What did King David’s Lyre sound like?

A ’live’ performance of the traditional Hebrew song “Zemer Atik“ (translation: “Ancient Melody“); track 5 from my 2008 album, “King David’s Lyre; Echoes of Ancient Israel“: To get even closer to the actual sound of how a lyre from around the time of King David may have sounded, in this ’live’ version, I am performing my arrangement of the tune on an actual replica of a remarkably surviving ancient Egyptian lyre (circa 1300 BC) from just before the traditional Biblical time period of King David! This ancient Egyptian lyre is now preserved in Leiden: These type of typical Canaanite asymmetrical lyres were almost certainly introduced to Egypt during the rule of the Canaanite Hyksos kings. From the dimensions of the Leiden lyre, Luthieros, the specialist lyre makers in Thessaloniki, () recently custom made the replica of the lyre featured in this video - which since the actual dimensions of the lyre are known, the construction and timbre of this lyre is about as near as we can probably get, to what the type of lyre which David himself must have once actually played. Indeed, the asymmetrical lyre was the most common type of portable lyre being played throughout the ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. The lyre which David once composed the Biblical Psalms to and which was later played by my ancient Levite ancestors in the Temple of Jerusalem (namely, the Biblical ’Kinnor’), almost certainly both looked and sounded like the replica of the lyre I am playing! In this arrangement of the traditional Hebrew song ’Zemer Atik’, I showcase the experimental and probably much more authentic shaped lyre bridge, also made for me by Luthieros. Almost all ancient illustrations of lyre bridges seem to show a flatter, ’bench-shaped’ top, in contrast to the sharp, ’A’ shaped modern guitar-style bridge. A consequence of the flatter top of the bridge, is a wonderfully exotic, subtle sitar-like buzzing timbre - this same timbre can still be heard today, in the sound of many of the archaic African lyres, such as the Ethiopian begena. Since the lyre no doubt arrived in the African continent via the trade routes which existed with the ancient Near East, it is far more likely also, that the original timbre of ancient Near Eastern lyres also shared this wonderful, buzzing timbre. Also, could the original Hebrew word for melody in the title of this song, ’Zemer’, actually be onomatopoeic, for the very same buzzing timbre of the original Biblical lyre? The Ethiopian word for melody, Mezmer’ is strikingly similar (maybe due to an actual ancient cross-cultural connection between Israel and Ethiopia, as described in so many Ethiopian traditions, namely that the Ethiopian king, Menelik I was the son of none other, than King Solomon and the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba! The Ethiopian begena has the same distinctive buzzing timbre and indeed, itself could be an actual relic of one the ancient Biblical lyres, as I argue in this website blog: For more fascinating details of the musical exchange of ideas between ancient Egypt, Canaan and ultimately, later Israel, please also see my website blog: Many thanks for watching! Support: Subscribe: Official Artist Links: Official Website: Facebook Page: Twitter: iTunes: Spotify: Amazon: Bandcamp: CD Baby: