Dear historians, may I suggest… the gold lyre of Ur isn’t what you think it is.
This is an opinion piece. I’m just a harpist and psychic medium, but hear me out… you could be surprised.
So, whilst looking for some old music to learn and play, I came across this video:
I’ve no idea what historians think of me, never got a comment from them, but I’d guess I’m rather impopular among them. Not that it bothers me at all, I’m just assuming that it’s likely the case because of my insistent blogging about things like woad prejudice in Britain. Admittedly, my tone isn’t very friendly when I talk about certain topics, but that’s merely because I oppose the colonialistic idea of “civilised” everyone keeps endorsing/enabling in Academic circles — or worse, projecting it onto earlier periods of History, like Antiquity.
Today’s topic, however, is a lot easier to digest. It doesn’t involve racism or white supremacism (as far as I can tell), so fear not, there won’t be any harsh words. Grab a cup of tea, and join me if you will… Just for the fun.
Anyway, the video above made me laugh. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a condescending laugh — it was just amusement. I thought to myself “look how inventive! I bet the ancients would be laughing — and clapping in approval — along with me”. Well, in fairness, I know a few ancient people (I mean spirits. Mostly from Britain though; Aye, things get weird here. But give it a chance, go on. It’ll be a fun read. Laugh at me/with me all you want). This blog post was born out of my experience working and communicating with them.
If possible, try not to take my message personally. I don’t mean to diminish or ridicule any hypotheses you guys have, or anything like that. I think when we’re trying to figure an artefact’s use, every guess is a valid guess (as long as it makes sense, and it’s not coming from a place of bigotry, of course). I’m simply offering you my own educated guess on the matter — unorthodox sources aside.
Before we start, please take a look at this lovely jewellery:
I took this photo in 2019 (Do you even remember that period before Covid? Crazy…) at the National Museum of Scotland. These are… things… made of silver by the Picts; And it’s a very fine silver at that, you can see it still looks pristine. The vague description was deliberate because these artefacts are unusual. I can’t simply tell you what they are. It’s a shame I didn’t put my hand on the glass there for comparison, but trust me, these chains (that look like bracelets) are HUGE. No human would be able to wear them (as bracelets anyway; and I’d argue they’d make for very uncomfortable necklaces).
At first glance, one would think… “Well, maybe they’re for cattle? Prisoners? Something like that?” — Aye, interesting guess, but let me reiterate: they’re made of silver. Who would waste copious amounts of the finer silver at hand when they had cheaper materials for these everyday purposes, like iron for instance? And will you just look at the craftsmanship! Certainly a lot of time and effort was put into them.
Photos of these chains are featured everywhere in the Pictish studies corner of the Internet, from research papers to fiction and non-fiction literature, museum merch, and so on — but nobody ever describes them or puts a name to them, even a speculative one. I’d say they’re very puzzling. Any guesses as to what they were? Take your time; When you decide on a guess, or give up, feel free to scroll down and see mine.
Those were for the gods to wear.
They weren’t lost or abandoned, and concealed by the changing natural environment like the majority of things you’d find in a dig. They were DELIBERATELY thrown into the water, buried, etc, as offerings to the gods. If you think of this hypothesis, it becomes even more plausible considering that the silver used was originally Roman — it was seized from the enemy, with help from the gods, as the Picts would say; so it’s only fair that the gods get their share. Preferably, the best of it.
Don’t get me started on Pictish hospitality! I have a lot of heartwarming stories. They were only “fierce” to invaders, strictly speaking; And they continue to strive for generosity with every guest that comes in peace, gods and human alike, even after death.
But this, here, is not a blog post about the Picts; I just mentioned the above for comparison. Let me just remove my “Pictish enthusiast” hat… There we go. Let’s talk about lyres, harps, and Mesopotamia now.
First things first! This is how you play an ancient harp:
In all fairness, as the title (rightfully) suggests, the above is a replica of Ancient Egyptian harps depicted in art. It’s not exactly Sumerian… But there was a lot of commerce and cultural exchange, even back then. It’s not unthinkable that the Sumerian would also have access to a similar instrument, if not the same.
I’ll get nerdy for a sec, bear with me: this Egyptian harp (the djedjet) has been on my wishlist for ages because, paraphrasing Meghan Trainor, “I’m all about that bass” if you get me. One day hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on one of these lovely replicas, but it hasn’t come yet. It’s roughly the size of a traditional Irish harp (not to be mistaken with “lever harp” or “Celtic harp” — those can get pretty big and high tension, especially with brands like Salvi now. No shade intended, I love all harps, but just clarifying)… Except that with the djedjet you can get more bass and less of those higher notes that all modern harps seem to have today, due to its unique shape that accommodates a lot more longer strings. The design is ingenious because it looks quite portable as well. What’s not to love?
Anyway, I went on this tangent above in order to draw your attention to a thing maybe archaeologists would overlook, but a harpist wouldn’t: why settle for “the big lyre” for those bass notes if there was another, a lot more ergonomic, instrument that achieved a similar feat? During the same time period, and probably even cheaper? I mean, it’s expensive and hard to find today because it’s rare. I doubt a musician couldn’t afford it in Antiquity (Or in other words: just get me a time machine already, I wish I could experience that. Kidding).
“But the gold lyre goes even lower. That’s more bass”
Why do I imagine Davie504 arguing that? Lol. Anyway, jokes aside, if you’re thinking of raising the point above… It’s valid. I hear you. The djedjet and the gold lyre don’t sound even remotely the same, they’re just both able to produce low notes, but on a different range. That’s true (Although, if we’re getting technical, I’m not sure about tuning any of those instruments to concert pitch, as it’s a pretty modern concept itself, but that’s me being a pain in the arse at this point). The thing is: why?
In all honesty, I doubt Ancient Sumerian crowds would have a strict preference for a bass lyre “because it goes lower” unless if it’s for ritual purposes or something. That’s not to mention the (im)practicality of playing it because, let me repeat once again, it’s a lyre.
A lyre is supposed to be small. You hold it sideways, or strap it to you in the best case scenario. If you want bass, get a harp.
“So, are you saying the gold lyre was never actually played”, some would ask.
I’m not “saying” anything, just speculating. I’d suppose it was primarily an offering, in the same fashion as the Pictish jewellery we saw. It could have been a common trend with pagan cultures in the Old World. Who knows?
That is of course not completely discarding the possibility that it had been played every now and then — I mean, it’s not like uncomfortable instruments don’t exist today, am I right? Anything for that BASS… But let me just suggest that maybe, just maybe, it simply wasn’t a common sight.
“What about the ancient art preserved in stone”, others would ask.
Sure, there is Sumerian art here and there depicting these big lyres in action… But take a closer look at it. Who is playing? Is it a human?
I rest my case.
