The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3

Charles H. Dyer
Associate Professor of Bible Exposition, Dean of Enrollment Management
Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas

The setting for the Book of Daniel in the Bible is the court of
Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It is beyond the scope of this paper to
examine the historicity of the Book of Daniel, but several scholars
have provided strong evidence for assuming the factualness of the
historical accounts presented in Daniel. 1 The third chapter of the
Book of Daniel records an unusual gathering on "the plain of Dura"
possibly located to the south of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar sum
moned all the officials of the provinces to Babylon to participate in
a solemn ceremony. 2

Recent scholarship has cast much favorable light on the sixth-century C back
ground for the Book of Daniel One example is Belshazzar s offering the title of
third highest ruler m the kingdom (Dan 5 7) Nabomdus was technically king, and
Belshazzar was his son and viceroy Thus the highest position he could offer was
"third highest ' However, this historical fact was lost by the fourth century C and
was only 'rediscovered ' in the past century by archaeologists The point here is that
apart from how one interprets the Book of Daniel, the historical portions of the ac
count have been validated by recent archaeological discoveries For additional in
formation see Bruce Waltke, ' The Date of the Book of Daniel, Bibhotheca Sacra
133 (October-December 1976) 319-29, Edwin M Yamauchi, The Archaeological
Background of Daniel," Bibhotheca Sacra 137 (January-March 1980) 3-16, R Har
rison, Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids Wm Eerdmans Publishing
C o , 1969), p p 1105-34, and Alan Millard, 'Daniel and Belshazzar in History,
Biblical Archaeology Review 11 (May/June 1985) 73-78

William Shea suggests that the gathering followed a revolt against Neb
uchadnezzar that occurred between December 595 and January 594 C Nebuchadnez
zar summoned these officials to Babylon to take a loyalty oath ' to him (William
Shea, "Daniel 3 Extra-Biblical Texts and the Convocation on the Plain of Dura,' An
drews University Seminary Studies 20 [Spring 1982] 29-52) The revolt in Babylon
was significant enough to be included in the official Babylonian record of the events
for that year 'In the tenth year the king of Akkad [was] in his own land, from the
426
 The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3 427

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and set it up on the

plain of Dura in the province of Babylon He then summoned the
satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates
and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the
image he had set up So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, trea
surers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assem
bled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had
set up, and they stood before it Then the herald loudly proclaimed,
This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of
every language As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship
the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up (Dan 3 1-5) 3
Though the purpose for the gathering is unclear from the text, it
seems obvious that this was a special gathering and was to be a
solemn occasion The list of officials spans the ranks of Babylonian
government and includes the rulers of the territories conquered by
Babylon Though the individuals summoned include only govern
ment officials, the international scope of Nebuchadnezzar's gather
ing is apparent when the herald addressed the officials as "peoples,
nations and men of every language" (v 4)
An undated clay prism discovered at Babylon (now in the Istan
bul museum) provides a parallel account of this event On the prism
Nebuchadnezzar wrote, "I ordered the [following] court officials in
exercises of [their] duties to take up position in my [official] suite " 4
The prism then lists five ranks of individuals who were evidently
summoned before Nebuchadnezzar at approximately the same time
and appointed (or reappointed) to official positions in the govern
ment of Babylon These ranks included court officials, officials of
the land of Akkad, officials of towns, district officials, and western
vassal kings This list pictures a high government gathering If this
assembly occurred after the unsuccessful revolt against Nebuchad
nezzar in Babylon, it is likely that Nebuchadnezzar intended it as
an awe-inspiring event to assure the future loyalty of those who
held positions of authority under him

The Musical Instruments

One key component of this solemn ceremony was the instrumen
talists assembled for the event Three times m the account the m-

month of Kislev to the month of Tebet there was rebellion in Akkad With arms he
slew many of his own army His own hand captured his enemy (D J Wiseman,
Chronicles of the Chaldean Kings (626-556 C ) in the British Museum [London Bri
hsh Museum 1956], 73)
For this article the New International Version is used unless indicated otherwise
Shea Daniel 3 Extra-Biblical Texts and the Convocation on the Plain of Dura
37
428 Bibhotheca Sacra / October-December 1990

s t r u m e n t s a r e listed. U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e r e is s o m e d i s a g r e e m e n t on
t h e specific i n s t r u m e n t s listed in t h e a c c o u n t a n d their exact identi
fication. A listing of t h e w o r d s a n d their s u g g e s t e d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s
as f o u n d in four t r a n s l a t i o n s of t h e text are listed below.

