Scan 118
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 108. See the scan on archive.org.
1highly interesting representations alluded to. I shall therefore confine myself to drawing attention to some curious facts observable on them, which show that certain peculiarities in the construction of our mediæval stringed instruments played with a bow, which are usually supposed to be of European origin, were already known to the ancient Egyptians.
3Frets were known. The British Museum contains a fragment of a fresco from an ancient Egyptian tomb on which are depicted two instruments of the kind in question. The frets are distinctly marked on the long neck. Furthermore, there is in the British Museum an ancient Egyptian vase in terra-cotta which represents a female playing on the long-necked nofre, whereon the frets are distinctly marked over the whole neck.
5Indentations of the body were known. Generally the form was oval; however, in one or two of the representations, the sides of the body appear to be slightly incurved, somewhat like those of our guitar. As the bow does not occur with the instrument, the indentations can have been of no material use, and were probably only occasionally adopted for the purpose of giving the instrument a more elegant shape; or, perhaps, the slight incurvations shown in one or two of the published illustrations may be owing to an accidental inaccuracy in the drawing of the copyist.
7The so-called "cittern-head" was known. Not only the ancient Egyptian harps were frequently embellished with a carved human head, but the same peculiar ornamentation occurs also on the nofre.
9Considering that the Hebrews obtained their musical knowledge originally from the Egyptians, they may be supposed to have had among their various stringed instruments at least one which was provided with a neck. This conjecture has recently been strengthened by the discovery of such an instrument among the ancient Assyrians. It is depicted on a bas-relief, which was exhumed at Birs-i-Nimroud, and which is deposited in the British Museum. The instrument is represented being played by an Assyrian musician, who accompanies two masked dancers. There are neither strings
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