"LET THERE BE LIGHT" Ministries
THE GgODS OF MUSIC, part 3 quotes
1) When Nimrod established the kingdom of Babel/Babylon in the land of Mesopotamia, there were certain groups who did not scatter away into other parts of the world after the single language was changed. The language groups of Babylonians which remained came to be known by the names of the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians. The “word Sumer is derived from Shinar” (Tracing Our Ancestors, p 29, by Frederick Haberman, Artisan Publishers, 1989), which was the very plain where Nimrod established his Babylonian kingdom and built his great religious ziggurat or pyramid tower (Genesis 11:2-6).
2) Archeological evidence reveals that the Babylonians understood “the art of music” (Sumerian Tablet of A Praise Poem of Shulgi (Shulgi E), line 155, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr24205.htm, accessed 4-27-12), the “art of song” (Sumerian Tablet of Inana and Enki, Segment I, line 51, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.3.1#, accessed 4-27-12), as well as “the art of singing” (Self-praise of Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan A), Segment A, line 68, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr25401.htm, accessed 4-27-12). They had “completely mastered the developed aspects of the art of singing and the recondite points of…songs” and musical performance (Self-praise of Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan A), Segment A, lines 74-75, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr25401.htm, accessed 4-27-12). Their “songs” were intelligently sung, and the accompanying musical performance was “harmonious” in tune and conducted with skill (Sumerian Tablet of A Hymn to Nance (Nance A), line 42, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.14.1&charenc=j#, accessed 4-27-12).
3) The musical instruments of Jubal were used by the Babylonians when they settled in Mesopotamia. In fact, “one of the earliest Chaldasan sculptures contained a representation of the harp and the pipes which were attributed to Jubal” (The World's Earliest Music Traced to its Beginnings in Ancient Lands, p 4, by Hermann Smith, London: William Reeves, 1904,
at http://www.archive.org/stream/worldsearliestmu00smituoft/worldsearliestmu00smituoft_djvu.txt, accessed 3-16-12).
Over the years there were developed and then added other musical instruments including “the cornet, flute, harp [of from 6 to 15 strings], sackbut (lyre of from 3 to 12 strings), psaltery, dulcimer (bagpipe), and all [other] kinds of music” (Daniel 3:5), including bells, clappers, sistrums or sistras, cymbals, tambourines, horns, trumpets, reeds, double reeds, etc (see Ancient and Oriental Music, Volume 1 of New Oxford History of Music, p 239-245, editor: Egon Wellesz, publisher: Oxford University Press, 1957). Included with these instruments were quite “a variety of drums” of different types and sizes (see Ancient and Oriental Music, Volume 1 of New Oxford History of Music, p 233-238, editor: Egon Wellesz, publisher: Oxford University Press, 1957).
4) Babylonian literature identifies at least nine different types of drums they used: the adab, ala, balag, lilis or lilissu, meze, sem, sim, tigi and ub (see Sumerian Cylinder of The building of Ningirsu's temple (Gudea, cylinders A and B), Cylinder A, Section 18, line A18.19 (cumulative line 501), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#, accessed 4-29-12; The Sumerian Tablet of Inana and Enki, Segment J, lines 100-101, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr131.htm, accessed 4-29-12; Sumerian Tablet of Enki's journey to Nibru, line 62, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-29-12; Sumerian Tablet of The marriage of Martu, lines 60-62, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr171.htm, accessed 4-29-12). These drums ranged in size from the “Giant frame drums...and small cylindrical drums played horizontally and vertically” (Encyclopedia Britannica, under Egyptian Art, at http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-180644/Egyptian-art, cited inHistory and classification of Percussion instruments, at http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/kallidaihari/classification.htm, accessed 5-13-12), to both small and large sacred kettledrums. These drums were tuned “properly” (Sumerian Tablet of Enki's journey to Nibru, line 124, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-29-12), so that they correctly and consistently provided the particular desired sound. Some of these drums were beaten by hand – such as the smaller hand-held ones. But in order to get the most impact noise, a lot of these drums – especially the large ones – were beaten with “drumsticks” (see Sumerian Tablet of Enki's journey to Nibru, line 62, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-29-12; Sumerian Tablet of The Kesh Temple Hymn, 7th house, line 117, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4802.htm, accessed 4-30-12).
