766 music and musical instruments: Asia and the Pacific musicians Images of these instruments show that they were played by two people, one at either end or side of the lyre Lutes arrived relatively late in the Near East—the first mention of them comes from around 2000 b.c.e Having only a couple of strings, they did not look much like the medieval European lutes familiar to us, and the instrument remained a novelty in many areas For unknown reasons lute players are often shown dancing and even depicted naked, unlike other musicians in ancient Near Eastern art Given the close association between music and religion in the ancient Near East, it is not surprising that many of the most important positions held by singers or musicians were connected with religion In Sumer the highest-ranking position in some cities was that of precentor, the leader of singing or chanting in religious worship Musicians and singers in Mesopotamia formed guilds and sometimes lived in the temple colleges, though many of these performers were not full-time temple employees Over time some musicians began playing or singing for funerals and magic rites and became private, rather than public, servants Several Mesopotamian gods and goddesses were associated with music Ea, god of wisdom and freshwater, was the patron god of all music, and Ishtar/Inanna (goddess of love and war), her husband Tammuz/Dumuzi, and the storm god Ramman were the patrons of singing and pipe playing Even the many divinities with no direct links to music all apparently loved it, for most of the important religious rituals required singing, music, or both ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Relief plaque of harpist from the Old Babylonian Period (ca 2000–1600 b.c.e.) (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) Impressions on clay seals reveal that the harp was known in ancient Persia from about 3000 b.c.e onward The earliest harps had an arched shape, but after about 1900 b.c.e angular versions replaced them In some angular harps the sound box was horizontal, in others vertical The instruments had between 15 and 25 strings probably made of animal sinew (The early arched harps had far fewer strings.) Some Persian angular harps were large enough to rest on the ground, and others were small enough to be carried There are many depictions of the smaller versions from the rest of the Near East as well Like the harp, the ancient Near Eastern lyre came in two sizes: small and portable and large and stationary In some cuneiform texts the small lyres are called zinar and the large ones hunzinar The lyre differs from the harp in that the lyre’s sound box is on the bottom and the strings are suspended from a horizontal bar that passes between the instrument’s two upright arms Three different lyres were found at Ur, all on the large side However, they pale in comparison with the giant lyres of the Late Bronze Age, which stood taller than the BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL Music was an important art form throughout ancient Asia and the Pacific People sang, chanted, and played instruments of various types In China people were making music long before recorded history In Henan Province archaeologists have found a flute made of a bird bone that dates to 7000 b.c.e.; other prehistoric instruments may be even older Music was a well-developed art form in China during the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 b.c.e.) The imperial court had its own musicians and styles of music, while the ordinary people played and sang folk music During the Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.e.) the emperor created a bureau of imperial music to regulate the music played throughout China; this bureau established rules for court music, military music, and folk music Although musicians played for emperors, they had low social status Ancient Chinese musicians invented a number of instruments to play music on the Chinese five-note scale The flute was one of the earliest instruments In the first three millennia b.c.e flutes were usually made of bamboo, which was readily available and easily worked, allowing common people to make flutes Stringed instruments were widely played in ancient China One of the most common was a seven-stringed instrument called the qin, or guqin, which resembled a modern zither and was played by plucking The qin is still played in