The Rattles from Tell El-Farcha

Acoustic Research with the Use of Numerical Sound Reconstruction

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/SAAC.25.2021.25.01

Keywords:

ancient Egyptian rattles, archaeological clay rattles, music in ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian instruments, acoustics, acoustic analysis, numerical sound reconstruction

Abstract

Vessel rattles were one of the first sound-producing tools made from clay. Throughout history, they were developed in many ancient cultures, convergently in many places around the world. To obtain a complete picture of the sounds produced by clay rattles, the short-time Fourier transform analysis is used. On top of that, to determine the full spectrum of their acoustical possibilities, numerical reconstruction of sound is done. The results provide us an opportunity to explore the soundscape of the past.

PlumX Metrics of this article

References

Alm J.F. and Walker J.S. 2002. Time-Frequency Analysis of Musical Instruments.

SIAM Review 44/3, 457-476. https://doi.org/10.1137/S00361445003822. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1137/S00361445003822

Ayrton E.R. and Loat W.L.S. 1911. Pre-Dynastic Cementary at El Mahasna.London.

Bartnik A. 2019. Jeż z jabłkiem na grzbiecie: Kilka słów o postrzeganiu jeży w antyku i średniowieczu. Wiadomości Zootechniczne 62/2, 129-137.

Beer C. 2015. Baubo Amulets around the Mediterranean: Some Remarks.

Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes 45, 339-349. https://doi.org/10.3406/cchyp.2015.1647. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/cchyp.2015.1647

Braun J. 2009. Ancient Israel/Palestine and the New Historiography of Music: Some Unanswered Questions. In R. Dumbrill and M. Marcetteau (eds), Archaeomusicological Review of the Ancient Near East. The International conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology, 1, 17-24. ICONEA British Museum. London.

Ciałowicz K.M. 1999. Początki cywilizacji egipskiej. Warszawa, Kraków.

Ciałowicz K.M. 2008. Dziesięć lat badań na Wzgórzu Kurczaka (Tell el-Farcha). Alma Mater 99, 200-209.

Ćwiek A. 2005. Śmierć i życie w starożytnym Egipcie. Wystawa ze zbiorów Muzeum Egipskiego i Zbioru Papirusów w Berlinie oraz Państwowego Muzeum Sztuki Egipskiej w Monachium. Poznań.

Drobner M. 1973. Akustyka muzyczna. Kraków.

Gruszczyńska-Ziółkowska A. 2018. Between the Silence of the Past and the Future. Światowit 57, 117-128. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0013.6810. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0013.6810

Jiménez Pasalados R., García B.C. and Fernández J.J.P. 2014. The Clay Rattles of the Numantine Museum of Soria (Spain): An Approach from Experimental Archaeology. In R. Eichmann, F. Jianjun and L.-C. Koch (eds), Papers from the 8th Symposium of the International Study Group on Music Archaeology in Suzhou and Beijing, China, 20-25 October, 2012, 47-63 ( Studien zur Musikärchaologie IX, Orient-Archäologie 33). Rahden.

Hickmann H. 1954. Die Altägyptische Rassel. Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 79/1-2, 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1524/zaes.1954.79.12.116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1524/zaes.1954.79.12.116

Joyce R.A. 1999. Social Dimensions of Pre-Classic Burials. In D.C. Grove and R.A. Joyce (eds), Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 9 and 10 October 1993, 15-48. Washington.

Köpp-Junk H. 2018. Sound of Silence? Neueste Ergebnisse aus der Musikarchäologie. In A.I. Blöbaum, M. Eaton-Krauss and A. Wüthrich (eds), Pérégrinations avec Erhart Graefe Festschrift zu seinem 75. Geburtstag, 267-283. Münster.

Köpp-Junk H. 2021. Am Anfang war die Rassel – die frühesten Musikinstrumente im Alten Ägypten. Antike Welt 1/21, 74-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52412/mf.1952.H1.2781

Kroeter C. 2009. The Sensual Banquet Scene: Sex and the Senses in Eighteenth Dynasty Theban Tomb Paintings. North Street Review: Arts and Visual Culture 13, 47-56.

Le Conte S., Le Moyne S., Ollivier F., Vaiedelich S. 2012. Using Mechanical Modelling and Experimentation for the Conservation of Musical Instruments.

Journal of Cultural Heritage 13/3, 161-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2012.04.004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2012.04.004

Malinowski T. 1993. Grzechotki gliniane kultury łużyckiej w Polsce. Słupskie Prace Humanistyczne 11a, 3-38.

Manniche L. 1991. Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt. London.

MIMO Consortium. Revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs Classification of Musical Instruments by the MIMO Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.mimointernational.com/documents/hornbostel%20sachs.pdf (accessed Jan. 10th, 2021).

Pawlicki F. 1974. Egipskie sistra. Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie 18, 7-21.

Pommerening T., Marinova E. and Hendrickx S. 2010. The Early Dynastic Origin of the Water-lily Motif. Chronique d’Égypte; bulletin périodique de la Fondation égyptologique Reine Élisabeth 85, 14-40. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.CDE.1.102018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.CDE.1.102018

Sachs C. 1921. Die Musikinstrumente des alten Ägyptens. Berlin.

Sachs C. 1989. Historia instrumentów muzycznych, trans. S. Olędzki. Kraków.

Szabatin J. 2007. Podstawy teorii sygnałów. Warszawa.

Sherbiny H. and Bassir H. 2014. The Representation of the Hedgehog Goddess Abaset at Bahariya Oasis. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 50/1, 171-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5913/jarce.50.2014.a023

Suder-Dębska K., Gołaś A. and Filipek R. 2018. Wprowadzenie do akustyki użytkowej, Kraków.

Swift E., Bosworth L., Creese D., Morris G., Pudsey A., Richardson J., Stoner J., Walker F. and Wright G. 2021. Creation of Functional Replica Roman and Late Antique Musical Instruments through 3D Scanning and Printing Technology, and Their Use in Research and Museum Education. Internet Archaeology 56, https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.56.1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.56.1

Tatoń K. 2013. Archeologia Muzyki. Starożytny Egipt. Bielsko-Biała.

Tatoń K. 2020. Forma jajowata i jej wpływ na cechy dźwięku grzechotek ceramicznych. In M. Szymczyk and A. Jobke-Fus (eds), Myśliborska grzechotka – pisanka, zabawka, przedmiot, instrument?, 9-28. Myślibórz.

Thomas R.I. 2015. Egyptian Late Period Figures in Terracotta and Limestone.

In A. Villing, M. Bergeron, G. Bourogiannis, A. Johnston, A. Leclère, A. Masson and R. Thomas (eds), Naukratis, Greeks in Egypt (British Museum Online Research Catalogue). London.

Online sources

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/collections

http://www.emaproject.eu/

https://petriecat.museums.ucl.ac.uk/

https://www.britishmuseum.org/

https://www.metmuseum.org/

Downloads

Published

19-12-2021

How to Cite

Tatoń, Katarzyna, and Ireneusz Czajka. 2021. “The Rattles from Tell El-Farcha: Acoustic Research With the Use of Numerical Sound Reconstruction”. Studies in Ancient Art and Civilisation 25 (December):7-22. https://doi.org/10.12797/SAAC.25.2021.25.01.

Issue

Section

Articles

Funding data