King New Jerusalem New Aramaic

James English Bible International
Version Bible Version

Cornet Horn Horn Horn *PP

Flute Pipe Pipe Flute Krrprraa

Harp Zither Lyre Zither

(Greek =
?)

Sackbut Triangle Trigon Lyre N?2Q

(Greek =
?)

Psaltry Dulcimer Harp Harp pmos

(Greek =
?)

Dulcimer Music Bagpipe Pipes

(Greek =
?)
(Greek =
)

T h e first i n s t r u m e n t is t h e KJnp, t h e A r a m a i c w o r d for "horn."

T h o u g h it u s u a l l y referred to t h e h o r n of a n animal, it also described
m u s i c a l i n s t r u m e n t s m a d e of w o o d or metal. Reliefs a n d fragments of
l o n g m e t a l t r u m p e t s from t h e late A s s y r i a n p e r i o d h a v e b e e n discov-
 The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3 429

ered. 5 From Daniel 3 it is unclear whether the word referred to an

animal horn or to a trumpet of wood or metal. Akkadian parallels
do not help because qarnu, the Akkadian word for "horn," was not
used of a musical instrument in any of the texts used for all the
available lexicons. 6 However, the evidence from Assyrian sources
would seem to indicate that the animal horn was replaced by the
horn of wood or metal for official functions. Thus it seems likely to
identify the in Daniel 3 as a wood or metal trumpet.

The second instrument listed in Daniel 3 is the KrrpnD, usually

translated "pipe" or "flute." This identification is based on the fact
that the word comes from a root that means "to hiss." 7 Does this
word refer to the flute or the double-reed pipe? 8 No specific answer
can be given from the etymology of the word or from the immediate
context. However, other information on musical assemblies from that
period suggests that the word refers to a double-reed pipe or mutbak.
Though a flute was used in Babylon, 9 the double-reed pipe be-
came the more prominent instrument. A bas-relief from the reign of
Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 C ), now in the British Museum, pictures a
gathering of Elamite musicians greeting the royal conquerors return
ing from battle. 1 0 Eight performers are playing stringed instruments,

^ Egon Wellesz, ed , Ancient and Oriental Music (reprint, London Oxford Univer
sity Press, 1960), 242 Also see Carl Engel, The Music of the Most Ancient Nations
(reprint, Freeport, NY Books for Libraries Press, 1970), pp 59-62, an excellent repro
duction of an Assyrian trumpet relief is included on page 61
" D J Wiseman et a l , Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel (London Tyn-
dale Press, 1965), 23
Ibid Both Patton and Galpin identify the instrument with the syrinx, or pipes of
Pan, based on the suggested etymology of WTpnuD being sharak However, this iden
tification by suggested etymological similarities is tenuous (Priscilla Patton and Re
becca Patton, Before the Times [San Francisco Strawberry Hill Press, 1980], 190,
Francis William Galpin, The Music of the Sumenans and Their Immediate Successors,
the Babylonians and Assyrians (reprint, Freeport, NY Books for Libraries Press,
1970), 67
' Two classes of woodwind were known throughout the ancient Near East the
vertical end-blown flute, and the single- or double-reed shawm, ancestors of the mod
ern clarinet and oboe,\which were usually played in pairs The true flute, usually
made of reed, was a pastoral instrument, with a soft, breathy voice The louder, more
penetrating shawms, made of reed, wood or metal, were better able to hold their own
in orchestral ensembles" (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1986 ed ],
s Music, by D A Foxvog and A D Kilmer, 3 442)

