Whether the Israelites had drums or not does not clearly appear, and in the absence of evidence pro or eon it is useless to speculate on the subject. If they had, they must be included under the general name of toph. The ancient Egyptians had a long drum, very similar to the tom-toms of India. It was about two feet or two feet and a half in length, and was beaten with the hand. The case was of wood or copper, covered at both ends with parchment or leather, and braced with cords extended diagonally over the exterior of the cylinder. It was used chiefly in war.
There was another larger drum, less unlike our own; it was about two feet and a half long by about two feet broad, and was shaped much like a sugar-cask. It was formed of copper, and cov ered at the ends with red leather, braced by catgut strings passing through small holes in its broad gin 'three-stringed instruments.' The word is plural, and mcans 'threes.' Most writers, pro ceeding upon this interpretation, identify it witfi the triangle, which Athenteus (iv:23) alleges to have been a Syrian invention.
(5) Sistrum (2.qT±.;rr', men-tzh-an-eem'y This is another word which occurs but once in Scrip ture (2 Sam. vi:5), where our version translates it by 'cymbals,' although it has appropriated an other word to that instrument. It is now more margin. This kind of drum was beaten with sticks. It does not appear on the monuments, but an actual specimen was found in the excava. tions made by D'Athanasi, in 1823, and is now in the museum at Paris.
Another species of drum is represented in the Egyptian paintings, and is of the same kind which is still in use in Egypt and Arabia, under the name of the darabooka drum. It is made of parchment stretched over the top of a funnel shaped case of metal, wood, or pottery. It is beaten with the hand, and when relaxed, the parchment is braced by exposing it for a few moments to the sun, or the warmth of a fire. This kind of drum claims particular attention from its being supposed to be represented cm one of the coins ascribed to Simon Maccabxus.
(2) Bells. Pah-ant-one' (Heb. 1:47;.). This name nowhere occurs but with reference to the small golden appendages to the robe of the high priest (Exod. xxviii :33; xxxix :25), which all
versions agree in rendering 'bells,' or 'little bells.' (3) Cymbals. Three Hebrew words are trans lated cynzbals in most versions, except in Zech. xiv:2o, where they are rendered 'bells'—the 'bells of the horses.' If the words, however, denote cymbals in other places, they cannot well denote a different thing here.
There is an important passage (Ps. c1:5), 'Praise him with the clear cymbal, praise him with the resounding cymbal,' which clearly points to two instruments under the same name, and leaves us to conclude that the Hebrews had both hand cymbals and finger-cymbals (or castanets), al though it may not in all cases be easy to say which of the two is intended in particular texts. Cymbals figure in the grand procession at the removal of the ark (1 Chron. xiii :8) ; other instances occur of their being used in the wor ship of God (Neh. xii :27; Ps. c1:5; Chron. xv :DS) ; and the illustrious Asaph was himself a player on the cymbal (t Citron. xvi :5). The sound of these instruments is very sharp and piercing, but it does not belong to fine, speaking, expressive music. Hence Paul could describe it by the word tiXaXdrov, 'clanging' Cor. xiii:1).
(4) Triangle (Heb.:I.V.3?;;), shawl-ish'im). This word occurs but once, viz., in I Sam. xviii :6, and is there uncertainly rendered, in the Authorized Version, 'instruments of music,' and in the mar generally thought to denote the sistrum, which was generally from eight to sixteen or eighteen inches in length, and entirely of bronze or brass. It was sometimes inlaid with silver. gilt, or other wise ornamented, and being held upright was shaken, thc rings moving to and fro upon the bars. The last were frequently made to imitate snakes, or sitnoly bent at each end to secure them from slipping through the holes. Several actual specimens of these instruments have been found, and are deposited in the British, Berlin and other museums. They are mostly furnished with sacred symbols. and were chiefly used by the priests and priestesses in the ceremonies of religion, particu larly in those connected with the worship of Isis.