5) Their god Ea or Enki was believed to be the “God of Music and Wisdom” (Percussion Instruments and Their History, 4th edtion, illustrated and revised, p 157, by James Blades, publisher: Bold Strummer, 1992), and his sacred musical instrument was the drum. Some drums even had “the addition of a figure of Ea set on top” of it (Percussion Instruments and Their History, 4th edtion, illustrated and revised, p 153, by James Blades, publisher: Bold Strummer, 1992).
The god Ea or Enki was represented by a bull, which was a manifestation of the Babylonian’s one supreme god Bel-Marduk, and after “divine powers had been transferred by magic means” into the “ritually prepared’ bull, the priests then kill this sacred bull, “in order to transfer its potency and sacredness to the kettle drum" through its skin (Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization, Second Edtion, p 179, by A. Leo Oppenheim, University of Chicago Press, 1964). Once this ritual was completed, this drum covered with the sacred bull’s skin was no longer just a common musical instrument, but was known as “The Divine Lilissu (kettledrum)” (Rituels Accadiens, p 12, by F. Thureau-Dangin, Paris, 1921, cited in Percussion Instruments and Their History, 4th edtion, illustrated and revised, p 157, by James Blades, publisher: Bold Strummer, 1992).
As the kettledrum was the special sacred drum of the god Ea, other drums became special to other gods as well. For instance: the “holy ub and holy lilis drums” were played especially “for her [Babylonian goddess Inana]” (Sumerian Tablet of A Sir-namursaga to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A), 3rd Kirugu, line 37, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.5.3.1#, accessed 4-27-12). The “balag drum” became the “beloved” drum of the war god Ningirsu. Thus the Babylonians believed that this “drum will make the inclination of the lord -- which is as inconceivable as the heavens -- will make the inclination of Ningirsu, the son of Enlil, favourable for you...With his powers, which are the greatest, the warrior [god] will make the house [temple] thrive for you” (Sumerian Cylinder of The Building of Ningirsu's Temple (Gudea, cylinders A and B), Cylinder A, Section 7, lines A7.1-5, 7-8) (cumulative lines 165-169, 171-172), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website,
at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#, accessed 4-27-12). This meant that when the Babylonians played this particular drum, or any of the other holy drums, they understood that the gods who favored these would become so happy with their worshippers that their “requests will then be taken as if they were commands” and would be quickly and abundantly answered (Sumerian Cylinder of The Building of Ningirsu's Temple (Gudea, cylinders A and B), Cylinder A, Sections 6, lines A6.26)(cumulative line 164), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website,
at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#, accessed 4-27-12).
This led the Babylonians to believe that the musical instrument of “drums belong to the divine powers” (Sumerian Tablet of The temple hymns, line 7, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4801.htm, accessed 4-29-12), and that when they played these drums, the gods would become favorably influenced towards them. So more than any other musical instrument, the Babylonians believed that the drums were sacred and “holy” (The Sumerian Tablet of Inana and Enki, Segment J, lines 100-101, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr131.htm, accessed 4-29-12; Sumerian Tablet of The lament for Urim, line 300, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.2.2&charenc=j#, accessed 4-29-12).
As the kettledrum was actually a representation of their god “Ea, the divine Patron of Music”, then “the dread sound of which was the personification of his essence” (Ancient and Oriental Music, Volume 1 of New Oxford History of Music, p 231, editor: Egon Wellesz, publisher: Oxford University Press, 1957) or his spirit would come into their midst. By playing this drum the Babylonians were actually calling or summoning this god to come into their midst and bless their gathering with his essence or spirit. This means that it was the sound of the drum itself, aside from any lyrics, that was the personification of the essence of the gods, who were all divine representations of their one supreme god Bel-Marduk. The longer and louder the Babylonian musicians would beat upon these sacred drums, the more of the presence of the god of music would be encouraged to come into their midst, fill the entire area, and affect all the listeners with his essence or spirit.