" Engel gives an excellent description (with illustration) of a clay pipe, or whistle,
discovered at Birs Nimrud near Babylon (Engel, Music of the Most Ancient Nations,
pp 75-76) Unfortunately the pipe, which was taken to the Royal Asiatic Society in
London, was later lost
*u Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music, Plate VIII (c)
430 Bibhotheca Sacra / October-December 1990

and one individual is playing a drum. These musicians are accompa

nied by two individuals playing double-reed pipes. No flutes are in
cluded in the group. Koldewey's excavations of Babylon at the turn
of the century also gave some evidence of the musical instruments in
use in Babylon during the Neo-Babylonian period. Included in the
terra-cotta figures discovered by Koldewey were representations of
individuals playing the lute, the tambourine, the harp, the
kithara, and the double-reed pipe. 1 1
The second wind instrument in the passage could be a flute or a
double-reed pipe. The word itself does not offer any indication as to
which is meant. However, on the basis of parallels from history and
on the basis of archaeological discoveries in Babylon, it seems more
likely that the instrument in question should be identified as a dou
ble-reed pipe.

onrrp
With the third instrument Daniel introduced a new grouping in
Nebuchadnezzar's musicians. The first two instruments are wind in
struments; the next three are stringed instruments. The first of these
stringed instruments is the o n r r p , variously identified as the harp,
lyre, or zither.
The word seems to be a transliteration of the Greek word
}2 The was a type of lyre and is attested in Homer
(8th century C ) and in Herodotus (5th century C ). To find a Greek
instrument in the royal court of Babylon should not be surprising be
cause there is much evidence of contact and commerce between the
people of the Aegean and Mesopotamian regions, 1 3 and additional
14
evidence that musical instruments were carried between countries.

Robert Koldewey, The Excavations at Babylon, trans Agnes S Johns (London

Macmillan and Co , 1914), pp 283-84
This association is well documented See Edwin M Yamauchi, "The Greek Words
in Daniel in the Light of Greek Influence in the Near East," in New Perspectives on
the Old Testament, ed J Barton Payne (Waco, TX Word Books, Publisher, 1970), pp
170-200, and H H Rowley, The Aramaic of the Old Testament (London Oxford Uni
versity Press, 1929), 146
^ For a good overview of these contacts see William Stevenson Smith, Interconnec
tions in the Ancient Near East A Study of the Relationships between the Arts of
Egypt, the Aegean, and Western Asia (New Haven, CT Yale University Press, 1965),
and Edwin M Yamauchi, Greece and Babylon Early Contacts between the Aegean and
the Near East (Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1967)
This was especially true for captives Assyrian bas-reliefs picture captives being
led away into captivity carrying musical instruments (Engel, The Music of the Most
Ancient Nations, 303) When the Jews were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar,
they took their musical instruments to Babylon and were forced to play them for their
captors "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion There
on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormen
tors demanded songs of joy, they said, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion'"' (Ps 137 1-3)
 The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3 431

Recent studies have indicated that the ancient Mesopotamian

musical instruments and musical notation (along with other elements
of Mesopotamian culture) were transmitted to the Greeks.15 Ellenbo
gen suggests that was itself a foreign loan word in Greece.16
"The antiquity of the lyre in the Near East has been amply demon
17
strated by the work of Woolley at Ur." One need not posit a Greek
original for this type of instrument. It is at least possible that the
instrument was imported to Greece and then exported from there to
other countries.18 In any case the was some type of lyre.

The second stringed instrument listed among Nebuchadnezzar's

musicians is the K595. Some have suggested that this is to be identi
fied with the Greek and Roman sambuca, which was a hor
izontal, angular harp. 1 9 Such an identification is supported by the
Septuagint . Another possibility is that ^?9 comes from the
root p30 ("to intertwine, interweave").20 A third possibility is that
the instrument is derived from the sabttu, or seven-stringed lyre of
the Akkadians. 21
If the word comes from the Greek , then the instrument
in view is probably a small harp with a few short strings and a high
pitch. If the word comes from pao, it could describe a larger, multi-

