(Fwd) Re: (Fwd) Horns used as sounding instruments

[Alice Choyke]

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Dear Mr. Kuchelmann:

After I responded to Alice Choyke of the worked bone list (about an hour
ago), I noticed your kind response that had arrived unnoticed by me some
days ago.

I mistakenly told Alice that only she had responded to my request to the
worked bone list!

I am grateful for your reference, and though I don't read German or Dutch, I
will follow through on it if you think it may answer my question.

Please do check your CD when you get home in November. I will give a paper
on the shofar on November 11 to a meeting of the Acoustical Society of
America in Austin, Texas. I hope to check my e-mail up to Nov 10 in case
you arrive early and find anything especially exciting!

Here is the best information I've uncovered so far.

I was referred to a German book in English translation that was said to be the
definitive source on ancient musical instruments of the bible:

"Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine: Archaeological, Written, and Comparative
Sources" Joachim Braun, translated by Douglas W. Stott (2002)"

The book is a revised, updated, and enlarged version of the German book
"Die Musikkultur Altisraels/Palastinas ... (Freiburg, Switzerland/Gottingen:
University Press/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999)

According to Table 1 of that book, there is no evidence of shofars in the
archaeological record prior to the Hellenistic-Roman age (332 BC - 324 CE.)
Moreover, during that Hellenistic-Roman period there are no physical shofar
remains. And only 16 two-dimensional representations of shofars, of which 12
are of uncertain provenance chronology, or organological definition.

However, on page 301 of that book (8. The Shofar: Tool of Sound and Ritual,
Symbol of faith and National Identity) the text says "The earliest portrayals of
such horns in the Near East date to the second millenium BC (e.g., 18th
century BC." The author cites Andre Parrot, 1961 Assur. Munich, illustration
389. I have not yet found that reference.

I am puzzled by the absence of physical remains of shofars. There is
persuasive evidence of their existence in the second temple period and in
early synagogues of the Common Era. Why are there no physical remains in
the archaeological record?

In my earlier response to Alice Choyke I asked if there was any reason she
could think of to explain that absence. I offered my uneducated impression
that animal horns are developed from hair. I asked if she knew of any reason
why the horns of ruminants might not persist as long as their bones. Please
jump in if you can answer that question as well. My background is in the
physical sciences and not in biology or archaeology.

Best regards,

David Lubman
Westminster, CA
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Hans Christian Küchelmann wrote:
    Dear Mr. Lubman,

    There's a nice book about the history of musical
    instruments, even about
    horns. It was published in dutch and german. The
    german reference is:
    TAMBOER, ANNEMIES (1999): Ausgegrabene Klänge.
    Archäologische
    Musikinstrumente aus allen Epochen, Archäologische
    Mitteilungen aus
    Nordwestdeutschland Beiheft 25, Oldenburg

    Further I remember a conference about the same
    topic a couple of years
    ago. I've got a CD with all lectures on it. So in
    case you are
    interested in it i can check for information about
    horns when I'm back
    home (not before novembre).

    Regards

    Christian Küchelmann



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