6) Babylonian drums were not played in a haphazard, non-rhythmic pattern. The Babylonians skillfully played their drums in a perfect rhythmic cycle and tempo designed to reflect the harmony and precise mathematical functioning of the universe. This fact is clearly shown in an ancient Babylonian drawing wherein “we find rhythmical sounds of the drum here employed apparently for the purpose of facilitating the execution of some menial labour [which was cutting down the palm trees belonging to a captured city]” (The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, p 101 by Carl Engel, Reeves London, 1864, cited in Percussion Instruments and Their History, p 158, by James Blades, 4th edition, Publisher Bold Strummer, 1992).
The Babylonians “deeply revered music, which was perceived to be a gift from the gods and the means by which to worship” them (Progenitive Music: A Study of the Ancestry of Western Society, In Regards to Music, Religion and Culture, p 43, by Jason Rae, 2007). Enki – their patron god of music – was depicted to have himself “made” some of the many musical instruments which the Babylonians were fond of using – such as “the lyre, the algar instrument, [and] the balag drum with the drumsticks” (Sumerian Tablet on Enki's Journey to Nibru, line 62, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-27-12).
In connection with this fact, “each of the translated tablets that relates to music of psalms for religious worship, places the music in the scale of ‘nid qabli’, meaning ‘of the gods’” (Progenitive Music: A Study of the Ancestry of Western Society, In Regards to Music, Religion and Culture, p 21, by Jason Rae, 2007).
7) Since there are exactly 7 major notes to a musical scale, and the Babylonians believed that there were exactly seven different divine gods who controlled the heavens and determined future events, destinies of both individuals and nations, as well as omens of both good and ill, then the Babylonians represented these different astrological powers in the tunes of their music.
Religious music performed in Babylonian temples frequently had “seven singers [who] sang” (Sumerian Tablet of Enki's journey to Nibru, line 67, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-29-12) to the accompaniment of “seven instruments” (Sumerian Tablet of A praise poem of Shulgi (Shulgi C), Segment B, line 80, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr24203.htm, accessed 4-29-12) which played songs containing the seven different musical tones, whose musical rhythm was then enhanced by, of course, “seven” drums – especially “tigi drums” (Sumerian Tablet of Enki's journey to Nibru, line 123-125, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr114.htm, accessed 4-29-12), “ala drums” (Sumerian Tablet of The marriage of Martu, line 61, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr171.htm, accessed 4-29-12) and “balag drums” (Babylonian Tablet of The cursing of Agade (Old Babylonian version), Line 197, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr215.htm, accessed 4-29-12).
8) Babylonian temples were "staffed by priests, priestesses, musicians, singers, castrates and hierodules [prostitutes]” (The Treasures of Darkness: a History of Mesopotamian Religion, by Thorkild Jacobsen, Yale University Press, 1976; also Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, under Music, p. 461, Abingdon Press, 1962), and these temple “musicians and singers, [included] both male and female” performers (Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria, Chapter 9 on Religion, p 111, by H.W.F. Saggs, published 1965, Assyrian International News Agency Books Online, at http://www.aina.org/books/eliba/eliba.htm#c20, accessed 12-22-11; also Sumerian Cylinder of The Building of Ningirsu's Temple, Cylinder B, section 3, lines B4.5-6 (cumulative lines 890-891), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#, accessed 4-23-12). Some of the priests and priestesses themselves became these musicians and singers. Some of them became “cantors of laments, some cantors of carols, [and] many were musicians” (Babylonian Religion, by Dr. M.D. Magee, at http://www.askwhy.co.uk/judaism/0235Marduk.php, accessed 5-13-12; also Sumerian Cylinder of The Building of Ningirsu's Temple, Cylinder B, section 3, lines B4.5-6 (cumulative lines 890-891), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.7#, accessed 4-23-12) – including drummers! Especially could the “pašeš priests beat the drumskins; [as] they recite powerfully, powerfully” (Sumerian Tablet of The Kesh temple hymn, 7th house, Lines 114-115, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4802.htm, accessed 4-29-12). In fact “Musical knowledge, like that of astrology, was initially considered the sole purview of the priests and the temples” (Progenitive Music: A Study of the Ancestry of Western Society, In Regards to Music, Religion and Culture, p 21, by Jason Rae, 2007). Thus the musical players, especially the drummers themselves, were Babylonian priests!