1;>
Wellesz writes, "The influence exerted by Mesopotamian culture on the western
world was far reaching. Unfortunately the glories of the intellectual and artistic con
quests of Greece have dazzled our view of our cultural debts to others" (Ancient and
Oriental Music, p. 250). See also M Duchesne-Guillemin, "Survivance orientale dans
la dsignation des cordes de la lyre en Grce?" Syria 44 (1967): 233-46; Anne Kilmer,
"The Strings of Musical Instruments: Their Names, Numbers, and Significance," in
Studies in Honor of Benno Landsberger (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965),
pp. 261-72.
* Maximilian Ellenbogen, Foreign Loan Words in the Old Testament (Mystic, CT:
Verry, 1962), p. 148.
*' Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 1126.
* Wellesz writes, "The word kithara may not be Greek. That it was some times
called astas, rather than asias kithara is conveyed by the word , and practi
cally the same word haraka, has been used in Arabic from time immemorial in connec
tion with playing the lute Cud)" (Ancient and Oriental Music, p. 251).
Patton and Patton, Before the Times, p. 188. See also The International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia (1986 ed.), s.v. "Music," by D. A. Foxvog and A. D. Kilmer, 3:446.
20 "The sabbek (lower-chested harp) owes its name, in all probability, to the fact
that multiplicity [of strings] was confused with multiflexity, as we have seen in the
root sabaq (to intertwine, interweave), hence seba (lattice-work) and sebq (net-
work), whose kindred still thrive in Arabic" (Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music, p.
245).
21 Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 1126.
432 Bibhotheca Sacra / October-December 1990

stringed harp that would give the impression of lattice work. If the
word comes from sabitu it could be a seven-stringed lyre. No defini
tive answer can be given, but perhaps the best position is to relate
the word more closely to the Greek word . However, rather
than say that the *ono is derived from the it might be best
to reverse the order of borrowing, seeing the Greek as hav
ing been borrowed from the Near East. 22 Mitchell and Joyce provide
a possible explanation for the instrument.
The meaning of the Greek sambuk, a four stringed triangular harp, or
something similar, may give a clue to the meaning of sabk, though it
need not necessarily be expected to have precisely the connotation of
the later classical term. There are a number of triangular harps in the
monuments, and in the Assyrian reliefs these seem usually to be hori-
zontal, so m the absence of other evidence the meaning of "horizontal
harp" can be reckoned a plausible guess for this word 23
ThefrCQO,then, was a stringed instrument, probably to be identi-
fied as a harp. Wellesz identified it as a "lower-chested harp," an
instrument known from many Assyrian reliefs.24 The exact number of
strings cannot be determined. The association with the Greek word
would suggest four strings, though the similarity to the
Akkadian sabitu would argue for more strings. A comparison with
Assyrian reliefs suggests a harp with still more strings. 2 5

praoa
The third stringed instrument listed among Nebuchadnezzar's
musicians is the ]]03, which appears to be a transliteration of the
Greek word .26 According to Mitchell and Joyce, the
was a triangle-shaped stringed instrument. 2 7 Engel iden
tified the with the santtr, the present oriental dul-

The Greeks had a poor opinion of the It was considered an instrument

played by vulgar musicians and prostitutes (Macrobius Satir 3 1417) and was rejected
from Plato's ideal Republic (3 399d)
IO
AO
C Mitchell and R Joyce, "The Musical Instruments in Nebuchadrezzar's
Orchestra," in Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel, 25
Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music, 245 Foxvog and Kilmer describe this in
strument as a "horizontal angular harp played with a plectrum" (The International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1986 ed ], s "Music," by D A Foxvog and A D
Kilmer, 3 446)
* Engel, The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, 31
2 6
This observation is also well attested See Yamauchi, "The Greek Words in
Daniel," p p 174-75, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s v , "Music," by D G
Stradlmg and Kenneth A Kitchen, 2 1036
Mitchell and Joyce, "The Musical Instruments in Nebuchadrezzar's Orchestra,"
25
 The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3 433

cimer. 2 8 Wellesz connected with the following word

and identified the instrument as an "upper-chested 'concord
harp.'"29
The Aramaic word " became the Persian santur and the
Arabic sanr.30 The instrument was likely a trapezoid-shaped dul-
cimer either plucked or played with plectra. Thus Daniel 3 refers to
three types of stringed instruments. Nebuchadnezzar's string section
included lyres, harps, and dulcimers.

