“AMARNA“ For Egyptian Arched Harp & Theremin

I made this vid for a friend who has had a lifelong interest in Egypt and particularly in the reign of the “heretic pharaoh“ Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti. It features the remarkable computer restorations (created by computer games and animation expert Paul Docherty) of the ancient Egyptian capital of AMARNA as it might have appeared more than 3000 years ago. The harp you see at the beginning and end of the video is a replica of a 1600 B.C., New Kingdom, arched harp (called a “djedjet“ in the ancient Egyptian language). As far as I know, it is the only one like it in the world and it is made entirely out of cedar and animal skin with no screws or nails used in its construction. What surprised me about this instrument the first time I played it was the richness and fullness of its sound. The theremin you hear is an Ethervox made by Robert Moog. I have made no attempt to emulate ancient music because we have no idea what it sounded like or what scales were used to play it. I have simply tried to create an atmosphere for the illustrations, using the very ancient “djedjet“ and the very modern “theremin“. I’d like to thank Paul Docherty for letting me use his remarkable artwork for this video.