ARGHOUL, ARGHOOL or ARGHUL (in the Egyptian hieroglyphs, As or As-IT), an ancient Egyptian and Arab wood wind instrument, still in use. It consists of two reed pipes of unequal lengths bound together so that the two mouthpieces lie side by side, and can be taken by the performer into his mouth at the same time. The mouthpiece consists of a reed having a small tongue detached by means of a longitudinal slit which forms the beating reed, as in the clarinet mouthpiece. An Egyptian arghoul, presented by the Khedive to the Victoria and Albert Museum, measures 4f t. 81 inches.