rnaoio
The final instrument played by Nebuchadnezzar's musicians is
identified as the rnaoio. Identifying this instrument is difficult.
Most scholars associate the word with the Greek . Accord
ing to Driver this word describes in later Greek "a bagpipe, an in
strument consisting essentially of a combination of pipes supplied
with wind from a bladder blown by the mouth and called
'symphonia' on account of the combination of sounds produced by
it." 3 1 Accordingly the New American Standard Bible renders the
word "bagpipe," and the New International Version translates it
"pipes."
However, the identification of rnsaio as ("bagpipe")
has problems. First, the use of the word as an instrument
is not attested to in Greece before the fourth century B C 3 2 Galpin
notes, "About 400 A D Prudentius gives this name to the double-reed
pipe as a signal for battle amongst the Egyptians. Venantius Fortu
narais in the next century considered it a pipe plena suo flatu 'big
with its own wind'probably a bagpipe." 3 3 This is too late to have
been the instrument in the sixth-century C orchestra of Nebuchad
nezzar. Second, there is no evidence for bagpipes in Mesopotamia at
any time. 3 4
A second identification of rnSQlO also interprets it as a Greek
loan word but with a different understanding of that Greek

2 0
Engel, The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, 282
2 9
Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music, pp 238, 245-46
3U
Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1126
Samuel R Driver, The Book of Daniel (Cambridge Cambridge University Press,
1900), 39
3 2
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1986 ed ), s "Music," by D A
Foxvog and A D Kilmer, 3 446
^ Galpin, The Music of the Sumerians, 67
3 4
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1986 ed ), s "Music," by D A
Foxvog and A D Kilmer, 3 446
434 Bibhotheca Sacra / October-December 1990

word. In this identification the word has the idea of "harmony" or

"concord" and describes not an individual instrument but the music
from all the instruments. Such an interpretation has some lexical
support. In the sixth century B.C. Pindar wrote, "Honor the people
and prompt them to harmony [] and peace" (Pythian Ode I.
70). The Septuagint translation of Daniel 3 uses in the
sense of "sounding together." The only occurrence of in the
New Testament uses this same meaning. In Luke 15:25 a man's son re
turns to his house to hear "music [] and dancing."
Though this meaning of as "sounding together" or "music"
has good lexical support, it is not without difficulty. Such an under
standing produces a redundancy in Daniel 3. The instruments are
listed four separate times. In the second listing the word rPDSQlO is
omitted. However, in all the listings the specific instruments are
followed by the phrase "and all kinds of music" (vv. 5, 7, 10, 15).
Thus if rnsaio refers generically to "music," each listing of instru
ments that includes rnSQlO would end with the idea of "music and
all kinds of music." This interpretation is possible, but it makes the
word rnsoio unnecessary.
Wellesz has proposed a third solution to this problem. He sug
gests that rnSQlO be translated as a descriptive word rather than a
separate instrument and that it be taken with the preceding instru
ment in a technical sense. He would translate iTDSQIO as "concord
h a r p . " 3 5 Wellesz's proposed solution is attractive. By understand
ing rnSGlO as a noun in apposition to ]']02, Daniel could have been
describing a harp with a large number of strings that could have been
played in octaves. The problem with Wellesz's proposal is that no
such term is used to describe a harp. A large number of names for
harps have survived, but this is not one of them. Because rnSDIO is a
loan word, it must be used in a technical sense. (Daniel would not
have chosen a Greek loan word as a mere adjective to describe the
sound of the music in a Mesopotamian royal orchestra.) Unless more
information on the existence of the rnSQlO ]"nrOS can be found,
Wellesz's proposal must be rejected.
A final proposal is to identify TDSQIO as a musical instrument but
to reject its association with the Greek word . Instead, ac
cording to this view, it should be identified with the Greek word -
,36 to be translated "drum." 3 7 Three arguments are given to sup-

^ Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music, p. 245.

