MUSIC AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

KjwiBr 'with his hand'; and Josephus's evidence in such a matter should carry much weight.

(6) The nebd. It has been sought to identify this with various instruments ; among them, the lute (so RV in Is 5'^ [AV viol] ; ' lute ' is also RV tr. of Gr. kinyra in 1 Mac 4"), guitar, and dulcimer . In support of the last it is urged that the Arabic name lor that instrument, santir, is a corrup-tion of the Greek psalferion, by which, as has been said, the LXX sometimes render nebd. Having regard, however, to the testimony ot Josephus (see above) that the nebd had twelve strings, and was played by the hand without a plectrum, we are safe in taking it to be a kind of harp, an instrument of larger size than the kinn^, and used (Am 65, Is 5'^ 14") at the feasts of the rich. We find, on the other hand, that it was not too large to be played by one who was walking (see 1 S 10^, 2 S e*). The above argument from santir =psaUerion is weakened by the fact that the Greek word was used genericaUy for stringed instruments played with one or both hands without a plectrum. We may note further that the ndbla (see above for this as a LXX rendering of nebd), known to the Greeks as of Sidonlan origin, was played according to Ovid (Ars Amai. tii. 327) with both hands.

Egyptian monuments show us portable harps, varying in form, bow-shaped, rectanguiar, or triangular, though ail constructed on the same general principle, and having the sound-box above, not, as the kinnoT, below. Seven of these harps, of a triangular shape, and used by a Semitic people in Assyria, are to be seen on a bas-relief found at Kouyunjik. We may add that several early Church writers (Augustine on Ps 42; Jerome on Ps 149'; Isidore, Etym. iii. 22. 2) support the above identification of nebel with a harp.

(c) There Is Uttle that can be asserted with confidence as to the nature of other instruments of this class men-tioned in the Bible. In Dn W-, besides the ■psanlerln (Gr. psdUerion) and kitharis (Gr. kilhara) with which we have already dealt, we have the sabbekha (Ev sackbut). This is evidently the Greek sambyke, but the latter has been variously described as a large harp of many strings and rich tone, similar to the grand Egyptian harp, and as a very small one of high pitch. After all, both de-scriptions may be true, if referring to different periods of its existence.

NeginSth has sometimes been taken as the name of an instrument, but is much more probably a general term for stringed music. So in Ps 68^5 (Heb. ^), we have a contrast between the singers (shSrlm) and the players on strings (nsgenlm).

GiltUh, the heading of Pss 8. 81. 84, has also, but somewhat doubtfully, been referred to instruments named after Gath; so the early Jewish paraphrase (Targum), 'the harp which David brought from Gath.'

(2)IFOT(iinsir«m«i(s.— (a)Thecftgra(EVpipe)seemsto have been the instrument of this class in most common use. It was played in coming from and going to the high place (1 S 10=, 1 K 1'"). It accompanied festal pro-cessions of pilgrims (Is 30M). It was used in mourning (Jer 48™, cf. Mt 9"), and in the ritual of twelve solemn annual occasions. According to Is 5'^ the feasts of the drunkards were enhvened by it. It may have been a simple flute, i.e. a mere tube with holes, played by blowing either into one end or into a hole in the side. It is possible, on the other hand, that it may have been a reed instrument, either, as the modern oboe, with a double and vibrating tongue, or, as the clarinet, with a single tongue. Neighbouring nations were, we know, famiUar with reed pipes, as they also were with double flutes, which, for anything we know to the contrary, the chSMl may have been. On the other hand, the keyed flute is of decidedly later origin, and in the times with which we are dealing the fingers must have done all the work.

(6) The 'ugab, rendered uniformly in the AV as ' organ,' an instrument which was not known even in rudimentary form in OT days, seems to have become an obsolete word even in LXX times, as shown by the variety of renderings which it has there received. The instru-

MYRA

ment known as 'Pan's pipes' (Gr. syrinx, Lat. fistula) is perhaps the best conjecture that can be offered, (c) The mashrSkUha (EV flute) may have been similar; while (d) the sumpBnya (cf. the ItaUan zampugna or sampogna for 'bagpipes') may well have corresponded to the modern bagpipes, as developed from the double flute, (e) The shOphar (1 Ch IS^s, 2 Oh 15", Ps 98=, Hos S«, EV cornet; the 'cornets' of 2 S 6^ [AV; RV castanets'] are probably best represented by RVm ' sistra' ; see (3) (c) beiow) was a curved horn of a cow or ram, used mainly, and till later OT times exclusively, for secoiar purposes, such as to give signals in war (e.g. Jg 3") or to announce important events (.e.g. 1 K 1»«- «'). It Is still employed by the Jews at solemn festivals. The hatsStserah, on the other hand — the one instrument of which we have an undoubtedly authentic representation, viz. on the Arch of Titus at Rome in front of the table of shewbread — was a long, straight, metal trumpet, used mainly for relig-ious purposes, especially in later times (2 K 12i3, 1 Ch 13'). (3) Percussion instruments. — (a) 'The tSph, 'tablet' or timbrel, was a small hand-drum, represented on Egyptian and Assyrian monuments. In these instru-ments, unlike the modern drum, the parchment was probably rigidly fixed, and thus incapable of being tightened or loosened so as to regulate the pitch. (6) metsiltaim and tsdtsellm were cymbals. Two shapes are found in Egypt and Assyria, the one consisting of two flat plates, played by being clashed together sideways, the other of two cones with handles at the peak, one cone being brought down on top of the other, (c) mena-'anlm (RV 'castanets,' marg. sistra, 2 S 6^) were formed of two thin metal plates with holes, through which were passed rods with loose metallic rings at their ends, (d) shaKshlm in 1 S 18« (RVm 'triangles, or three-stringed instruments') has been thought, from the apparent connexion of the word with the third Heb. ' numeral, to be a triangle, but this is quite uncertain. It is more probable that it was a particular kind of sistrum. A. W. Steeaue.

MUSTASD (Gr. sinapi).— The seed of this plant is used proverbially for anything exceedingly small. In this sense it occurs in the Gospels (Mt ly^" etc.), and in the Talmud (Buxtorf, Lex. s.v. 'Chardal'). Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to the mustard seed (Mt 13" etc.). The plant intended is the Sinapis nigra (Arab, khardal), which grows wild in Palestine, and is a familiar sight on the shores of Gennesaret. It is also found under cultivation, and in the gardens it reaches a great size, being often from 10 to 12 feet in height. An annual, growing from seed, it is naturally compared with other garden herbs, which, although it springs from the smallest seed, it quite outgrows. It bears a profusion of minute seeds, of which the birds are very fond, sitting ('lodging') on the branches as they eat. Although it is not properly 'a tree' (Lk 13i»), it quite accords with Oriental use to describe as such a great plant Uke this. W. Ewinq.

IVrUTH-LABBEN.— See Psalms, p. 772«.

MUTILATION.— See Crimes and Punishments, 5 9.

MYNDTJS was a city in Caria at the extremity of the peninsula on which HaUcarnassus lay. It was strong enough to resist an assault of Alexander, but played no great part in history. It is mentioned separately in 1 Mac IS'^ as one of the places to which, in B.C. 139, the Romans sent messages on behalf of the Jews. Hence it is assumed that it was independent ot the Carian confederacy; and its native population seems to have descended from the race of the Leleges, and to have always maintained its independence against the Carians. A. E. Hillaed.

MYRA was a city of Lycia situated 2i miles from the coast, but the same name is often applied to its harbour of Andriaca. In Greek times Patara surpassed it, but

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