Musical Instruments in Biblical Israel

(There is a sense in which the Bible is part of every person's heritage. The Bible contains deep insights into human condition and moral guidance, which has stood the test of time. It is also replete with songs which were always accompanied by musical instruments: However, in spite of their frequent mention in the Bible, the instruments were hardly ever described.)
"Take a pipe and tabor, take tuneful harp and lute. Blow the the horn for the new month, for the full moon on the day of our pilgrims feast." (Psalms 81:1-3) 

For many generations research into Biblical music and musical instruments was chiefly of a linguistic nature. Only in last three decades, thanks to important archaeological discoveries, have new horizons been opened for research into ancient music. Figures of both male and female musicians, dance groups and orchestras as well as musical instruments, appear in paintings, coinage, sculptures, figurines, filling entire mosaics and frescoes, carved in ivory and stone, and molded in pottery. The various finds have supplied scholars with clues to a material culture and an iconographic basis for determining the shapes of the instruments and, in certain cases, even the actual mode of playing them. 

It is confirmed by other external sources, such as the writings of the historians Philo and Josephus (musical events even organized by Herod - Ant., 15:269ff), the Apocrypha, the writings of the sectarians of Qumran, and in the Mishnah (1). Also comparative sources from other cultures add to the knowledge of Biblical music and instrumentation. 

The first mention of musical instruments in the Bible is to be found in the Book of Genesis, "and his brother's name was Jubal; he is the ancestor of those who play the harp and pipe." (Gen. 4:21-22) 

Replica of the lyre

Credit: Museum of Haifa

Copyright: Museum of Haifa.