It Babylonian temples of worship that “sacred hymns, the psalms and lamentations [were] chanted by trained singers in accordance with a well-defined liturgy, to the accompaniment of diverse instruments: lyres, flutes, cymbals and drums” (The Arts of Assyria, Volume 2 of Arts of Mankind, p 297, by André Parrot, published by Golden Press, 1961). “Orchestras played and singers sang, individually and chorally” in praises to the gods of Babylon (The Story of Civilization: Part 1 – Our Oriental Heritage, Chapter IV, Moral Elements of Civilization, p 254, by Will Durant, Simon and Schuster, NY, 1954, at http://www.archive.org/stream/StoryOfCiv01_OurOrientalHeritage#page/n351/mode/2up, accessed 1-25-12).
9) Sometimes several different types of drums would all be played in unison to make “them resound to Enlil” (five different drums playing simultaneously listed in the Babylonian Tablet of The Cursing of Agade (Old Babylonian version), lines 197-200, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature website, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr215.htm, accessed 4-29-12). But in most all occasions, “drums...were freely employed in sacred music” of Babylon (Babylonian and Hebrew Musical Terms, by Professor Stephen Langdon, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol 53, Issue #2, 1921, p 169-191, at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5682892, accessed 6-14-11), especially during the chants as “the precentors [priest as a choir director]...[would] chant to the drum” (Ancient and Oriental Music, Volume 1 of New Oxford History of Music, p 234, editor: Egon Wellesz, publisher: Oxford University Press, 1957).
This free use of drums within the religious worship services of Babylonian temples is clearly shown in a “Sumerian Stela” or song of lamentation written about 2400 BC, which stated: “O temple, thy skilled master [priest] is not present; thy fate who decrees? The psalmist, who knows the song, is not present; thy fate to the drum he chants not! He that knows how to touch the drum is not present; thy fate he sings not!” (Sumerian Stela, cited in Essays on the Origins of Western Music, Essay #5: Thoughts on Music and Religion in Ancient Civilizations, p 1, by David Whitewell).
This ancient Stela passage shows the integral connection of the drums to the priests and psalmist, because without the drums they could neither decree, chant, or sing about the fate or future of others! This reveals that the Babylonians considered the sacred drum to be one of the most important musical instruments to be heard within any of the worship services of the temples. It was considered to be integral to properly conducting their ritual ceremonies as well as their sacred music. Without the sacred drum, their temples could not be filled with the essence and spirit of their god of music, would not be blessed by his presence, and thus their services would be without his power.
10) The Babylonians also believed that the gods themselves were at times in conflict with one another. At one time they were happy, another time angry; one time they were perfect and holy, the next imperfect and evil. Their sun god Bel-Marduk only shone for half a full day, and then the opposing god of darkness ruled for the last half. Yet the Babylonians did not attribute this dualism or conflict among the gods to there being a lack of harmony in the cosmos, but instead embraced the concept that these apparent conflicts and rhythmic differences were necessary in order to maintain complete cosmic harmony. This led the Babylonian priests mimic this conflict by producing music that incorporated various rhythms that conflicted with each other. And the main musical instruments which the priests used to reproduce these conflicting poly-rhythms were the holy and sacred drums of the gods.
As these differing and conflicting rhythms would begin to pulse and resonate against each another, these would fill the city temple with deep undulating vibrations. The various Babylonians who gathered for worship in the temple would hear and even feel these rhythmic pulsing vibrations coming through the music. This type of pulsing, undulating, resonating, conflicting poly-rhythmic sound within the same piece of music would affect the listeners in completely different ways than would music played to only one particular united beat. And it is this conflict in beat and rhythm within music that was first developed by the Babylonians, and thus directly points back to them as it origin.