performances 65 V. 1. The earliest attestations of musical performance 65–66 V. 2. Musical performances during feasts and banquets 67–68 V. 2. 1. Musical performance on Early Dynastic votive plaques 68–69 V. 2. 2. Ritual celebrations featuring chariots 69–71 V. 2. 3. Musical performances associated with journeys by boat 72–74 V. 2. 4. Feasts entertained by sportive competition 75–77 V. 2. 5. Female musicians and feasts for women 77–80 V. 2. 6. Contest scenes & animal and libation sacrifices 80–82 V. 3. Seeding and harvest festivals 83–84 V. 4. Music accompanying cultic and festive processions 85–87 V. 5. Music accompanying death and the afterlife – the Royal Cemetery of Ur 88–90 V. 5. 1. The intermingling of music in mythology in the context of death 90–92 V. 6. Banquet and presentation scenes during the Akkadian Period 93–94 V. 7. Construction activities and inauguration ceremonies – The building of Ninĝirsu's temple 95–98 V. 7. 1. The divinized balaĝ instrument – the concept of transcendental communication by means of musical instruments 98–101 V. 8. Šulgi, the divine king as musician 102–103 V. 8. 1. Musicians as instruments of political propaganda 103–105 V. 9. Music in times of tragedy 106–108 V. 10. Music in love and marriage 109–110 CHAPTER VI Analyzation and Interpretation 111 VI. 1. The instruments 112–114 VI. 2. The musicians 114–119 VI. 3. The audience 120 VI. 3. 1. The mundane realm 120 5 VI. 3. 2. The divine realm 121–122 VI. 4. Time and place 123–124 VI. 5. The development of musical performances and the socio-cultural value and function of music 125 VI. 5. 1. The emergence of musical performances 125 VI. 5. 2. The importance of feasting and festivities 126–128 VI. 5. 3. The importance of music in funerary ceremonies 129 VI. 5. 4. The Akkadian period 129 VI. 5. 5. The last century of the 3rd millennium BCE 130–131 CHAPTER VII Concluding Remarks 132 CHAPTER VIII Directories VIII. 1. Bibliography 133–151 VIII. 2. Abbreviations VIII. 2. 1. General abbreviations 152–153 VIII. 2. 2. Names and titles 153–154 VIII. 3. List of figures 155 VIII. 4. List of tables 156 CHAPTER IX Appendix IX. 1. Catalogue 157–203 IX. 2. List of figures in the catalogue 204–221 CHAPTER X Abstract 222 6 CHAPTER I Introduction The theoretical conception and practical performance of music are a central component of cultural achievements. Music is a universal feature of human societies and is a carrier of culture- specific contents and expressions (Shehata 2009, 1). What makes music so important in society? What is the role, the function, and the position of music? Music is often conceived as an autonomous form of art which acts freely from social, political, technological, and cultural developments. However, music does not simply passively represent society and its values. Rather, it is an active and dynamic entity which is influenced by and influences these trajectories simultaneously. Music is a universal and omnipresent feature of human life and a carrier of culture-specific contents and expression. It is appreciated consciously during concerts or accompanies traveling, sports, and work activities. It fulfills multiple functions, such as to communicate, to silence, to influence and calm emotions, and thus provides parameters which may shape experiences, perceptions, feelings, and behavior. Bearing this in mind, music can be understood as a reflection of its socio-cultural and historical context. Questions concerning the origin and function of musical instruments as well as different roles and positions of music are the main concern of this thesis. The heartland of ancient Mesopotamia had certainly been a significant center of musical development. In the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE, music had been a medium which carried social and culture specific identities in form of epics, myths, prayers, lamentations, and hymns. Various musicians and an extensive number of instruments are mentioned in documents, lexical list, literary works and catalogues. These textual sources document that instruments were regarded as sacred cultic devices and received offering. Music had been the appropriate way to get in contact with the gods (see ch. V. 7. 1.). It was performed at various events, for example during banquets, special celebrations such as the beginning of the new year, laying of the foundation stone or the dedication of a temple, during ritual processions, various cultic practices, or burial ceremonies. Apart from written evidence, the most substantial source for exploring the Mesopotamian musical culture are visual representations of musical scenes on various objects of art, as well as the exceptional archaeological instrument remains discovered in the Royal Cemetery in Ur which visualize the extent of the Mesopotamian instrumentarium. In images, instruments are embedded in scenes portraying subjective stories which are deliberately chosen to exemplarily 7 display the idea an artist or commissioner has of a certain event. Iconographic attestations appear on seals, votive plaques, as reliefs on steles, painted decoration on vessels, and in inlay works. All of them can be considered works of “major art” which were intended to enhance the roles or capacities of a limited number of people through stereotypical renderings. They most often show people involved in ritual scenes that were deemed worthy enough to be depicted. Their purpose was to immortalize the most spectacular and exceptional events of a small part of the society (Otto 2016, 113). For this reason, the high development of the Sumerian music culture is most often explained by its importance in cultic acts. This study aims to shed light on the value and function of music in the society and culture of the Mesopotamian heartland in the late 4th and 3rd millennium BCE by defining and analyzing various contexts of musical performances. It presents an interdisciplinary approach which compares and combines complementary evidence provided by iconographic sources, archaeological remains and literary texts. 8 I. 1. Research problems, questions and methods The archaeological and iconographical material from the 4th and 3rd millennium BCE is vast and versatile. The history and development of individual types of musical instruments, especially their organological and technical aspects, have been at the center of attention in music archaeology (see ch. II. 1.). Yet only few studies address the entirety of the Mesopotamian instrumentarium (e.g., Rashid 1984; Rimmer 1969). It is essential to understand and analyze this corpus as a whole since instruments are inexplicitly interrelated in the course of performance. The socio-cultural value and function of music and instruments is primarily accessible though their performative contexts. However, context-sensitive aspects have not received the attention they clearly merit. In visual representations, the social and cultural setting in which music had been performed has often been neglected and remains rather assumed than investigated.