Tamboruine – or tympanon – players enjoyed a wide distribution throughout the island and were produced by many workshops in a variety of techniques and sizes; they were deposited in tombs as well as dedicated as votives[1] at most of major sanctuaries, particularly those associated with goddesses. Although each kingdom produced drummers of a particular style, drummer figurines share common characteristic that unite them as type: they depict standing, robed women, with a distinctive hairstyle playing a round hand drum[2].
Evidence suggests that hand drums or tympana[3] were played primarily by women in Eastern Mediterranean rituals associated with fertility, birth and rebirth. The moulded face is well preserved, with long eyebrows, ridge almond-shaped eyes and small nose and mouth. Our prototypes have the left hand holding the bottom of the drum while the right one stretches across the torso to strike the drum membrane[4].
Creation of a new figurine: the lyre player
While researching the importance of the tambourine player in ancient Cyprus we came across a variety of artistic media that also portrayed another musician: the lyre player. The work of John C. Franklin “Kyniras, the divine lyre”, states evidence from the Bronze Age onwards to show two types of lyres in Cyprus, which have been linked to Aegean or Phoenician immigration and/or colonisation[5].
- The round-based lyres, first attested in an 11th century vase painting and then regularly in vase painting, votive figurines, etc. resemble early Aegean specimens from LBA to 400 BCE and sporadically beyond. Although these cannot be unambiguously Aegean markers, they would remain compatible with early Aegean cultural expression in a colonial environment[6].
- The Flat-based, asymmetrical lyres appearing in the Cypro-Phoenician symposium bowls, between c. 900-600 BCE[7]
Since musical iconography has traditionally been a research subject in the Ure Museum, we decided to create our “own” lyre player, basing our design of musical instruments on Archaic Cypriot iconographic repertoire, with special focus on Kamelarga figurines present in other collections[8].
There are around 89 early votive-figurines[9] with lyres but difficult to interpret: their soundboxes, though roughly-formed with a small band of clay, are on the whole distinctly round. Yet their arms vary between perpendicular (Aegean) and divergent (Levantine). One must wonder if these differences are evidence of different workshops’ production or if they are trying to reflect significant ethno-musical distinctions. All in all, they could also be dismissed as aberrations of mass-production[10]. Hence, we relied on Franklin´s synthesis in the aforementioned publication.
As our learners had already pointed out the different influences that the isle received (figurines resembling shabtis or Greek athletes), we decided to address the issue by creating musicians playing both the Eastern and Western lyre. For that, we used the tambourine player as a matrix for our brand new musician and edited it using Autodesk Meshmixer. This is a very intuitive free software that enabled us to design the lyres and replace the original tambourine with the new creation.
“Playing” with musicians
Gif-making proved to be an amusing activity for our audience during our second edition of Digital Classics at the Museum. Due to the positive response we received and to continue experimenting with our 3D replicas, we decided to create short stop-motion animations to delve into the role of music in Ancient Cyprus. Since our learners believed that these figurines could have represented real people, we tried to evoke the performances and rituals that they could have carried out basing our proposals on Archaic Cypriot iconography.
– Warrior + musicians: This animation explores the traditional topos of Greek poetry, and especially epic—the bifurcation and/or conflation of warrior and singer, familiar from Achilles singing kléa andrôn on his lyre. The earliest iconographic example in Cyprus can be found in the “warrior-lyrist” that appears on the kalathos from Kouklia, 11th century BCE (LCIIIB), Cyprus Museum, Nicosia, Kouklia T.9:7. It might be related to the progenitor of the first king of Cyprus, with strong influence from the East and Egypt (royalty + music + cosmic symbolism).
Music making as an activity of elite warriors is further represented by terracotta figurines from Paleapaphos and others from unknown provenance, which combine lyre playing with yet another favourite activity of warrior elites: horse riding, seen in a ceremonial side-saddle position. Intertwining active music-making, high status and divine connotations attested in imagery of musical performance in late 8th century.
– Circular procession: This animation echoes the iconography present in phialai, with musicians and males bearing offerings (warrior or male with basket?)
The so-called Cypro-Phoenician symposium bowls (phialai) were manufactured around 900-600BCE and have been found in Cyprus, Greece (Crete esp.), Iraq (Nimrud), Iran, Israel and Italy (Etruria) although probably created in Cyprus. Bowls were subject to wide circulation, through the usual mechanism of elite exchange and desire for luxury imports. These bowls display musical scenes: celebrations of Astarte/Aphrodite representing a multi-stage festival involving choral song by cultic groups around a divine image. God, altar, offering table, procession, musicians and dancers, offering bearers, all of them rarely found together but usually present.
Processions that include musicians among other gift-bearers were common in many parts of the Near East and also in the Aegean. Musicians in these scenes normally participate in the procession or occupy a secondary position. The focus is not on them, but on a seated figure or an altar, while all other figures direct their movement or gestures towards these inanimate features. The makeup of the “orchestra” is very consistent, being lyre, double-pipe and hand percussion (usually frame-drum). This animation led us to start designing our own Cypriot aulos player to complete the iconographic programme, although we know that there are only 23 figurines in the archaeological record[11].
– Dancing males and females
The votive dedications of musicians can thus be interpreted as offerings given to perform music appropriate for the deity. Figurines of women drummers might have been dedicated by women to ensure a safe childbirth as an offering of thanks for a successful delivery, or to commemorate a cultic event involving percussion. The motivation for placing figurines of drummers in graves in Cyprus is related to their votive function as symbols for the rituals of the Cypriot goddess. The tympanon player, as an apotropaic symbol associated with fertility cults, would have been a fitting object to place in a grave to ensure a safe journey to the afterlife.
[1] Meerschaert 1991; Leriou 2017.
[2] There is no attribute or posture that identifies these musicians as divine, but the elaborate dress argues against interpreting the figurines as depictions of common worshippers. Instead, dress, jewelry and attributes identify them as priestesses, specifically temple musicians. Although there were male and female musicians on Cyprus, tympanon playing was reserved primarily for women.
[3] As no other type of drums are illustrated in Greek iconography, the Greek words tympanon and typanon, derivatives of typtein (to beat) invariably denote tambourines.
[4] Averett 2002-2004; Karageorghis 1998.
[5] Franklin 2016: 3-44.
[6] Frankin 2016:16.
[7] Makrakis 2012:377.
[8] MET 74.51.1677; Ashmolean AN1896-1908.C.320; AN1896-1908.C.447. For contemporary examples from other Cypriot workshops: MET 74.51.1692; 74.51.1667; 74.51.1668.
[9] Karageorghis 1995:36-39; 1998a: 43-44; 67-68; 1999: 213-238.
[10] Franklin 2016:16.
[11] See note 9.