JO
A brief explanation of this view is given in The International Standard Bible En
cyclopedia (1986 ed.), s.v. "Music," by D. A. Foxvog and A. D. Kilmer, 3:446.
7
Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Eexicon (Oxford: Claren
don Press, 1968), s.v., "" p. 1834. "The word usually referred to a 'kettle
drum,' such as was used in the worship of the Mother Goddess and Dionysus."
 The Musical Instruments in Daniel 3 435

port this interpretation. The first answers a negative objection and

the second and third arguments present more positive affirmations.
One objection to this identification is the apparent strain one
must exercise to arrive at from n^boto. Mitchell and Joyce
offer a plausible linguistic explanation for this identification. Their
reasoning is as follows:
(1) The exchange of t for s before / and y is a feature of East
Greek dialects, e.g. the Doric pronoun ty is sy in East Greek,
and the syllables -si and -ti sometimes interchange in
Mycenean texts.
(2) tympanon sometimes appears as typanon. Confusion over
this may be reflected in the Kethib siponey (3:10).
(3) The changed vowel in the second syllable is paralleled by
Ionic glassa for glossa.38
Thus the difference in vocalization can be explained on the basis
of differences in pronunciation between different dialects. Much as
the Greek name nerpo becomes Butros in Arabic, so the rv of
in Doric Greek would have become the of in East
Greek. This could then have been passed on into Aramaic.
A second argument for identifying ^ with is the
apparent order of the list of instruments in Daniel 3. If n^&QiO is
identified as (i.e., "bagpipe"), then one has trouble ex
plaining the apparent disorder in the listing of instruments. Two
wind instruments are followed by three stringed instruments, which
are followed by another wind instrument. The more natural grouping
would have been to place all the wind instruments together, fol
lowed by the stringed instruments. However, if n^iO refers to a
drum, then the order is harmonious. Daniel would have listed two
wind instruments, then three stringed instruments, and one percussion
instrument.
A third argument for identifying n^&QiO with is that
it would have been unnatural for an orchestra not to have some per
cussion instrument. Bas-reliefs from the Near East show a remark
able similarity in the appearance of different types of instruments.
Percussion instruments were a vital part of orchestras, especially in
important gatherings. In the procession of Assyrian musicians going
out to meet the conquerors returning from battle 39 a bas-relief has 11

Mitchell and Joyce, "The Musical Instruments in Nebuchadrezzar's Orchestra," p.

26.
^ For a photograph of this bas-relief see Wellesz, Ancient and Oriental Music,
Plate VIII(c). For an accurate line drawing see Engel, The Music of the Most Ancient
436 Bibhotheca Sacra / October-December 1990

musicians (not counting the 15 individuals clapping their hands). Of

these 11 musicians, eight are playing stringed instruments (seven
with upright harps and one with a dulcimer), two are playing dou
ble-reed pipes, and one is playing a drum. This same type of ar
rangement appears on other reliefs. 40 The point of this argument is
that one would expect to find a drum among a listing of instruments
for such a significant gathering in the ancient Near East. By identi
fying rnSQIO with the drum is present.
The exact identification of rnsoio is difficult. However, an as
sociation with provides a satisfactory answer that fits
both linguistically and logically. Thus the royal orchestra would
have had three divisions: a wind section, a string section, and a per
cussion section.

Conclusion

Daniel 3 records a solemn gathering of Nebuchadnezzar's royal

officials from throughout his empire. The royal musicians were
assembled to promote the awesomeness of the occasion and to provide
direction on when the officials were to bow down to express their
loyalty and devotion. The orchestra was composed of representative
instruments and was not confined to those from Babylon. The pres
ence of instruments with Greek names added to the international
flavor of the event. While the exact identification of the instru
ments remains difficult, this article proposes the following listing:
horn, double-reed pipe, lyre, harp, dulcimer, and drum. These in
struments all sounded a note of praise to the glory of Nebuchadnez
zar and the might of his Babylonian Empire.

Nations, frontispiece

Another example shows a military band with four musicians, one playing a hand-
drum, one a five-stringed rectangular lyre, one an eight-strmged lyre, and one a set of
cymbals (Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s 'Music, by D G Stradlmg and A
Kitchen, 2 1039)
 ^ s
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